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Spotlight - Ingls Especial

Lun 20 dic The Three Gifts, 1241Mar 21 dic Asian Heroes Indonesian Women, 1242/712Mie 22 dic Ocean Noise, 1243Jue 23 dic Listener Mail 8, 1244

Vie 24 dic The Meaning of Christmas, 1245Sab 25 dic Christmas Riches, 1246 Merry Christmas!

El horario de Spotlight se encuentra en la ltima pgina del documento. Gracias.

Program 1241: The Three Gifts (Los Tres Regalos)

Voice 1 Hello. Im Marina Santee.

Voice 2 And I'm Elizabeth Lickiss. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special Englishmethod of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1 Todays spotlight programme looks at the Christian celebration of Christmas. At ChristmasChristians celebrate the time when Jesus Christ was born. It is also popular for people to give andreceive gifts. We hear from two people who have chosen unusual gifts this year.

Voice 2 Many children across the world are busy. They are designing special boxes. Each boxcontains gifts. There are thousands of different kinds. The aid group, Samaritans Purse collects theboxes. They have offices in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, the United Kingdomand the United States. Millions of boxes are collected each year. The aid workers from SamaritansPurse give the boxes as Christmas presents. The aid workers give the boxes to some of the worldspoorest people.

Voice 1 Douglas Winnerly is thirteen years old. He lives in Scotland - part of the United Kingdom. ThisChristmas Douglas will receive some good presents. But Douglas knows that life is not so good for all

children. For this reason he is making a special Christmas box. On the box he has written: boy -twelve years old. Samaritans Purse will make sure that Douglass box goes to a twelve-year-old boy.This is important to Douglas. He has designed his box carefully. He hopes that the twelve-year-old boywill like his gifts. Douglas has chosen a T-shirt for the boy to wear. He has included some pencils towrite with, paper, a game and a small ball. Douglas explains why he wants to give a gift box like this,he says,

Voice 3 This year I will receive some nice gifts. But I know that other children, like me, will not haveanything. I am a Christian. Christmas is important to me. It is a time when I remember that God sentJesus into the world. Jesus was born into a poor family. I do not think that this was a mistake. I think itwas a message to people - to consider and help the poor.

Voice 1 David Applin works with Samaritans Purse. He went with the group to Romania. It was the

middle of winter. The air was cold. But the Romanian children had summer clothes on. The childrenwere orphans - they had no parents. David and his team gave each child a box with gifts. All thechildren had new warm clothes for winter. All of them had special playthings. David Applin does notget paid for his work with Samaritans Purse. He gives his time freely. He says, the look on thechildrens faces makes it worth all the effort.

Voice 2 Samaritans Purse is just one of many groups doing this kind of work. Oxfam is another aidgroup. Oxfam is also encouraging people to think about the poor this Christmas. Oxfam wants peopleto buy farm animals such as chickens and goats. David Small is an office worker from England. Hesays that his present to his mother, Joanne, will be ten chickens. He has paid Oxfam the money for thechickens. But Oxfam will not give the chickens to David or Joanne. Oxfam will give the chickens to apoor family. The chickens will provide the family with eggs and meat. Joanne will receive a piece ofpaper. The paper will tell her where her gift went. Joanne is happy. She likes to think that she has

helped someone. But the gift idea does not end there. The family that receive the gift will also give too.

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They have promised to give the first-born chicks from their chickens. They will give them to anotherpoor family. In this way one gift can help many people.

Voice 1 Gift giving is a popular Christmas tradition. Most people will share gifts with their family andfriends. But Douglas and Joanne will never know the people their gifts went to. However, they hopethat their gifts will bring happiness. Douglas says,

Voice 3 In some parts of the world, gift giving has become big business. People spend too muchmoney on things that do not matter. They miss the whole reason for Christmas. Jesus Christ is thereason for Christmas. For me, helping other people is important. It makes me think about Jesus more.Jesus was always willing to help those in need.

