The World and Everything in It - January 26, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Democrats want to overhaul election law to shift power from states to Washington. Republicans are pushing back.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll sort it out on Washington Wednesday.

Also today, WORLD Tour.

Plus strengthening the pastors who work on behalf of the unborn.

And our founder Joel Belz on the basic mission here at WORLD.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, January 26th. 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: Now today’s news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Ukraine tries to calm citizens as Western leaders warn against Russian invasion » Ukraine's leaders are trying to keep citizens calm, reassuring them that a Russian invasion is not imminent, though they acknowledge the threat is very real.

Western leaders, meantime, continued to voice their concerns. On the floor of the British House of Commons Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said while the Ukrainian army would be heavily outgunned against Russia, it would fight fiercely.

JOHNSON: And the bloodshed comparable to the first war in Chechnya or Bosnia, Mr. Speaker. No one would gain from such a catastrophe.

MACRON: [Speaking in French]

Speaking in Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron said—quote—“We both call very strongly for a de-escalation of tensions and I want to say here how much Germany and France are united on this.”

And in Washington, President Biden said a Russian invasion would have consequences for the entire world.

BIDEN: This would be the largest—if he were to move in with all those forces, it would be the largest invasion since World War II. It would change the world.

Russia has parked an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border.

Biden again warned of severe consequences if the Kremlin gives the order to invade.

Russia adds Navalny, allies to list of “terrorists and extremists” » Russian authorities have added opposition leader Alexei Navalny and some of his top allies to the country's registry of terrorists and extremists. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The government added Navalny and eight others to an extremist registry with Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service. That means their bank accounts are now frozen.

It was the latest move in an ongoing crackdown on opposition supporters, independent media, and human rights activists.

Navalny is an anti-corruption activist and President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critic. He’s currently behind bars in Russia, serving 2 1/2 years for supposedly violating the terms of a suspended sentence.

A Russian court initially convicted him on fraud charges that the U.S. State Department says were trumped up.

Authorities arrested Navalny a year ago when he returned to his home country after receiving medical treatment in Germany. He was flown there after being poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent.

His arrest triggered a wave of the biggest mass protests across the country in years.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

SAT to get student-friendly makeover » Students prepping for their SATs will soon be able to put away their pencil sharpeners. The standardized test will soon transition to an online format.

The digital version will be available to international students next year and to U.S. high schoolers in 2024.

Priscilla Rodriguez is vice president of College Readiness Assessments with the College Board. She said students have already largely traded pencils for laptops.

RODRIGUEZ: This is us in some ways catching up to where there are and getting rid of the No.2 pencils and the bubble sheets and the shipping and the packing, and really trying to make this at its core, a less stressful, less onerous experience …

Students will take the tests at monitoring sites using tablets.

And shortened reading and math sections will bring the total test time down from three hours to two.

Many colleges were considering dropping test scores as an admissions standard even before the pandemic. When COVID-19 shuttered testing centers, it accelerated the process.

Nearly 80 percent of bachelor’s degree–granting institutions will reportedly not require test scores from students applying for fall 2022.

Pfizer to conduct omicron-specific vaccine trial » Pfizer is enrolling nearly 1,500 healthy adults to test a COVID-19 vaccine that it has reformulated to target the omicron variant. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has that story.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: The study will look at three groups. Some who received two Pfizer doses three to six months ago will get one or two of the new shots as boosters. The next group, which has received three Pfizer shots, will be given one additional booster of either the current formula or the new one.

And unvaccinated volunteers will get three doses of the omicron version.

It is still unclear whether an omicron-specific vaccine will be needed, but Pfizer says it wants to be ready in case health regulators call for a separate shot.

Omicron cases are already waning. But it’s possible that Pfizer’s new omicron shot could match up better against future variants, if others emerge.

The omicron strain infects fully vaccinated individuals at a far higher rate than other strains though health officials say vaccinated people generally have much milder symptoms.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Talks between Taliban, Western officials conclude in Oslo » Taliban officials wrapped up three days of talks with Western diplomats and others in Norway on Tuesday.

Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said the discussions—quote—“went very well,” adding that “Such trips will bring us closer to the world.”

But it’s unclear what concrete progress came out of the talks.

The two sides met in the snow-capped mountains above Oslo. Western officials aired their concerns over the state of women’s rights and human rights in the country.

Jan Egeland is the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He told reporters Tuesday…

EGELAND: The Taliban has not followed up on their promise that there would also be secondary education for girls. This is a red line for us. They have to understand that we respect their traditions. But they have to understand that we also have traditions.

He said “We represent a civilization in which equality is fundamental.”

The Taliban is demanding the release of about $10 billion in cash from Afghanistan’s central bank that Western governments froze after the group seized control of the country.

The talks came at a critical time for Afghanistan. Freezing temperatures are compounding a humanitarian crisis. Aid groups estimate that about 23 million people face severe hunger or starvation.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: the effort to federalize elections.

Plus, admitting our biases.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 26th of January, 2022.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up first: The battle over the ballot box.

Democrats recently renewed their push to pass a major overhaul of U.S. election law. They want to pass a sweeping set of changes that would shift more control over the election rules—from states to Washington.

Democrats charge that voting laws recently passed in Georgia and Texas are designed to make it tougher for minorities to vote. Some are even calling the laws—quote—“Jim Crow 2.0.” And they say that’s why the federal government must step in.

REICHARD: Republicans say it is Democrats who are playing cynical politics with race and call their charges incendiary and false. They say the changes are designed to better secure elections and help voters feel more confident in the integrity of future votes.

EICHER: But top Democrats are all-in on the issue. President Biden earlier this month made a trip to Georgia to campaign for the legislation. And he said Congress should pass it by any means necessary.

BIDEN: I support changing the Senate rules whichever way they need to be changed to prevent a minority of senators from blocking action on voting rights.

REICHARD: Joining us now to break down the elections battle is Mark Caleb Smith. He’s a political science professor at Cedarville University, a Christian college in Cedarville, Ohio. Good morning, professor!

MARK CALEB SMITH, GUEST: Good morning. How are you? 

REICHARD: I'm doing well. Thanks for being here. Let’s start with the election laws that sparked this battle. Those were the laws passed last year by Republicans in Georgia and in Texas. What was it about those laws that upset Democrats? What provisions were most controversial?

SMITH: I would say the Georgia law is probably the most controversial one. And it's certainly the one that I'm the most familiar with. I went to graduate school in Georgia and still keep a pretty close eye on what's going on there politically. A couple of things they attempted to do. One is to use voter ID more extensively so that people at a poll would have to present identification to vote, as opposed to a matching signature technology. They also tried to limit or reduce the amount of absentee voting that could occur. And limit, to some extent, early voting also. There's an awful lot of discussion about the limitation of food and water from being handed out during you know, from from the line of voting. And so those things probably got the most attention and certainly sparked a lot of pushback.

REICHARD: Speaking to the provision about people coming down to the polls to hand out food and water, I was an election judge years ago in another state, and there were strict rules about approaching anyone for any reason within 150 feet of the polling place, so is that really so unusual?

SMITH: Yeah, I think there's an awful lot of misconception about the Georgia law, to be honest with you. And I think your question highlights some of it there for sure. It was trying to get rid of campaigns and candidates and other people coming into a line and handing out food and water in order to attract voters in order to influence voters in a particular way. The law would certainly still allow government officials themselves to distribute water, especially on certain days and certain kinds of weather patterns. But just wouldn't allow other people to do so within a particular distance of a voting place. And so, you know, like everything in our current political culture, the Georgia law sort of got swallowed in the vortex of political polarization where we are. I think some of it got distorted as a result. However, let me say, you know, had the Republicans won Georgia in 2020, had they held onto those Senate seats, I'm not sure they'd have been quite as motivated to enact these laws. Let's be honest about it. I mean, I think they are trying to maybe nibble around some of the margins, perhaps, but certainly no way that comes close to resurrecting the ghosts of Jim Crow.

REICHARD: Republicans argue that Democrats are making over-the-top charges about these new laws in red states, when some provisions in blue states are just as tough or tougher. Do they have a valid point there? How do these laws and their provisions compare to those found in some blue states?

