(upbeat music)

- Hi and welcome to the program.Thanks for being with us.

An epic drought in the West

has depleted the country'slargest reservoir

of 2/3 of it water.

Next week, the federal government plans

to declare an historic shortage

which will lead to supply cuts.

- It's a tough situation,

but one state in particularhas planned ahead

to be prepared for this moment.

Heather Sells explains.

- What happens here at Lake Mead matters.

Seven Western states alongwith 29 tribes in Mexico

depend on the waterthat flows through here.

- The Southwest is one of themost heavily populated areas

in the whole United States.

So, we are concerned.

- [Heather] 40 Million peoplerely on this giant reservoir,

which today is only at 1/3 capacity.

An infamous bathtub ring tells the story.

Lake water last coveredthe whitish minerals

on the rock in the late 1990s.

- This is really new territory

given that all of Las Vegas

and many other cities in the Southwest

have really grown during that time.

So, this is serious.

- To get a better idea,

take a look at the waterlevel in these pictures

of the Hoover Dam from 20 years ago

and compare them to today.

Those who use the lake for boating

and other recreation are well aware

of the shrinking shoreline.

You can see the effectsof the drought here

at the Lake Mead Recreation Area.

They've had to build newramps just to get people

and boats into the shallow lake.

- It's scary to think aboutwhat happens if it drops more.

- When I normally launch myjet ski off Boulder Beach,

and there's probably abouta good 12 to 20 feet of mud

that you can't actually drive in.

You will get stuck.

- [Heather] The falling levels

and shrinking water supplydidn't happen over night.

It's the result of 20-plusyears of more heat,

less rain, and less runoff.

- When we think about droughts now,

is it's really a balancebetween that supply,

that lack of rainfall, andthe atmospheric thirst.

How dry is that atmosphere?

How much water is that atmospherepulling out of the ground?

- [Heather] On one side,

scientists believe the West has moved

beyond temporary droughttowards aridification,

a permanent phase of moredryness and less water.

Either way, Western stateslike Nevada are preparing

for unwelcome intervention

when the federal governmentdeclares a historic shortage,

and water supply is reduced.

- You're looking at about ninebillion gallons of water less

that will be available for our community.

- Southern Nevada gets 90% ofits water from the reservoir.

The water authority for theregion is not panicking, though.

That is because they arepracticing aggressive conservation,

and the success of their effortsis truly amazing, Andrew.

- Heather, what aboutthe conservation effort

and starting with howthey're actually reclaiming

indoor water, and they're recycling it?

- Right, I've sat in alot of interviews, Andrew,

and this was one whereI felt like I wanted

to fall to my chair whenthey really explained

in detail what they are doing.

They are taking, in SouthernNevada, their indoor water,

and they are reusing, recycling,reclaiming 100% of it.

So they treat it,

and they get it to neardrinking water standards,

and they put it back into Lake Mead.

So that really is phenomenalwhat they are doing

just with indoor water use alone

and really just completely conserving it.

And, really, they'redeveloping a reputation

for what they're doing

in water conservation circles out West.

- Wow, and the populationobviously is still expanding

while the water resources are diminishing.

So how long do they expectthe water supply to last

given these extreme drought conditions?

- Right, it's a really interesting picture

because you have tens ofthousands of people moving

to Las Vegas every year.

People wanna live there,and then you have Lake Mead,

the water supply, the 20-year drought.

So, not a good scenario.

But what they have, in fact, done

is with their aggressivewater conservation,

which they started in 2002

when they realized whatwas really taking place,

is they incentivized people.

They said, hey, you need to do things

like take the grass out of yourlawn and start a rock-scape.

And they have done suchincredible conservation measures

that they have actually droppedin their water consumption

by 23% while theirpopulation has increased

by about three-quartersof a million people.

So more people, less water use,

and that is an encouragingsign for the future.

But at the same time, Andrew,

we know that the watersupply is diminishing.

And so there is concern

for just what is gonnahappen to this water supply

as the years go on.

- And that's not just in Nevada.

How about other states in the West?

Are they taking their cues

on water conservation from Nevada?

- Well, it's interesting, Terry,

because it's really Nevada, Arizona,

and California that are gonnabe affected by these cuts.

And there's a lot ofagriculture use of water

in Nevada and California,so a lot of concern there.

There's only so much theycan do at the end of the day

with drip irrigation anddrought-resistant crops.

So in California, you'veseen water regulators

just in the last week or so cut back

on water rights for farmersin Arizona, a lot of concern.

And you are also seeing onthe personal home-use side

of things, California is watching Nevada.

The governor just asked the residents

to voluntarily cut back by15% their own water use.

So they're gonna haveto take some measures,

and you can see it when youfly into California or Nevada,

you can see California is green.

There's grass in the yards, andin Nevada, it's rock-scapes.

