Listener feedback: July 2025

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.

PAUL BUTLER: We begin today with long-time listener Mary Stella from Midlothian, Virginia. One of our recent stories about persecution of Christians in Nigeria motivated her to pray, both for her brothers and sisters she doesn’t know, and for one in particular she does.

MARY STELLA: I’m calling in reference to Onize Oduah. I am listening right now to the program about all the persecution in Nigeria and every time I hear Onize’ voice I often wonder if she's safe? Is she Okay? But I just want to encourage people to pray for her that the good Lord will keep her and her new family safe. It's just so alarming to hear of these reports. But please everybody pray for the safety for all the Nigerian Christians and everybody there. Thank you.

Thanks Mary. The last time we checked with Onize, everything was going well. Everyone is safe and healthy, and she’ll be back with us in the fall, but in the meantime, I’m sure she appreciates your prayers.

Next a note from Joe Borecki. His email has this subject line: “To whom does that voice belong?!” He writes:

As an odd-duck sort who is intent on seeing ALL the end credits of movies in the theater…I always make a point of listening on Fridays…

But there is ONE person…I've yet to hear credit given - or at least not credited for his daily vocal appearances. I'm referring to the person who informs us of the various organizations who provide support for WORLD.

I'm hoping you'll be able to enlighten us. [Waiting] with great anticipation…

Well Joe, we’ve been holding on to your email since it came in on July 1^st, sorry to keep you hanging, but here at last is the answer:

SOUND: DRUM ROLL

It’s Carl Peetz! Carl not only helps put the program together each and every evening, but he also is the voice for all our generous sponsors. Thanks for noticing and we’re grateful for the—-- many ministries and organizations who financially support our work.

Next, Beverly Jacobson from Colorado enjoyed Daniel Darling’s recent profile of a comedian. A quick correction here, throughout that commentary we mispronounced Nate Bargatze’s name, though that’s not why Beverly wrote in. She had one other small bone to pick with us instead:

BEVERLY JACOBSON: I do take a little issue with his reference to Job 8:21 being a promise from God about filling our mouths with laughter because…if we study the whole book of Job, we know that Job's friends had some maybe less than stellar observations about God's ways and his character. So I think it's a little stretch to say that that's a promise from God. But I loved the observation from Proverbs and everything else. Thanks so much for the thoughtful commentary and everything that you do at The World and Everything in It.

Well Beverly, thank you so much for that. As you point out, Job 8:21 features the words of one of Job’s friends who didn’t have the complete picture, so we should be cautious, but in the end we do see God restore to Job all that was lost and more, and he does rejoice once again. We agree that we could have probably made it more clear that it isn’t a blanket promise for all people, even if it did turn out to be true for Job.

Next, a comment about our short report on televangelist Jimmy Swaggert’s passing—which included a mention of his infamous confession. Listener Gabrielle Geleta had this personal reflection:

GABRIELLE: My dad actually gave his life to Christ the very night that he confessed that he had sinned. And he was invited to church that night by his boss and went and God drew him in and I'm thankful that he did because he met my mom there a-nd we came along and we stayed there a number of years and eventually moved to a different church and then were missionaries in Southern Africa. But if it hadn't been for him going that night, I don't know if I'd be here today. So I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that we serve a God who is big enough to use both our success, our failures, our shortcomings, and anything and everything to draw people to himself.

What a great reminder. Thanks Gabrielle.

Next, Mike Smucker sent us this voicememo recording after hearing Janie B Cheaney’s commentary on kids and bicycles.

MIKE SMUCKER: I completely agree with the assessment of kids, bicycles, and growing up, but Janie B. Chaney will be encouraged to know that there are still some glimmers of hope to be found. Our children don't look for safe places to ride a bicycle. They have learned to ride safely on increasingly dangerous roadways. … It may not be the same that it was years ago, but your report serves to remind and affirm the reality that our family is blessed and the opportunities that have been made available to us. Thank you for the reminder.

And finally today, a word of encouragement from a pastor in Northwest Florida about last weekend’s special episode on the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Monkey Trial.

BEN RUSSELL: Hello, WORLD. My name is Ben Russell… I've listened to a lot of podcasts, and I can honestly say that was at the very top among the best I've ever heard in my life. The content and writing was thoughtful and thorough, historically accurate, and provocative and edifying to me as a Christian to reflect on. And its production was just beautiful, high quality, engaging. I can't wait to recommend it to my church and I look forward to hearing what's to come in the future. So keep up the good work and God bless you.

One quick correction before we go: During Wednesday’s World Tour I mistakenly identified a 100-year old runner as a “centurion” instead of a centenarian. One listener pointed it out but gave me the benefit of the doubt and said I was probably thinking of how he was “over a hundred…” I’m not sure it makes it much better, but I appreciate the grace.

Thanks to everyone who wrote and called in this month. It’s good to hear from you. We’re grateful you take the time to share your thoughts with us.

Our email address is: editor@wng.org. You can include an audio file attachment to your email and we’ll consider it for air.

And that’s Listener Feedback for the month of July!

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.