Contact Magazine - Spring 2017

Page 1

www.afcu.org.uk

magazine for members of the armed forces

Faith & culture in the army Act io n St a t io n s a g lobal ca ll t o p ra y e r Spring 2017

ÂŁ2

THY KINGDOM COME...

Thy will be done Matthew 6:10

I AM OFTEN asked how we can best support the men and women of our armed forces? Of course, when someone is deployed, writing a letter or sending a Red Cross parcel with some exciting treats always goes down well and helps soldiers feel wanted and loved by their country. However, if you are a Christian the best thing you can do is to pray for our service personnel, for our Commanders, for our government, and for our nation. As people of faith we recall in the New Testament that James says in 5:13, ¸0M HU` VUL PZ HɊPJ[LK SL[ OPT VY OLY pray....”James then goes on to say, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful.” God honours our prayers, praying provides not only peace to those serving, but every prayer you pray also changes the world. Proverbs 21 says “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord.” What more motivation do we need to pray, in our Christian communities and to pray for the military? The Archbishop of Canterbury is calling people to ‘pledge2pray’ with Christians across the world as part of Thy Kingdom Come - a global wave of prayer movement. This has been taken up by the military community again this year see pages 10-11. We welcome retired Chaplain in Chief, the Revd Ray Pentland, an old friend of the Armed Forces Christian Union, as our new ethics author. The Bishop to the Forces has given an exclusive interview to Contact, as he prays for our JVTT\UP[` HUK VɈLYZ WHZ[VYHS JHYL [V THU` 9HJOHLS 7OPSSPWZ H `V\UN VɉJLY who found personal faith shares her journey to explore faith and culture when she deployed to Afghanistan. We hope you have a wonderful Easter and enjoy time out with family and friends.

Rachel Farmer Editor

࠮ If you wish to know more about what it means to be a Christian and/or how [V ILJVTL H *OYPZ[PHU ÄUK HUK HZR `V\Y local military chaplain or a Christian you may know or pick up the phone and ask [OL (-*< VɉJL

contents faith & culture - the view from an army cultural specialist

more tea Bishop? The Rt Revd Nigel Stock talks about his role

4

What is ethics about? Former chief chaplain ask how we live our lives

8

6

Prayer like an avalanche - how a global wave of prayer is [HRPUN VɈ

10

regulars Katie Kyle Martin’s memo KWЄMM JZMIS JWWS ZM^QM_[ caption competition

11 13 14 15 15 Have you searched for the new ‘AFCU’ app? It is in the ‘app store’ or you can scan this code

Armed Forces’ Christian Union (AFCU), Havelock House, Barrack Road, Aldershot, Hants GU11 3NP Tel 01252 311221 ,THPS! VɉJL'HMJ\ VYN \R ^^^ HMJ\ VYN \R

contact

03

Cross cultural mission I[ I +PZQ[\QIV IZUa WĐ…KMZ by Rachael Phillips

‘

I found that being a woman opened doors to situations that would have been Ă…ZUTa closed

contact

04

’

FOR SEVEN YEARS I served as a female HYT` VɉJLY ^VYRPUN ^P[O [OL +LMLUJL Cultural Specialist Unit. My role required me to work with Muslims as a woman but also for three of those seven years I was also a Christian. This proved interesting. So did being a Christian woman impede my work and mission? Afghanistan has a rich but complex culture. It is a patriarchal society and therefore being a woman and working in local communities might have proved highly challenging. However, I found that being a woman opened doors to ZP[\H[PVUZ [OH[ ^V\SK OH]L ILLU Ă„YTS` closed had I been a man. I had access to ‘the other 50%’ of the country that my male counterparts could not have contact with, and was invited freely into homes. I could sit and chat in a very informal and relaxed way with generations of women and their children. In doing so I was then also able to build positive relationships with their husbands and brothers and experienced very little tension or resistance due to my gender. I spent 18 months living and working in Afghanistan and my overwhelming experience was that being female encouraged conversation and led to relaxed and less charged interactions that were peppered with humour and intrigue. I quickly discovered gender wasn’t an issue, but what about faith? The question of faith and the impact it could have on relations with foreign

nationals, was ÄYZ[ VU T` radar many years before I deployed to Afghanistan. At the age of 19 I travelled to Sri Lanka as a volunteer after the )V_PUN +H` [Z\UHTP +\YPUN T` stay I made the mistake of being open about my then atheism to the family with whom I was living. My Muslim hosts were disturbed when I told them I didn’t believe in God and so I quickly changed my story explaining there was a misunderstanding due to the language barrier. What I learned from that situation was that if the topic of religion came up, and I was working or living with Muslims in another country, it was better to claim to be a Christian than to try and explain my atheism! Years later, and still an atheist, I was ZLY]PUN VU T` ÄYZ[ KLWSV`TLU[ [V Helmand Province. My job would bring me into daily contact with local villagers and my training told me never to bring up religion in conversation with locals. The few times it did come up I stated that I was a Christian, then moved the conversation on. In a culture that was ZLLTPUNS` ZV ZH[\YH[LK HUK PUÅ\LUJLK by religious structures and customs perhaps it was a shame that I’d been trained to avoid the topic. But then, I also wouldn’t have wanted to get into any IPNNLY SPLZ HIV\[ T` ÄJ[PVUHS MHP[O

In 2011, whilst studying Pashto in preparation for my next tour, I was keen to understand Islam better. I was fascinated by this religion and the KPɈLYLU[ ^H`Z PU ^OPJO P[ ^HZ WYHJ[PZLK At the time my curiosity only extended as far as what others believed and never led to me questioning what I believed. I thought at the time that religion was either a learned behaviour that was followed simply to avoid exclusion from the in-group, or it was a crutch that people needed to feel their lives had meaning. I had a respect for the commitment of the faithful, much as I had a respect for anyone who commits themselves, such as marathon runners or musicians. But I never questioned whether it could be true. This changed in 2012 at the beginning of my second operational tour of Afghanistan when I had an ‘out of the blue’ encounter with God in a shipping container and shortly after I became a practising and committed Christian. That is another story! (See ‘She found God‌ in an ISO’ Contact Summer 2015)