Voice 1 The Bible says that Jesus also received special gifts at his birth. The Bible says that wisemen from the East gave him the gifts. But they were not the kinds of gifts that people normally give ababy. They were unusual gifts. The men presented Jesus with gold, Frankincense and myrrh.

Voice 2 Many people consider gold to be a useful present! But Frankincense and myrrh - what dopeople use these for?

Voice 1 Frankincense comes from a tree. The Beswellia Thurifera tree is in the Middle East andSomalia. When the tree is cut a liquid from inside the tree pours out. The liquid is called sap. Thesunlight dries the sap. It becomes hard. When it is completely solid people crush the sap into smallparticles. People put the crushed Frankincense into boxes. They burn the Frankincense in religiousceremonies.

Voice 2 Myrrh also comes from a tree. The tree is called Commiphora or DinDin. When the sap fromthis tree becomes hard it is called Myrrh. During the time of Jesus, people used Myrrh to treat woundsand prepare dead bodies. It is not the kind of gift to give to a child!

Voice 1 Christians believe that these gifts were not a mistake. The wise men had chosen carefully.Many Christians believe that the gifts show people who Jesus really is. Gold shows that he is veryimportant - royal. Incense represents his holy nature - Jesus the Son of God. And Myrrh represents the

suffering that Jesus would experience.

Voice 2 The Bible stated this suffering even before it happened. People wrote parts of the Bible manyyears before Jesus birth. But these ancient writings stated Gods plan for the future. These parts ofthe Bible say that God would rescue his people. He would rescue them from slavery to sin and death.He would no longer punish his people for their wrongdoings. Instead, he would send his own son.Jesus would pay the price for peoples sin. And this is what happened. Jesus lived a perfect life. Buthe was killed at the age of thirty-three. He made the final sacrifice for all people with his death.Because of what Jesus did God offers forgiveness to anyone who will receive it. This is a wonderfulgift. People cannot earn it. People do not deserve it. But it is a gift that everyone can receive no matterwhere in the world they live.

Voice 1 The writer of todays programme was Elizabeth Lickiss. The voices you heard were from the

United Kingdom. Computer users can hear our programmes on our website at www.radio.english.net.This programme is called The Three Gifts. Thank you for joining us in todays Spotlight programme.Goodbye.

Program 1242/712: Asian Heroes Indonesian Women (Hroes Asiticos - Mujeres de Indonesia)

Hello. Im Peter Laverock.

And I'm Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method ofbroadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Todays Spotlight is the second part of our series on Asias Heroes. Todays heroes are women, so

they are really heroines rather than heroes. They are the mother and grandmother of a famous writerfrom Indonesia.

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Can a hero have a hero of his own? The answer is surely yes for the writer Pramoedya Ananta. MrAnanta wrote The Buru Quartet. It is a story of Indonesias struggle for independence from Dutchcolonial rule. Pramoedya himself could easily be the hero of our programme. He spent ten years in jailfor his own political opinions. President Suharto of Indonesia banned his books for many years. ButPramoedya says that he owes everything to his grandmother and his mother. He says these two

women made him the man he is today. These two women are Satima and Saida. David Bast tellsPramoedyas story about them.

Two women gave me life -two women of one blood. Two women showed me that the individualmatters. These two women are my heroines.

I do not know when my grandmother, Satima, was born. It was sometime during the eighteen nineties.People did not really keep records back then. But I do know that she was a beautiful girl. A wealthyJavanese man soon married her. Her husband had an important job. He had a lot more money thanSatima. For these reasons, he did not respect her. He acted like he owned her. Soon, he found awealthier woman. And he told Satima to leave. It was just after her first baby was born. The baby wasSaida my mother.

Satima was just fourteen years old at the time. She was left with no husband, no home and no job.Satima was filled with sadness and shame. These feelings stopped her from returning to her ownvillage. So she travelled south to a new town. Here, she met and married a worker. Her new husbanddid not have an education. He could not read or write. They had little money and were not happy.Soon, her husband left her. Satima decided then to stop depending on other people. She decided todepend on herself alone.

