The World and Everything in It — August 13, 2020

MEGAN BASHAM, HOST: Good morning!

The people of Beirut face a humanitarian crisis after last week’s port explosion. The blast tore through the country’s grain reserves, and now bread supplies are running low.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk to WORLD’s Mindy Belz, who’s on the ground in Lebanon.

Also parents are facing some tough choices about schooling their children this fall.

Plus megachurch Pastor John MacArthur talks about his clash with California officials over in-person worship services.

And Cal Thomas on how the U.S. Postal Service could complicate the November election.

BASHAM: It’s Thursday, August 13th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Megan Basham.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BASHAM: Up next, news with Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden formally introduces Sen. Harris in Delaware » Joe Biden made his first appearance with his newly announced running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, on Wednesday. 

BIDEN: We’re all going to watch Senator Harris raise her right hand and swear the oath of office as the first woman ever to serve in the second-highest office in America, in this land. 

For her part, Senator Harris wasted no time going on offense…

HARRIS: America is crying out for leadership. Yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him. 

The two appeared together at a press conference in Wilmington, Delaware. 

President Trump brushed off Biden’s VP pick on Twitter. He said Senator Harris—quote—“started strong in the Democrat primaries, and finished weak, ultimately fleeing the race with almost zero support.” He added, “That’s the kind of opponent everyone dreams of!”

Train derailment kills six people in Scotland » The United Kingdom’s first fatal railway crash since 2007 left four people dead and sent six others to the hospital on Wednesday. 

Several of the passenger train’s cars went down an embankment near the coastal town of Stonehaven, Scotland. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters…

JOHNSON: One of the reasons that this accident is so shocking is of course that it is that this kind of accident on the railways is thankfully so rare. But our thoughts are very much with those who have lost their lives, their families, and of course those who have been injured. 

The line was not busy, but the area saw heavy rains and flooding before the derailment. The British transport police and local officials are investigating the cause of the accident. 

Democrats and Republicans no closer to coronavirus relief deal » As the pandemic continues to drag down the economy, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart on a new coronavirus relief bill. President Trump announced several executive actions aimed at providing economic relief after negotiations fell apart on Capitol Hill last week. 

Both GOP and Democratic leaders say they still want to strike a deal. But each side accuses the other of being unwilling to budge. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer:

SCHUMER: Democrats remain ready to return to the table. We need our Republicans to join us there and meet us halfway. 

But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell countered… 

MCCONNELL: It’s been clear for some weeks that the speaker of the House and the Senate Democratic leader are treating this crisis like an ordinary political game. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday expressed skepticism that the two sides will hammer out a deal anytime soon. 

Democrats say President Trump’s executive actions, aimed at suspending payroll taxes and extending extra unemployment benefits among other things don’t go nearly far enough. And they question whether the orders can legally take effect. 

Stein Mart files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy » Another major U.S. retailer is filing for bankruptcy protection as pandemic-related hardship continues to hammer brick and mortar retailers. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The discount chain Stein Mart announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And it will close most, if not all, of its nearly 300 stores in 30 states. 

At its peak in 2005, Stein Mart boasted revenue of about $1.5 billion dollars. And it came close to that number as recently as 2014. 

CEO Hunt Hawkins said “The combined effects of a challenging retail environment coupled with the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic” were too much to overcome. 

More than 40 retail chains have filed for bankruptcy this year, including J.C. Penny, Neiman Marcus, and Pier 1 Imports. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.  

Britain suffers worst ever economic plunge amid pandemic » Meantime, Britain has suffered the deepest recession among the world’s top economies since the pandemic began. Its economy has shrunk by 20.4 percent in the second quarter alone. That’s the country’s worst quarterly drop on record.  

Rishi Sunak is the U.K. chancellor of the exchequer—that’s the British treasury. He said the pandemic has hit British workers hard. 

SUNAK: Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their job and sadly, many more will. But I will say to people, although tough decisions lie ahead for all of us, no one will be left without hope or opportunity. 