My steadily growing faith meant I was much more relaxed about Islamic customs. Often the Afghans started shuras (meetings) with a prayer. Previously I would have joined my Army colleagues in feeling rather awkward, not knowing where to look or how to sit or whether to close our eyes and what to do with our hands, but as a Christian I felt at ease during prayers, as I prayed silently to myself in English and we all ÄUPZOLK I` ZH`PUN (TLU WYVUV\UJLK Amin in Arabic). Later, now as a Christian, I worked in Bosnia as a Christian and had many great conversations. Then I was posted to 4th Infantry Brigade as a Community 3PHPZVU VɉJLY ^VYRPUN HSVUNZPKL Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in North East England. Whilst the community engagement skills and experiences I’ve built up in the Army have been well used, it’s actually what I’ve learned as a practising Christian that has been more helpful in my cross cultural work. My role was to build strong

Before long a crowd had gathered to hear about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As the weak winter sun warmed us up, and we shared what boiled sweets we had, I felt certain that it was a positive experience. It may not have built relationships any more quickly or strongly than if we had been discussing livestock or irrigation methods, but I learned that for me, as a Pashto speaker, a woman and a Christian, discussing faith was UV[ VɈ SPTP[Z 4HU` ^LYL NLU\PULS` interested in meeting a devout Christian.

I admire Paul’s persuasive and intelligent approach to letter writing which formed H SHYNL WHY[ VM OPZ PUĂ…\LU[PHS JHTWHPNU and how he used cultural knowledge to endear himself to his target audience (even though this was not always successful). Knowing something of Paul’s mission and with a heart for conversation and listening to others this has been an entirely positive experience. As a Cultural Specialist, it has helped me in looking for common ground and in understanding my target audience on another level. I’ve found that engaging people in conversations about their faith has been a platform on which to build relationships, rather than it being an VIZ[HJSL VY HYLH VM JVUĂ…PJ[ ŕ Ž *YVZZ J\S[\YHS NHTLZ IYLHR KV^U IHYYPLYZ

So, now that I was a Christian, was there any impact on my work during my second and third tours of Afghanistan? 6]LYHSS 0 ILSPL]L [OL LɈLJ[ P[ KPK OH]L was undeniably positive. One night I joined a patrol who were setting up a covert look-out in a cow shed (those not on sentry duty could sleep inside on the straw with the mice, which did feel rather biblical). I was there to chat with the locals who would start gathering at dawn the next morning, once we made our presence known. It was on this morning that I was chatting to some youths who asked me to recite the Kalima, the Muslim profession of faith. Explaining that I couldn’t on the grounds that I was a Christian, we got into a long and lively discussion about [OL KPɈLYLUJLZ HUK ZPTPSHYP[PLZ IL[^LLU our faiths. Mostly these teenagers and young men wanted to challenge the fact I worshipped three Gods, and I found myself trying to explain the Trinitarian nature of Christianity in Pashto, testing my vocabulary somewhat!

and practices of his homeland upon the foreign nationals he engaged with, he learned from them. Paul watched HUK Z[\KPLK [OLT Ă„UKPUN V\[ [OLPY customs and desires and he used this to build relationships in order to be more LɈLJ[P]L H[ KLSP]LYPUN OPZ TLZZHNL (J[Z 17:16-34).

relations with local communities who may know little about the Armed Forces, or who may have misconceptions or negative perceptions of it. The environment can be a challenging one,and yet feels very familiar. Telling the ‘army story’ to those who may at Ă„YZ[ OH]L SP[[SL PU[LYLZ[ VY WYLJVUJLP]LK ideas is much like telling the Jesus story. Christians call this mission and evangelism. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul who persecuted the early church and Jesus’ followers, but then became a Christian after an encounter with Christ. He then began spreading the gospel message to those who had not yet heard; primarily in foreign lands around the Mediterranean such as in Corinth, Thessalonica and Macedonia. Paul was undoubtedly a ‘Cultural Specialist’ and rather than imposing the cultural norms

Whether it’s communicating the message of salvation, security in Afghanistan, or the role of the Army today, the Apostle Paul’s approach to engaging with foreign nationals is a pretty good one. Gaining knowledge of and respecting other people’s customs is an important part of appealing to one’s hosts in order to communicate your message. I found that being a Christian is compatible with working closely with other people and cultures who do not share this faith. The assumption that the two are incompatible is short-sighted, just as the assumption that a woman cannot LUNHNL LɈLJ[P]LS` PU H WH[YPHYJOHS 4\ZSPT country is short-sighted. What matters is the extent to which the individual shows respect and looks for common ground, HUK ZLLZ IL`VUK KPɈLYLUJLZ VM NLUKLY or faith.

contact

05

more tea Bishop? <PM *Q[PWX \W \PM .WZKM[ \PM :\ :M^L 6QOMT ;\WKS \ITS[ IJW]\ PQ[ ]VQY]M ZWTM I[ PM ^Q[Q\[ \PM UQTQ\IZa KWUU]VQ\a° NIGEL STOCK IS not your average bishop - if there is such a thing! He balances several roles from his base at Lambeth Palace in London, writes Rachel Farmer. As Bishop to the Forces he is often travelling both in the UK and around the world - from the heat of Cyprus to the windswept Falkland Islands, because being a Bishop to the Forces means having the opportunity to visit military personnel and their families and learning about their lives. Bishop Nigel said, “I’m the Archbishop’s “Episcopal Representative to Her Majesty’s Armed Forcesâ€?. The bishop took up his joint role in 2014. It also includes being the Bishop for the Falkland Islands though his principal ministry is being Bishop at Lambeth, a supporting role to the Archbishop of Canterbury. As the Bishop to the Forces he has pastoral oversight for the Anglican chaplains and the Anglican Church within the Forces. Sometimes Bishop Nigel’s roles overlap. For example, on his visits to the Falkland Islands, where as well as visiting the military community he is also there to support the civilians of the local parish. He said, “The care of people in remote places, like the Falklands Islands, is very demanding for the single chaplain deployed there. There are a a lot of people – 1200 plus military personnel - all 8,000 miles from family and where modern communications do not work as well as they are accustomed to. It can be