All this heartache would crush most people emotionally. But not my grandmother Satima. She went outand made money herself.

And what happened to my grandmothers child? The small baby that was taken away from her -Saidamy mother.

Saida was brought up by her father, the wealthy Javanese business man. My mothers life was verydifferent to my grandmothers. My mothers father looked after his children well enough. He gaveSaida a good life.

My mother met my father at her home. He lived in their house because he was a teacher. After myparents married they moved to the town of Blora. My father got a job at a school there. He workedhard to encourage teachings about the countrys independence. Saida also worked hard. She openeda new school for poor children.

My mother and father had eight children. I am their oldest child. My mother made all of us childrenwork hard. When we failed, she would not permit us to stop trying. It was because of her that Icompleted my education. She told me that I must always work for everything in life. I must neveraccept anything without working or paying for it. My mother wanted independence for all of us - and

our nation, Indonesia.

I remember one day, an old woman came to our house. She was looking for old goods to sell at themarket. My mother asked the woman to come in and sit down. They started talking. They soondiscovered that they were from the same town. The old woman was Satima - my grandmother. Motherand daughter were united after nearly twenty years.

They did not show much emotion. They were strangers - and so different. My mother had aneducation. My grandmother could not read or write. My mother had some money. My grandmotherwas poor. I remember that my mother invited my grandmother to stay with us. But she refused. Shedid not give a reason. But I knew why. She too believed that she must work for everything in life. Thetwo women had this one belief in common. But it was this very thing that prevented them from gettingcloser to each other.

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Some time later, my mother died. I went out of town to get work to support our family. I continued tovisit my grandmother often, in her small hut. But I was not there the time when she needed me most.

My grandmother was visiting my brothers and sisters at our house. She said that she had pains in herstomach and wanted to return to her home. She said that she did not want to trouble anyone. She leftto walk home. My grandmother died by the side of the road - quietly and alone.

I will never forget my grandmother or my mother. The Indonesian word for hero is, pahlawan. Theexact translation of this is, a person. It does not have to be someone great. It can just be a normalperson who brings gain to the life of others. I have a great deal of respect for my grandmother and mymother. In my books, I often write about strong women. In these women, I make the qualities of mygrandmother and mother exist. I see these strong qualities in other people too. They exist in all thepeople who have ever had to fight to be themselves.

In our next programme about Asian Heroes we look at the life of an extremely strong and bravewoman. For the Burmese people she is their heroine - Aung San Suu kyi. Listen out for it soon, on thisstation.

Marina Santee wrote todays programme and adapted Pramoedya Anantas story for radio. The voices

you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. Computer users can findprogrammes on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called Asian Heroes:Indonesian Women.

Program 1243: Ocean Noise (El Ruido Ocenico)

Voice 1 Thank you for joining us for todays Spotlight. Im Liz Waid.

Voice 2 And Im Rebekah Schipper. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It iseasier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Todays Spotlight is on the noisy ocean!

Voice 1 Many problems threaten the animals living in the oceans. Changes in the weather threatenocean animals. People who hunt large sea animals are a threat too. People that throw waste into thewater pollute the ocean. Pollution threatens the health of ocean animals. And now, scientists havediscovered that noise threatens ocean animals too.

Voice 2 You may be wondering what creates the noise found under the ocean waters. The truth isthat most of the noise comes from humans! Here are a few examples. First, much of the worlds oiland gas comes from under the ocean. Large machines drill, or dig holes in to the ocean floor. Themachines pump the oil out of the ground. They create a lot of noise.

Voice 1 Second, military groups use a device called sonar. Sonar helps the military know if there areany submarines, or underwater vehicles, in the water. Sonar also helps measure the distance from an

object to the bottom of the ocean. Sonar creates a very low sound in the water. It sounds like a lowhum.