While many of the lockdown restrictions have been eased, the country faces a tough time in coming months. Unemployment is likely to spike as the government phases out a support program that has effectively kept nearly 10 million workers on company payrolls.

Britain’s recession is deeper than those recorded by comparable economies in Europe, notably Germany, France and Italy, or by the United States.

Big 12 moving ahead with plans for fall season » There may be college football in autumn after all. WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg has details. 

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: Just hours after the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they’ll wait until spring to resume playing, the Big 12 Conference said Wednesday that it’s moving ahead with plans to play in the fall.

In a statement, Big 12 board chairman Victor Boschini said “Our student-athletes want to compete, and it is the board’s collective opinion that sports can be conducted safely.”

Teams will play a “9-plus-1” schedule, meaning nine conference games and one non-conference game with the conference season beginning September 26th. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: cleanup begins in Beirut.

Plus, Cal Thomas with some questions about mail-in voting.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER: It’s Thursday the 13th of August, 2020. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

MEGAN BASHAM: And I’m Megan Basham. First up: recovering from a man-made disaster.

AUDIO: [SOUND OF SIREN]

EICHER: Last week a massive explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon. It killed more than 200, injured thousands, and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

AUDIO: [SOUND OF BOBCAT, WORKERS, JACKHAMMER]

BASHAM: Residents of the devastated city are working hard to clear debris and repair damage. International aid groups are also pitching in. But it’s going to be a long process.

WORLD senior editor Mindy Belz traveled to Beirut to report on the situation and she joins us now. Mindy, good morning.

MINDY BELZ, GUEST: Good morning, Megan. 

BASHAM: So, tell us what you’re seeing there on the ground. 

BELZ: It’s a remarkable scene, really. I mean, the level of destruction is different from anything I’ve seen before. You have a crater in the middle of Beirut’s harbor that runs now about 140 feet deep. Half the city of Beirut has been affected by this and by affected, I mean houses destroyed like you would see in an earthquake, metal rods, things twisted like you would see in a hurricane, that kind of thing. 

I went by the St. George’s hospital today, I didn’t realize that it was actually a medical complex that stretches over about a block and a half and maybe even more, and every window is blown out. Mattresses are hanging out of what used to be hospital rooms. And it’s the kind of destruction that you really have to see to believe. 

BASHAM: And before I interviewed, you were mentioning how significant this is because of Beirut and what it represents in the area. Can you talk about that a little bit? 

BELZ: Sure. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Lebanon is, in many ways, the last bastion of freedom in the Arab world. And one of the great pieces of that, I think an ingredient of that is that it has a very vibrant Christian community. And that Christian community is based out of what many people call “Old Beirut” or “East Beirut.” And these are the neighborhoods that are directly close to the port. These are the neighborhoods that are most devastated. It is a real question now whether Lebanon’s Christian community inside Beirut can hold on because of the devastation that’s there. 

BASHAM: Well, so have you started talking to the Christian community there yet? And, if so, how are they responding to the disaster? 

BELZ: Yeah, I’ve spent the last few days walking the streets with them, going in some of their houses, seeing some of the damage. Really a remarkable time because the cleanup is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. 

You have volunteer crews out in the streets with brooms, with buckets, with dust pans, and they are clearing the glass. They are bringing in small front loaders to move the rubble and they’re taking—there are churches and Christian ministries here that I don’t think they’ve slept since this happened a week ago. And so it’s really an incredible all volunteer clean-up effort at this point. 

BASHAM: How about the international response and how has the U.S. been involved? 

BELZ: U.S. officials were here this week—the head of USAID, which will I think lead the humanitarian effort, but also the head of the World Food Program was here yesterday and I spoke to him, to David Beasley. He’s the former governor of South Carolina and he was here because he knows what a severe food crisis is going to be coming for Lebanon. He told me yesterday that Lebanon has two and a half weeks of bread supply left. 

I think that might be—some people would say that’s a little bit of an exaggeration. There is now some grain that’s coming in. But all of the grain reserves for Lebanon were in the port and were destroyed. And any country, I’m told, should have six months of grain reserves and Lebanon now has zero months. 

