The World and Everything in It: November 27, 2025

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Thousands of children in the US foster care system are wards of the state and a recent executive order calls for reform.

TRUMP: The bible tells us that one of the measures of any society is how it cares for vulnerable children and orphans…

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also as we celebrate religious freedom today, we take a moment to pray for the persecuted church around the world.

And how a six-man race in 18-96 turned into America’s longest-held Thanksgiving tradition.

STOCKMAN: It’s officially just become this thing where if you don’t do it, you’re missing out.

And WORLD commentator Cal Thomas highlights a Thanksgiving tradition that deserves a place at the table today.

REICHARD: Happy Thanksgiving! It’s Thursday, November 27th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Attack on guardsmen » Two National Guardsmen were fighting for their lives in a hospital this morning, after being shot just two blocks from the White House.

Jeffery Carroll with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department:

CARROLL:  The suspect came around the corner, uh, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members, uh, the National Guard members. There were other members that were in the area. They were able to, subdue the individual.

Officers from federal and local agencies swarmed the area and cordoned-off the scene, as helicopters flew overhead and National Guard troops stood watch.

Emergency crews rushed the victims to a hospital, where they were listed in critical condition. The suspect was also transported for medical treatment.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said last night that in response to the attack:

HEGSETH: President Trump has asked me and I will ask the Secretary of the Army to the National Guard to add 500 additional troops, national Guardsmen to Washington, D.C.

Authorities are calling it a targeted attack. And FBI Director Kash Patel has vowed to bring the attacker to justice.

Ukraine latest » A senior Kremlin official confirms that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow next week. Efforts are picking up speed to find a consensus on ending Russia’s nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.

US officials say they’re seeing progress. But Eu foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas said today:

KALLAS: An immediate and unconditional ceasefire must be the first step to ending the war. But right now, we see zero indication that Russia is ready for a ceasefire. Russia is not winding down. It's a military machine, but ramping it up.

The southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia came under a large Russian drone attack overnight with at least 19 people wounded.

She added that “We still need to get from a situation where Russia pretends to negotiate to a situation where they need to negotiate.”

The Kremlin said Wednesday that Russian officials still haven't officially received the initial U.S. peace proposal.

Officials from the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine held talks in the United Arab Emirates earlier this week.

Israel latest » Israeli officials say they’ll go after any militants who threaten or harm Israelis and that they’re doing just that. Government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian:

BEDROSIAN:  The IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police launched a large scale counter terrorism in operation in Northern Samaria.

Samaria is an area many other governments refer to as the West Bank.

SOUND: [West Bank operation]

Israeli military vehicles and personnel closed in around the town of Tubas earlier this week. Officials aren't saying specifically why the military action was necessary, but Bedrosian there will be no safe-haven for terrorists, and the Israeli forces:

BEDROSIAN: Continue to act forcefully to thwart terror activity and will reach anyone who harms anyone who threatens our citizens, our soldiers, and our security forces as well.

The governor of Tubas said the Israeli military has effectively cut off the city from the outside world.

Hong Kong fire » Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years was still burning this morning. Firefighters continued to battle the flames engulfing several high-rise apartment buildings.

Derek Armstrong Chan with the Hong Kong Fire Service:

CHAN:  We encounter particular difficulties in, uh, several areas. Like, uh, the fire is spreading, uh, quickly to nearby buildings and, uh, scaffolding of the, uh, feted buildings are falling down, so post additional danger to our frontline personnel.

At least 44 people were confirmed dead Wednesday, and roughly 280 were reported missing, as rescuers have continued to pull residents from the building.

Police arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the fire, which began Wednesday afternoon in a housing complex.

Prosecutor declines Georgia election case against Trump » A Georgia judge has thrown out the election-interference case against President Donald Trump and more than a dozen co-defendants. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has the details.

BENJAMIN EICHER: The move follows a decision by special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis to not move forward with the case. He stepped in recently after former Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed over an ethics controversy.

The investigation dates back nearly five years. Fani Willis charged that Trump illegally tried to sway the 2020 election results in Georgia

She pointed to a recorded call in which Trump urged the secretary of state to “find” additional votes.

Skandalakis said the allegations were serious but belonged in federal court, not at the state level.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Jobless numbers » Weekly jobless claims fell again last week, dropping to 216,000, the lowest level since mid-April.