Voice 2 Also, large ships passing through the water create a lot of noise. The sound from their largeengines travels under water from very far away. And ocean ship traffic has increased over the years.

Voice 1 So, how does this increasing noise affect the animals living in the ocean? Well, there arescientists who study the behaviour of animals. Some of them observe whales and other large oceananimals. These scientists have evidence that the noise is causing problems for some of these animals.

Voice 2 For example, large animals like whales, dolphins and porpoises are experiencing hearingloss. When an animal like a whale or dolphin loses its hearing, it can be very dangerous. Like humans,these animals communicate by speaking to each other. They have a special language of their own.

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Voice 1 Scientists believe that these ocean animals communicate many things to each other. Theywarn each other of predators. Predators are other animals that present danger. They tell each otherwhere to find food. Mothers communicate with their babies. They stay connected by communicating. Ifan animal cannot hear, it may become separated from its group. Then a predator may attack it. Or, itmay even starve to death.

Voice 2 Scientists have also found that many large ocean animals, like whales, are becoming thinner.Whales are experiencing a lack of appetite. That is, they do not feel like eating. It is important forwhales to eat a lot. They need to build up a lot of body fat. Body fat helps them to survive long periodsbetween feeding seasons. Body fat also helps mother whales to have children. If new baby whales arenot born, the whales could become extinct.

Voice 1 There are groups that show concern for the animals in the oceans. They believe that losinganimal populations would be a shame. They work hard to start other people thinking about howhumans affect animals.

Voice 2 One group is the International Whaling Commission. This group works hard to protect theselarge underwater creatures. The Commission came up with an idea. Their idea demonstrates topeople what it is like to be a whale living underwater with so much noise. They called their project the

Liquid Sound pool.

Voice 1 The Liquid Sound pool offers a powerful experience to people. People enter into a pool ofwater. Then, they go under the water. Underwater there is a lot of loud noise. The body can feel soundvibrations in water, even more than on land. The pool helps people to imagine how sound wavestrouble animals. The pool shows people exactly how loud noises can threaten an animals life. Theexperience shows people the importance of reducing noise pollution in the ocean.

Voice 2 Another group trying to reduce the noise in the oceans is the Whale and DolphinConservation Society, or the WDCS. The WDCS is an international group concerned for the safety ofwhales and dolphins. This group has come up with an action plan. They have shared their plan withthe international community. An action plan means that people need to get involved. Here is part oftheir plan. Do you think that this is a good plan?

Voice 3 The WDCS would like international law to govern the levels of noise in the oceans. Lawsshould be made to keep the noise levels down.

Voice 4 The WDCS would like to see the development of a special group of people. They would studyand research ocean noise.

Voice 3 The WDCS believes that industrial and military projects should go through an environmentaltest. No project should create loud noises that could harm animals.

Voice 4 The WDCS asks that all groups working on the oceans should try hard to keep their noiselevels low. Each group should do their own research on how to best do their job, quietly!

Voice 3 The WDCS asks that sonar not be used unless necessary.

Voice 4 The WDCS asks for the creation of buffer zones. These are areas where there would be nonoise. Buffer zones would be areas where there is a lot of animal traffic.

Voice 3 The WDCS would like people to make greater efforts. They would like all people to sharetheir ideas about ocean noise. They would like all the information about ocean noise to be offered toanyone to see and study.

Voice 1 The WDCS must wait to see if the international community will accept this plan.

Voice 2 Mark Simmonds works for the WDCS. He says,

Voice 5 Noise pollution is a problem that does not have a noticeable effect on us. We cannot seehow the problem affects us, unlike chemical pollution.

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Voice 1 It is easy for people to ignore or forget about a problem if they cannot see it. If the problemdoes not immediately affect people, they often do not care to solve it. There are many problems likethis in the world. Noise pollution in the oceans is just one of them. If people choose to ignore or forgetabout these problems, soon the problems will start to affect lives.

Voice 2 Humans share the earth with many creatures. It is good to learn about how our lives canaffect the lives of animals.

