What’s Going On-International English
November 2024
Slow Sledding into the Holiday Season
By Rob Scobey
The Christmas decorations in many American department stores were up before Halloween. And many of us will be using leftover Halloween candy for Christmas stockings (maybe after checking the expiration dates).
Some complain that the Christmas season starts too soon. Others won’t take down their decorations until 2025 is well underway.
Here at Your New Life Station—we’re riding a slow sled into the Christmas holiday season, a season that includes the U.S. holiday known as Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is on November 28th this year. Our hope is to keep the holiday spirit alive—feature holiday segments–but to also include program segments appropriate for any time of the year—so that the sled is balanced. As we approach Christmas Day—you’ll notice a gradual increase in Christmas-related segments—and more Christmas music.
Happy Holidays! Happy Thanksgiving! –and—Merry Christmas!
The Pacific Rim and Southwest Asia
The Pacific Rim, the Indian subcontinent and southwest Asia provide the reasons Your New Life Station broadcasts the International English Hour. The Pacific Rim is the part of the Eastern Hemisphere that encompasses English-prevalent countries Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and New Zealand. Additionally—English is widely spoken in Indonesia. And English is the official language of government and commerce in the southwest Asian countries of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In Japan and in countries of the Middle East, many speak English as a second language.
Your New Life Station’s broadcast schedule makes use of Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), a 24-hour system also known as Greenwich Mean Time. Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behind UTC; Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind. When some parts of the world switch to daylight saving time for the warm weather months, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is four hours behind UTC, and Central Daylight Time (CDT) is five hours behind. Outside the U.S.—most locations are on standard time all year rather than daylight time. Karachi is five hours ahead of UTC. Mumbai and New Delhi are five-and-a-half hours ahead. Manila, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur are eight hours ahead. And Tokyo is nine hours ahead of UTC.
You can use our listener website www.knls.org to hear the English Hour if you have internet access. Another online source is https://worldchristian.airtime.pro. And you can access the broadcast through the KNLS app on your mobile device or through Google or Safari. If you listen via shortwave radio, you can access knls.org to get our broadcast frequencies or you can write to us and request a schedule.
The English Hour is the Asian continent’s source for the music of our time and the message of all time. We work to provide a geographical balance in the topics we feature as we take you from “Alaska to Asia to Africa to America.” Our Eye on the World stories often show the interdependence of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Since our target audience is mostly non-Christians, our content is different from a typical Christian format station in America. While we provide our share of positive, uplifting content, some of our programming also provides an honest look at the dark side of life on Earth. Indeed, some program segments and music selections may raise questions that a thoughtful truth seeker will ask. And other segments, such as the Bible or Christian lifestyle lessons, serve to answer those questions.
Music to Love
Music is a universal language. Probably 80 per cent of the world’s pop tunes are sung in English, and are enjoyed by people everywhere, many who are themselves not proficient in English. The English Hour features your favorite songs from today’s best music. International pop charts show that your favorite music is also the favorite of people who are culturally diverse—whether in Nairobi, Sydney, Singapore, or Jakarta.
The songs are pop, rock, r & b, and occasional hip-hop and country music that cross over to the pop charts. The English Hour generally features music by artists from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. But music artists from all over the world, including European deejays and South Korean boy and girl bands, have found their names on or near the top of international pop charts.
News to Know
The English hour features reporting about topics of current interest. Marcy Bryan reports about entertainment, business, and news about religion and social issues. Kelly Ann Monahan has the latest developments in medicine, science, and computer technology. Paul Ladd provides special reports about diverse topics, religious and secular. Larry Souder interviews interesting people, sometimes in front of a live audience, on Souder & Friends. Doug Poling provides commentary on the news from a Christian perspective on Today’s News & the Good News. And Adam Holtz, Jonathan McKee, and Paul Asay of Focus on the Family provide Plugged-in reviews of the latest movies, online games, and TV shows.
Upcoming Segments for November:
Food safety requires vigilance during the holiday season. And one of the nastier germs that affects the digestive system is the norovirus. Marcy Bryan reports on clinical trials by Moderna for a norovirus vaccine.
Classic hits from One Direction have returned to the pop charts following the tragic death of Liam Payne. Marcy reports about the band’s awards and success prior to its members pursuit of solo careers.
Alaska’s weather has led to increase in cold weather injuries among the homeless population of Anchorage. Kelly Ann Monahan reports.
Kelly Ann also reports on a change in emergency protocols in Alaska schools because of a disturbing increase in drug overdoses.
And Kelly Ann reports on the benefits of high-intensity interval training. (She also explains what it is.)
Childrens’ game creator Liz Pitman has come out with a new one just in time for Christmas. It’s called Pete & Pal’s Christmas surprise. And it’s more than just a kid’s game. Paul Ladd reports.
And Paul takes us to Nashville’s Frist Center to tell about the fascinating exhibits on display for the holiday season.
A Message to Live
This is what we’re about and why we’re on the air and on the internet. Our mission is to present the lessons of the Bible, including and emphasizing the Good News in an interesting, non-threatening way.
Ongoing Series:
- All God’s Giants with Larry Souder
- Andy Baker’s Prayer Lesson
- Believer’s Hall of Faith with Bill Young
- Bible Archaeology, Proofs from the Earth with Bill Humble
- Creation Moments with Paul Taylor
- Direction with Rubel Shelly
- Encounters with Jesus with Larry Souder
- Family Minute with Brit & Kate Ryan
- First Person with Paul Ladd
- God’s Money with Steve Maganelles & Don White
- God’s Passion for Humanity with Bill Young
- Groundwire with Sean Dunn
- Hope in Conflict with Larry Souder
- Jim Daly commentary
- Joy of Peacemaking with Larry Souder
- Life Stories with Joe Norris
- Paradoxes with Bill Steensland
- Profiles of the New Testament with Bob Borquez
- Profiles of the Old Testament with Royce Kessler
- Promises with Royce Kessler
- Refiner’s Fire with Paul Ladd
- Souder & Friends featuring Stories of Amazing Grace with Larry Souder
- The Big Picture with Steve Diggs
- The God Who Makes Himself Known with Bill Young
- The Good Book with Greg Taylor
- The Journey with Greg Taylor
- Today’s News & the Good News with Doug Poling
- True Stories of the Bible with Bill Steensland