Fewer people filed for unemployment benefits than expected, even as hiring has slowed in recent months.

It’s another sign that while the labor market may have cooled, it’s holding steady.

Layoffs remain relatively low nationwide, and most workers who lose jobs are finding new ones fairly quickly.

Economists say the data points to a job market that is neither booming nor cracking as the year winds down.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: protecting vulnerable children in the US foster system. Plus, praying for the persecuted church.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 27th of November.

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

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

First up: President Trump, Foster Care and the Bible.

DONALD TRUMP: The Bible tells us that one of the measures of any society is how it cares for vulnerable children and orphans…so important and so big in the Bible. As we make America great again, we’re going to protect American children in foster care and we’re going to ensure that they will never ever be forgotten. These children will never be forgotten. And they’re going to grow up to be unbelievable, strong, smart, wealthy, productive citizens.

President Trump two weeks ago issuing an executive order, supporting children and families in the foster care system.

BROWN: Joining us now …to talk about it is Herbie Newell, President of Lifeline Children Services, one of the largest evangelical adoption agencies in the U.S.

Good Morning Herbie.

NEWELL: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

BROWN: Thanks for being here. Let’s start with the need and the numbers. How many children are currently in the foster care system right now.

NEWELL: Obviously, every year you have some that are aging out or that are being reunited or adopted, and then you have many more that are coming in. But over the last several years, we've seen on average, 400,000 kids in our foster care system.

BROWN: And the average age, I understand, is under ten right?

NEWELL: That's correct.

BROWN: Tell us about the shortage of qualified families willing to care and nurture these children in their homes.

NEWELL: I think a lot of families that step forward to take care of children are typically thinking about having infants in their home. And so it really takes a special family and a special place, not only to be willing to say, ‘I'm going to take an eight or 10 year old into my home who's never been in my home previously,’ but also ‘I'm going to do it in a temporary standpoint, where I don't know how long this child will be in my home and I really don't know what the future prospects look like.’

BROWN: That’s a commitment for sure. I know you are grateful for the executive order, but what kind of influence will this order have on, for instance, states like California and Colorado, that are hostile to Christian foster parents who refuse to affirm the LGBTQ agenda.

NEWELL: Yeah, I think really, what it's saying is that can no longer be the case. We can no longer hold two classes of foster families, one that is Christian, that have a Bible belief of the way that family is orchestrated, of the way that gender is orchestrated, and the other that's much more of a progressive, family-altering mindset. And so now it's really telling states like California, and even lately, we've seen a family in Massachusetts that had their foster children removed because of their Christian belief. It's this executive order saying you can no longer do that. The federal system is going to protect religious liberty. The federal system is going to allow families to be able to practice their own faith and beliefs in their home, as long, of course, as that doesn't physically harm a child by any means.

BROWN: Right, Right. Well then, there’s another disturbing trend that is infiltrating the foster care system…something called platonic co-parenthood… tell us about that and how it undermines God’s design of family.

NEWELL: Absolutely, you know, platonic parenting reflects just this deeper cultural shift that we see in these attacks against God's design for the family. And really as believers who are steeped in God's Word, we shouldn't be surprised. There was an article recently in the New York Post that actually gave the situation of two female friends, again, not in an LGBTQ-IA+ type of relationship, just two friends who were going to bring their children into a home believing that they didn't need a father. And what we believe is obviously God's design was for a man and a woman to be able to supply all the different needs of a child. And so when someone says, ‘I can't imagine raising a child with a man,’ that tells us that something is broken because fatherhood nor motherhood are disposable roles in the life of a child.

BROWN: The president has directed the Health and Human Services Secretary to increase partnerships with faith-based organizations like yours. Are you hopeful?

NEWELL: I'm very hopeful from the last Trump administration, I can tell you, we were invited to three round tables with the Domestic Policy Council as well as HHS to talk about how to have faith and not just faith leaders, but faith leaders and secular leaders coming together to say, how do we join forces and really help as many children as possible? I think it's important to note that of the families we have that are currently fostering, two to three times as many are Christian, Bible believing people. And so it really is important when most of our foster families in the United States are people of faith and people of Christian faith that believe in the word of God and hold the Word of God as not only their standard, but also as their calling to get into this work.