The U.S. has pledged $17 million also toward assisting Beirut. And much of that may go into helping restore supply chain and these grain reserves. They were even looking at the United States potentially being a partner with France or with others in helping to rebuild the port. It is pretty much a major issue because Lebanon is a major importer. I believe 85 percent of its food is imported. 

But secondarily, 30 percent of what the U.S. gets into Syria comes in through this port in Beirut. And so that’s a huge issue, too. We’re looking at a whole region that can be affected by the long term closure of this port. And so I think that’s where the U.S. will focus its efforts. 

BASHAM: Well, Mindy, one more question before we let you go. I know Lebanon has had political upheaval for some time, but did the ruling party’s resignation surprise you? Of course, Lebanon has been in a crisis with six months of protests and economic decline. How much does that impact the situation now?

BELZ: It’s a huge part of the situation now and everywhere I go people are talking about the political instability and the economic instability here. So, on the one hand this is a terrible time for a country to have this kind of disaster and this level of loss of life and humanitarian crisis. On the other hand, it could turn out to be a time where the disaster itself, the explosion itself forces this region and the rest of the world to focus more on the role that Hezbollah in particular has been playing in the political atmosphere here in Lebanon. 

We think of Hezbollah as a terror group, which it is, and the U.S. considers it one, officially. But here in Lebanon it is a political party with a lot of political power. There is this fear of Hezbollah, but we’ve been seeing effigies burning in Martyr Square right off of the port site every night of some of the key Hezbollah figures. I saw a newscast tonight where questions were being asked about key Hezbollah leaders here. 

These are things that were never discussed. People have been too afraid to talk about it. And it’s sort of coming out of the shadows. I think that we could be in for a time of upheaval here. It’s not a time for Western powers to look the other way. But I also think it could be a tremendous time of opportunity both for Christian relief work and for rebuilding this country as a whole.

BASHAM: Mindy Belz is senior editor for WORLD. Mindy, thank you for being our eyes and ears in the Middle East today.

BELZ: Thank you, Megan.

MEGAN BASHAM: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: we’re going back to school!

NICK EICHER: Well, some of us are, anyway! After what feels like the longest summer break in history, families are finally preparing to get back in the school routine. But for many students—and their parents—school’s going to look a lot different than it did this time last year.

BASHAM: WORLD’s Anna Johansen reports now on the difficult school choices parents are having to make.

ANNA JOHANSEN, REPORTER: Nina Mbezele has two daughters, aged 5 and 10. At first, their Atlanta-area school district offered multiple options: In person classes, online classes, or a combination of both. But then administrators decided to go online only … for the entire first semester.

That was a big problem for Mbezele.

MBEZELE: My husband and I both work.

Mbezele works in healthcare; her husband works at a hotel. So they felt like they only had one choice when it came to their daughters’ education.

MBEZELE: We needed our kids to be in school. We were aware of the challenges and the danger involved with it. But, you know, we just felt like we didn’t have the choice to have them do online schooling.

So their daughters will go to daycare and do school online from there.

MBEZELE: The daycare is providing assistance with having teachers already in position ready to teach them what the elementary school teacher cannot do via the online lesson. 

Mbezele says it’s the best option for them right now, but she’s frustrated. She wasn’t planning on paying $1,000 a month for daycare, indefinitely.

John Bailey is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He says parents everywhere are facing a lot of tough choices.

BAILEY: I don’t think there’s like a single good option here for most parents. So a lot of parents are trying to balance between what’s best for their kids academically and also what they feel like is going to keep them the safest. 

Many parents are worried about their children catching or spreading COVID-19 if they go back to the classroom. A recent study showed that four in 10 parents want a vaccine before they feel safe sending their kids back to school.

BAILEY: And all of that sort of just suggests that again, the fear is very intense for parents.

But if the students don’t go back, parents are worried about a host of other things.

BAILEY: There’s a lot of concerns, I would say, about schools are such a part of the social safety net, particularly providing food security to a lot of families.