SMITH: Yeah, I think it's a reasonable argument for Republicans to make. You know, talking about early voting. There's a big push to extend early voting so that people can up to 15 days before the election go in to cast a ballot. Well, as of right now, neither Delaware nor New York nor Massachusetts allow that kind of early voting to take place. Those are very deeply blue states and they don't have the kind of provisions that—Georgia would exceed those provisions pretty significantly with their current law they have in place now. And so I mean, if we’re honest about it, there's an awful lot of demagoguery going on here surrounding the issue of voting rights. Fear is a very powerful motivator. And if you can convince people that something is on the line—they're going to lose their right to vote if they don't jump into this election with both feet—then it can certainly be a strong inducement to become active.

REICHARD: Well let’s talk about the national bill that Democrats want to pass. Give us a summary of what’s in that bill.

SMITH: There's an awful lot there, so a summary is all we can do. 735 pages was the last count that I saw. Just a few of the highlights: It would water down voter ID laws pretty significantly. So states that have Voter IDs requirements would now have to accept things like debit cards, utility bills, bank statements, or any other kind of document that has a name attached to it. If a voter didn't have that, they could provide what's called a sworn written statement, where another adult signs an affidavit effectively saying this is the person they claim to be and I'm willing to sign it. Other things that it does is it would have more absentee voting. Every person in America would be getting an absentee ballot under this legislation. It would have drop boxes be widely available. It would require early voting in states up to at least 15 days of early voting to occur. Maybe most significantly, it seeks to limit partisan gerrymandering. And so, as you know and your listeners know, states do an awful lot of redrawing of legislative districts in order to advantage their political party. This bill would try to limit that by forcing states to enter into, you know, a non-partisan commission process for redrawing their boundaries. Those are just some of the highlights. I mean, they deal with felons and former felons. They deal with campaign disclosure and other things like that. But it's a pretty big bill. It's a massive piece of legislation.

REICHARD: Let’s talk foundations now. What are the constitutional guidelines here? With regard to overseeing elections, what powers are specifically granted to states?

SMITH: Yeah, if we look at Article One of the Constitution, in Section Four there's this very clear language that says the time, place, and manner of elections, shall be “prescribed by the legislature thereof.” However, it does also allow for Congress to make exceptions or to alter those regulations as Congress sees fit. So historically, what's developed out of this is the state governments have a lot of latitude to set their own election laws. And generally the federal government has stayed out of it. But through this provision in the Constitution, Congress does have a role to play. And so they can pass federal legislation like the Voting Rights Act, for example, that limits some of what goes on at state governments. So the ideas that we see here being proposed by Democrats don't necessarily conflict with the Constitution. However, it would alter, I think, the historic balance of power when it comes to our campaigns and elections.

REICHARD: Well, as we noted, Democratic leaders want to use the nuclear option to change the rules and overcome a filibuster. But two moderate Democratic Senators oppose that move.

Democrats already used the nuclear option once before, in 2013 to pass President Obama’s judicial nominations. That paved the way for Republicans to use it in turn to confirm President Trump's Supreme Court picks. So many would say it backfired on Democrats.

And while they’re unable to use the nuclear option again, could their loud declarations that it’s time to go nuclear, backfire on them again? Do you think this tells Republicans that when they are in a position to change the Senate rules, they should do it and beat the Democrats to the punch?

SMITH: You know, I think that's kind of if we keep with this rhetoric and keep this line of argument, that's kind of the inevitable outcome we're going to see at some point in the near future. One of the major parties is going to gain enough control over the Senate and get enough votes—at least 50 votes plus the Vice President—in order to alter the rules of the Senate and remove the filibuster when it comes to either legislation in general, or certain kinds of legislation. Harry Reid, when he went through that process to remove the filibuster from judicial nominees, really some nominees, Mitch McConnell was very clear. You know, if you do this, and we're going to strip it away for Supreme Court nominees in the future, and this is the direction it's going to go. And lo and behold, as you said, that's exactly what happened. You know, I'm a political scientist, I don't see things the way that other people might see them. I'm not a partisan politician. You know, but my fear would be this would just create an awful lot of instability in our political system. If that majority of the Senate can simply willy nilly change massive pieces of federal legislation, like campaign law that we see here, when they get control the Senate, even if it's a narrow control, we could be looking at really big standards shifting very quickly every year, every two years, every four years. I'm just not sure that's good for the country when it comes to something as critical, like campaigns and elections.