- So rock-scapes are gonnabe become popular out

in that part of the country.

Are there other things homeownerscan do to conserve water,

both indoors and outdoors?

- Yes, they are reallyemphasizing the outdoors

because they are recycling indoors,

and they even have, ifyou can believe this,

water police, Terry,that are going around,

and they are looking forwater leaks, water misuse,

and they will work with homeowners.

And if they don't comply,there'll be a financial penalty.

So they're really on it,

and right now a big push isstripping decorative grass.

They don't want any grass in parkways

or anywhere where it'snot really being used.

So they're really clamping down.

- All right, Heather, fascinating report.

Thanks for joining us today.

- You're welcome.

- And you can get all the latest news

and more when you downloadthe CBN news channel app.

Terry.

- Well up next, meet Lightning Mitchell.

His electric moves oncelit up the football field.

How was his whole lifechanged by a shooting star?

And why did he give up his dream

to help thousands of women achieve theirs?

He'll tell you himself.

That's coming up.

(upbeat music)

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This all-new DVD revealsfascinating secrets

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and delves into many of thetreasures that were lost

and then found after its destruction.

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We'll also send you a DVD copyof "Secrets of the Temple."

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Andrew.- Thank you, Terry.

Well, he had one burning desire

and that was to play football in the NFL.

That was Lightning Mitchell'sdesperate cry to God.

So why did he then give up his dream

to help thousands of women achieve theirs?

And how did it all beginwith a shooting star?

Here's his story.

(audience cheers)- The WNBA,

since 1997, the premierwomen's basketball league

has grown in popularity

and gives talented women an opportunity

to play basketball for a living.

However, few people know the true story

behind the WNBA's creation

and the man now named Lightning

to whom much of the credit belongs.

Ned Mitchell was born inrural Louisiana in 1948,

where his leadership skills were evident

even at a young age.

- I remember as a child whenI was nine, 10 years old,

I used to organize littleleagues like football games

and basketball game forkids in our neighborhood.

So at that time, I felt nowthat God was preparing me

to organize such a league.

- A three-sport athlete in high school,

Ned dreamed of playing in the NFL.

And while the NFL draft remained a dream,

being drafted into thearmy became his reality,

and he was immediately shipped to Vietnam.

Were you afraid?

- Very much? (laughs)

Yeah, I was very scared

because they were saying theAmericans was being shot.

Some of the planes were being shot

as they come in to try to land.

So, yeah, I was scared.

- [Reporter] After servingtwo years, Ned returned home

and went to William Jewell College

in Kansas City to play football.

It was there he earnedthe nickname Lightning

for his electric andshifty moves on the field.

While there, he attended a church service

that changed his heart.

- And I remember that nightwhen the pastor called.

I remember I got up,

and I asked the Lord toforgive me of my sin.

I said, "I receive youas my Lord and Savior,"

and I asked Him to helpme to live the life

that He wanted me to live.

- [Reporter] Lightning wenton to play semi-pro football

in Wisconsin and Illinois

while working full time in a factory,

hoping and praying toget a shot at the NFL.

- And I wanted to playprofessional right that moment,

right now, and I cried out to God,

and I asked God to help meget into professional sports.

And that night, God told me,

"Create a women's professionalbasketball league."

- How did you respond to that?

- Well, I played aroundwith it more or less

because when it happened, Ididn't think I really heard it.

- [Reporter] He stillneeded more confirmation.

- I said, "Lord, if you want me to create

this women's professionalbasketball league,"

I said, "Can you dosomething to give me a sign?"

And I remember that night,I saw a shooting star

and almost like it was coming down

in front of the windshieldas I was driving.

And I took that for amoment as a sign from God.

- [Reporter] In fact, hesaw four shooting stars.

- Like whoom, whoom,whoom, just like that.

And I remember the chillsthat came up on my body,

and I started crying.

And from that point, I took it seriously.

- Lightning sent over 100 letters

to division-one basketballschools, announcing a tryout

for the Women's Basketball Association.

The media, however, was skeptical.

Women's professionalbasketball leagues had started

and failed on severaloccasions in the '70s and '80s,

but Lightning knew otherwise.

- It was about a minute to10, those glass doors opened,

and women came through outof nowhere with duffel bags.

We had over 200 players there,

and those are the typeof things that God done

throughout this whole event.

- [Reporter] In 1992, the WBAtipped off for the first time

even though there wasn'tmuch money to go around.

Still, the women of the league believed

in Lightning's vision.

- These were NCAA division-oneplayers coming out of college

with the dream to go and teach,or run business or company.

You know, they put that aside

to do what I was trying to attempt to do,

was give women the opportunity

to play professional basketballhere in the United States.

- [Reporter] After fouryears of hard work,

Lightning had shown that hisleague was not only viable,

but could be successful.