contact

06

very isolating for them.â€? +\YPUN SHZ[ `LHYÂťZ ]PZP[ [V [OL PZSHUKZ Bishop Nigel was taken on HMS Clyde from West Falkland to Port Stanley. On the way he was able to commit to the deep the ashes of the parents of a stoker who went down with HMS Coventry. Their last wishes were that they were reunited with their son. “We committed their ashes to the deep‌over the place where HMS Coventry lies and where so many sailors were killed in the Falklands war,â€? he explained. “It was a very moving moment.â€? (Z )PZOVW [V [OL -VYJLZ OL VɈLYZ support and pastoral oversight to the Anglican chaplains. “The chaplains have a vital ministry to the Forces but it is also important that the extraordinary skills they gain are fed into the wider church,â€? he said. “The understanding and knowledge chaplains gain through being in very stressful situations and how faith relates to that is a gift to the church.’ Talking about his work over the past two years, Bishop Nigel said, “My conversations with chaplains can range from the very deep issues of how they minister to people who have been involved in combat and taken life and what it’s done to them, bearing in mind the armed forces have been deployed in combat in several areas of the world in recent years. Then there are the wider pastoral issues of anxious families and caring for people who have been injured

and who have been marked by what’s happened to them.â€? The Bishop always appreciates listening to service personnel and hearing their experiences over a J\W VM [LH /L YLĂ…LJ[LK ¸0[ ZLLTZ [V me there is still some way to go to a full understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress +PZVYKLY 7;:+ HS[OV\NO P[ÂťZ H [LYT that’s been around a lot. There is still a SV[ VM ^VYR [V KV PU \UKLYZ[HUKPUN 7;:+ HUK P[Z SVUN [LYT LɈLJ[Z HUK P[ OHZ ILLU noticeable that chaplains have been very aware and very careful about that.â€? The Bishop acknowledged that there are many ethical and moral issues facing Christians who serve in the military and how important it is that the Church and chaplains stand alongside them. He said he always asks potential military chaplains about their understanding of faith within a military context. Bishop Nigel said, “The role of the chaplain is not to go round judging people, but to understand that all people deserve to know of the love of Jesus Christ and all people are deserving of the pastoral care that Christ would want. There are huge ethical matters that do arise that people want to talk about.â€? The Bishop has found that Chaplains in the British military have been highly valued and especially so in the last few years. He said, “I have been struck by the number of times people in senior positions have gone out of their way to take me to one side in order to say how much they value the work of a particular chaplain. I have also come across people who, when their unit is being deployed, ^HU[ [V THRL Z\YL [OH[ VUL VM [OL Ă„YZ[

things they want is to have the right chaplain.” He said, “operations in Iraq and Afghanistan had highlighted the vital role of a chaplain supporting soldiers in dangerous and stressful combat situations”. Although chaplains are trained to work alongside service personnel on operational deployments, it often surprises non military people, including those in our churches, that noncombatants are deployed in those JPYJ\TZ[HUJLZ ¸;OL` HYL [OLYL [V VɈLY the love of Christ as non-combatants,” explained Bishop Nigel. “Ever since the First World War that red line, that ordained people, (clergy) in the military do not carry weapons is an important one to keep. One chaplain told me that a soldier said to him, ‘Padre, it’s good that you haven’t taken life, because those of us that have had to, can talk to you and you are separate from it, yet you know the circumstances in which we’ve worked.’” According to the Bishop the church in any country has a vital role to play in working with the military and being HU PUÅ\LUJL MVY NVVK [OYV\NO [OVZL Christians serving in the military or military chaplaincy. As the numbers of reservists in the UK grow more members of the armed forces are increasingly part of local communities to which the church ministers. Bishop Nigel said, “They may or may not be part of congregations, but they are there with particular needs and it would be good if the church could become more aware of those in the military who may live outside the wire of the military base.”

࠮ ;OL 9[ 9L]K 5PNLS :[VJR )PZOVW [V [OL -VYJLZ

‘

all people deserve to know of the love of Jesus Christ and... are deserving of the pastoral care that Christ would want

’

Photo credit: Cpl Neil Chapman (RAF)

contact

07

\PM -\PQK[ Ă…TM

ethics: how do

we live W]Z TQ^M['

‘

How does having a Jesus centred ethic IĐ„MK\ what I do every day?

contact

08

’

:MKMV\Ta ZM\QZML I[ +PIXTIQV QV +PQMN NWZ \PM :). \PM :M^L :Ia 8MV\TIVL QV\ZWL]KM[ I VM_ [MZQM[ WV M\PQK[ QV I +PZQ[\QIV UQTQ\IZa context. ETHICS HAS BECOME a subject that apparently we all love to talk about and within the military community we especially like to talk about ‘the moral component’, although I have occasionally heard that confused with morale. Of course, ethics is about how we decide what is right and what is wrong. Ethics is the study of everyday behaviour and so involves every aspect of our lives. So, we could say that in Christian ethics ^L JVUZPKLY H ZWLJPĂ„J ZP[\H[PVU NH[OLY the facts and then use the principles and values to be found in Christianity to reach a conclusion. Easy, isn’t it? Perhaps not, because when we discuss ethics we (and this goes for me too) want to discuss the big issues of life and death, and yet the way we live everyday life should be weighed against those same standards. We might well argue that an ethical person acknowledges that the Ten Commandments are a good

