The World and Everything in It - December 22, 2021

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

President Biden’s Build Back Better massive spending plan is dead thanks to Democrat Senator Joe Manchin. What does this mean for Republicans?

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Washington Wednesday.

Plus more Christmastime cooking with our staff.

And waiting with hope and expectation.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, December 21st. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

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

REICHARD: It’s time for the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden announces massive COVID-19 testing effort » At the White House on Tuesday, President Biden announced a new effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

BIDEN: The federal govt. will purchase one-half-billion additional at-home rapid tests. We’ll be giving these tests to Americans for free.

The president said the tests will start shipping out next month. He also announced increased support for hospitals under strain.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday he’s activating National Guard troops to assist overwhelmed hospitals in his state.

BAKER: There’s no question the next few weeks will be enormously difficult for our healthcare community. There are staff shortages, sicker patients, and few stepdown beds available.

New U.S. cases of COVID-19 have doubled over the past three weeks.

A resurgence of the delta variant started the latest wave but omicron has overtaken it as the dominant variant in the country.

Dr. Amesh Adaljia at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said omicron is so incredibly infectious that it may be just a matter of time before everyone gets infected, vaccinated or not. But he said vaccines do largely protect against severe cases.

ADALJIA: If you’re somebody that’s fully vaccinated or if you’re high risk, fully vaccinated and boosted, you can really go about your life in a way that you could before the pandemic.

Omicron now accounts for about three out of every four infections in the United States.

Pentagon issues rules aimed at curbing extremism » Pentagon officials have issued new rules that they say are aimed at combating extremism within the U.S. military.

The announcement came nearly a year after some current and former service members participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, triggering a Defense Dept. review.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the new guidance doesn't make significant changes to what is or is not allowed. Rather, he said, it’s an effort to clarify.

KIRBY: These new updates provide increased clarity for service members and commanders on what qualifies as prohibited extremist activities.

The new guidance is far more specific about social media. Banned activities range from advocating terrorism or supporting the overthrow of the government to “liking” or reposting extremist views on social media.

The new rules also outline a two-step process for commanders to determine when to hold someone accountable.

Border Patrol: Possible terrorist apprehended at southern border » The chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Yuma sector said agents apprehended a—quote—“potential terrorist” at the southern border. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Chief Patrol Agent Chris T. Clem announced this week that agents—in his words—“apprehended a potential terrorist who illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico Thursday night.”

He said the 21-year-old migrant initially thought to be from Saudi Arabia is—quote—“linked to several Yemeni subjects of interest.” The Saudi Embassy, however, said the man was not a Saudi citizen.

Photos taken after the man’s arrest showed him wearing a jacket with a patch that said Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Oneida County is in New York. And an official with the county said, “The individual arrested is not affiliated with our organization in any way.”

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

U.S. population growth at lowest rate in pandemic's 1st year » U.S. population growth dipped to its lowest rate since the nation’s founding during the first year of the pandemic.

New figures released Tuesday that the United States grew only by 0.1 percent from July of 2020 to July of 2021. The Census Bureau said the population grew by just under 400,000 people over that 12-month span.

COVID-19 deaths, tighter immigration, and delayed pregnancies led to the slow population growth.

U.S. population growth has been lagging for years, but this was the first time since 1937 that the nation’s population grew by fewer than 1 million people.

Putin blames West for tensions, demands security guarantees » Russian President Vladimir Putin says the West is to blame for growing tensions with Russia. And he is again demanding certain guarantees from the United States and its NATO allies. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has that story.

PUTIN: [Speaking Russian]

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: At the Kremlin on Tuesday, Putin again said he wants guarantees that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not be allowed to join the NATO military alliance.

His remarks came just days after Moscow made the same demands in writing. Russia last week submitted drafts of proposed security agreements with the United States and NATO.

Putin charged Tuesday that if U.S. and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine, it will take those missiles only minutes to reach Moscow. And he said the Kremlin needs “long-term, legally binding guarantees,” as opposed to verbal promises that Moscow can't trust.

He said NATO has expanded eastward since the late 1990s and he claimed that is the reason for heightened tensions with Russia.

Thousands of Russian troops are now amassed along the Ukrainian border, but Moscow denies it has plans to invade the country.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: Washington’s power broker.

Plus, waiting patiently for Jesus to come again.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 22nd of December, 2021.

You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. I hope you took special note of the preroll today. The story she tells is of the day August 26th. That day a terrorist bombed the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the chaotic pullout of American forces. One hundred eighty three people died that day and among the dead were 13 members of the United States military. That’s the context.

Her son was there—he was on duty at the airport—and several days before that attack, she sent us a preroll and she happened to mention her Marine son.

