A dream trip turned into reality when my church family generously gave us an Alaska adventure as a retirement gift. In 2020, Amy and I planned a 40th wedding anniversary land tour of Alaska. Then came the pandemic.

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation will host four open houses next month on a plan to add toll lanes along the top end of Interstate 285 and along Georgia 400 in Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb counties.

Church planting was part of NewBranch Community Church’s vision from the beginning, says Teaching Pastor Ken Rucker. The question for this Georgia church, which began gathering in 2008, had always been, “When’s the right time to plant?”

The greatest barrier to disciple-making in the United States is undiscipled believers. We have resources and opportunities like never before, and yet our churches still struggle to fulfill the one task our Lord left us to accomplish — to make disciples. Just ask the majority of churches that have plateaued or are in decline since the pandemic.

CAIRO (AP) — More than 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced extremely high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, Saudi authorities announced Sunday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Max Fried shut down the Yankees for five innings before tiring on a blistering afternoon, Jarred Kelenic drove in two runs and the Atlanta Braves beat New York 3-1 on Sunday for their eighth win in 10 games following a five-game losing streak.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jarred Kelenic has taken to hitting at the top of the Atlanta Braves' batting order. Recently moved to leadoff as the replacement for injured star Ronald Acuña Jr., Kelenic homered and drove in two runs in Sunday's 3-1 win over the New York Yankees.

MOSCOW (AP) — More than 15 policemen and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukrainians in Warsaw jumped over a bonfire and floated braids to honor the vital powers of water and fire on the Vistula River bank Saturday night, as they celebrated their solstice tradition of Ivan Kupalo Night away from war-torn home. Hundreds joined the event, most of them war refugees.

Callie Weems was reveling in her new role as a mom in the months before a gunman in Arkansas fatally shot her at a grocery store

CHICAGO (AP) — One of Chicago's most popular tourist attractions known as “The Bean” reopened to the public Sunday after nearly a year of renovations and construction.

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A 4-year-old California boy who wandered away from a campground in the Sierra National Forest was found safe after spending 22 hours alone in the wilderness, authorities said.

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan county sheriff's deputy was fatally shot while pursing a suspected stolen vehicle in Detroit, the Oakland County sheriff's office said Sunday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities said six people died and over 100 were wounded in Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Sunday, while the second day of Russia's aerial bombing of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine killed at least one person.

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — Full-time residents of Ruidoso will be allowed to return to their village Monday morning as federal authorities seek to prosecute whoever started a pair of New Mexico wildfires that killed two people and destroyed or damaged more than 1,400 structures.

Twenty people. No pastor. One nearly empty parking lot. A baptistry that hadn’t been filled in five years. That was what was left of Fishersville Baptist Church by the fall of 2022.

INDIANAPOLIS – In many ways, American culture is becoming more hostile to biblical Christianity, said Jimmy Scroggins as he and Trevin Wax opened the North American Mission Board’s Church-Based Schools Breakfast as one of the ancillary events at this year's SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier arrived Saturday in South Korea for a three-way exercise involving Japan as they step up military training to cope with North Korean threats, which have escalated following a security pact with Russia.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A 3-year-old boy riding a tricycle was fatally shot and his 7-year-old sister was grazed by gunfire at a family gathering in Buffalo, officials said Saturday.

BEIJING (AP) — A family of six was found dead by rescuers in Fujian province, state media reported Saturday, adding to the extreme weather deaths after downpours caused landslides in the area, even as authorities extended a warning of more severe weather ahead.

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Three Alabama men have died from likely drowning after becoming distressed while swimming at a Florida Panhandle beach, authorities said Saturday morning.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden but apparently caused no damage, authorities said Saturday, in the latest strike on the shipping lane by the group.

Floodwaters forced people out of their homes in parts of Iowa, the result of weeks of rain, while much of the United States longed for relief Saturday from yet another round of extraordinary heat.

RUIDOSO, N.M. (AP) — Recent rains and cooler weather are helping more than 1,000 firefighters gain ground on two wildfires in southern New Mexico on Saturday that have killed two people, destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands to flee.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A shooter who opened fire Friday at a grocery store in Arkansas killed 3 people and wounded 10 others, authorities said. The shooter riddled the store and parked cars as bystanders ducked for cover both indoors and in the parking lot,