code, while a moral person lives accordingly. Many would point to the golden rule, from Luke Âş+V [V V[OLYZ HZ `V\ ^V\SK OH]L them do to you’ as their ethical base. But would that be distinctly Christian behaviour? I think not for I know many who would lay no claim to the Christian faith but whose everyday behaviour echoes the golden rule. Indeed, there are echoes of such a thought in many ethical traditions. So this is a beginning but there must be more. A previous generation of Christians would speak of ‘Christ-like living’ as /VSPULZZ ^OPJO ^L TPNO[ KLĂ„UL HZ Âş[V be like Jesus’, and therefore a new generation wore colourful ‘What Would 1LZ\Z +V&š >>1+ IYHJLSL[Z So is there really a distinctive Christian ethic? I believe there is. St Ephraim explains it like this,

‘The sign that you love God, is this, that you love your neighbour; and if you hate your neighbour, your hatred is towards God.’ This is a great place to start, and TH`IL [OL >>1+ TV]LTLU[ OHZ T\JO to say to Christian ethics but here I come [V T` KPɉJ\S[` I have studied ethics for years. I have lectured in it at all levels and love academic engagement, but my real passion in ethics has always been about how it impacts on our daily lives. How KVLZ OH]PUN H 1LZ\Z JLU[YLK L[OPJ HɈLJ[ what I do every day? From my perspective as a Christian, ethics is thinking about how I make Christ centred decisions. However, it must go beyond the academic to the practical. How I live my life. How I speak, the language I use, the jokes I tell, the

About Ray... Ray Pentland grew up in a Christian family within the Salvation Army. In that sense faith was always present. He says, “It was who we were and what we did.” As a teenager, Ray committed himself to following Jesus Christ, little knowing what would follow...

A call to go and make disciples took him to the William Booth Memorial College. Nine years later with Christine and two children the adventure continued with a call to the Anglican

way I treat people, and that means everyone. An ethical person knows that it is good to live by the Ten Commandments, but a Moral person puts that knowledge in to practice. German theologian and WHZ[VY +PL[YPJO )VUOVLɈLY, in his book Ethics (published by Fontana in 1964) suggested that the commandment of God as revealed in Jesus is the only basis for ethical discussion. It is the psalmist who asks ‘Who may ascend the TV\U[HPU VM [OL 369+& >OV TH` Z[HUK in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart’. Whether our questions are of life and death, or the simple task of daily living Christian ethics begin and end in Jesus. Next issue Ray will delve into topical ethical questions Church. Further theological training at St John’s College, Nottingham, (to adapt to Anglicanism) included a summer placement with the Royal Navy, when the seeds of chaplaincy were sown. This was followed by a curacy at St Jude’s Church in Nottingham before he joined the Royal Air Force in 1990. Beginning as the ‘baby chaplain’ at RAF Cranwell, tours quickly followed at Swinderby, Valley, and British Forces Broadcasting (Germany). This involved living alongside the army and providing Chaplaincy to an Army Garrison including serving with the army on an operational tour in Bosnia. His years as a chaplain took him all around the UK and on deployment in the Gulf.

࠮ ;OL 9L]K 9H` 7LU[SHUK

public life (Oxford) and Values Education (Birmingham and Oxford). In 2005 he was elected as Principal Anglican Chaplain, and Archdeacon for the RAF and appointed as an Honorary Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen (QHC). Ray was selected as the 21st Chaplain in Chief of the RAF in 2009 – a three year WVZ[ ^OPJO OL ZH`Z [VVR OPT Ä]L `LHYZ to get the hang of! Ray has a number of military linked roles in retirement and is married to Christine, a Consultant in Child Bereavement They have two children, and three grandchildren.

As Senior RAF Chaplain at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, he was responsible for chaplaincy training and development and tasked with the redevelopment of the Belief and Values Programme, introducing a theological basis for each session. Ray has undertaken research in ethics in

Come on an adventure with MAF MAF is looking for unique people for a special purpose. If you are a pilot, engineer, manager or professional in your field and looking to make a difference contact us today and start your adventure with us. For more information visit us at www.maf-uk.org/jobs We look forward to hearing from you!

www.maf-uk.org/jobs contact

09

starting a prayer I^ITIVKPM

A global wave of prayer planned during May and June this year has captured the imagination of Christians across the UK and the world. And this year it’s gaining momentum with members from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force preparing to take part... LAST MAY THE mother of a teenager joined in two ‘shifts’ of a 24-7 prayer rota at her church. It was something she’d never done before. She described feeling a bit awkward when asked to talk about her faith with others, but these [PTLZ VM WYH`LY OHK H WV^LYM\S LɈLJ[ “What awakened in me as part of my night shifts of prayer was a deep sense of belonging, of being cared for and to my surprise at 3am when my two hours ended, I slept well and in the morning I was full of energy,” she said. “The disruptions of life that week were much easier to deal with and I found I was able to pray with ease… I thought about prayer in a way I never have before... The impact of that week for me cannot IL X\HU[PÄLK I\[ 0 JHU L_WYLZZ [OL V\[JVTL" 0 HT JSVZLY [V .VK JVUÄKLU[