They’re also concerned about their children falling behind in school and missing out on social interactions. According to that same poll, parents worry about those two things almost as much as they worry about COVID-19. Because they aren’t sure if online learning is enough.

FLANAGAN: Not all services that children are receiving in the school setting are 100 percent transferable to online settings.

Meg Flanagan is an education consultant. She says that’s especially true for children with special needs.

FLANAGAN: I’m thinking mostly about things like a one to one classroom aide. Or like feeding therapies. Certain kinds of day to day hygiene routines that need to happen during the school day, medical care, behavior, support…

Some families don’t have internet or laptops to even do online classes. According to John Bailey, it’s a big need.

BAILEY: We’ve seen other studies recently that have been estimating that it’s about 6 to 9 million kids who probably lack reliable connection connections and also the devices they need to participate in remote learning.

So a lot of parents are looking for other options. About 20 percent of parents say they’re going to do something different. They aren’t going back to the same school. They’re trying something new.

LOCATELLI: I think at the beginning of July, parents everywhere realized, Oh, wait, the schools are probably not going to be the ones to directly solve the particular issues that we had in the spring.

Alice Locatelli is the cofounder of an education startup called CoPod. It’s a networking website that helps parents form groups called learning pods: A few families band together to do school. Whatever form of school they want. Homeschool, online classes, you name it.

LOCATELLI: Three or four kids go to one person’s house on Monday to another person’s house on Tuesday and other person’s house on Wednesday, which spreads out the caregiving among the parents, and allows the students to have some of the social interaction that they missed in the spring, and also makes it easier for the remote teaching coordination to happen.

Some families are homeschooling. Some are recruiting grandparents to help. Some are doing online classes. Others are going to school in person. Locatelli says each family needs to figure out what works best for them.

LOCATELLI: I think the parents also have to be figuring out like, this isn’t just a school problem. It’s an at home question. And so what are parents comfortable with? And what can they do? And how can I help? And how do we band together as a community?

It’s going to look different for everyone, but she hopes people continue to step up and create solutions instead of waiting for someone else to figure it out.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen.

NICK EICHER: Maybe you think cows are just sort of docile creatures—very chill—just chewing the cud out there in the pasture, minding their own business.

But you may think that because you’ve never been perceived as a threat to a mama cow’s calf.

Evidently that was the case for an elderly couple out on a hike, who found themselves chased onto a barren trail by an angry cow.

It took the California Highway Patrol to hover a rescue helicopter, drop a line, and hoist them to safety.

AUDIO: OK, bring ’em up. OK. Coming up nice and straight. 50 feet out. You can bring your tail around to the left if you want to. Ah, it’s fine. I’m gonna go straight ahead here. Yeah, sounds good. 14 feet. Bring ’em up to the skid.

The video footage shows the cow rearing her head and bellowing aggressively.

The humans checked out fine. CHP sounded the helicopter alarm until the cows went home.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER: Today is Thursday, August 13th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MEGAN BASHAM: And I’m Megan Basham. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Defying government orders.

A few weeks ago California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all places of worship in the state’s most populous counties to stop meeting indoors. While his new orders do allow for outdoor services, these must be carried out along strict new social distancing guidelines.

EICHER: In response, one of the state’s largest churches, Grace Community, released a statement announcing that it would no longer abide by government restrictions.

BASHAM: I spoke with Grace Community’s pastor, John MacArthur, to ask him about that decision. I also asked about a couple of other issues he’s been outspoken about in the recent past.

Pastor MacArthur, thanks so much for being with us.

MCARTHUR: It’s my pleasure. Thank you.

BASHAM: Well, there have been a few direct responses from other Christian leaders and organizations on Grace Community’s statements, its choices. Now, the details of their arguments vary, but what they all seem to distill down to is that they believe civil disobedience isn’t the best option right now. To give you an example, an Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission spokesman tweeted out that they’re trying to partner and dialogue with California authorities. So, what’s your response to that?

