Ask the Editor: A testament of grace

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, June 6th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

A year of stories, a journal full of moments, and a few minutes now to remember what God has done. Here’s WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler with Ask the Editor for the month of June.

PAUL BUTLER: I sat down this week with the program journal, intending just to scan it. Instead, I ended up staying in it for hours.

It’s a pretty simple document: a running list of the stories we’ve reported over the past year. But reading through … I felt overwhelmed … and compelled to stop and thank God for his faithfulness to us … in letting us tell stories of courage and perseverance and grace. And in giving us a team of reporters, producers, editors, and technicians who make The World and Everything in It possible each day.

With the use of audio and strong storytelling … we’ve been able to walk you through moments of deep suffering:

SOUND: [ISRAELI HOSTAGE]

Israeli families waiting for hostages.

AVIVA SIEGEL: I’m just going to beg, and beg until they bring Kieth home.

A candlelight prayer vigil for victims of a church shooting in Wisconsin.

VIGIL SERVICE: God never called us to live out our faith alone, so here we are tonight…we need each other…

We talked with flood victims …

ERIC BRINKER: So many people with excavators, skid steers, tractors, rebuilding their own roadways…

We listened as brave men and women battled wildfires and picked through the rubble out west.

We took you to the crossroads of global crises.

ZHANNA KOSIAK: You understand that wherever you go, God is with you…

We met Ukrainian, Russian, and Afghan refugees … we heard from believers who serve and advocate for them.

We visited the site of the Pennsylvania rally where a gunman attempted to assassinate President Trump.

DAVID PHILLIPS: People around the world know where Butler, Pennsylvania is now…and for all the wrong reasons…

We found hope in unexpected places.

SOUND: [LENDING LIBRARIES]

Like lending libraries committed to truth and beauty, where the story remains about great books … not the cultural confusion.

We’ve been all around the world together …

MARIA: We believe that education is a lot more than math…

To Brazil, where parents teach their children under the radar.

MARIA: …to build a human being right?

To Syria, alongside rangers and aid workers.

SOUND: [FREE BURMA RANGERS]

Our reporters brought back stories from Canada, Rwanda, Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand—and many more.

We’ve followed the levers of power.

AUDIO: [DEBATE]

From presidential debates to state funerals. From legal arguments to heated congressional hearings.

DAWN LAND: “No one has the right to consent for kids to be sterilized…

With our bureau next to the Supreme Court and across the street from the Capitol … we’ve been able to catch up with lawmakers making decisions that affect us all.

And we’ve met some unforgettable people.

An asteroid hunter.

FRANCK MARCHIS: I used to make fun of people of looked for asteroids…

A team listening to life beneath the soil.

JAKE ROBINSON: Something like 75% of the world’s soils are degraded…

A mom who reversed an abortion-pill decision—in a race against time and chemistry.

MAKENNA GREENE: I broke down and I kind of told her what was happening. And she's like, Well, is there anything we can do about it, and I was like, I don't know.

We’ve talked with detransitioners as they told stories of pain and healing.

FOREST SMITH: I learned a prayer of “Christ join my suffering to yours”, that brought me a lot of meaning.

Families struggling with infertility … and the ethical and spiritual concerns over I-V-F. Families growing through adoption.

D’LYNN HERTING: And so he had that compassion on me and allowed me to have my three kids…

We met female athletes standing up for fairness in sport … and sometimes taking a knee instead of competing with men.

RILEY GAINES: We were told that we were the problem if we opposed this…

Of course … it takes a team to make this happen. You’ll hear their names in a moment.

But right now, I want to thank you. In just the last two months … we served up more than a million program downloads a month … and reached a quarter of a million unique listeners regularly each month.

Without you … your prayers, your encouragement, your sharing the program with others, your financial generosity … none of this would be possible.

Next week, we begin our June Giving Drive … and prepare our budget for the year ahead … and as we do that, I simply want to say: thank you! We’re all humbled by your generosity and by your commitment to pray for this work.

The list of stories grows everyday, and I look forward to sitting down with the program journal next year … and seeing, once again, how God used you to make it all possible.

I’m Paul Butler.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.