Posted: December 6, 2022

Do you know someone who hates rats? Maybe that person should apply for a job in New York City, New York.

Mayor Eric Adams is hiring. He’s looking for someone to win the city’s battle against rats.

The official job title is “director of rodent mitigation.” Mitigation means lessening. That fancy title means “person who gets rid of rats.”

Who makes the perfect candidate? The job description describes someone “somewhat bloodthirsty.” It also says the employee should look at the city’s big rat problem from new angles.

It’s no easy job.

New York City leaders have tried to control the rodent population for generations. Sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they don’t. Lately, people see more and more rats in parks and on sidewalks.

Rats live near people because they like eating human food. It’s hard to get rid of them. New York City’s last mayor was Bill de Blasio. He spent millions of dollars to stop the pests. Workers picked up trash more often. Housing inspections got tougher. City workers also put dry ice in burrows. That suffocates the rats.

“New York City’s rats are legendary for their survival skills,” says the job posting. “But they don’t run this city—we do.”

God gives officials a responsibility to keep cities clean. Most people think of rats as dirty. The rodents spread disease.

Who do you think city officials should hire? A cat, perhaps?

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. — Romans 13:1

Posted: December 5, 2022

Vilma Huamaní lives in the Andes mountains in southern Peru. From her house, she sees the Cconchaccota lagoon. Normally, people fish for trout in the small body of water. Children swim. Thirsty sheep drink from the lagoon. Flamingos fly over it. But now the lagoon is just cracked dirt surrounded by yellow grass.

“It has totally dried up,” Ms. Huamaní says. The rainy season should have started in September. But her area is experiencing its driest period in almost 50 years.

There have been only two rains in eight months. Residents set bowls outdoors during a light rain at the end of November to collect some water. But by the next morning, sunshine had dried most of the moisture.

Only potatoes grow in Ms. Huamaní’s village. But farmers have delayed planting because there was no rain. The villagers expect food shortages in the coming months. People are already eating the potatoes they had stored.

The lack of rain is due to La Niña. That’s not a person. La Niña is a weather pattern. That name describes the cooling of the ocean along the coast of South America. It also means that parts of South America are dryer than normal. Drought is hitting parts of Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina right now. (But other places may get too much rain, like Australia.)

Scientists say the lagoon could have dried up because it was less than three feet deep. Its water came only from the rain. The Sun dried it out.

In Cconchaccota, none of the houses have running water. People drink water from a nearby spring. But it sometimes dries up too.

Farmers pray for rain. Their animals don’t have enough food or water.

Pray that God will send rain to the people in the Cconchaccota village. And pray that the villagers will trust in Him.

He gives rain on the Earth and sends waters on the fields. — Job 5:10

Posted: December 2, 2022

What’s harder than living in a nation at war? Living in a nation at war without working phones.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Ever since, soldiers fight. Doctors and nurses help the wounded. And an army of engineers from Ukraine’s phone companies gets to work.

When phones work, people and lawmakers can stay in touch. That matters. When will Russia attack? People need to know so they can stay safe.

Has your phone service ever gotten knocked out? Few people notice phone engineers during peacetime. But these workers labor day and night. Ukrainian engineers put themselves in great danger to do their jobs.

Russian strikes took out electricity in Ukraine. This electricity powers cell phone towers. The phone engineers fix the damage—even if they have to go into a war zone. They turn on generators to keep cell towers running. (A generator turns fuel into electricity. It keeps power flowing when the regular electricity goes out.)

“I know our guys—my colleagues—are very exhausted,” says engineer Yuriy Dugnist. Mr. Dugnist crunches through six inches of fresh snow. He reaches a mobile phone tower near Kyiv, Ukraine.

Later, Mr. Dugrist and his coworkers fill cans with diesel fuel. They pour the fuel into a big tank under a generator. The machine powers a 160-foot cell tower in a village. This town has had no electricity for days. But thanks to Mr. Dugnist’s team, the locals have phone service.

God gives each person unique vocations, or callings. We can use our callings to love our neighbors. Did you know the calling “telephone worker” can sometimes mean “war hero” too?

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. — Mark 12:31

Posted: December 1, 2022

The camels of Qatar (KUH-tur) need naps.

Fans come in droves to Qatar for the World Cup. That’s the most famous soccer tournament in the world. The competition lasts a month. Tourists explore the desert outside Doha, Qatar. Most visitors want to ride a camel. Wouldn’t you?