BROWN: Speaking of the Word of God, President Trump reiterates the Biblical mandate to care for orphans…by extension, children in foster care. How does his order help Christians do a better job of showing the love of Jesus to these children who have no parents or whose parents have failed them.

NEWELL: Yeah, that's a great question. I think it definitely like I said, it gives an invitation to the table on many policy matters that are impacting children in foster care all around our country. I think what I would tell believers that are listening to this though, is as exciting as this executive order is as exciting as it is to be invited to the table. We really don't need this permission slip to get engaged and get involved. And I think the call for Christians is to celebrate that the federal government is recognizing our place.

At the same time, realize that God's call is greater than politics. God's call is greater than executive orders, and our mandate is to care for those in our neighborhoods. It's to care for those in our community, and it's to be the salt and the light. And so I pray that Christians will take advantage of this opportunity to be heard, to get engaged, to get engaged with our system. But I pray that we wouldn't shrink back in other times, but that we would continue to press forward by showing the love of Christ to a vulnerable mom who may be at risk of losing her kids. That we would show the love of Christ to broken families. We would show the love of Christ to kids that are vulnerable. Yes, grateful for the executive order, but we don't necessarily need an executive order to still get engaged, as we can get engaged in our local areas and in our states.

BROWN: Being faithful to the call, yes. Well, Herbie Newell, President of Lifeline Children Services, thank you so much for joining us, being with us today.

NEWELL: Thank you so much for having me.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Well, it’s Thanksgiving Day, a holiday to remember the Pilgrims who came to the New World in search of freedom of worship. We give thanks to God today for that ongoing freedom.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: But around the world, freedom of worship is still a grave concern for millions of Christians. Every year, several organizations mark November as a time to pray for the persecuted church around the world.

WORLD’s Global Desk Chief Jenny Lind Schmitt has our report.

JENNY LIND SCHMITT: In the liturgical church calendar, All Saints’ Day marks the beginning of November. For Protestants, the word “saint” applies to all Christians who claim Jesus as their Savior. So it makes sense that November has become a month dedicated particularly to prayer for all the saints around the world.

According to Open Doors International, more than 380 million Christians experience persecution in some manner.

ANDREW RICHARDS: The number one thing that our sisters and brothers asked for is that we would be praying with them.

Andrew Richards is Senior Director for Partnerships for Open Doors US. He says the persecuted Christians he meets know their suffering is the cost of following Jesus.

RICHARDS: They know that that's not necessarily a problem to solve, but something to be strengthened within.

In the letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul exhorts the church to “be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” And the book of Hebrews urges us to “remember those in prison, as though in prison with them.”

To do that, advocates say we should educate ourselves about the plight of persecuted Christians in other countries.

Open Doors publishes an annual World Watch List that ranks the 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution for their faith.

RICHARDS: It's the top 50 places where it's hardest to follow Jesus, and it allows us a little snapshot on the country, what Christians are experiencing in the context of that country, and then prayer resources. It's 50 countries, so kind of taking one per week, if you will.

Voice of the Martyrs has a similar ranking system on its website that lists nations as either restricted, hostile, or monitored. VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton explains.

TODD NETTLETON: Restricted nation is, the government is the persecutor… Hostile area is more, it is a some group within that country that is persecuting Christians. And sometimes frankly, that group is your family.

Countries where persecution is a challenge but hasn’t risen to heightened levels are listed as “monitored.”

Last year, India changed categories.

NETTLETON: Before last year, India was considered a hostile area. There were Hindu nationalist groups. There were people that would persecute Christians, but by and large, the government was not the persecutor. … If you ended up in court, eventually you would be set free. That has changed… It is the government that is driving persecution in India. And so it is now, we classify it as a restricted nation.

Nearly everyone who’s been paying attention knows it’s extremely difficult to profess Christ in North Korea or Afghanistan. But Western Christians are often less familiar with other areas where the Church faces persecution.

Islamic rebel groups like ISIS-Sahel and Boko Haram are currently wreaking havoc across the Sahel–the east-west strip of countries just below the Sahara Desert.

RICHARDS: Sub Saharan Africa is actually the most violent place to be a Christian right now… So Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, I mean, all across the Sahel, 16.2 million Christians–That's about four of the largest cities in the U.S.–have been displaced because of militant violence.

Islamists have brutally slaughtered thousands of Christians in their churches and homes in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump recently named Nigeria as a State Department country of particular concern because of the violence towards Christians in the nation’s north.