In God’s providence, the day we’d planned to use it was the day of the attack.

REICHARD: And the story just gives me goosebumps. Around 9:30 eastern that morning the attack came and WORLD listeners made the connection and prayed for that young man and the family. God preserved the young man’s life and it was just one of those moments—and that’s what Lisa was describing—where you really feel connected to the prayers of God’s people.

EICHER: That’s something we hear, that our news and features prompt prayer for situations around the world, and her story is just a vivid reminder of the kind of community we have here at WORLD, and we’re just so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it and grateful to God for you for sharing your weekday mornings with us.

So if you skipped through it or it didn’t really sink in for you, I’d recommend you go back and hear her voice, listen to that preroll one more time.

REICHARD: Now on to Washington Wednesday.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is a rare breed, at least in the U.S. Senate, a traditional centrist Democrat.

EICHER: With the Senate now split 50-50, party leaders have to have every Senate Democrat on board to pass any legislation unless Republicans join them. And that included President Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan. The multi-trillion-dollar social spending package was the cornerstone of his domestic agenda and the White House worked for months to sell Manchin on the plan.

But on Sunday, the senator announced, no sale.

MANCHIN: I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there.

But Manchin is also standing in the way of other things progressive Democrats would like to accomplish and he’s drawing plenty of fire from the left because of it.

REICHARD: Joining us now to talk about Republican prospects for next year and beyond is Matt Klink. He is a Republican political strategist. Matt, good morning!

MATT KLINK, GUEST: Good morning.

REICHARD: So why did Senator Manchin oppose this bill... after all, he supported other big spending throughout this pandemic?

KLINK: Joe Manchin has been very clear that he was opposed to Build Back Better as it was currently being considered in the Senate for a couple different reasons. The first is the impact that even more government spending would have on inflation. We're already seeing rising gasoline prices, rising food prices, and the impact that that inflation is having not only on West Virginia voters, but more importantly, on the United States at large was one reason. The second reason that he said all along was that he was just tired of the budget gimmicks. The Democrats—to fit the Build Back Better program under the rules of reconciliation—they would create 10 year programs, but fund them for one year, which, again, that made the bill come in at about $1.75 trillion. But the Congressional Budget Office did a real world estimate if these programs were to continue, and it came in somewhere between $3 and $4 trillion and that was just too much for Mr. Manchin to stomach.

REICHARD: So aside from the dollar amount, Matt, what would have won Manchin over had the White House changed the terms, aside from the financials?

KLINK: Aside from the financials, the thing that probably would have won Senator Manchin over is fewer programs with real funding allocations—meaning for a 10 year life of program, which is the maximum that you can do under budget reconciliation. But then again, that would divide the progressive caucus and Joe Biden has consistently shown weakness, and rather than forcing progressives to choose priorities, he's just given them everything. So, Senator Manchin really is going to force the Biden administration and the Senate to take a step back and focus on what's really important. And if they're not careful they may get nothing.

REICHARD: Democrats are now turning up pressure on Manchin to support a federal overhaul of election laws. And that would shift a whole lot of power from states to Washington. Where does he stand on that issue?

KLINK: He's been rather mum on, you know, he said he supports some things but he hasn't said he supports the specific package that is HR-1 or S-1, which would be a complete overhaul of voting. And the obstacle that the Democrats face in the Senate is that they need 60 votes unless they tinker with the filibuster. And Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and others who have not been so public have concerns about that because everyone in the Senate realizes that they may be in the majority today, but they could be in the majority tomorrow and this could be used against them.

REICHARD: Speaking about the Senate filibuster. GOP Sen. John Thune said Manchin is—quoting here—“trying to come up with some fairly … creative ideas about the rules.”

Do you have any idea what that means or what changes Manchin might favor?

KLINK: Well, look, the Senate writes its own rules. They can pretty much do whatever you have 50 votes for. The challenge, though, becomes that those rules can be easily misinterpreted. And that the classic example is when Senator Harry Reid removed the filibuster on judges with the exception of Supreme Court judges. Well, the Republicans came in and said, If we're going to do it for judges, we'll just remove it for all. Boom presto, we now have three Trump appointees on the Supreme Court and a 6-3 majority vote. So it's the law of unintended consequences in the Senate and that's why the smart and centrist Republicans and Democrats are treading very, very lightly on filibuster reform.

REICHARD: Well, we know that Manchin isn’t very popular with the liberal base of the Democratic party right now. He’s taking a lot of abuse. Is that a problem for him?