“It’s really an amazing feeling because you feel so tall,” Juan Gaul says after his ride. He is visiting Qatar from Australia.

Visitors in soccer uniforms or draped in flags wait their turns. Some camels don’t want to get up. Their handlers force them to rise.

All this attention is good news for camel handlers, but maybe not for camels. “There’s a lot of money coming in,” says Ali Jaber al Ali. He is a camel herder from Sudan. Normally, his company offers around 20 rides per day and 50 on weekends. Since the World Cup started, it offers 500 rides in the morning and another 500 in the evening. And the company started with 15 camels. Now it has 60!

Mr. Al Ali says he knows when an animal is tired. It refuses to get up or sits back down after rising to its feet. Mr. Al Ali’s trade has become very profitable. But he also has to think about what’s best for his animals. He can identify each camel by its face.

“I am a Bedouin. I come from a family of Bedouins who care for camels. I grew up loving them,” he says.

Normally, a camel rests after five rides. “Now, people are saying we can’t wait . . . because they have other plans,” he says. Now some camels give 40 rides without a break!

People have been raising, riding, and selling camels for thousands of years. Jesus used camels as an example when He made this comparison: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25)

Posted: November 30, 2022

Two black-handed spider monkeys swing in a cage. The tropical forests of Panama surround them. But they’re not ready to explore the treetops.

These monkeys belong in nature. Instead, they lived in a house. They were trafficked. Poachers captured and sold them illegally. Then people kept them as pets.

Panama has strict rules about owning wildlife. The law allows some places, such as zoos, to raise wild animals. But illegal animal trading is a big problem.

Panama’s officials counted over 30 cases of animal trafficking. That’s just this year. And there were probably more cases that officials haven’t found.

Monkeys aren’t the only critters in trouble. Traffickers trade all sorts of wild creatures. Some sell frogs. They tell buyers, “I raised these frogs on my farm!” In reality, they stole the frogs from the wild. This scam is called “ghost farming.”

Many trafficked animals are endangered. Without care, they could become extinct.

That’s the case for black-handed spider monkeys. Keeping them as pets makes the problem worse. They forget how to live in nature. In the wild, they would die quickly.

Panama’s government tells people about the dangers of trafficking. Trafficking doesn’t just harm animals. It also hurts humans. For example, spider monkeys seem friendly—but they often attack their owners.

Panama also opened a rehabilitation center. The center can hold up to 50 animals. Biologists help trafficked animals remember how to survive in the wild. All sorts of creatures come through. The center sees ocelots, toucans, and yes—black-handed spider monkeys.

Rehabilitation starts with food. The center’s two spider monkeys will start eating local forest fruits. Soon, biologists will hide the food in their enclosure. The monkeys will need to dust off their natural food-finding instincts.

Eventually, experts will decide whether the monkeys can return to the wild.

Nature belongs to God. He told humans to steward it well. Often, people get greedy. They hurt God’s creation instead. But Panama’s leaders have decided to fight against animal trafficking. That is one way to care for creation.

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. — Psalm 50:10

Posted: November 29, 2022

Lava shoots 200 feet into the air. At last, the world’s largest active volcano is erupting.

Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano was quiet for nearly 40 years. But on Sunday night, it started spurting lava. For now, lava does not threaten any homes. Officials aren’t yet saying, “Get out of here!” But they could be soon. Lava flows downhill. It could reach neighborhoods in a week.

Officials do have a message though: “Beware the vog!”

Mauna Loa is spewing sulfur dioxide and other volcanic gases. These mix with vapor, oxygen, and dust in sunlight. That makes volcanic smog, or vog. State health officials urge people to cut back on outdoor exercise so they don’t breathe in too much vog. Vog can give people burning eyes, headaches, and sore throats. It can send people with asthma to the hospital.

Locals will also watch for lava. This could cover houses, farms, or neighborhoods. They’ll also steer clear of the glass particles created when hot lava rapidly cools.

Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984. Its smaller neighbor, the Kilauea volcano, stays busy. It has been erupting continuously for more than a year!

Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke! — Psalm 144:5

Posted: November 28, 2022

Some soccer fans at the World Cup in Qatar were surprised. They saw Japanese visitors bagging trash after matches. Japanese players are famous for doing the same in team dressing rooms. They hang up towels, clean the floor, and even leave thank-you notes. Win or lose, Japanese fans and players keep their spaces tidy.

