Cancelling The World and Everything in It Live

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Monday morning and back to work for The World and Everything in It. Today is the 16th of March, 2020. Good morning to you, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Back to work, indeed. But not back to mass public gatherings, I’m afraid.

REICHARD: Oh, I knew it!

EICHER: Yes, not a big surprise, but certainly a disappointment. And prudence is probably the right move here. But we made the decision late on Friday that we need to postpone our two planned events in Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta. Those were for Thursday night in Greenville, and Saturday in Atlanta.

So, bottom line, The World and Everything in It Live is going on a voluntary self-quarantine. 

Our primary concern, of course, is the health of our staff, listeners, and loved ones. And thinking broadly of the command to love our neighbor, we felt like by canceling we could do our small part to slow the spread of the virus, and in that way at least not increase pressure on our healthcare system.

REICHARD: Right! Those who are most vulnerable, if they become infected, are likely to need hospitalization. We have to be aware of the danger of straining the system. And yet I know how you and the team here at WORLD struggled with this decision to postpone the events.

EICHER: So many people worked so hard, and I’m thinking of our colleague Jonathan Woods and his team. Jonathan invested quite a lot of resources into this, and so those are not easy decisions. 

Now, good news here is that Jonathan and his team did such terrific work that they’re already talking about when we might be able to put a re-schedule date on the calendar. We will keep you posted.

But for now, again, very sorry to so many who were looking forward to these events, that we have to postpone The World and Everything in It Live.

REICHARD: It’s so important that we pray for God’s mercy in this health emergency. Yesterday was a national day of prayer, asking God’s help in this. Really, though, every day we should be seeking the Lord’s help.

They say, sing happy birthday while washing your hands, as a way to slow yourself down and be thorough. You know, I’ve got a better idea: say a prayer as you scrub. Pray, pray, pray, and keep your hands clean!

EICHER: Amen! Pure hearts, clean hands!

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