KLINK: Joe Manchin is being abused by the progressives. But you know what? He represents a state that Donald Trump won by 39 points. Build Back Better is polling negatively by 75 percent of West Virginia voters. So I don't think he has anything to worry about about voter displeasure with his actions. In fact, I think that the voters are happier with Joe Manchin primarily because he did stand up for West Virginia and didn't bow to the coastal elites.

REICHARD: Well, there’s a lot of focus right now on instances where Manchin is standing in the way of progressive efforts, but there are plenty of issues on which he is very much aligned with the Democrats, right? 

KLINK: Absolutely. Joe Manchin is no Republican. He supports increasing corporate individual and capital gains taxes—although not as dramatically as progressives—he supports letting Medicare negotiate for prescription drug prices. So again, he is a centrist Democrat, who believes that there is a role for government to play, just not as excessive or as aggressive as the progressives in the Democratic Party want.

REICHARD: Matt, do you expect some Democrats to almost run against Manchin in a sense in next year’s midterms to motivate their base? And do you think they may hold up Manchin’s obstruction of the left’s priorities to tell voters… “hey, we need a bigger Senate majority!”?

KLINK: The progressive left will absolutely use a stalled agenda to highlight why more progressives are needed in Washington D.C. The challenge, though, is that especially in the Senate, unless you're running in a deep, deep blue state, the middle holds sway. So you know, voters want moderation. Voters did not elect Joe Biden to be a “transformative president.” They elected him because he was the anti-Trump. He was competent, he had worked in Washington, he was going to end COVID, and restore America's prominence in the world. And frankly, none of that's happened so far. The Democrats have a really, really tough road to hoe in 2022. And believe it or not, Joe Manchin may have saved the Democratic Party from its own self. That the progressive impulse to tax command and control was so burdensome that they're losing the middle. And elections in this country are not won on the extremes, they are one in the middle. And right now that middle has swung pretty significantly back toward Republicans.

REICHARD: Anything else that you would want to add? I’ll just have an open-ended question here about this whole topic with Joe Manchin, the Democrats, and where the GOP stands in the next election?

KLINK: Joe Manchin is the most powerful person in Washington D.C., bar none. Every piece of legislation—whether it's a voting rights bill, a spending bill, an energy bill—they all run through Joe Manchin and look for a thumbs up or a thumbs down. There are other Democrats that also hold power. Kyrsten Sinema, for one. But Joe Manchin is consistent in his desire to keep the party left of center but certainly touching center and it makes for a lot of fun for Joe Manchin and probably a lot of angst from the coastal elites like California, New York, and Massachusetts.

REICHARD: Matt Klink with Klink Campaigns has been our guest today. Matt, thanks so much!

KLINK: Anytime. Merry Christmas!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Tigray forces withdraw from other regions—We start today here in Africa.

AUDIO: [Woman crying]

Officials in Ethiopia’s Tigray region say two dozen people died last week when government forces attacked the town of Alamata. The drone strike targeted a market filled with shoppers.

But fighting in and around Tigray could soon be coming to an end.

On Monday, the leader of Tigray’s rebel forces said he had ordered his fighters to withdraw from neighboring provinces in hopes of opening the door to broader diplomacy.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington welcomed the news.

PRICE: We have long, as you know, urged the cessation of hostilities including the return of the TPLF forces to Tigray. We have long urged backing humanitarian access I spoke to, we have long urged ending human rights abuses and violations and for a negotiated resolution to the conflict.

As part of ceasefire negotiations, Tigray leaders are calling for a no-fly zone over the region. They also want an international arms embargo imposed on Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since fighting began in November 2020. Some parts of Tigray are facing famine conditions due to a government blockade of the region.

Philippines cleanup effort begins—Next we go to Southeast Asia.

AUDIO: [Sound of squeaking door, nail gun]

Cleanup efforts are underway in the Philippines after a massive typhoon hit the country Friday. Typhoon Rai made a direct hit on the archipelago, uprooting trees and tearing buildings to shreds. The Philippine Red Cross reported “complete carnage” along the coast.

Nearly 400 people died.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Tagalog]

This man appealed to the government for help, saying no one in his town escaped the storm’s wrath. Residents are in desperate need of drinking water and food.

Chile elects a new president—Next we go to South America.

AUDIO: [Sound of cheering]

Supporters of Chile’s president elect celebrated Monday as Gabriel Boric made his first official visit to the presidential palace.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Spanish]

After meeting with outgoing President Sebastian Pinera, Boric said he expected the country to have an orderly transition of power. Boric beat Pinera with nearly 56 percent of the vote.

At 35 years old, Boric is the youngest president ever elected in Chile. He will be one of the youngest in the world when he takes office in March.