Is there more to life than this Pub again

in my relationship and blessed by a church family who encourage me to be WHY[ VM V\Y ZOHYLK TPZZPVU ¹ +PHUL»Z Z[VY` is one of many from around the country who were changed by being part of Thy Kingdom Come in 2016. Last year the experience had a deep impact on hundreds who found fresh ways of praying for the Holy Spirit to OLSW [OLT IL LɈLJ[P]L ^P[ULZZLZ HUK MVY others to hear the call of Jesus Christ for themselves. Many members of the military community and chaplains across the Armed Forces took part in the wave of prayer last year. Senior chaplain at RAF Coningsby, the Revd (Wg Cdr) Alasdair Nicoll said a 24-hour wave of prayer, during the 10 days, had been a focus for Christians in the military. “Last

year we divided the 24 hours into 15 minutes slots and publicised it to the *OYPZ[PHU JVTT\UP[PLZ ^P[OPU [OL KPɈLYLU[ forces and throughout the Armed Forces Christian Union and their networks. In [OL LUK ^L ÄSSLK [OL TPU\[L ZSV[Z HUK were about 2 ¾ times oversubscribed.” He said Thy Kingdom Come had begun as an invitation from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York. With support from 24-7 Prayer and a number of cathedrals, they had hoped a few thousand people might get involved. In the end more than 100,000 took part in the days of prayer and attended focused prayer and worship events across the country. Speaking about what happened during the wave of prayer last year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said, “I’ve never been involved in anything that seems so much to be the work of the Holy Spirit. When the wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing, hoist the sails. +VU»[ TLZZ ^P[O P[ KVU»[ JVU[YVS P[ OVPZ[ the sails, go with the wind.” Justin Welby

alpha.org

How about a night in

Will my mates be there

Got questions about life #TryAlpha

contact

10

continued, “It’s not a CofE thing and it’s certainly not an Archbishop thing - in the same way as someone who started an avalanche couldn’t say ‘that’s my avalanche’ – it’s a God thing!” According to the Archbishop, prayer happens when we have a challenge we can’t meet by our own resources. “None of us have the resources to bring someone to living faith in Jesus Christ. Our cupboards are bare so we have to go to the one who has everything we need and ask for it. Thy Kingdom Come is essentially that in practice. It’s the task set before us - not by me - but by Jesus who says to the Apostles you are my witnesses.” Padre Alasdair Nicholl said the wave of prayer is about calling the whole Church to prayer. He said, “The time between Jesus’ ascension and the day of Pentecost is traditionally a time when the Church prays. In the book of Acts the disciples were told by Jesus to wait and to pray and so that’s what they did. We all know what happened at Pentecost – there was an exponential growth of the Christian church and I suppose we’re the result of it, even 21 centuries later.” This year military chaplains are helping to coordinate another 24 hours of prayer starting at 0800 on Thursday 1st June, with members of the military community joining in praying through every hour until 0800 on 2md June. The military involvement will be launched on

࠮ ;OL (YJOIPZOVW VM *HU[LYI\Y` 1\Z[PU >LSI`

day, when he talks about why he’s a Christian and why he is asking Christians to join the wave of prayer. It had almost 500,000 views on Facebook within [OL ÄYZ[ ^LLR VM NVPUN SP]L ([ [OL LUK of the video he urges Christians to #Pledge2Pray via the website and unite with thousands of others in praying for people to come to faith. Thy Kingdom Come aims to be a catalyst for change, supporting churches to hold

The global wave of prayer - Thy Kingdom Come is between Ascension and Pentecost, 25 May - 4 June 2017 Tuesday 30th May, with the three Heads VM *OHWSHPUJ` H[ HU L]LU[ PU 4V+ 4HPU Building in London. There will also be Beacon events - times of focused prayer and worship - at main churches for the Navy, the Army and the RAF on Sunday 4th June. Alasdair said, “The aim is to get Christians of all denominations together and we’ll also be joining with Christian members of the civil service.” Thy Kingdom Come has a whole range of YLZV\YJLZ ZWLJPÄJHSS` [V OLSW WLVWSL WYH` and all are available via the website: www.thykingdomcome.global The prayer materials include a new resource, called ‘Kingdom Kit’ for families, with ideas on how to pray in new ways from making paper aeroplanes to going on a prayer ‘safari’ in the community. Social media is playing a major role in publicising the wave of prayer. There is a new video, which features the Archbishop on his early morning jog following him through the

events like 24-7 prayer, prayer stations and prayer walks. Padre Alasdair said, “All our work is for nothing if it’s not backed up in prayer. When I was a young Christian I used to think I’ll make my plans and wait for God to bless them. As I’ve gone on in life, I realise that we pray for God’s Spirit and where He’s moving, then we come along behind and the wind catches our sails and the Spirit moves us. God has divine and wonderful plans.” Padre Alasdair says that what happened at Pentecost should remain an inspiration. “The disciples went from being a handful of frightened followers, to seeing 3,000 people coming to Christ on one day – we need to have the faith to see God work amongst us. Let’s keep praying that people across the forces come to a living faith in Jesus Christ.” Keep an eye out on the AFCU website for more updates on the wave of prayer for the Armed Forces http://www.afcu. org.uk/wave-of-prayer/

’

I’ve never been involved in anything that seems so much to be the work of the Holy Spirit

‘

contact

11

_ITSQVO on [WTQL OZW]VL

with Katie Kyle Katie Kyle is married to Jack, a Chinook helicopter pilot. They live at RAF Odiham, where their three children and Labrador regularly run rings round them.

I stood on the beach, my teeth chattering uncontrollably, a towel pulled tightly around me. I waved to my mum. She was in the choppy Cornish sea, waving back at me. The year was 1989 and I was 11. We were spending the October half term in H YLTV[L ÄZOLYTHU»Z JV[[HNL ^P[O UV phone and no signs of human habitation for miles. I was in charge of my younger siblings as we watched our mum completing our silly dare - to swim in the icy waters. My mum waved again and I waved back. She was further away from us by now. I noticed that her head was under the waves more often than it was out of them. Then came the sickening realisation that we weren’t exchanging waves - I was watching my mum drown. I charged into the sea but the gentle surf of a few moments ago had become a wall of waves I couldn’t break through. I left the beach, scrambling up the path in search of help, punctuating my burbled, incoherent prayers with screams. ‘Please God, save Mummy.’ And then a man appeared on the path. I WVPU[LK [V T` T\T HUK OL W\SSLK VɈ OPZ coat as we hurried down to the beach. As I thanked God for this man, his wife appeared. ‘You’re not going in there,’ she stated. The man put his coat back on and stared, as helplessly as me, at the huge expanse of grey swallowing up the speck of a woman. And then something strange started to happen. The speck stopped moving out to sea and began moving eastward. We tried to follow, clambering along the rocky shoreline. A small outcrop of rocks appeared, previously hidden