Voice 1 This program was written and produced by Rebekah Schipper. This program is called OceanNoise. Computer users can hear this program again on our website at www.radio.english.net.

Do you think that people can affect the lives of animals? If you have a comment or a question, pleaseemail us. Our email address is radio@english.net.

Program 1244: Listener Mail 8 (Correo del Oyente 8)

Voice 1 Welcome to Spotlight, Im Mike Procter.

Voice 2 And Im Elizabeth Lickiss. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It iseasier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1 December 25 is the day when Christians and lots of other people celebrate Christmas Day -the day when Jesus was born.

Voice 2 We had an email from Raili Kautonen from Finland. Finland is way up in Northern Europe.They get cold winters up there. I should think the people there really will see a white Christmas.Therewill be thick white snow on the ground when they celebrate Christmas. Railis email says,

Voice 3 Thank you very much for your web-site (Listen and Read)! I am learning English, although Iam a person with a hearing problem. Your programs help me with my learning - I am very grateful for

your help.

Voice 2 Listen and Read is part of our website - radio.english.net. People can listen to our programs,and read the words of the program - the script. This is a great way to improve English skills. We arehappy to help, Raili. And a happy Christmas to you in the land near the North Pole.

Voice 1 Thank you everyone who wished us a happy Christmas. One message was from GersonFlores. Gerson is one of the listeners Marina Santee and I met when we visited Ecuador. Gerson livesin that country. He writes:

Voice 3 Happy Christmas for all the Spotlight Team! And a very, very, very Happy New Year!Continue always all that is right, and God Bless you forever! In Christ, Gerson

Voice 2 Well thank you Gerson. And a blessed Christmas to you too!

Voice 1 In fact, let us wish the Spotlight listeners club in Ecuador a happy Christmas. About fivehundred people in Ecuador have joined together to form a Spotlight Listeners Club - that is a group ofpeople who meet together to develop their English skills and to meet other Spotlight listeners.

Voice 2 I wonder if they will be having a Christmas party this year?

Voice 1 Mmm. I wonder. We also had a beautiful email from Peru. And I think I would like to spendthe rest of the programme talking about this email. It was truly special. It was from MarcelinoCaisahuana Prez, from Huancayo in Peru. He said,

Voice 3 Dear friends. How are you? I hope you are well. Please receive my cordial greetings in the

name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I am a listener of your English Program. I really like it.

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Distinguished friends ... could you write to me? I await your news soon Always my best wishes.Marcelino

Voice 2 You said the email was beautiful. What was beautiful about it? Was it because he called usdistinguished friends? Distinguished is a very respectful way to describe someone, right?

Voice 1 Well, yes it is, but he said distinguished friends. We like it when our listeners see us asfriends. For us, being called friends is even better than being called distinguished. But in any case,that was not what I meant. The really beautiful thing about his email was that he sent some of hispaintings with the email. He sent them as attachments.

Voice 2 Paintings?

Voice 1 Yes, pictures of Peru. I want to describe one of them as a ... a sort of Christmas gift to ourlisteners. And I am going to put it on our Internet website. Las Alturas Okay, close your eyes, andimagine this picture. The picture shows high mountains. The mountains are all around. We see themas if we also are on a mountain top. The mountains are blue, because they are covered in snow andthe light on them is blue. Three people are in the picture. They have their backs to us, and they arelooking up at a bright light in the sky. The people are wearing brightly coloured clothes. They are

Peruvian mountain people. There is also a small church, a tree, a cactus plant, and a llama.

Voice 2 A llama?

Voice 1 Yes, it is an animal. In Peru they use it like a horse, and they make cloth from its hair.

Voice 2 Okay.

I thought you said that this picture is connected with Christmas? What makes you think that?

Voice 1 Well, Christmas celebrates the time when the Lord Jesus was born. I know that he was notborn in Peru, but still, this picture makes me think of the Christmas story.

Voice 2 Go on.

