By the time you read this article—I may be considered “fully vaccinated.” Someone “fully vaccinated” is someone who received the required doses of a Covid vaccine at least two weeks ago. My wife Debra and I both received our second dose of the Pfizer vaccine on March 27th. Once two weeks after the second injection have passed–we have greater freedom to move about and be around other people. We join the seven per cent of the world’s population that has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine. Worldwide—more than 550 million doses had been injected as of April 1st.
According to figures supplied by the New York Times, Israel leads the world with more than half of its population being fully vaccinated. The U.K. has five percent of its population fully vaccinated. The U.S. stands at 16 percent. And India has less than one percent of its citizens fully vaccinated.
As of this writing—Covid cases in the U.S. and Europe were increasing. In the U.S.—much of the increase is attributed to increased travel prompted by schools being out for spring break. And concern continues regarding the coronavirus’s ability to mutate into more dangerous and contagious variants.
So the question is whether vaccinations are happening fast enough to keep the variants from quickly spreading.
In the meantime, our reporting team of Kelly Ann Monahan, Marcy Bryan, and Paul Ladd will keep you informed.
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 that part of the Eastern Hemisphere that encompasses English-prevalent countries of the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Papua New Guinea, 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 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 return 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 Lampur 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’re not into shortwave radio. You can also 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.
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 listeners 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 crosses 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 have found their names on or near the top of international pop charts.
In March, Your New Life Station’s listeners will hear new music from Bryn Elliott, Demi Lovato & Sam Fischer, JP Saxe featuring Maren Morris, Justin Bieber, Loona, Meduza featuring Dermot Kennedy, Nathan Evans, Passenger, and Rose.
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. Doug Poling provides commentary on the news from a Christian perspective on Today’s News & the Good News. And Adam Holtz, Jonathan McKee and Kristin Smith of Focus on the Family provide Plugged-in reviews of the latest movies, music, and computer games. In April—they’ll continue to rate, for family friendliness, the numerous movies featured on streaming services as theatres struggle to reopen across the world.
Upcoming Reports for April 2021:
If you’ve been fully vaccinated against Covid—what should you feel free to do—and what caution should you exercise? Kelly Ann Monahan reports.
Will we be required to prove we’ve been vaccinated if we want to fly or use other forms of commercial transportation? Kelly Ann reports about the so-called vaccine passports.
Cases of flu are way down during the 2020-2021 season. Kelly Ann explains why.
And Kelly Ann reports about the worldwide shortage of electronic chips, the reopening of climbing season for North America’s tallest mountain, and the moon’s comet-like tail. (No kidding! The moon has a tail!)
The International Space Station will soon have its first African-American astronauts—one man and one woman. Marcy Bryan reports.
And Marcy remembers African-American trailblazers Mary Jackson, Vernon Jordan, and pop music artist Mary Wilson of the Supremes.
Volvo is making plans to make all its vehicles electric. Marcy Bryan reports about that, too.
And Marcy also reports about the success of South Korean boy band BTS and the success of Disney’s streaming service Disney Plus.
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
• Author’s Journal with Wesley Paine
• Believer’s Hall of Faith with Bill Young
• Creation Moments with Paul Taylor
• Deuteronomy with Phillip Camp & Paul Ladd
• Eye on Religion—Bible archaeology emphasis with Marcy Bryan
• Family Minute with Brit Ryan
• First Person with Paul Ladd
• God’s Money with Steve Maganelles
• God’s Passion for Humanity with Bill Young
• Groundwire with Sean Dunn
• Hope in Conflict with Larry Souder
• Immersed in Life with Greg Taylor
• Jim Daly commentary
• Joy of Peacemaking with Larry Souder
• Journeys in Faith with Larry Souder
• Life Stories with Joe Norris
• Living with Conflict with Greg Taylor
• Profiles of the New Testament with Bob Borquez
• Profiles of the Old Testament with Royce Kessler
• Promises with Royce Kessler
• Questions that Deserve Answers with Larry Souder
• Refiner’s Fire with Paul Ladd
• 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
• Unforgettable Conversations with Larry Souder