REICHARD: Mark Caleb Smith from Cedarville University has been our guest. Professor, thanks so much!

SMITH: It’s always a pleasure.

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

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Coup in Burkina Faso—We start today here in West Africa … with another coup. This time in Burkina Faso.

AUDIO: [Soldiers announcing government takeover]

Soldiers appeared on state television Monday to announce the takeover. A spokesman for the junta said it decided to seize control of the country to “fight for its territorial integrity, its recovery, and its sovereignty.”

The soldiers promised a “return to constitutional order” within a “reasonable time.”

AUDIO: [Sound of changing marchers]

After news of the coup broke, people took to the streets of the capital, Ouagadougou, to support the military. But international condemnation came swiftly. Ravina Shamdasani is a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human rights.

AUDIO: In the face of the security threats and the tremendous humanitarian challenges facing the country, it is more important than ever to ensure that the rule of law, constitutional order, and the country’s obligations under international human rights law are fully respected.

The soldiers are reportedly holding President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, his ministers, and the head of parliament at a military barracks in the city.

Burkina Faso has endured several coups or attempted coups in recent years. Frustration over ongoing jihadist violence fueled the latest takeover.

It is the fourth coup in Central and West Africa in the last year.

Aid supplies arrive in Tonga—Next we go to the South Pacific.

AUDIO: [Sound of ship in port]

Relief supplies from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand are flowing into Tonga. The underwater volcano that erupted on January 15th blanketed the island kingdom with a layer of toxic ash.

Seth Fagan is a C-130 pilot with New Zealand’s Air Force.

AUDIO: Flying in I guess the initial impressions were that the island looked a lot greyer than a lot of the Pacific islands usually do, so you could definitely see a layer of ash that was settled over most of the greenery.

The ash poisoned drinking water and destroyed crops.

NASA estimates the volcano’s eruption was hundreds of times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II. The blast spewed debris as high as 25 miles into the atmosphere and completely wiped out at least two villages.

AUDIO: [Sound of boat motor, water lapping]

Across the Pacific, crews in Peru are working to clean up an oil spill blamed on the volcano.

About 6,000 barrels of crude spilled when the waves rocked a tanker unloading about 19 miles north of Lima.

AUDIO: [Woman speaking Spanish]

Veterinarians at the city’s zoo are working to save birds and penguins pulled from the water. The oil fouled fisheries vital to the local economy. And it drenched beaches popular with tourists. During the months of January through March, nearly 5 million people normally visit the area.

Journalist murdered in Mexico—And finally, we end today in North America.

AUDIO: [Man speaking Spanish]

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador vowed Monday that his government would fully investigate the murder of a journalist who had previously asked for his help.

Lourdes Maldonado López was shot to death in her car in the border town of Tijuana on Sunday. Lopez Orbrador cautioned against jumping to conclusions about who might have killed her.

In addition to covering corruption and politics in Tijuana, Maldonado was locked in a years-long labor dispute with the owner of a media company. He later became the elected governor of Baja California as a member of the president’s political party.

In 2019, Maldonado attended López Obrador’s daily morning news conference and told him she feared for her life.

Maldonado was the second journalist killed in Tijuana this week and the third killed in Mexico this month.

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

NICK EICHER, HOST: An Australian woman got a little more than she bargained for when she opened a package of broccoli.

Chloe Mitchell bought the produce at a local supermarket in New South Wales.

She said she put the steamer on the stove, and when she turned around to grab the last of the broccoli, she “saw something crawling along the chopping board.”

She yelled for her husband, and when he ran to the kitchen, he found a large scorpion on the countertop.

Mitchell described the eight-legged creature as—quote—“very angry.”

But he was able to safely remove the scorpion.