Boric’s campaign platform centered on the promise to create a “welfare state.” In his victory speech, he said he would expand social rights in Chile with “fiscal responsibility.”

But Boric’s ties to Chile's Communist Party have many in the country nervous. Chile suffered social and economic hardships in the early 1970s under the former Marxist President Salvador Allende.

Kiwis train to help stranded whales—And finally, we end today in Polynesia.

AUDIO: [Sound of splashing, walking, talking]

Volunteers in New Zealand are using a nearly 5,000 pound rubber whale to learn how to rescue a real one. Louisa Hawkes is with Project Jonah New Zealand.

AUDIO: We have four and a half thousand trained marine animal medics all over the country ready to go when the next stranding happens in their region.

About 300 whales beach themselves on the country’s shores every year. That’s one of the highest whale stranding rates in the world.

The training includes teaching volunteers how to wrestle a 17-foot long pilot whale replica onto a mat between two inflatable pontoons.

AUDIO: There’s a lot of stuff you don’t think about, it's not rocket science, it's pretty practical steps you can do so if anyone comes across an animal that needs help, they can help. You know it’s a no brainer really.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, December 22nd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: another trip into WORLD kitchens our Christmastime feasts.

EICHER: Every year, WORLD senior correspondent Katie Gaultney and her family of six create memories around a cookie recipe and the secret ingredient may just be chaos.

GAULTNEYS: Vivi, pour some—actually, come on this side of me—pour some sugar in the bowl, we need four cups of sugar./ Okay…

KATIE GAULTNEY, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: One of my family’s favorite holiday traditions is baking my mom’s frosted butter cookie recipe and delivering treats to neighbors and friends, along with our Christmas card.

These cookies are special. And they’re a hit with everyone. I kid you not, I have a friend who has a child with severe food aversions—even to sweets—and when we gave them these cookies years ago, his mom remarked how this might be the only food he has been eager to eat. It’s crazy simple—just butter, flour, sugar, egg, baking powder, salt and vanilla. But the result is tender, flavorful, and kind of salty-sweet, with a rich buttercream frosting. And in my house, lots of sprinkles.

SAM AND DAISY: And I’m gonna do sprinkles, sprinkles, some sprinkles, and some other sprinkles!/ I’m gonna pour sprinkles on too!

I remember cooking and baking with my kids when they were tiny toddlers, thinking, “This will get easier when they’re older!” But I’m learning, family togetherness—while worthwhile—still has its challenges. Especially if you, like me, prefer things just so.

In the process of our cookie making and decorating, there was some creative mixing…

KATIE AND SAM: I just want to mix it up./ Okay, sorry, no, ah, Sam, what did you do?

Some stabbing…

KATIE AND DAISY: Oh, did you stab your cookies?/ Oh, um, Sam did it./ Okay, we don’t stab our cookies…

And biting sprinkle lids…

KATIE AND DAISY: Daisy, we don’t use teeth for that./ What?/ Don’t use your teeth, I’ll open it for you.

I’ll spare you the finger-licking and some overzealous sprinkle-pouring that I’ll surely be finding remnants of for weeks to come.

VIVI AND FORD: Oh, that’s plenty, that’s plenty… (laughter)

This particular family tradition also involves reading a children’s Christmas book about a mother bear and her cub delivering treats to neighbors. But, our whole family doesn’t fit comfortably onto the couch, so read-aloud time can get persnickety.

GAULTNEYS: … with her nose in the air, and said, “I believe our cakes are ready!”/ I want to sit there!/ Sorry, Sam is sitting here. You can sit there. Sam, scoot closer./ But I can’t—/ You can see the pictures.

Then comes delivering.

BRAD: Walk very carefully with those. Two cards, put one with each box…

Typically, it’s an easy walk down both sides of our street. But tonight, a water main burst, and the street is flooded—with water, equipment, and repair trucks. Add to that overtired kids from a big school day, and…

BRAD: You—you are done. No more.

That rebuke came after one child had dropped his or her boxes several times.

But, we delivered all our treats and cards, made merry small talk with a few neighbors, and lived to tell the tale. Back at home, it’s more happy chaos, with the boys pretend-building with battery-operated tools, my older girl picking out a carol on piano by ear, and my “baby” roughhousing with Dad.

SOUND: [Piano and playing]

For me, this night was a reminder that some traditions may never actually be easy to execute. But they’re worth continuing. Somehow, despite the dropped treat boxes and sprinkle explosions, these experiences are building a family culture worth preserving.

I’m Katie Gaultney.

NICK EICHER: (Laughs) That’s the spirit! Memories as difficult to forget as it’s difficult to get all those sprinkles vacuumed!

