TruthTV – Faith Based Family Friendly Entertainment
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old; he will not depart from it”.
Many of my followers already know A’s story, but I’ll quickly give it to all of you in a nutshell in order for you to understand why TruthTV has made such an impact in our lives. A was an answered prayer and our miracle in so many ways. A’s dad and I prayed for him ever since the day we met, we used to speak about how our boy would one day have blue eyes, and blonde hair, a boy that would look like his mama, but have the personality of his daddy. We planned him and prayed for him in so much detail and then we got the news… we were expecting. A was our little honeymoon miracle… BUT at around 8 weeks I started bleeding terribly, and in my heart I knew. Our doctor told us to not come in that night, and that he would see us in the morning, so I decided I won’t give up hope and I just started praying. That night I prayed and prayed and prayed until I no longer could and eventually just drifted off into a deep sleep. That night I promised God that I would raise Him a warrior if He spared my little baby’s life and that is one promise, I have held dear throughout A’s life. Long story short, A was first a threatened miscarriage, and was then born prematurely at 34 weeks (with blonde hair, blue eyes and looking like his mama), but God has been and always will be right by our side, because A was never mine, but has always been God’s and I have this massive blessing and honor to raise a little warrior for God. There is so much more to this story and one day I will tell it all, but this is all you need to know for now.
So.. I have made it my mission to teach A about God from a very young age. I used to play praise and worship songs to him while he was still in my womb and bought him his very first Bible even before he was born. Ever since then I have been searching for resources and tools that I could use to teach him about God on 1. A level that he could understand and remember, 2. A way that he could apply it to his daily life, instead of just memorizing it like a parrot and 3. In a way that was fun and exciting. I have tried multiple resources – from coloring Bibles, to puzzles and even adventure Bibles, but it just never really felt like he was taking any of the information I was giving him in. That was until I introduced him to TruthTV. They say God works in mysterious ways, and TruthTV was introduced to us at just the perfect time, and it was exactly what we both needed to grow both our relationship with God and with each other. TruthTV has become a part of our bedtime routine as we watch together, learn together, praise together and pray together. Let me introduce you to TruthTV too!
What is TruthTV?
TruthTV is South Africa’s very first streaming service that offers entertainment for Christian families. TruthTV allows you to enjoy hand-picked stories that’ll engage, inspire and nudge your family closer to God. We all know that parent’s who care about their family’s faith have been put in a challenging position when it comes to the programs, we allow our children (and ourselves) to watch whether it’s on TV, or via YouTube videos, etc. There’re more choices than there’s ever been, but with fewer options that actually reflect our values. The sheer volume of unlimited and unfiltered content piping into our homes has meant that parents are often overwhelmed by choice, but underwhelmed by options that reflect our beliefs. This is where TruthTV steps in. TruthTV offers a curated streaming service that focusses on faith and family values entertainment, which gives parents the peace of mind about the entertainment options available to their kids and content that reflects their values.
What TruthTV offers:
- Shows that parents and kids can enjoy
- Shows that bring the family together and inspires discussion
- Shows that keep the kids busy
Let’s jump straight into it:
What we love about TruthTV:
1 It is user friendly – I love how easy the app is to use. When logged in you immediately go to the home screen where you are met with the options of movies, series, and kids. Once you picked your category you get options such as top 10 movies, family favorites, date night options and so much more! I also love how the kid’s category is organized according to series’s and age groups, which means that A can easily navigate the app to the series that he wants to watch and then pick up right from where he last was. If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, just tap on the search option, it really is as easy as that.
2. Bible Study – This app definitely made Bible study so much more exciting and fun for A. We use the stories “owlegories” and “sea kids” as our Bible Study topics before bedtime. The stories are only 20 minutes long which is perfect for our bedtime routine, and it opens up a line of communication between A and I. It explains difficult concepts in an easy to understand and fun way and I have definitely seen so much growth in him.
3. Safe Screen time – So many times I have walked into A having screen time and then find him watching something that is not age appropriate. I have tried the kids versions, different types of streaming platforms, and blocking the content I didn’t want him to watch, but there’s always something new that pops up and it can get rather frustrating. TruthTV gives me the peace of mind that A are watching shows that are not only safe and fun, but also shows that are educational and falls within our beliefs system. This is a huge relief as a mom and allows me to actually use the time I get when he is having screen time productively, without worrying about what might pop up on the tablet, or what he might get exposed to.
