Please welcome Angela Lu to the WORLD staff. Angela hails from sunny Southern California, is a graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, and now lives along the banks of the muddy Mississippi in St. Louis. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, reading, and storytelling. She tells me that if she could have any job she wanted (without pay, job security, etc., as a factor), she would be a reporter for WORLD.

Angela, we’re glad to have you on board. And we appreciate your fresh take on Whirled Views this morning.

Have you applied for a loan modification under the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program? Are you thinking of applying? If so, WORLD editor in chief Marvin Olasky is interested in your story. Please email him the details at molasky@worldmag.com.

Are any WORLD readers (small business people) coming to New York for the 2010 Toy Fair at the Javits Center? If so, WORLD senior writer Susan Olasky is interested in talking to you. Please contact her at solasky@worldmag.com.

We’d like for you to take a break from the hot-button issues of the day to take part in an informal survey. And we want to hear from as many of you as possible—not just our “regulars” but all you lurkers out there as well.

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The latest issue of WORLD Magazine features the winners of the Hope Award for Effective Compassion. The grand prize-winner of a $10,000 cash award from the American Bible Society was Forgiven Ministry of Taylorsville, N.C., who was nominated by WORLD reader Beth Walker. The two runners-up, who each received $5,000 from the ABS, were CrossOver Ministry of Richmond, Va., nominated by Cullen Rivers, and Snappin’ Ministries of Oconomowoc, Wis., nominated by Jody Koehn.

Congratulations to the winners, and as WORLD editor Marvin Olasky writes, “Please thank God for these three finalists—then go and do likewise in your own communities.”

Several members of the WORLD staff have made their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a reader dinner tonight co-sponsored by the American Bible Society. To whet the appetite of attendees, there will be three pre-dinner breakout sessions this afternoon on culturally urgent topics. Topping the bill this evening will be the awarding of the Hope Award for Effective Compassion, which will go to a small nonprofit organization that works in big ways to help those in need. Actually, all nine finalists are deserving, and if you haven’t already, I encourage you read profiles of these organizations, which were published in the past three issues of WORLD:

Christ for People with Developmental Disabilities | Anoka, Minn.
Church of the disabled: Minnesota’s Christ for People leaves no one behind | by Alisa Harris

CrossOver Ministry | Richmond, Va.
CrossOver appeal: A Christian health clinic becomes a safety net for the uninsured | by Emily Belz

Forgiven Ministry | Taylorsville, N.C.
Forgiven, not forgotten: North Carolina ministry seeks to build ties between prisoners and their children | by Jamie Dean

I Am a Treasure | Los Angeles
Jesus & strippers: I Am a Treasure lavishes the love of Christ on women in the sex industry | by Emily Belz

Northern Youth Program | Dryden, Ontario, Canada
Northern light: In an Inuit area overwhelmed by sexual abuse and suicide, Clair and Clara Schnupp help young men see God’s mercy | by Jill Lacey

Campus Clubs | Macon, Ga.
Macon disciples: Campus Clubs teaches poor children about the value of work, and their own value in Christ: ‘Just because you’re in the ‘hood doesn’t mean the ‘hood is in you’ | by Jamie Dean

Snappin’ | Oconomowoc, Wisc.
Keeping parents sane: Snappin’ comes to help when the families of disabled children are about to snap | by Alisa Harris

Roving Volunteers in Christ’s Service | Smithville, Texas
Roving retirees: Seniors trade golf clubs for hammers to help Christian nonprofits | by Emily Belz

Galilean Children’s Home | Liberty, Ky.
Welcome home: Children with severe disabilities, many of them abandoned, find more than just a place to live at Galilean Children’s Home | by Jamie Dean

Three of the nine organizations will receive $5,000, and one grand prize winner will receive an additional $5,000. We look forward to reporting the names of the winning organizations as well as the names of the readers who nominated them.

Beginning at approximately 1 p.m. ET, WorldMagBlog and the Commentary blog will undergo some urgently needed maintenance and will be offline for a few hours. Please check back later this afternoon. We apologize for the inconvenience.

In the meantime, for today’s news and Christian views, be sure to visit our main site WORLDmag.com.

Or take a long lunch.

UPDATE (2:10 p.m.): The maintenance didn’t take as long as we anticipated, so everything should be working fine now. Thank you for your patience.,

Usually this time of day you’d expect to see a post or two from Kristin Chapman, who does an outstanding job of picking out blog topics from the daily headlines. However, this morning, Kristin has traded in Googling for goo-gooing, and has taken on the higher calling of being a mom.

Last Thursday afternoon, Kristin and her husband, Jarrett, welcomed their second child, a boy, to this world. Young Caleb arrived weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and measuring 20.5 inches.

Congratulations, Kristin and Jarrett. May God bless you and your growing family.

With some of the finest restaurants in the world, Manhattan offers an amazing variety of lunch options. But if you’re in New York this fall and looking to stimulate your brain as well as your taste buds, head on over to the Empire State Building during the noontime hour to hear from an incredible lineup of political, economic, and cultural leaders visiting The King’s College.

The school’s Distinguish Visitor Series begins tomorrow with special guest Mark Whitacre, who is known for his whistleblower role in the Archer Daniels Midland price-fixing case and will be the subject of a new movie starring Matt Damon. Other scheduled guests include syndicated columnist Mike Adams, Sen. Jim DeMint, The Heritage Foundation’s Rebecca Hagelin, WORLDmag.com columnist Anthony Bradley, author Richard Dawkins (tentatively scheduled as a part of Darwin Week in October), artist Makoto Fujimura, theologian and author Michael Horton, pastor and author Tim Keller, and many more. (Click here for the complete list of speakers and dates.)

If you can’t make it to New York, WORLD Magazine and WORLDmag.com will bring these events to you. The Q&A sessions, which will be moderated by WORLD editor in chief and King’s provost Marvin Olasky, will be turned into articles published in WORLD. Also, our correspondent on the scene, Warren Smith, will be posting recaps and video clips here on our blog page.

For those of you who can make it, these 29 lunchtime events, which are free and open to the public, will take place from noon to 1:10 p.m. in the City Room on the lower level of the Empire State Building (350 Fifth Avenue). Attendees are invited to bring their own lunches to munch on during the stimulating discussion.

Seems like more and more people are getting iPhones. Even my pastor got one this week to replace his old Blackberry. I’ve had mine since last fall and wonder how I ever lived without it. This one electronic marvel has replaced my cell phone, PDA, and iPod, and in a pinch, it can even serve as my Bible, thanks to the folks at Crossway. (I still prefer a paper version, however.)

Now iPhone users can easily keep up with WORLD’s online news coverage, commentaries, and podcasts wherever they go with our free iPhone interface. Using the iPhone’s Safari web browser, just type in worldmag.com/iphone and then click “+” to bookmark it, add WORLD’s icon to your iPhone home screen, or share it in a mail link with other iPhone users.

If you don’t have an iPhone, we are working on a Blackberry version, and you can always read our online news the old-fashion way . . . on your computer screen.