Fans from other cultures posted about the cleanups on social media. But “for Japanese people, this is just the normal thing to do,” Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu says. “When you leave, you have to leave a place cleaner than it was before.”

Barbara Holthus studies how groups of people behave. She spent the last 10 years in Japan. She says cleaning up after oneself is engrained in Japanese culture.

“You’re always supposed to take your trash home in Japan, because there are no trash cans on the street,” says Ms. Holthus. “You clean your classroom. From a very young age you learn you are responsible for the cleanliness of your own space.”

Many Japanese schools don’t have janitors. So young students do some of the clean-up work. Office workers spruce up their areas.

Tokyo, Japan’s capital, has few public trash containers. This keeps the streets cleaner. Cities save the cost of emptying trash cans. And pests don’t come looking for food.

Midori Mayama is a Japanese reporter in Qatar for the World Cup. She says that fans collecting rubbish doesn’t make the news back home.

“Nobody in Japan would report on this,” she says. “All of this is so normal.”

It may be normal to the Japanese. But soccer coach Alberto Zaccheroni says it’s not how most teams act.

“Everywhere in the world, players take their kit off and leave it on the floor in the changing room. Then the cleaning staff come and collect it,” he says. “Not the Japanese players.” They stack their uniforms neatly.

Cleaning up after yourself doesn’t just make a space more pleasant for you. It can also show respect and care for others around you. Remember Philippians 2:3: “In humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Sometimes, that might include picking up trash!

Posted: November 25, 2022

Do manatees belong on the endangered species list again?

Some manatee lovers say yes.

Imagine two lists. One says “Endangered Species.” The other says “Threatened Species.” Animals on the endangered list are at serious risk of extinction. People follow extra laws to keep them safe. Manatees hung out on that list for a long time. They were listed as endangered from 1973 to 2017. Eventually, they dropped down to the threatened species list. A species on that list may become endangered.

Moving manatees to the threatened species list was good news. It meant the creatures were safer. But some people say manatees are still in big trouble. They need more help.

What’s bugging the manatees? Fertilizer and wastewater run into the sea. They pollute the water. Way too much algae grows. Algae blooms kill seagrass. Manatees depend on seagrass for food. As many as 1,100 manatees died of hunger in 2021. That’s a record. Hundreds of manatees have died already this year as well.

So will the species go back on the list? The Fish and Wildlife Service will decide. It has 90 days to consider the question.

Meanwhile, wildlife officials make a plan. Like last year, they’ll try feeding lettuce to manatees. Many manatees gather near Cape Canaveral in winter. Last year, these manatees ate about 202,000 pounds of lettuce. Most of the veggies were donated.

But donating lettuce won’t solve the problem for the long term. What will? Experts say there is only one real fix. That’s stopping pollution and helping seagrass grow.

Posted: November 24, 2022

From all of us at WORLDkids, we wish you a happy day of Thanksgiving!

May we have hearts filled with grateful praise to our God who saved us and sustains us in His great mercy, love, and grace.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. — Colossians 2:6-7

Posted: November 23, 2022

In New Zealand, people can vote after turning 18. Some folks say younger people should be able to vote. They want to lower the age to 16. Soon lawmakers will vote on the issue.

This month, New Zealand’s Supreme Court made a huge decision. It decided that not allowing 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to vote is “age discrimination.” That means treating someone unfairly because of age. In New Zealand, the law protects citizens from age discrimination after the age of 16.

Will New Zealand’s lawmakers follow the Supreme Court’s lead?

The movement to change the age limit began with teenagers. They saw what they thought was unfairness in New Zealand’s voting laws. In New Zealand, 16-year-olds can drive. They work and pay taxes. But they don’t get to vote.

Meanwhile, grown-up voters make long-term decisions. They decide on laws that will shape the future. But young people will be most affected by that future. And they can’t vote—yet.

At least, that’s what Sanat Singh argues. He’s the 18-year-old co-director of Make It 16. He and other young people started the group to change the voting age. Their work brought the issue to court. He’s hopeful the voting laws will change—if not now, then in the future.

Not everyone shares his hope. To change voting laws, three out of every four lawmakers must agree.