Voice 1 Art can be a wonderful way to communicate matters of faith. For example, the Bibledescribes Jesus as a great light. And this picture has the three people and the llama looking up into abright light in the sky. When Jesus was born, a small group of farm workers were taking care of theirsheep in the fields. They must have been a bit like the people in Marcelinos picture, with their llama.The Bible says that an angel, a messenger from God, visited the farm workers. He told them about thebirth of Jesus. Then many angels from heaven appeared to the farm workers. It must have been justlike the bright light in the picture. The heavenly angels were saying together Glory to God in thehighest, and on earth, peace to men ... And that is the name of the picture.

Voice 2 What is?

Voice 1 The highest, the most high. Marcelino speaks Spanish, and he called his picture Las Alturas.In English, that means The Highest. See? Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men. Ireally want to thank Marcelino for sending us this beautiful picture. I have tried to describe it for ourlisteners because it points our hearts to the very centre of the Christmas message. This is God in thehighest, offering peace to us in our hearts if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I am going to put thepicture on our website, so anyone who can get to a computer can see it. Just go to our websitewww.radio.english.net, and find the script for this program. It is called Listeners Mail number 8. Thepicture is there.

Voice 2 Thanks Mike. Well, it is time for us to go. From all of us on the Spotlight team, let us wish allour listeners a very happy Christmas. Even if you do not celebrate Christmas, we hope that you will insome way know the joy and peace of Jesus at this time.

Remember, you can always write to us at radio@english.net. Maybe we will read your letter onanother Listeners mail program. Todays programme was written by Mike Procter and produced by

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Elizabeth Lickiss. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom the United States andLebanon. From all of us at Spotlight - goodbye.

Program 1245: The Meaning of Christmas (El Significado de la Navidad)

Voice 1 Hello. Im David Bast.

Voice 2 And I'm Liz Waid. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method ofbroadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1 It was the night before Christmas. Silver stars shone in the darkening blue sky. The last fewpeople ran into stores. They bought last-minute presents for their family. The busy street turned quietat last. Christmas tree lights still shone through the store windows. The people of the town were safelyat home. Across the street sat an old man. His hair was soft and white. His face was aged - with linesof time. His eyes were deep and dark. He reached by his side. He lifted his warm bottle of drink to hiscold mouth. It tasted good on a cold night like this. He counted his days earnings. Not bad. Maybepeople felt the spirit of Christmas after all. People had thrown more money down today, as theypassed him by. He must have gained more than twenty dollars! He could eat well next week! His mind

wondered to the food he would buy. Maybe he would even buy some special Christmas food! Theclock struck twelve. Time to sleep. The old man lay down on a long old seat in the town. He rested hishead on his rolled up clothes. It was going to be cold night tonight. He closed his eyes and his mindtook him back to when he was a small boy.

He pictured his childhood home in London. He saw his mother and father. He saw his brothers andsisters. They all sat together around the dinner table - laughing. And what a dinner lay before them!They had a wonderful Christmas dinner. He could almost smell it now! The golden red fire gentlywarmed the room. He used to love watching that fire. He could watch it for hours. He rememberedthrowing pieces of paper in it. He watched the paper burn to black ashes. His parents old music playerfilled the room with Christmas music. He laughed and played with his brothers and sisters. Together,they pulled the shiny paper from their presents. A shiny green train! Wow, it was the best present! Heplayed with that train all day. He never tired of it. The old man wondered now what happened to it.

Which Christmas was he remembering? He could not remember the date. Many years had passed bysince that time. He was an old man now. But he could still see that golden fire as if it were yesterday.And he could smell that dinner. He could see his mothers face clearly. He could see her soft brownhair tied back. He could picture her soft hands as she put his dinner on the table. She was beautiful.

It was thoughts like these that kept him strong. His mind had no limits. And at times like this, the oldmans memories stopped him from being alone.