MCARTHUR: It’s not a short answer, to be honest. But first thing we would say would be that they have no right to tell a church it can’t meet. That’s an unalienable right from God. So they’re violating the Constitution when they tell the church it can or can’t meet and how it can or can’t meet or where. But secondly, what people don’t understand is this: we have a list of the requirements for us to meet outdoors. They are so unreasonable and they are so vast and they are so complex as essentially to make that meeting impossible. 

For example, if a person is in the presence of another person, in less than six feet for over 15 minutes, they have to be quarantined for two weeks. That goes for children as well of different families. So this is just an absurdity. So we’ve tried to be sensible and say, Look, we’re going to be here, you’re adults. You decide if you want to come.

BASHAM: And to clarify, did I read correctly that Grace Community does have outdoor options? There is a social distancing section in the indoor option, is that correct?

MCARTHUR: Well, we have an outdoor tent. And it’s been up for a number of weeks and the chairs are a little further apart there. We have sanitizer around the campus. We have masks available for anybody who wants them. 

BASHAM: Well, you know, how about those who took the Grace elder statement as a word for all churches? Or how about those pastors who have said, we’re not cowards if we choose not to meet in the normal fashion?

MCARTHUR: Well, no, we didn’t want to indict anybody, but I get it. I can’t imagine the future when this particular society all of a sudden loves and tolerates the church. So, you may not want to fight at this particular point, but you may have to fight down the road. So we just decided to engage at the point that the society began to work to control the church. And we’re not going to allow that to happen. The limits that God puts on on the government are clear in the scripture and Christ is the head of the church and we obey Him rather than men when it comes to the spiritual realm.

BASHAM: Well, you know, I’d like to turn now to a couple other topics For what you’ve personally come under fire, and those are the MeToo and social justice movements. Now, as an example, political writer and well-known evangelical lawyer David French, claimed your criticism of the MeToo movement was reflexive. And I’m just going to read a bite of his argument here—just want to make that clear. He said, “There’s nothing inherently unchristian about a movement that has mainly exposed celebrity rapists and mainstream media lotharios. It has also exposed to abuse within the church.” So, what would you say it is about the MeToo movement and how it’s operating in the church that has had you concerned?

MCARTHUR: First of all, one thing Grace Community Church does is church discipline. When I came to this church 51 years ago, I’d never heard of any church in the nation doing church discipline where you actually follow our Lord’s instruction in the Gospel of Matthew and you confront sin and you take two or three witnesses, and if they don’t repent, you tell the entire church. 

We don’t want anyone to think for a moment that any kind of impenitence, any kind of perpetuated sin at any level, even to the top of the board of elders, would be tolerated in this church. We also know that that’s very different than getting caught up in a feminist ideological agenda, which smacks to me of what the MeToo movement is. And there’s so much danger when instead of dealing with sin, you’re dealing with everybody’s complaints. Because if you give an open forum for everyone’s complaints—and some of them may be legitimate, some of them may be invented—all of a sudden everybody becomes a victim. And when you turn everybody into a victim, you cut people off from real gospel ministry. 

The second thing that I’m concerned about is what are these evangelically angry people, what are they doing to their children? What are they teaching their children about? White supremacy, systemic racism, MeToo? What’s this next generation of kids raised in a family where there’s hostility, where there’s anger, what are they going to be like? They’re going to be exponentially more of what their parents were. And I know the Lord would want us as parents to teach love, and forgiveness, mercy, and look not on the things of others—on your own things, but the things of others and don’t consider yourselves better than anyone else. Humble yourselves before the Lord. Every believer has enough to do before God with his own sin and righteousness. 

And if they would love the way Christ loves sinners, it just reminds me of the parable our Lord gave of the man who owed the unpayable debt to the king. The king forgave him his debt and then he went out and strangled somebody who owed him a small amount. That’s what I see all of these movements doing. They’re strangling others for offenses when they have been forgiven an incalculable offense by the goodness and grace of God. They ought to be so grateful, so full of love, and so conscious to teach their children the love and forgiveness of Christ.