That’s a tall order. Two big political parties already oppose the change. Their reasons are worth considering. A 16-year-old is able to do many things. But a 16-year-old is not yet an adult. There is still much to learn at that age.

It’s true that current laws will affect the future. But do 16-year-olds have the wisdom to vote? After all, the human brain doesn’t fully develop until around 25 years old.

“Ultimately, you’ve got to draw the line somewhere,” says lawmaker Christopher Luxon. “And we’re comfortable with the line being 18.”

Some countries already allow 16-year-olds to vote. Those countries include Austria, Malta, Brazil, Cuba, and Ecuador.

New Zealand might not join that club. But Sanat and his team have started a conversation. Whatever happens, New Zealand’s teens want to make their voices heard. Do you think they are doing the right thing?

1 Peter 5:5 reminds us that young people can learn much from their elders. Growing in wisdom takes time. “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

Posted: November 22, 2022

Is your family getting ready for Thanksgiving? Ask your parents: Does the turkey dinner seem to cost more this year?

For some families, this year’s grocery bill means picking and choosing. Sweet potato casserole or mac and cheese? Both, plus turkey, might just cost too much. Prices for turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and canned pumpkin all rose this year.

Why?

Supply chain problems are part of the reason. Getting groceries to your store takes longer and is more expensive. It costs more this year to pay workers and buy fuel. Bad weather and war in Ukraine make it harder to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table too.

Even turkey flocks had a hard year. Many got bird flu. America hasn’t had such a low number of turkeys since 1986!

Would you like to buy a pre-made Thanksgiving dinner? Grocery store Whole Foods sells a classic Thanksgiving feast for eight people. It costs $179.99. That’s $40 more than last year’s price.

Do you know any families in need this Thanksgiving? Can you offer them a place at your family table?

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. — Hebrews 13:2

Posted: November 21, 2022

Kids in Buffalo, New York, enjoyed a few snow days this weekend. Now adults dig out from a massive storm. Six feet of snow covered parts of western New York this weekend.

The National Weather Service recorded 77 inches by Saturday in Orchard Park. That town is just outside of Buffalo.

At Buffalo’s airport, more than 21 inches fell just on Saturday! Roads closed. Flights were cancelled.

The snow started falling on Thursday in some spots. It kept going over the weekend. But the snow stopped by daybreak Monday.

President Joe Biden sent help to state and local officials. The storm hit 11 counties.

Why did the area get so much snow? Because of the lake effect. Buffalo is next to Lake Eerie. It is near some of the other Great Lakes too. Cold air moves over the lakes. The water is warmer than the air. The air picks up moisture from the lakes. Big clouds form and dump lots of snow.

One of the worst lake-effect snowstorms struck in November 2014. That epic storm brought seven feet of snow to some communities. Roofs collapsed. Drivers in more than 100 cars got stuck on the roads.

This year’s storm changed Robert Junge and Maria Szeglowski’s wedding plans. They planned to get married on Saturday. But their reception venue canceled. The musician they hired for their church ceremony couldn’t make it. Neither could more than half of their 180 guests.

But the two were determined. The bride took a rented limo to the church. Mr. Junge drove himself.

“Nothing was going to stop me from marrying her, no matter what,” Mr. Junge says.

On the bright side, the snow gave the couple “some beautiful pictures.”

[God] gives snow like wool; He scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down His crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold? — Psalm 147:16-17

Posted: November 18, 2022

This week, Mexico said goodbye to a very good dog: Frida the rescue Lab.

Frida became famous in 2017. That year, Mexico had a terrible earthquake. The Labrador retriever suited up. She wore goggles and little rubber shoes. That’s a superhero suit for a superhero dog.

Frida sniffed through the rubble for missing people. The people of Mexico loved Frida’s work. They painted big pictures of her around Mexico City.

God made canines with incredible noses. Those super sniffers can help people find and fetch missing objects . . . or missing people. During her lifetime, Frida rescued a dozen people. Do you love dogs? How much would you love a dog who saved your life? That pup would really deserve the title “man’s best friend.”

Frida worked outside Mexico too. She traveled to help after earthquakes in Haiti and Ecuador. She retired from rescue work in June 2019. She was 10 years old. She lived to be 13. That’s 91 in dog years. Now Frida is gone. But a statue of her still stands in Puebla City, Mexico.