4. Family Conversation Starters – I love how TruthTV encourages families to have open conversations about life and faith and guide us through their family conversation starters under the movies. We love the movie “lost and found” and some of the family conversation starts for this movie was: 1. What do you think the treasure was that the boys found?, and 2. What scriptures can you think of that talk about the treasure?
5. Different devices – I love that I can download the TruthTV app on different devices, which means that I can carry it with us wherever we go. We can stream it on our Tv and watch movies together in the living room, I have it on A’s tablet for when we go on long car rides or whenever he has his screen time and I have it on my phone so that we can use it for Bible study in bed at night time.
6. The download option – I love that I can download A’s favorite shows for him, which means that he can watch it wherever we are without me having to worry about a hefty phone/data bill waiting for me. It also means that he can watch it if we are in an area where there is no signal/wifi or when loadshedding hits and suddenly the towers are off too.
7. Something for everyone – There really is something for everyone, from drama’s to action, to mystery, musicals, comedies, documentaries, you name it. It even has shows, movies, etc in Afrikaans and English. You will definitely find something for the whole family to enjoy!
8. No advertisements! – We were recently introduced to Superbook and A immediately took to it, so I started using it as a type of “Church lesson” for A over the weekends. A loves watching his “Jesus story” in the mornings whilst having breakfast, but unfortunately it was raided with advertisements, which became quite frustrating for the both of us. We were ecstatic to see that Superbook is on TruthTV and he can finally watch it without the advertisements cutting in and searching for episodes.
9. It is affordable! – For only R129 a month you get UNLIMITED access to all of the movies, series and kids shows – that definitely is a win!
Some extra notes:
- I really hoped to find some praise and worship music or playlists but couldn’t really find any that I knew. They do have a music category, but I couldn’t really find music that I could praise and worship too. The same counts for the kid’s category – A really wanted to sing along to some praise and worship music, but unfortunately the music videos etc. for kids were aimed more at tweens and teens.
Other than that we really love our TruthTV experience thus far and will definitely recommend it to all of our friends and family. We also thought we would share some of our favorite shows with you.
First up is A’s Top 5 Picks:
- Superbook – This has been a favorite in our household for a couple of months now and we were so excited to see that we can now watch it on TruthTV! Here you can follow the adventures of Chris and Gizmo (a robot) and their friend Joy Pepper, as they travel back and forth in time with the help of a mysterious device that takes them on an awe-inspiring journeys throughout the stories of the Bible. The adventures not only teach our little ones the stories of the Bible, but also how to apply it to our daily lives and different situations.
- Owlegories – This is an animated series that follows a group of student owls as they travel on adventures learning about nature, faith and God. This series teaches our little ones to see God in things like the wind, fire, butterflies, the sun, seeds, etc.
- Sea kids – Sea kids introduces us to Freddy, David, Melissa, and their friends who find themselves having to swing through the rough waters of peer pressure, temptation, fear, bullies, lack of self-esteem, and so much more. It not only teaches our children how to deal with these issues, but also shows them that they can pray to Jesus and ask Him for guidance, wisdom, and so much more.
- God Rocks! – This one is all about the praise! Our kids get to join Chip, Gem, Carb and Splint in the town of Rocky Ridge where they live to sing and praise God with their lives.
- Jungle Beat: The series
Last, but not least my top 5:
- 23 Blast: Blind Faith (movie)
- Heartland (series)
- The Aurora Tea Garden Mysteries
- Three weeks, three kids (movie)
- Samson (movie)
Conclusion:
TruthTV has opened us to a whole new world of faith based family entertainment. Finally A can learn about God in a way that is not only fun, exciting and entertaining, but also on his level and in a way that he understands. He finally engages with the stories and asks questions, and I can see that his love for God and His Word is growing. I can finally have peace of mind with regards to what he is watching and lastly I can also strengthen my own faith in the process. I have really enjoyed the bonding time we got from implementing TruthTV as a part of our daily lives. TruthTV gets a double thumbs up from both A and myself!
AND because we love TruthTV SO MUCH we want to bless you with a 14 day FREE trial! Just click on the link to see for yourself – you can cancel anytime you like but we have a feeling you won’t!
Remember: If we don’t teach our children who God is… someone else will teach them everything that He is not. – Darlene Schacht
~ Love A & Mommy ~