In 1995, the NBA took notice

and asked Lightning for insight.

Instead of partneringtogether, the WNBA was formed,

and tipped off the next year, in 1996.

Lightning's WBA couldn't compete

and had to cease operations.

He was frustrated and disappointed

but through prayer realizedthat God had made him a pioneer.

- I'm glad that women are able

to play professional basketballhere in the United States,

and I think that was my assignment.

I think I had accomplished whatGod wanted me to accomplish.

- [Reporter] And his legacy lives on.

On February 1st, 2021,the WBA was enshrined

in the Kansas City Museum'sBlack Archives of Mid-America.

Today, Lightning is retired

and travels the countrytelling the story of the WBA

and the God who made it all happen.

- I want people to understand

that this league that theywatch today, the WNBA,

only came about becauseof the grace of God.

This wasn't man.

This was God.

I'm so thankful to theLord that He allowed me

to be a part of this whole thing.

My dream was to playprofessional football,

but God gave me somethinggreater than my dream.

- Isn't that interesting tohear Lightning Mitchell say,

I dreamed of one thing, andGod gave me something greater.

But it took some getting used to

for Lightning, obviously, didn't it?

He prayed, "Lord, I wanna be involved

in professional sports and God says, okay.

I'm gonna do something youhaven't even considered."

And I think sometimes whenwe believe we hear the voice

of God, we say, Lord, am Ireally hearing you clearly?

Is this from your Holy Spirit?

And it's okay to say, Lord,I need a confirmation here.

It's okay to walk in wisdom.

So, one lesson we can learnfrom Lightning Mitchell

is sometimes God takes the desires

of our heart to benefit others.

And sometimes it may takeus a little bit to realize

that's what God is doing here.

And, Lightning, also thankyou so much for your service

on behalf of this nation in Vietnam.

Terry, Lightning Mitchell is quite a man.

- He really is quite a man,

and I think there's much to be learned

from how he listened to the voice of God

in his own heart and life.

Well, coming up, an unthinkable tragedy.

- It was the darkest time of my life.

The pain of the bombingwas just devastating

because not only was I suffering

over the loss of my only grandsons,

I could not bear towatch my daughter suffer.

- Hear this grandmother'sjourney from grief and despair

to forgiveness for those responsible,

You don't wanna miss her story. It's next.

Before 9/11, the worst act ofterrorism on American soil,

was the Oklahoma City Bombing.

168 lives were lost on that day.

Two of them belonged to KathySanders' only grandchildren.

- April 19th, 1995 was whenTimothy McVeigh drove up

to the Murrah Buildingand blew up the building,

killing 168 people.

(solemn music)

My grandchildren, Chase and Colton,

lived in my home with me.

My daughter was a young, divorced mother.

In our home, everything evolvedaround those little boys.

They were the light of our lives.

The morning of the bombing started out

much like any other morning.

I started every morning with a song.

So I began:

♪ Good morning to you ♪

♪ Good morning to you ♪

♪ We're all in our placeswith sunshiny faces ♪

Little boys began to giggle,

and we all began to work onthem, get them ready for school.

And then we headed off to the daycare

where we dropped them off.

Edye and I worked just a coupleof blocks from the building,

and when the bomb wentoff, we ran down there,

and it was as though we hadentered the twilight zone.

There were big sheets ofglass falling all around us.

And I looked up the street,

and I saw the smoke comingfrom the Murrah Building.

And I said, "Edye, the babies."

And then we heard boom, boom,boom, and we took off running.

When we got around to the north side,

it was the cars in theparking lot blowing up.

We turned and looked at the building,

and where the daycareonce was, was nothing left

but a pancake pile of rubble.

My daughter fell to her knees weeping,

"My babies, my babies."

The pain of the bombingwas just devastating

because not only was I suffering

over the loss of my only grandsons,

I could not bear towatch my daughter suffer.

It was the darkest time of my life.

I found it hard to pray.

How could the good and loving God

that I had always loved and served,

how would He let this happen to me?

It was the first time in my life

that I ever wanted to kill myself.

I just didn't wanna live in a world

without my grandchildren.

And, in such pain, Ifinally came to a point

where, God, I don'tknow why this happened,

but I don't know how I'mgonna get through this

without you.(object slams)

If you're out there,Lord, and you're real,

you're gonna have to help me.

Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh

were the two men being prosecuted

for the Oklahoma City Bombing.

I began searching for the truth,

but, in the end, the truth I discovered

was not the one I was looking for.

It was Timothy McVeigh thatblew up the building, not God.

What brought me peace after that was

in knowing that God didnot take my grandchildren.

He simply received them when they came.

Meeting Terry Nichols' mother

was the very first little baby step I had

toward learning to forgive.

I began to sit with her in the courtroom.

I began to eat lunch with her.