On Tuesday, the Mexican navy posted a video tribute to say, “Thanks, Frida!”

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. — Psalm 46:1

Posted: November 17, 2022

Here’s the sitch, Scrabble stans. Your convos around the board are about to get more interesting. The game’s official dictionary now has about 500 new words. Stan, sitch, and convo are just a few of them.

The new version of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary comes out this month. The add-on words join more than 100,000 words already used in Scrabble.

Some of the words are shortened versions of longer words, such as guac for guacamole. Many of the words are slang. Those are informal words usually used more in casual conversation than in writing. For example, adult is allowed as an action word now. Players can form the words adulted and adulting without breaking the rules.

Which word will get you the most points? Maybe fauxhawk, a haircut similar to a Mohawk.

Which is most unexpected? Perhaps embiggen. That verb means “to increase in size.”

Here are more of the dictionary additions:

• Some “uns”: unfollow, unsub, and unmute.
• Old-fashioned: yeehaw.
• New-fangled: inspo and vibing.
• Food words: iftar, horchata, kabocha, mofongo, zuke, zoodle, wagyu, and queso.
• Weirdest animal word: zonkey.

People and words are connected. God designed it that way. Languages change over time. Some of the words you say may be used just by the people who live in your region. (For these, you might check a regional dictionary, such as the Dictionary of American Regional English.) Can you think of any words unique to your time or place?

We defined some of the new Scrabble words for you. The rest you’ll have to look up!

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. — Proverbs 18:21

Posted: November 16, 2022

This Wednesday, NASA launched its most powerful rocket ever. Destination: the Moon!

The Orion crew capsule carries three test dummies. It will fly around the Moon. The trip will take 25 days. This test will help NASA put astronauts on the Moon for the first time in 50 years.

About 15,000 people gathered. They clustered around Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The roaring takeoff made nearby buildings shake. The crowd cheered.

This launch marks the beginning of NASA’s Artemis program. In Greek mythology, Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister. NASA’s Apollo program put the first men on the Moon in 1969. The Artemis program aims to put men (and women!) back on the Moon by 2025. NASA also plans a manned flight around the Moon in 2024.

Orion should reach the Moon by Monday. NASA calls the mannequins on board “moonequins.” They wear sensors. These sensors take measurements. Scientists want to know how much the dummies shake and how fast the rocket flies.

Things will go wrong. That’s part of the plan. Experts want to discover problems before real astronauts climb aboard.

NASA originally planned the test in 2017. Leaks and other problems caused delays. This year’s Hurricane Ian and Tropical Storm Nicole didn’t help either.

Some people wonder if NASA should send people to the Moon. They say robots make better space explorers than astronauts. It also costs less to launch robots into space. By 2025, NASA will have spent $93 billion on Artemis. That’s a LOT of money.

NASA will soon announce its next Moon-bound astronauts. Christina Koch or Kayla Barron may be on the list. One of them could be the first woman to walk the Moon.

When we study God’s universe, we learn about God. His creation tells His glory. The Moon missions help us see the creativity of the Creator.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. — Psalm 19:1

Posted: November 15, 2022

How many people live in the world? We used to say, “More than seven billion.” Now we can say, “About EIGHT billion.”

This week, something big happened. Experts call it “The Day of Eight Billion.” They think the world population reached eight billion on November 15. Population means number of people.

African countries are growing fast. Lagos is a huge city in Nigeria. It has more than 15 million people. Those folks must share electricity. They jostle for spots on crowded buses. Some kids leave as early as 5 a.m. to get to school on time!

Is Nigeria finished growing? Nope. This year, Nigeria has 216 million people. In 30 years, it may have 375 million. That will make Nigeria the fourth-most populous country in the world. India, China, and the United States are most populous now. Congo, Ethiopia, and Tanzania grow big too.

Is the “Day of Eight Billion” a fact? Not really. It’s more of a guess. No one could count every single person in the world perfectly. (We can’t even count to eight billion without getting a little mixed up. Can you?)

Experts have more guesses. The world’s population may reach around 8.5 billion in 2030. It could grow to 10.4 billion in 2100. By next year, India may have more people than China. More people means we get more creative about how to share what we need.

Which baby is number eight billion? Only God knows that. Can you believe that God loves and knows every single one of Earth’s people perfectly? He even knows how many hairs grow on each head!

But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. — Matthew 10:30