Season 6 · Episode 1

Touched by an Angel: Such A Time As This

In the middle of the African desert, Andrew snaps photographs of Sudanese slaves in the hot sun. Back in the United States, young Thomas Cooper is upset that his mother, Senator Katherine Cooper, has to return to Washington D.C. Monica is horrified to see the pictures that Andrew took, and wonders why the angels aren't in the Sudan. Tess indicates that Thomas is the little child that will lead them there. In Washington, Dr. Joseph Akot, working with Andrew and Monica, approach Kate about the problem of slavery in the Sudan, but Kate, espousing the Sudanese government's position, denies its existence. They persuade her, however, to keep the pictures and reads Dr. Joe's letter, which says that slaves can be bought and sold for fifty American dollars. Thomas is moved by one of the pictures in particular, of a small Sudanese boy, who Thomas names Sam after his older brother who died before Thomas was born. Thomas pleads with his mother to rescue Sam, but tells him that the issue is