The town remained quiet. Children and families went to bed. The night passed and morning came.Families got up and put on their best clothes. They attended church. In the church, the children litsmall candles. The priest spoke of the meaning of Christmas. He spoke of Jesus. He said that Jesuswas like a light coming into the dark world. The candle lights were to help the children remember this.

The priest spoke of the baby Jesus born on Christmas Day. The spirit of Christmas, he said, rests inthis child. We must not think of it as some old Christmas story. We must look at the deeper meaning.The child grew up and became a man. His spirit lives on today. Jesus taught us to show kindness to allpeople. He said to show love to our enemies. He said to visit people in prison. And He said to care forthe poor and the sick. At Christmas time, love came to earth. It is up to us, said the priest, to carry thislove with us. And it is up to us to show it to the world - like a light.

The people left the church. The children were excited. They wanted to get home and open theirpresents. They hurried back to their cars. On the way, they passed by the old man, resting on his seat.He was still lying down. But his eyes were open. From under his hat, he watched the families pass by.He watched the children run and laugh. He watched the parents talking together. Many of them did noteven see the old man. Some of them saw him, but felt afraid. And some of them felt guilty for a minute,until they passed him by. And a few crossed the street. They felt uneasy. But a small boy walked with

his mother and father. His eyes met the old mans dark eyes. The boys mother pulled at his hand. Butthe boy stopped. He looked at the old mans torn clothes. He saw a hole in the mans shoe. The boy

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reached into his clothes pocket. He pulled out the candle from the church. Then, he sat down by theold man. The young boy said,

Voice 3 Jesus is like a light in this world. He can light our hearts and minds. Then we can know andshow his love. I want you to have this candle light - so that you can remember this.

Voice 1 The old mans eyes filled with tears. The young boy was the first person to speak to him thatChristmas. He took the candle from the boys hands. And he said, Thank you son. Jesus light is inyour heart already. You know the real meaning of Christmas.

Voice 2 The writer and producer of todays programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heardwere from the United States. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see ourwordbook on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called The Meaning ofChristmas.

Voice 1 We love to hear comments and questions from our listeners. Computer users can reach usby email. Our email address is radio@english.net. Or you can write to us. Our mail address is Box57000, Cyprus. That is Box 57000, Cyprus, CYPRUS.

Thank you for joining us in todays programme. From all of the Spotlight team, may you have apeaceful and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. Goodbye.

Program 1246: Christmas Riches (Las Riquezas Navideas)

Voice 1 Hello Im Marina Santee.

Voice 2 And Im Elizabeth Lickiss. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special Englishmethod of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1 Santa Clause is coming. He travels in his sleigh.

Voice 2 Who is Santa clause anyway?

Voice 1 Santa Clause? He is the man in red, with long white hair!

Voice 2 And is he important - should I care?

Voice 1 Yes! It is all just a bit of fun. It is nice for the children to believe in someone.

Voice 2 And what does he do, this Santa Clause man?

Voice 1 We tell the children he comes in the night. And he brings them gifts, before it is light.

Voice 2 So then, this is the meaning of Christmas time?

Voice 1 Yes, I suppose. Who really knows?

What is the meaning of Christmas? This song sings of having fun. It makes us think of Santa Clause. Itsings of building snowmen. It sings of a Winter Wonderland. The song does not have a seriousmeaning. Could this be why it is so popular?

Voice 2 In the west and other parts of the world Christmas time is all about having fun. And centre tothis fun is money.

Voice 3 Would you like another drink dear?

Voice 4 Dont mind if I do.

Voice 3 It will be a wonderfully rich Christmas,

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Voice 4 Just me and you.

Voice 2 If someone is rich, we say that they have a lot of capital. Capitalists are usually businessinvestors and traders. In a capitalist system, the economy is based on private ownership of property.Land, products and houses are all privately owned. In such a system capitalists are free to manage

their profit in competitive conditions. Many capitalist countries are rich. And there is no richer time forcapitalists than Christmas!