BASHAM: Shifting gears a bit, before we end for today, I don’t know how aware you are of the affectionate memes that have grown up around you on social media. If you’re familiar with the Babylon Bee, they frequently run, you know, funny fake news stories that feature John MacArthur as a sort of spiritual Chuck Norris. Do you ever get a chance to see that sort of thing?

MCARTHUR: Yes, I see those. Yeah, I don’t access social media myself, but yeah, no, I always get those sent to me and I take it as a compliment. It’s amazing how endearing the Word of God is and it spills over on me because, you know, I’m the guy I guess in a sense, the Romans 10, ‘Blessed are the feet of those who bring the good news.’ I think I’ve known the blessing that comes to one who faithfully brings the good news.

EICHER: We covered a lot more ground in our conversation and we’ll have part two of our Q & A with John MacArthur in a few weeks.

As with all our stories and interviews, you can find the full transcript at worldandeverything.org. You’ll also find something else there today: our occasional bonus feature we call One More Thing.

BASHAM: Yeah, several more things, but I narrowed it to one. John MacArthur had in a recent message made a passing remark about a soft drink and it led to some pretty amusing responses. So I asked him about it.  

Look for the One More Thing feature online at worldandeverything.org.

NICK EICHER: Today is Thursday, August 13th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MEGAN BASHAM: And I’m Megan Basham. Next up, Cal Thomas on the potential for trouble with mail-in voting.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Two weeks ago, I mailed an 8-by-10-inch envelope from a Miami post office to an address in New York state. The postage was correct, as was the address and zip code.

One week passed and the recipient emailed to say the envelope had not arrived, so I mailed another one. Last week, he wrote to say that the second one had arrived. A few days after that he wrote again to say the one mailed earlier had finally been delivered—after a 10-day delay. It should have taken three business days.

Multiply my experience by 100 million and the potential for widespread problems in an all-mail-in election should be obvious.

President Trump has worried about the threat of fraud with all mail-in voting, but that’s not the only issue that should concern us. We only need to look at the current, much-smaller absentee ballot system. 

The New York Daily News reported that some 1.2 million New Yorkers cast absentee ballots in that state’s June primary. But according to a federal judge—quote—”Systematic failures at the state Board of Elections and U.S. Postal Service resulted in nearly 1 in 10 absentee ballots cast in the June 23 primary being invalidated.” 

Some estimates have the number closer to 1 in 5, but either way, we’re talking about more votes than the 2016 president vote differential in Michigan and Pennsylvania combined. 

Many Democrats and the media have claimed the fear over mail-in ballots is misplaced, but the evidence proves otherwise.

In the 2018 congressional election, officials in Broward County, Florida, had trouble finding more than 2,000 ballots. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported—quote—”The county’s eternally beleaguered Supervisor of Elections, Brenda Snipes, said they either misplaced, misfiled, or mixed in with another stack.”

And the Associated Press recently reported—quote—”Hundreds of thousands of applications for mail-in ballots that a voter-advocacy group sent to voters in Virginia had the wrong return addresses, adding another complication for state election officials who are already hard-pressed to pull off a smooth election in a pandemic.” 

CBS This Morning ran a small test on mail-in ballots. The program set up a P.O. box and sent 100 mock ballots to it. A few days later the show sent 100 more. Only 97 percent of the first batch arrived after a week and 21 percent of the second batch had not arrived after four days. 

There are many other examples of voting problems in some states—particularly those not already equipped with a robust absentee system. That’s why mail-in balloting should be limited and thoroughly checked. Most voters can practice all the things medical experts tell us to do and vote in person. It is a civic duty and a privilege. 

I’m Cal Thomas.

NICK EICHER: Tomorrow: Culture Friday—a new initiative against cancel culture. It’s the Philadelphia Statement and we’ll talk with one of the signers whose name you know well, John Stonestreet.

And we’ll have a review of a sympathetic new documentary about black conservatives.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

MEGAN BASHAM: And I’m Megan Basham.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.

I hope you’ll have a great rest of the day. We’ll talk to you tomorrow!

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.