MISSION VIEJO, Calif.—On a warm midsummer afternoon, dozens of parents arranged their brightly colored umbrellas along the soccer pitch at Capistrano Valley High School (CVHS). Many left work to mark the beginning of a series of “lasts”: their sons’ last soccer season, the last set of school pictures, and all too soon, the last day of high school.

But these parents were worried about more than letting go. Many were also concerned that their teens are not exchanging “lasts” for crucial “firsts”—more specifically, their first job.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—The Islamic Society of Orange County mosque in many ways reflects the prosperous heart of Southern California where it’s located. As congregants waited for a guest imam to speak, grandmothers scolded noisy children and teenagers texted on their cell phones. Two teenage girls in the women’s prayer room said their favorite pastime is shopping. Another teen called a friend, trying to convince her to dig through her closet for an abaya, a loose-fitting garment, and join her at the mosque for the fundraising talk and dinner.

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.—The world’s deadliest surf breaks often have names screaming “danger”: Jaws in Maui, Teahupo’o (“sever the head”) in Tahiti, and the shark-infested Dungeons in South Africa are among the Top 10. In the Professional Bull Riders circuit, the names of bovine beasts are no less terrifying: Pearl Harbor, Spotted Demon, and Inferno.

As 58-year-old Greg Gardiner surveyed the devastation from last week’s deadly fires, he described an eerie scene across the Gardiner Angus Ranch north of Ashland, Kan. Friends pitched in to help shoot the last of the fatally maimed cattle over the weekend, drones surveyed the breaks to confirm none were missed, and community volunteers began pulling up charred fence post and rolling up burnt wire.

On Jan. 27, the evening of President Donald Trump’s announcement of an executive order banning entry to the United States from seven terrorist hot spots, around 175 people gathered in a hotel conference room in Rapid City, S.D. Most in the crowd were part of the 40 to 50 percent of Americans who, according to polls, approve of Trump’s order, and the topic of discussion was Muslim immigration.

The situation of Christian refugees in German shelters is “unbearable” according to an updated report released this month and co-authored by Open Doors Germany. The report documents 743 cases of discrimination, death threats, and physical assaults against Christians by Muslim refugees between February and May of this year and claims the findings are only “the tip of the iceberg.”

Africa has become the new “hot spot” for international adoptions, and that trend has led to some disturbing developments: Recent reports show corruption and child trafficking in some countries where international adoption is on the rise. As adoptive parents strive to untangle the web of laws, inherent risks, and seemingly endless requirements, turning to those with “boots on the ground” is one way to make sense of the confusion.