contact

12

from view, jutting out into my mum’s new path. Within minutes, the waves were dashing her against them. As my new friends pulled her lifeless, bloody body from the waters, I assumed she was dead. But then she raised her head and I knew I had witnessed a real-life miracle. By the time I was 18, I had started to drift away myself on a sea of depression, leaving my frightened family helplessly watching on. They and their friends prayed desperately for me. This time the vast expanse of nothingness lasted, not minutes, but almost a decade as the prayers appeared to go unanswered and I started to disappear from view. As AFCU launches its year of prayer, 0»]L ILLU YLÅLJ[PUN VU OV^ HUK ^OLU God answers prayer. Generally, when we pray, we want the immediate and dramatic sort of answer that saw my mum plucked from danger, not the ten year wait that I experienced. It begs the question of whether God was more interested in my mum’s plight? Why was he slower to act when it came to me? Why do some prayers seem to fall on deaf ears? It’s only as I emerge from those problems that I feel I have some answers. God’s rescue plan for me was more complex than my mum’s but he moved as powerfully for me as he did for her. He wanted to treat the causes of my problems, not just the symptoms, and that took time. If God had ‘zapped’ the depression, it wouldn’t have been a complete healing, rather a fragmented

one that left other issues untouched. God’s rescue plan for me wasn’t evident until I was well on my way to restoration. Now I can look back and see a similar path to the one my mum trod. As I drifted into danger, God’s current tugged me towards ‘land’towards marriage, children and a much stronger faith. A lovely thought came to me as I was writing this. When I was in the depths of my problems, a friend shared with me a picture she had in her mind’s eye of me walking on a beach with Jesus. I remember the peace that this brought me at a time when I was in turmoil. I have described those years of my life in terms of drowning but it occurred to me that I was actually walking with Jesus on solid ground the whole time, whether I was aware of it or not. A friend recently said to me that God doesn’t always give us what we want. He gives us what we need. Sometimes it seems as though our prayers are being ignored. There may be waiting involved. The answer we get may not be what we had in mind. That can be uncomfortable and leave us struggling to keep faith in the idea of a loving, all powerful God. But I am now convinced he is just that- a loving, all powerful Father with a perfect rescue plan for each one of us.

JZMIS the mould WE ALL HAVE preconceived ideas of what certain things are going to be like, or how certain people or groups of people will react to certain situations. Some of this comes from experience but a lot comes from the media and the stereotypes that they portray. Towards the end of every deployment I undertook whilst serving (and there was more than one) we would get together [OL :OPWZ 6WLYH[PJ HUK +YHTH[PJ :VJPL[` [V W\[ VU H WYVK\J[PVU VU [OL -SPNO[ +LJR for the enjoyment of the Ship’s company. ;OPZ ^HZ RUV^U HZ [OL :6+: 6WLYH The lads and lasses would put together sketches and acts mainly taking the mick out of everyone and anyone on board, recalling incidents that had happened K\YPUN [OL [YPW HUK IHZPJHSS` SL[[PUN VɈ steam. Let’s say it would certainly have OHK HU *LY[PĂ„JH[L HUK TVZ[ VM [OL grief was directed at the Wardroom and Senior Rates‌ no idea why that happened). I often was in the ship’s band for this and we would normally close the show‌

Z[\Ɉ VU IVHYK K\YPUN [OL KLWSV`TLU[ [HRPUN N\`Z VɈ [V JO\YJO ^OLU alongside, and leading prayer groups and Bible studies with the chaplain – all [OH[ YLSPNPV\Z Z[\Ɉ [OH[ PZ L_WLJ[LK MYVT [OL .VK ZX\HK 0 VɈLYLK [V WSH` T` N\P[HY MVY [OL :6+Z VWLYH HUK ZPUN H ML^ songs. The organising team clearly were not too excited about this, but were a bit short of acts so asked me to open the show. The Captain introduced the whole thing, and then the compere for the night introduced me. The atmosphere went from raucous anticipation to resigned ‘let’s get this clown over with’ and of course a few choice comments and observations‌ they were expecting kum-ba-yah‌. What they got were three songs that I had picked up during my somewhat chequered youth in Brighton in the late 70s during the punk era‌ ‘Elvis is dead’, ‘I don’t want my body’ and an interesting variation on ‘Yesterday’‌ all of which had been done by Brighton bands.

>YP[PUN [OPZ YLTPUKZ TL VM [OL ]LY` Ă„UHS NPN 0 L]LY WSH`LK VU H -SPNO[ +LJR VU [OL way back from my last trip ‌ they were calling for an encore, so we decided to do ‘Californication’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. I stepped forward to play the guitar solo.. and started on the wrong fret‌ it all fell apart and the ship’s company burst into ‘Why was he born so beautiful, why was he born at all ... he’s no use’ ‌ well you know the rest I’m sure).

The lads were initially completely confused and then came a dawning realisation that this was not what they expected. They had me all wrong‌ and they cheered, shouted and generally VɈLYLK ZVTL HK]PJL HZ [V T` HIPSP[PLZ ÂŻ L_HJ[S` ^OH[ H :6+: VWLYH JYV^K were about - brilliant. Afterwards they thought it was great and my ‘respect’ went through the roof. They had judged a ‘Christian’ mostly on what they saw in the media but of course (sadly) on some other guys they had come across during their time in the RN.