Voice 1 In the West, business profits are huge at Christmas. Stores sell everything from singingSantas to golden angels. Eating and drinking places are full! It is a winter wonderland in the capitalistsystem.

Voice 2 However, some people do not like the capitalist system. But although they do not like it intheory they say it works. It works because of the nature of human beings. The father of capitalism,Adam Smith, said it would work because people were selfish. He said peoples desire for riches wouldresult in a successful economy.

Voice 1 Other people oppose capitalist systems completely. They say that it makes rich people richer

and poor people poorer. They say that capitalist countries take money from poorer countries. Gainingmoney is at the heart of the system. There is no better time to see this than at Christmas.

Voice 2 British artist, Ben Richards, feels strongly about this issue. He sings of it in his song, Living ina Capitalist World.,

Song Far away in a poor land, what they say, always gets banned. When they shout unfair and crywe dont care, were living in a capitalist world.

Voice 2 His song speaks of richer people forgetting about poorer people

Voice 1 The words to this song are serious. But Ben has made a fun version of the song. Ben has puthis own words to the music we heard at the beginning of this programme, Winter Wonderland, and

then he has speeded it up. Ben chose this light music for different reasons. Firstly, he says a strongmessage is easier to accept if it is presented in a fun way.

Ben Richards The song is meant to be fun. This makes it easier to listen to difficult issues. The aim ithis song is to make people in the west think about what Christmas has now become.

Voice 2 And secondly, the non-serious music helps to make his point. Christmas, he believes has lostits true meaning. It has become simply a fun thing - like the music background. The deeper messageis in the words. He said,

Ben Richards My opinion is that Christmas in the west has lost its real purpose and deeper meaning.It has moved from a religious celebration with morality and values to a consumer celebration of greedand selfishness.

Voice 1 He went on to say that the way Christmas is presented makes Christianity look bad.

Ben Richards It gives Christianity, the religion, a bad name when we see how Christmas ispresented. Its all about eating lots of food and basically ignoring the religion.

Voice 2 So what is the religious side? What is the real meaning of Christmas?

Dennis Bratcher is a Christian Church leader. Here are some of his thoughts about the meaning ofChristmas.

Voice 5 It seems a little strange that we are continually asking, what is the meaning of Christmas.Maybe we ask because we fear the answer will be lost, or is already. Often the answers we get are

based on traditions. These things are part of the Christmas season. But Christmas is not simply aboutthe spirit of giving or the fight for global peace. So what is it about? Many of us can immediately say

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that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. But exactly why is this so important? How does this affectour lives?'

Voice 1 Dennis says the Bible answers these questions.

The writings in the Bible go back over two thousand years. They take us back to the birth of Jesus

Christ.

Voice 5 Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. You willfind a baby covered in pieces of cloth and lying in a animals feeding box.

Voice 2 This baby, Jesus, was born in the poorest of conditions. Yet the Bible says he was born aking. How can a king be poor? It is not speaking of earthly riches. It is speaking of heavenly riches.Jesus riches were love, peace and life. Ancient writings in the Bible promised these riches through thelife of a saviour - years before the birth of Jesus.

Voice 5 The Spirit of the Lord is on me. He has blessed me to tell the good news to poor people. Hehas sent me to announce freedom for prisoners. He has sent me to make the blind see again. He hassent me to free people who are beaten down.

Voice 1 Two thousand years later, Jesus read these very words about himself, the saviour,

Voice 5 Today these writings are coming true as you listen.

Voice 1 At Christmas, Christians celebrate the life that Jesus said he came to give. It is a life that hasmeaning, purpose and a future. It is a life that has hope past the ability of man. It has hope in thepower of God over life and death. It brings peace to men and women. This life began in a child twothousand years ago. And today, it lives on in men and women across the world. And so this is whyJesus is called, Immanuel God is with us.

Voice 2 The writer of todays programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heard were from theUnited Kingdom. Computer users can find our programmes on our website at www.radio.english.net.

This programme is called, Christmas Riches.

You can hear Spotlight

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