K-love News Podcast

By Richard Hunt When Jennifer saw the text from the recruiter asking if her son, Peyton, would be interested in a military career, “I laughed, actually. I laughed out loud for half-a-second, then it just hit me with a little bit of sadness.” You see, Jennifer’s son is non-verbal special needs. Now while all this might have become unpleasant, it didn’t. That’s because the heart of a loving mom, and the kindness of a military professional, turned the awkward situation into a real blessing for Peyton!

By Richard Hunt More than a million people have been affected by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck this past Saturday “and 540,000 of those are kids who are displaced,” explains Forhetz, “and the Lord blessed us in such a way that we already have a children’s feeding program going on on the island … we’ve been in Haiti operating since 2006.”

“When people hurt, you hurt.” – Pastor Eric Camp Camp, who pastors Collective Church in Pascagoula, tell us, believers from at least 10 churches took part in the car-based evening prayer at three hospitals. “We were asking God, first of all, to strengthen the medical personnel, to bless them, keep them safe, to heal those who have COVID in the hospital…and bring relief during this pandemic.” In our podcast, Pastor Eric offers a pointer from the Bible that could be very useful in toning down the debate about wearing masks and other precautions.

By Richard Hunt Faith: “It’s a part of who I am, and so that means a lot of just giving my life, my workouts, my competitions over to God … there’s a lot more peace that comes with that.” – Grace Norman In our podcast, Grace offers her take on the current buzz-topic of athletes’ mental health and she describes the way she focuses with cues, “seeing yourself into the moment and the now, instead of getting caught up in what’s coming next” during a triathlon. You’ll also hear her advice about the importance of setting goals for yourself in life, including those goals that are “way out of our comfort zone … and not setting limits on you or what God can do through you.”

Billie Branham talks with Chicago Eco House founder and president Quilen Blackwell about his impact on neighborhoods in Chicago

Christian-based Jail to Jobs Austin successfully redirects teenagers caught breaking the law, dropping the local recidivism rate to just 20-percent. JTJ goes into juvenile halls and offers young men and women a chance to show up on a jobsite and learn a trade when they are released. “If we can get them to us, and mentor them and teach the word of God,” says Jeremias Cooper, Travis County director, “then we can start making some changes in their lives.” K-LOVE's Felipe Aguilar takes a Closer Look.

Why do two-thirds of freed prisoners go right back in? “The key is breaking them free of the ‘criminogenic thinking’ typical of people with criminal history,” says James Ackerman, President and CEO of Christ-centered ministry Prison Fellowship. To offer hope behind bars, hip-hop artist Lecrae partners with PF to perform concerts in prison yards, speaking directly to inmates about his own family to urge men and women to embrace a second chance. “They’re still human beings - with dignity - who’ve made mistakes.” K-LOVE's Monika Kelly gives us a Closer Look.

By Richard Hunt As Muhlenberg South Middle School in Greenville, Kentucky, moves into a new facility, Principal Brian Lile wanted to provide a message of encouragement to students. “With mental fitness and social emotional learning being buzzwords right now in schools, and even more so since COVID, every time I listened to Matthew West’s song Truth Be Told, I kept thinking, ‘I could do something with that thought on our steps.’” “So we started with his Lie #1, Lie #2, on the steps…” Images and full story at https://www.klove.com/news/positive-people/principal-takes-a-cue-from-matthew-west-creates-truth-stairs-24609

By Richard Hunt “Imagine yourself if you were confined to a wheelchair,” says founder Kevin Schwieger. The Ohio-based non-profit is blessing people who are extremely limited as to where they can go when it comes to the great outdoors. Much like Star Trek’s well-known theme, “where no one has gone before,” people who lead daily lives in a wheelchair often can only dream about what’s out there – a peaceful lake, a meadow, squirrels, songbirds. But that is no longer true. Dreams are becoming a reality because of Luke 5 Adventures! With the use of a special one-wheeled chair device imported from France, ministry volunteers - known as “Sherpas” - take people who are disabled on hiking adventures, with safety being the first priority.