Anyway I joined one ship just a few weeks before we deployed, and the ship’s band was already up and running, so I was not part of it for that trip. I had been very much involved with church

In their eyes, in that moment, I broke the mould. I prayed, read the Bible went to church and would challenge some of their behaviour and (as a rule) didn’t get hammered on a run ashore‌ but I was

d l wearing i kum-ba-yah k b h guitar i not a sandal WSH`LY +PɈLYLU[ MYVT [OLT I\[ Z[PSS vaguely ‘normal’. What is your impression of Christians (not church, but Christians)? Have a think about that for a minute. Where have you got that idea from‌ EastEnders? The +HPS` 4HPS& ;OL PU[LYUL[& ;OL TH[L PU [OL pub? Christians are normal‌ honest. Yeah, some of the things we actually do in church may seem a bit weird (there is a reason for most of it I’m told!) BUT have you actually spent time talking with a Christian about what they believe and what they do? If we are serious about our faith, what we do and say outside of church says more about us and this faith we say we have, than what we do on that hour on a Sunday morning. If you have some preconceived ideas about what it’s all about and what Christians are like, maybe give Christians another chance, ‘coz it’s not about the hour on Sunday morning but how faith HUK OVWL PU 1LZ\Z HɈLJ[Z V\Y SP]LZ L]LY` day‌. And if you are a Christian maybe think about how you are living out your faith in between all those (let’s be honest) mainly boring and tedious church meetings when you would rather be with your mates in the pub living out the faith that you have ‌ warts and all.

by Steve Martin, Operations Director, Christian Vision for Men

contact

13

KWĐ„MM JZMIS grappling with ;QTMVKM In the armed forces we so often see at Ă„YZ[ OHUK H ^VYSK THYRLK I` Z\ɈLYPUN In Sierra Leone we saw men and women become ill with Ebola, walk through the entrance of the Treatment Unit and 10 days later exit in a body bag, writes Simon Farmer. We see it on the IH[[SLĂ„LSK HZ V\Y ZVSKPLYZ HYL PUQ\YLK VY killed, we see it as we rescue refugees after their overcrowded boat has capsized, and we see it on the streets as the evils of terrorism erupt. As Christians, ^L TPNO[ Ă„UK V\YZLS]LZ OH]PUN [V grapple with God’s silence as we come HJYVZZ \U[VSK Z\ɈLYPUN PU V\Y ^VYSK ^OPSL walking the journey of faith. For some it can lead to questions of doubt, even for the strongest of Christians. Most of us know something of God’s silence and this same silence is found in every MYHTL VM :JVYZLZLÂťZ SH[LZ[ Ă„ST Silence. 0[ PZ H NYLH[ Ă„ST I\[ SLH]LZ \UZL[[SPUN questions of doubt and for some perhaps asking the question, what would I have done in a similar situation? As someone ZHPK [OL HUZ^LYZ PU :JVYZLZLÂťZ Ă„ST HYL found not in words, but in the spaces between them. Silence is a true story of persecution in a Japan seeking to expel foreigners. It is the story of two young Portuguese Jesuit priests, Father Rodrigues (Andrew .HYĂ„LSK HUK -H[OLY .HYYWL (KHT +YP]LY ;OL` ZOVJRPUNS` KPZJV]LY [OH[ their mentor Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), who had gone to Japan as a missionary, is reported to have repudiated his faith. So Rodrigues and Garrpe travel to Japan in 1639 amid a government ban on Christianity. They TLL[ H Ă„ZOLYTHU ^OV ZULHRZ [OLT VU[V an island near Nagasaki, but who in the end becomes like Judas and betrays them. When Rodrigues sees Japanese Christians being tortured, he calls out to God for answers. But he receives none in YL[\YU ;OPZ Ă„ST PZ \UZL[[SPUN 0[ YLTPUKLK me of times in Afghanistan when soldiers had been blown up and you felt God’s silence as you and the soldiers you cared for were also looking for answers. Scorsese described the process of making Silence as a personal ‘pilgrimage’, and certainly Silence will challenge both those with and without MHP[O *OYPZ[PHUZ TH` OH]L KPɈLYPUN views on the theology but many believe [OPZ Ă„ST OHZ [OL WV[LU[PHS [V I\PSK MHP[O and bear fruit and certainly it is a great conversation starter. Silence was based on a book by

contact

14

Shusaku Endo, one of Japan’s bestloved writers. Christian writer, Philip Yancey, helped introduce Endo to many Christians in his books ‘The Jesus I Never Knew’ and ‘Soul Survivor’. Yancy summed up the potency of Endo’s writing: “The most poignant legacy of Jesus was his unquenchable love, even for — especially for — people who betrayed him. One by one, Jesus’s disciples deserted him; yet still he loved them. His nation had him executed; while stretched out naked in the posture of ultimate disgrace, Jesus roused himself for the cry, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ This is the Jesus whose love extends to apostasy and beyond.â€? In terms of mission, entering a culture that is not one’s own is one of the hardest things anyone might be called to do. This was not lost on Endo and he saw it only through the lens of Christ. God’s silence has also often been felt by our soldiers on the streets of Afghanistan and by our chaplains when they minister to young soldiers who have just witnessed their mate being blown up, or as they ministered to the widows and grieving children. Questions of faith HUK KV\I[ Z\ɈLYPUN HUK WLYZLJ\[PVU HYL PU[LY[^PULK [OYV\NOV\[ [OPZ Ă„ST HZ [OL` HYL PU SPML ;OL Ă„ST HZRZ \Z [V JVUZPKLY what to do with God’s silence. “Pray, but pray with your eyes open,â€? suggests one JOHYHJ[LY PU [OL Ă„ST ¸B.VKD PZ ZPSLU[ I\[ you don’t have to be.â€? Perhaps it is in the times of silence when we grow closer to God? On the other hand God’s silence can become for some an indicator of HIZLUJL HZ PU [OL Ă„ST 9VKYPN\LZÂťZ MHP[O ILJHTL ZPSLU[ HUK OPZ Z\ɈLYPUN MVY *OYPZ[ isn’t just physical, but spiritual as he questioned whether his faith was faith at all, and whether God was with him as he seemed to be so far away. When 9VKYPN\LZ Ă„UHSS` [YHTWSLZ VU [OL M\TPL an image of Christ, you can even hear a rooster crow somewhere in the distance. That, of course, is the same thing that happened in the Gospels, when Peter KLUPLK *OYPZ[ ILMVYL /PZ JY\JPĂ„_PVU Silence PZ H KPɉJ\S[ I\[ PTWVY[HU[ Ă„ST It is perhaps best understood through the character of Rodrigues as a padre struggling to understand how to imitate Christ and realising, slowly, that he can’t, or at least not the way he thought he should. As one critic said, “In Silence, nobody is Christ but Christ himself and everyone else is either a Peter or a Judasâ€?.

