Providential provision

Perhaps you recall listening to The World and Everything in It on Monday morning, Sept. 30, 2024, and hearing something unusual. After the familiar introductions, you heard a report that floodwaters had swept through our headquarters in Asheville, N.C. Hurricane Helene had pushed the Swannanoa River over its banks, leaving our offices in Biltmore Village destroyed. Our business offices, WORLD Watch’s TV studio, and our Asheville radio studio—all of it was submerged under rushing water that rose higher and faster than anyone expected. Remote operations kept us on the air and publishing, and, by God’s grace, we didn’t miss a single deadline.

That was what you heard. What we experienced up close was God’s provision through His people. Nearby, but on higher ground, Evangelism Explosion International opened its doors to us—not only with office space but with friendship. During this past year, EE staff have invited us to every one of their lunches, they included our families in their Christmas celebration, and week after week they showed us what Christian love looks like. Their mission is evangelism, and this year, for us, they have preached powerfully through hospitality.

Now, after months of improvising, we are finding new space for our staff and operations. WORLD Watch production is anchored in Charlotte, and a new office in Asheville will soon be ready, so we will be reducing our footprint at EE’s head­quarters over the next month. We’ll be sad to leave, but the friendships God gave us in a season of hardship will remain.

That season was a reminder of how much we need one another. And it inspired us to think creatively about how to strengthen fellowship across the wider WORLD family. That’s the vision behind a new initiative we are “piloting” this fall: The WORLD Stage.

The idea is simple but vital: to gather our readers, listeners, and viewers—along with friends who may not yet know WORLD—for face-to-face conversations with thoughtful, Biblically sound speakers. For years, we’ve experimented with live formats, from podcast recordings before an audience to WORLD Watch events for students. The shutdowns of 2020 interrupted those efforts, but the desire never left. Those earlier experiences gave us a glimpse of the potential, and time has only reinforced our conviction of the value of meeting together.

This new project is a little different. In Houston on Sept. 15, we asked podcast favorite David Bahnsen to be our first speaker. We call it a “pilot” not because of Houston’s role in the space program but because we intend to test, refine, and improve the format. We are planning more, and you can follow updates at wng.org/theworldstage. We hope many of you will join us in person as this effort expands.

WORLD staffers Naomi Balk and Harrison Watters tied the knot in August. Photo by Leah Robbins

Community is not only something we receive in crisis or something we build through programs. Sometimes it happens in very personal ways. Weddings among WORLD staff families are a big deal here, and it seems that just about every month brings another. We never get tired of celebrating, but in the past year, we’ve celebrated two that are especially close to home—weddings between colleagues.

Last fall, two of our Washington, D.C., reporters, Carolina Lumetta and Josh Schumacher, were married. This summer, their colleague in the Washington bureau, Harrison Watters, married Naomi Balk, assistant director of the World Journalism Institute. Two weddings in two years among co-workers is rare for us, but each one was a joyful reminder of God’s providence.

From storm recovery to live events and wedding celebrations, the theme remains the same: God provides for His people through the gift of community. We are grateful.