Nettleton says the small country of Eritrea is also of special concern.

NETTLETON: It is a country in Africa next door to Ethiopia. And right now the numbers are somewhere right around 550 Christians in prison in Eritrea… in fact, as we're recording this, today marks 21 years in prison for two of the pastors that are in prison in Eritrea.

None of the 550 Eritrean Christians in prison have actually been charged with a crime or had a trial.

NETTLETON: They don't have a sentence that they're counting down the days until it's over. They just get arrested, they disappear into the prison system and maybe they come out in a month, maybe they come out in a year, maybe it's 21 years later and they're still there.

But both Nettleton and Richards tell stories of imprisoned Christians who knew that others were praying for them, even though they had no contact with the outside world.

NETTLETON: One of the lies of Satan to persecuted Christians is you're all by yourself. And so one of my prayers often for persecuted Christians is, Lord, let them know that they're being prayed for. Let them know they're not forgotten, they are remembered.

Today, as we give thanks for our many blessings, please consider committing to praying for Christians in hard areas…not just one day a year, but all year long.

And right now, we invite you to pray along with Andrew Richards and Todd Nettleton for our persecuted brothers and sisters.

RICHARDS: Let's pray. God we take your word at face value. Psalm 24 where you say, the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it… So right now, through your spirit and because of what your son has done for us… we ask that you would stand with, you would strengthen, you would uphold those who are undergoing and persevering through contexts that many of us cannot understand… So God, right now across the Sahel, would you fill your people with what they need? Would you bring them the needed resources? Would you bring them the reminders that they are not alone, and we pray that and ask that we would be emboldened to… to walk with our global family in Jesus in ways that remind them of what is true, what's true about you, what's true about what you've asked them to be and do in this world, and what's true about us as we participate as part of your family.

NETTLETON: Father, we're so thankful for the privilege of being part of your family around the world. We're thankful for our brothers and sisters in Iran and China and North Korea and Nigeria and all of the places where we have family. Lord, we know many of them right now are suffering… We pray that you would sustain them. We pray that you would encourage them. We pray that you would empower them… We pray supernaturally, even right now, that you'll let them know that they're being prayed for.. And Lord, we know that you told us to pray for the persecutors as well, and so we do that in obedience to what you have asked us to do.

And especially in this Thanksgiving season. Lord, we have so much to be thankful for. We pray for our country. We pray that we as American Christians will stand strong for you, regardless of what it may cost us. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your family, your body around the world. Bless each one of us today in Jesus' name. Amen.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Lind Schmitt.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Middle school students in England are swept up in a high-altitude search and rescue! As part of a science experiment, they’d launched a teddy bear into the stratosphere on a weather balloon.

You gotta watch the video! It shows the stuffed toy floating along, up up and away, higher and higher 16 miles up. All is going along just great… well, until—oooph! There’s a sudden jolt and the bear detaches from the balloon and falls to Earth.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: But where did he land?

REICHARD: That’s the mystery. Now the school asks the public to be on the lookout for a smart-looking bear in a checked shirt, navy blue shorts and matching tie.

We are assured that the bear is very brave and resourceful, so he ought to be okay until found.

BROWN: Well dressed too!

REICHARD: It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, November 27th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: an emerging Thanksgiving Day tradition. Not parades or football, or even a big turkey dinner with friends and family.

But it’s a tradition that involves the Thanksgiving themes of gathering and giving.

WORLD’s Jenny Rough brings us the story.

JENNY ROUGH: This morning, on the streets of Buffalo, New York, Paul Stockman expects a gathering of 14,000 people for a community celebration—people from all over.

STOCKMAN: People from 42 different states in the U.S. People from other countries coming to run this race, Canada, Great Britain, Columbia, Chile, France. People want to come and run this particular race because it is the oldest, consecutively run footrace in the U.S.

He’s talking about the Turkey Trot. A race held on Thanksgiving Day, or in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Like this one in Tysons, Virginia.

AUDIO: For this race… [sounds of racers gathering, cheering]

Google your hometown, and there’s a good chance someone has organized one although perhaps by a different name: the Gobble Wobble, Feathered Feet, Pie Pursuit, Stuffing the Pantry.

But Buffalo is home to the first-ever Turkey Trot. That one happened 130 years ago. It’s older than the Boston Marathon by one year.