MARY REICHARD: Yep, just leave ‘em. That’s what dogs are for. Now come with me into my kitchen.

Confession: My goal every holiday is that I not make my family miserable with my perfectionistic tendencies. Or be that woman who runs around in hysterics while pretending to feel the love and the joy of the Christmas season.

AUDIO: [scream]

You know, not to be like Martha in the books of Luke and John? But more like my namesake, Mary.

Let’s just say I’ve had some experience with that. So, I made a conscious decision that when I had my own family—ahhhh—I’d flavor the food with the right attitude. And some background music to set the mood while I prep the food. 

When I was a kid, some Chinese friends served up a most amazing meal. They called it Hot Pot. I made a mental note —way back then— that this recipe could save my future family come the holidays.

All the prep is done ahead of time, and this is what I love about this meal: Chop up everything you’ll need.

AUDIO: [CHOPPING]

Platters of broccoli, bok choy, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas, and celery. Then platters of beef and chicken strips, scallops and shrimp. And a bowl of noodles you plop down into the hot soup stock for the satisfying, final course— after everything else is nicely settled into stomachs.

So, once you’ve chopped everything up, arrange all of those food platters within easy reach.

Put an electric wok in the middle of the dining table. Pour in the stock and heat it to hot enough to cook veggies and meat. Around 325 degrees. Start cooking the veggies separately or together- your choice. Ladle into bowls, eat, then segue into cooking the meats, or alternate plants and meat, and eat. Just make sure you have extra stock on hand at the end to cook those noodles for the last course. And set out a few sauces for dipping, like mustard or hoisin sauce.

No nutrition goes to waste with this recipe!

This night, my family enjoys a long, pleasant evening of watching the vibrant veggies and meats cook in a swirl of steaming stock with lots of intervals to talk, to laugh, to savor each other. I’m not jumping up and down out of my chair. Which helps my attitude immensely.

See, that’s the secret sauce in this recipe: Time. Time. To look into the eyes of my loved ones. Plenty of opportunity to practice that love and joy we Christians really do find in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, December 22nd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. No matter the headlines, remember this one word: hope. Here’s WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney.

JANIE B. CHEANEY, COMMENTATOR: I can’t say “I’ll be back” to my husband without him repeating, in a spectral imitation of Schwarzenegger, “Ah’ll be bahck.” It’s become a permanent echo. When I think of Jesus promising to return, the pledge of the Terminator often comes to mind, and his pledge seems just about as real to me.

I know the Bible is true, that Jesus Christ walked this earth and changed history forever, and that the Holy Spirit continues to act in my life and others’. But “Come, Lord Jesus” feels as remote a possibility as mountains melting and stars falling from the sky.

He’s wrapped up the past, but does he really hold the future? Of course, and yet. It’s been so long. With multiplying crises and confusion, the fall of hopes and the rise of chaos, it seems that now would be a good time to return.

The earth seems equally anxious. Here’s a headline from early in November: “Unnerving Study Reveals There May Be No Warning for the Next Supervolcano Eruption.” Toba Peak in Indonesia is one of the dozen or so volcanos capable of an eruption that could spell doom for us all. Research indicates that magma buildup can occur slowly beneath the surface and break out with no warning. Not that it will happen anytime soon, but researchers are watching the steady growth of an island in Toba’s caldera.

Blazing headlines about Yellowstone blowing up or the New Madrid Fault bucking the Mississippi cause a momentary twinge of fear. “Some say the world will end in ice, and some in fire,” mused Robert Frost, but almost everyone says it will end. Fervent heat will consume this planet, wrote Peter. “God has appointed a day,” preached Paul. It’s all pointing to one event: He’s coming back, and this time no one will miss it. Or escape it.

Just as there was a precise moment in time when a human/divine zygote attached itself to the womb of a virgin, there will be a precise moment when the divine/human Lord declares history over and rolls up the universe. If there was a beginning, there must be an end. Thousands of years into the future, or early 2022?

The earliest followers of Jesus seemed as restless as we are, for scoffers were already saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” Neither Peter nor Paul could give a definite answer. Nor could they have imagined us, 2,000 years into the future. But God could.

We’re impatient and anxious and doubtful that it will ever happen. It’s been so long, and times are so frightening—what is he waiting for?

He’s waiting for you. He’s waiting for me. Perhaps he’s cast his favorable eye on great-grandchildren yet unborn to complete his kingdom. If he’s willing to wait, so can we. But with hope and expectation.

I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: school counselors. They’re in short supply, just when students need them most.

And, we’ll review the new movie from the Christian film producers, the Erwin brothers.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

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

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

The Old Testament book of Isaiah says: The Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Go now in grace and peace.

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.