It could have been worse.

Our news editor, Kent Covington, tells us he once woke up to find a scorpion crawling across his bed in South Texas. However, he said that scorpion appeared less angry. Maybe it was just sleepy.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, January 26th. We’re so glad you’ve turned to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Last Friday, the 49th annual March for Life took place in Washington, D.C. WORLD reporter Jenny Rough was there and spoke with a lawyer who’s made it his life’s work to encourage pro-life pastors and other Christian leaders.

AUDIO: [MARCH FOR LIFE 2022]

JENNY ROUGH, REPORTER: Samuel Green attended the national March for Life last Friday. He’s attended smaller, local marches before. But this was his first time at the D.C. event. And, he hopes, the last March for Life with Roe and Casey on the books.

Green has been advocating for the unborn for years. He says there are many ways for Christians to do so.

SAMUEL GREEN: And that can be through marches. That can be through praying outside of abortion clinics, and talking to women who are going in there. It can be volunteering at pregnancy resource centers. And certainly voting for leaders who value and respect life.

Green travels the nation speaking to churches and Christian institutions about the case for life. Sometimes that means he’s a guest speaker at a Sunday morning church service. Or at special events, like this past November. He spoke at Faith Community Church in Palmdale, California, on how to strategically pray to end abortion.

GREEN: You can pray and fast just as the Jewish people prayed and fasted for Queen Esther before she went before the king to plead for the lives of her people.

Green also gives presentations to college and graduate students. Last October, he debated the current Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson at Cornell Law. The most significant case on abortion before the court in 30 years. Last week, he talked with students at Patrick Henry College during a mandatory chapel service.

Green says it’s important for Christians to speak in defense of life.

He was only 7 years old when he first learned about abortion. He doesn’t remember the exact details of how he heard of it. But he does remember his reaction.

GREEN: I was blessed to know that I had parents who would be willing to die to protect me. And then when I found out that there are some who end up deciding to kill their own children, believing that that would be best for themselves. It was devastating to me.

By the time Green turned 9, he knew he wanted to be a lawyer.

GREEN: So I could help fight for children in the womb, in the courts.

For years, he did exactly that, litigating constitutional matters with Alliance Defending Freedom. Including cases relating to the sanctity of life.

But he was disheartened when it became clear that people in the church were choosing abortion. And that Christians were confused about the Bible’s teachings of life in the womb.

GREEN: And I thought, what hope do we have of having a culture that values and protects life if significant portions of the church are confused about the issue?

So the focus of his work shifted beyond the legal realm. Now he speaks to Christians about the scientific and biblical case for life.

GREEN: The science establishes beyond any reasonable question that a new human life comes into existence at the moment of conception. And from that moment, you have a new human with its own unique DNA that, at that time, has established whether the child is a boy or a girl, hair color, bone structure, eye color. And now all that child needs to do is be able to grow and develop, which is not just a process that happens in the womb, but one that continues outside of the womb as well.

As far as a Biblical case for life, Green starts by addressing a common pro-abortion argument.

GREEN: If you look for the word abortion in the Bible, you’re not going to find it.

But you will find words about the pre-born. One of Green’s favorite passages comes from Judges and the story of Samson, the supernaturally strong man with long hair. Samson became a Nazarite as an unborn child.

GREEN: And so I love using that passage to refute the mantra of my body, my choice. Because here the Bible is making very clear that God saw two bodies in the case of the unborn Sampson and his mother. And he valued Sampson in the womb just as he did outside the womb.

Green has encountered pastors and Christian leaders who are reluctant to speak on abortion. Some because they don’t want to be perceived as political.

GREEN: And so what I want to remind pastors of is well, yes, this issue is indeed controversial and political, but it is first and foremost a biblical issue. And it’s close to the heart of God.

Others because church members have been personally affected by it.

GREEN: There are many in their church who have had an abortion, who have pushed or even forced someone else to have an abortion. And it’s a painful, emotional subject for them.

When thinking of who seeks abortions, unwed teenagers may come to mind. But that’s not always the case.

