Taraneh*, a young refugee in Tajikistan, travels three hours to watch her favourite Christian programmes at a relative’s home, and the girl’s messages to the Christian broadcaster have inspired many in the faith.
Her enthusiasm is particularly striking in light of her family’s difficult circumstances. ‘We have to live out of town because we don’t have much money,’ wrote Taraneh on the messaging app she uses to communicate with the TV team. ‘We have to travel three hours to my uncle’s house to watch this programme.’
The team asked Taraneh for her address to send a small gift. ‘Our house where we live has nothing, we don’t even have a house number.’
Taraneh and her family originally had to flee Afghanistan and as a foreigner, her father is not permitted to work. This is a cause of financial hardship. However, these circumstances have not dampened Taraneh’s enthusiasm and she shares what a treat it is for her to watch the Christian programmes on satellite television every week.
She regularly calls into the live children’s show Golpand, which means ‘golden advice’, to share a prayer or a song. During one episode exploring what it means to be thankful, she called to say: ‘I give thanks for having a mum and dad, a family who are Christians, and that I have been freed from sin.’