What is the Armed Forces’ Christian Union (AFCU)? The AFCU is a tri-Service British military Christian Fellowship for all ranks and open to all Christian denominations. It is a fellowship of Christians who wish to grow their faith and share it with others. The basis of membership is prayer and a willingness to pray. Who can join? All who serve in regular or reserve sections of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army or Royal Air Force join as Serving Members. All others, including those who have retired, join as non-serving Members. Those serving in foreign armed forces are welcome as ‘honorary’ members. >OH[ HYL [OL ILULĂ„[Z& All members receive the AFCU Contact magazine, News & Views and have access to information and resources on the web and the App. The AFCU holds a network of Christian contacts across the Armed Forces which is accessible to members. The AFCU holds teaching events and holidays. Serving members can link to a Prayer Support Team for regular prayer. What does it cost? No subscription, but members are asked to give as they can. We estimate the cost of running the AFCU is about ÂŁ100 per member. How do I join? You can apply for membership on the AFCU website ^^^ HMJ\ VYN \R VY LTHPS VɉJL' afcu.org.uk or phone 01252 311221 [OL VɉJL MVY H TLTILYZOPW MVYT

competition _PI\ I XQK

£25 ze i r P

What is happening in the photo above? Why not send in your caption to rachel.reay@gmail.com before 1st May 2017? It could be a winner... Thank you to all those who entered last time’s competition. We do receive some great captions. Congratulations to the winner.

“Roger” EB

\PM JQO ZMIL (YJOIPZOVW 1\Z[PU >LSI`»Z ÄYZ[ IVVR Dethroning Mammon is a call for Christians to examine who it is that sits upon the throne of their lives: HYL [OL` MVSSV^PUN [OL ZLSM ZHJYPÄJPUN example of Christ or have they succumbed, perhaps unconsciously, to the rule of Mammon? Justin Welby writes passionately about the current NSVIHS ÄUHUJPHS ZP[\H[PVU HUK YL]LYLU[S` about Jesus of Nazareth. Great book. Bloomsbury £9.99

Richard Rohr invites us to contemplate the mystery of the Trinity, in his new book, The Divine Dance. He suggests we dwell in the presence of the Triune God, to join in the divine dance and be transformed. He views the Trinity from the perspective of relationship, rather than any hierarchical power structure and does it in such a spiritual and PUZWPYLK ^H` [OH[ ^L JHU ÄUK V\YZLS]LZ closer to God. SPCK £9.99

Tom Wright gets the reader into the biblical story in The Day the Revolution Began, and helps us understand what it is that makes the death of one man 2000 years ago so revolutionary. As Wright puts it “what makes the earth turn a corner” as a result of what happened that Friday afternoon? Having a Bible handy to look up the referenced verses greatly adds to the readingexperience. Perfect Easter present. SPCK £16.58

+H]PK (KHT»Z The Awesome Journey, helps the reader experience God in the ‘here and now’ through creation, WLVWSL HUK SPML L_WLYPLUJL +YH^PUN on a lifetime of Christian pilgrimage, [OL H\[OVY YLÅLJ[Z VU NYPLM HUK NSVY` LTW[PULZZ HUK M\SÄSTLU[ YLWLU[HUJL and forgiveness, loving and being loved, that transforms the way we live and the way we relate to God. A great read. SPCK £9.99

Please send letters, captions and ideas for articles to: rachel.reay@gmail.com 7OV[VNYHWOZ *YV^U *VW`YPNO[ MYVT ^^^ WOV[VZ TVK \R HYL YLWYVK\JLK ^P[O [OL WLYTPZZPVU VM [OL *VU[YVSSLY VM /LY 4HQLZ[`»Z :[H[PVULY` 6ɉJL (SS WOV[VNYHWOZ HYL JVW`YPNO[ ,]LY` LɈVY[ PZ THKL [V [YHJL JVW`YPNO[ OVSKLYZ VM [OL PTHNLZ YLWYVK\JLK >L HWVSVNPZL MVY HU` unintentional omission and would be pleased to insert appropriate acknowledgement in the next issue. 7PJ[\YLZ VM ZLY]PJL TLU HUK ^VTLU HUK [OVZL UV[ TLTILYZ VM [OL (-*< YLÅLJ[ V\Y WYH`LYZ HUK Z\WWVY[ [V HSS TLTILYZ VM [OL (YTLK Forces. (Y[PJSLZ KV UV[ ULJLZZHYPS` YLÅLJ[ [OL ]PL^Z VM [OL (-*< )VHYK VM ;Y\Z[LLZ Contact Editorial Team: -S[ 3[ 1VUU` 7HSTLY 9(- 4YZ : :HUK` 4YZ @ *VIIVSK (-*< Z[HɈ [OL ,KP[VYZ

contact

15

Co nta c t magazin e is pub lis he d b y A FCU thre e time s p e r y e a r - C o n t a c t I SSN 1 3 5 9 - 1 7 2 6 - Re g i s t e re d C h a r i t y ( N o .2 4 9 6 3 6 )

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.