GREEN: A lot are maybe even married women in the church with a couple kids already. And they decide 'we’re not at a time in our life where we’re ready for another child.'

Green says all these reasons are exactly why pastors and Christian leaders must address it.

GREEN: If they don’t hear the truth from you, where are they going to receive that truth? You have been called to help shepherd a flock. You have an opportunity to help save lives within your own congregation. And save mothers and fathers from the emotional and spiritual turmoil that many experience following a decision to abort.

Green acknowledges that women in the church face the same pressures to have an abortion as those outisde the church face. Plus, the added stigma of shaming.

GREEN: And so I think it’s important for pastors to both emphasize the importance of living in a righteous way, in a way that promotes human flourishing by confining relations to a married man and woman. But also makes sure that their congregation knows that the pastor and the congregation is ready to forgive and help.

Just as important is to communicate there is hope and help for men.

Green points to Ephesians 2 as a reminder that God created each person with a purpose. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Everyone has God-given gifts and talents.

GREEN: And we will never know the full degree of loss that we have experienced in our personal lives and in our families and in the broader culture by destroying these precious gifts that God made to serve a particular purpose here on earth.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Rough in Washington, D.C.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, January 26th. 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.

Hey this Friday is our regular Listener Feedback segment. So if you have something you’d like to share with us, we’re all ears! The best way to do that is to record a voice memo and email it to feedback@worldandeverything.com. But you can also call our feedback line at 202-709-9595 and leave us a message.

Here’s WORLD Founder Joel Belz with a reminder of our mission here at WORLD News Group.

JOEL BELZ, FOUNDER: I’ve never met Teng Kur—but I’d welcome the chance if we can ever arrange it. The school that produced a young man like this deserves a second look.

Teng has just finished 5th grade, and is right now launching sixth grade studies at Cush Christian School in central west South Sudan. Teng also enjoys his regular role as a “junior teacher,” directing a group of 2nd graders at this most unusual school. Teng says he’s 15 years old, although exact ages aren’t typically important in South Sudan.

WORLD magazine had a small role in the launch of Cush Christian School some 15 years ago. CCS’s founder, WORLD reader Scott Brinkerhoff, a veteran Christian school teacher and coach, was exploring a new role in some other country. His pursuit led first to several possibilities in Africa at large and then to a rural outpost in South Sudan. The missions arm of The Reformed Presbyterian Church wanted to augment a handful of church plants by including a radio station and a school. Brinkerhoff ended up being drafted to head both efforts—and both efforts called for unusual strategizing.

Enrollment in the school was just 25 students for the first year in 2012—with two teachers (at first and now 18) spreading their efforts over half a dozen grade levels and just as many subject areas. But when registration doubled in the second year, and then grew rapidly to 165 students, Brinkerhoff’s team knew they had a great need and a big challenge. In the days just before Christmas, Scott chatted with Teng about his experience.

SB: Can you remember back 10 years ago?

TK: Yeah.

SB: How old were you?

TK: That time I was like 6 years old. I liked to come early to fight with other students.

SB: Do you still come to school to fight?

TK: No, there was a time that we were being, like a program, and I was looking up for a verse I wanted to say to the parents. So I got a verse, “you need to forgive. If you do not forgive, God will not forgive you.” One thing came to my mind that I need to change and I need to forgive, so that my Father will forgive me.

SB: So He did forgive you, hmm?

TK: Yes, He did.

SB: So have you thought about the future, when you get to be finished with school, what do you like to do?

TK: My plan was to be a teacher.

SB: Oh really? That’s encouraging to hear!

Indeed! A school that teaches good manners, obedience to God’s Word, preparation for a career in teaching, and a readiness in the English language—well, that’s a school that deserves folks’ attention. And if there are adventuresome and healthy WORLD readers who might feel God’s call to spend a few months at Cush Christian School, an e-mail to Scott Brinkerhoff at brinkerhoffscott@gmail.com might help in taking the next step.

I’m Joel Belz.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: a political fight in France. We’ll tell you about the major issues driving the upcoming presidential election.

And, contact tracers. Remember them? We’ll find out where they all went. We’ll trace the tracers.

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 Bible says: Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

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.