By Richard Hunt Derek Demmler teaches creative writing at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Georgia, one of the top private boarding and day schools in the country. For tapping into better creative writing the challenge was to get students out of warp drive. That “pause” involved something creative in order to write creatively: manual typewriters. But, why?

The realities of internet missteps by younger and younger children exposes an urgent need to teach kids how to spot and report suspicious activity. K-LOVE's Rafael Sierra talks with Patrick Craven of the Center for Cyber Safety and Education and Eliza McCoy with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about their age-appropriate training program called Netsmartz.

By the time a student reaches 8th grade a little over 80% of their value system in place – meaning the way they look at morality, sexuality, integrity – so where are we focusing our intention with Dare to Dream? Middle School.” D2D school assemblies rely heavily on the power of the personal experiences of artists and athletes, starting with the unlikely success Randy Rich enjoyed as a professional football player for the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns. “I’m this short little 5ft 9’ guy who made it, right? So if a kid can see themselves through a speaker who’s presenting to them then it serves as an encouragement to them.” K-LOVE's Monika Kelly reports.

Monika Kelly chats with Pastor Steve Lummer, Adventure Pastor, based in Prescott, Arizona. Pastor Steve heads out with a team or alone every day to hit the trails, rivers, and mountains and shares Jesus outdoors. Pastor Steve says he brings people outdoors to get God in to their inside.

By Richard Hunt The Ark Encounter, a life-size exhibit replica of Noah’s Ark, located in Williamstown, Kentucky, is seeing pre-pandemic-size crowds as it celebrates its 5th anniversary. CEO Ken Ham believes there’s a growing hunger for biblical truth and reality. Referring to exhibit visitors, Ham says, “They say when you see the culture deteriorating before our eyes, we want a spiritual legacy for our families.” A new project, “Tower of Babel,” will show visitors the biblical truth that we’re all one race, biologically.

By Richard Hunt “When we come together, as men – not as white men, black men, Latino men, Asian men…but as men, we can change America. We really can. And change the world as a result.” The passionate thoughts of one of the keynote speakers, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez. The unique men’s ministry founded in 1990 by Coach Bill McCartney is experiencing a rebirth. Promise Keepers will hold its first major nationwide event in years this week at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. A definite masculine site for guys-oriented worship and teaching.

By Richard Hunt “They want to meet Jesus in the scriptures and they want help doing it. And they want help speaking to God and listening to God in prayer.” Join us as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship explains the ramifications of what they’ve found.

Billie Branham talks with Christy Lucas about leaving her 17-year career in education to help veterans.

Youth Pastor Will Standridge challenged his students to ‘shred’ the Bible and build a stronger relationship with Christ. Listen to K-LOVE's Rafael Sierra's report.

By Richard Hunt “I think it’s a good way to warm peoples’ hearts, spirits…and bellies. You get all three,” explains Brian Rock. The Army veteran owns the Elevated Pie Company, currently a pop-up pizza kitchen using his red 1983 Chevy pickup with a wood-fire pizza oven mounted in the bed. When a strong tornado damaged homes in suburban Chicago, Brian grabbed ingredients and headed to the scene. There, he baked 75 hand-tossed pizzas and gave them to storm victims free-of-charge. Brian loves does this and has a dream to own a full-size food truck to improve his business and help more people in disaster situations.

Agriculture+Technology+Employment = ‘Win, Win, Win’ By Richard Hunt Students at a number of high schools in Appalachia are getting a leg-up on technology and a possible future career through the generosity of AppHarvest, providing “container farms” free-of-charge to help students understand hydroponics, literally farming without dirt. The refurbished shipping containers are controlled by an app, and maintain perfect growing weather inside 24/47, with no concerns about frost, hail, drought, or pests. Beyond the school support, AppHarvest has some huge facilities in place doing the same thing. Their first facility near Morehead, Kentucky is “60 acres under glass, 2.8-million square feet, and about 50 football fields inside.” CEO Jonathan Webb says to picture “tomatoes growing vertically, we’re using AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics…and ultimately we’re able to use 90% less water than open-field agriculture."