It wasn't long beforeTerry Nichols, the bomber,

became my friend Joyce's son.

When the trials were over,it was several months later.

I received a letter from Terry Nichols,

thanking me for befriending his family.

And I decided I don't knowwhat his motivation is

to write me, but I knowwhat my motivation is.

And perhaps if I befriended him,

he would answer some ofmy unanswered questions

about the bombing, and we began to write.

Letters turned into phone calls,

and the phone callseventually turned into visits.

He told me in his cell theonly thing in there was a Bible

and that he read it cover to cover.

Then he got a hold of a radio,

and he heard a radio preacher tell him

that if he would inviteJesus into his heart,

that Jesus would forgivehim of all of his sins

and cleanse him from all unrighteousness.

My belief is that the Lorddid do a work in his life

and that his life has been changed.

Terry really grew tolove me and respect me

as his sister in the Lord,

and he was concerned about his family.

Those were the forgottenvictims of this crime.

The whole world reached out

to the people that lost loved ones,

but those families were destroyed as well.

I made it a point to meet everyfamily member that I could.

I had McVeigh's sister,Jennifer, to my home for a meal.

I went to New York,

where I met with Timothy McVeigh's father.

I had Terry Nichols' ex-wifeand his son to my home.

Josh, Terry Nichols' son,

told me how he had dropped out of school.

The kids had nicknamed him bomber.

He would randomly get beat up.

My heart went out for this boy.

Josh asked me to take him tothe Oklahoma City Memorial.

And I knew when I stood infront of the chairs 60 and 61

that represented the livesof my little grandsons

with the Oklahoma City Bomber's son,

that God had done a great work in my life.

And I had come long way.

(gentle upbeat music)

I can remember telling TerryNichols on the phone one day,

I said, "Terry, I don'tknow what your part was

in the bombing, but I want you to know

that I've forgiven you."

Did I forgive Terry Nichols? Absolutely.

Do I think Terry Nicholsshould be punished?

Absolutely.

Forgiveness and punishmentare two different things.

The weight and the burden

of carrying around thehate and the unforgiveness

and the bitterness is devastating.

To remain angry and bitteris like drinking poison

and expecting the enemy to die.

And learning to forgivebrought me a peace.

It brought me joy.

And now today I have a smile on my face

and a song in my heart.

Today I've learned

that forgiveness is the greatestgift you can give yourself.

- It is the greatest giftyou can give yourself,

but boy, it's hard to get there

from where you are whensomeone has misused you,

hurt you, taken somethingprecious from you.

You know, initially we all feel just angry

and even depression in thoseplaces and discouragement,

but God is calling usto a different place.

And He's not calling usto a place of forgiveness

because it's the spirituallyright thing to do.

He's calling us to it becauseHe wants us to be free.

I mean, you heard Kathytalk about the weight,

the weightiness of anger and bitterness

and resentment and unforgiveness.

It weighs us down.

It changes the way we see the world.

It changes the way we feel about ourself.

It robs us of the joy

of the gift of life.

The thing about it thatI hear in Kathy's story

is she began to pursue it.

It was like she knew

that all those things she wasfeeling initially were real,

but she didn't wanna drownedin that, and you can.

So I wanna say to you today,if someone has hurt you,

if someone has maligned your name,

taken something precious from you,

if you're feeling hurt andbroken and angry and frustrated,

there's an opportunity for you to be free.

The hard part about forgivenessis it feels so not right

under the circumstances.

You feel like somebody needs to pay.

But one of the things God also says

in His Word is: "Vengeance is mine.

I will repay."

And when we're willing to trust His word

to set our hurt and ourpain, our loved ones,

if that's what we've lost,on the altar before Him

and say what Kathy said,God teach me your ways.

Scripture says His ways aredifferent than our ways.

It says they're higher than our ways,

but it's even more than that.

It's God's planned road tofreedom for you and for me.

Care enough about yourselfto take God up on that offer

to today come to Him and say, God,

I've been hanging on to this.

It has defined who I amand not in a good way.

It has robbed me of peaceof mind, sleep at night,

any kind of faith that I've had.

I'm coming to you because Iwanna get out of this pit.

Will you reach down andlift me out of the pit

and set my feet on therock of Jesus Christ,

and then walk me throughthe process of forgiveness?

I want to be free.

I can tell you a sincere prayer like that

will change your life.

Try it, try Him.

He's got an answer for you.

Andrew.- Thank you, Terry.

Kathy's story is incredible.

We're so glad you were with us today,

and we wanna leave you with this scripture

from Ephesians 4:32:

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, asGod in Christ forgave you."

We hope you have a great weekend,

and then join us on Monday.We have a story about a pastor

and full-time evangelistwho had a deep secret.

See how he found the power of confession

and was able to reach complete healing.

That's on Monday's show.

We'll see you then.