STOCKMAN: Well, the first turkey trot was 1896. And it was basically six people decided that they were going to run in this competitive 5-mile race on Thanksgiving Day.

Nobody knows why the six gentlemen decided to race that day. But records show a man named Henry Allison won.

STOCKMAN: I think it kind of grew into this huge thing over time and now it’s officially just become this thing where if you don’t do it then, you know, you’re missing out. It’s a good holiday kickoff.

Today, the YMCA, where Stockman works, sanctions the Buffalo race. But road races in general, especially 5Ks—a slightly shorter distance than the original 5-mile—have exploded in popularity. And none more so than the Turkey Trot.

Perhaps because they’re designed for runners and non-runners alike.

STOCKMAN: They walk the race, they run the race, they run and walk, folks just power walk their way to the finish line and they don’t care if they come in last. It’s not about that. You don’t have to qualify. Sign up and you’re a Turkey Trotter.

TAGGART: It’s just an awesome way to spend Thanksgiving morning.

Madison Granger Taggart began running in high school and discovered she was fast. Super fast. She almost won her first Turkey Trot.

TAGGART: I think in that one, the winner got a pie, and I really wanted that pie and did not get it. But my older sister who is also a runner, she won like a whole butterball turkey. I think we ate that turkey.

Today, Taggart is a personal trainer. She recommends that new runners—or those picking it up after a long time off—find a training plan and accountability group. Upward Running and Run with Christ are two faith-based ones.

TAGGART: If it’s something you can do with others and with loved ones, it’s more likely to stick.

Many Turkey Trots raise money for a good cause. Like the Tysons Turkey Trot held a few weeks ago in Virginia and put on by the local Rotary Club. Here’s former president Dana Ruff:

DANA RUFF: So what we do is we support local organizations in the area like Insight Memory care, Second Story for wayward children. Basically, this is all about community and trying to help build the community and support the community.

A typical Turkey Trot can cost anywhere from 20 to 60 dollars per person. Some people register and don’t even run, they simply want to give the donation. But for those who do come out—

STOCKMAN: We’re all just out here to have some fun. We all have to earn our turkey dinner because if you run five miles, I think you get an extra plate.

And that’s true no matter your age. From those like 5-year-old Miles:

ROUGH: Are you ready to run or are you going to walk?

MILES: Ruuuun!

To those in the senior division:

ROUGH: How old are you?

RUNNER 1: 81.

RUNNER 2: 82. We figured, Hey, we might be in our 80s, but we can still do it. [Laughs]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Jenny Rough

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, November 27th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, on this Thanksgiving Day, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas suggests setting aside some time to reflect.

CAL THOMAS: There once was a time—and I still remember it—when most of the Christmas rush began after Thanksgiving. Now we have Black Friday beginning in some TV ads before Halloween. Thanksgiving has taken a back seat to the commercialism of Christmas. It is now mostly a day of stuffing ourselves with high-calorie food.

While the early settlers and pilgrims were known for thanking God for His blessings, it wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln became president that the day became an officially recognized occasion. In his proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving, Lincoln said this about the blessings Americans had received:

“To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.”

The proclamation was issued after the Battle of Gettysburg, a bloody conflict in the Civil War…a war which was still far from over. If a nation in the midst of such a great internal struggle could find things to be thankful for, what about us? In our rush to consume, do we any longer regard God as the source of our undeserved blessings?

Something even more profound came later in the proclamation. Speaking to his fellow citizens, Lincoln wrote:

“I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience.”

When was the last time you heard a national leader recommend penitence? The Scriptures are pretty clear…nothing gets God’s attention quite like repentance. It is then His mercy flows.

I’m not exactly sure how God will respond as His people pray…seeking His forgiveness for our national sins. But I do know that it is an appropriate attitude as we gather, and a long-standing tradition to reintroduce around our Thanksgiving table.

God once said for the sake of ten righteous people He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Like the people in those ancient cities, we have many sins for which we should repent. Perhaps a heaping serving of humble pie should be on today’s Thanksgiving menu.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Also, music reviewer Arsenio Orteza with some Christmas music suggestions. And an artisan who honors others by carving their stories into stone. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

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 Psalmist writes: “Consider how I love your precepts! Give me life, O Lord, according to your steadfast love. The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” —Psalm 119:159, 160

Go now in grace and peace.

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