NEW LIFE
MAY 2012
Issue 219
40p
Popstar who has changed his tune
GOOD NEWS STORIES
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Muamba miracle as fans pray
DOCS SAID WOMAN WOULD BE PARALYSED
PRAISE... George Clooney
Charities win praise from star Clooney HOLLYWOOD star George Clooney has praised the work of Christian organisations in providing humanitarian assistance to people in areas of conflict. The star told CBN News that Christian ministries play a significant role in providing humanitarian aid. “They lead the work a lot of times here,” he said. “When we were at the Darfur rally it was ministers. It was a lot of people of faith that had been working very hard on this. “So in some ways I’m trying to honour whatever part I can in the hard work that they do because I’m a big fan of all the work that’s being done. And people really put their hearts and souls in it.” Clooney has been a long-time advocate for peace in Darfur, situated in the western region of Sudan. He recently spent eight days in Sudan and went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to tell of violence being committed by the Sudanese government against civilians in the border region. Last month, he and his father were arrested during a rally outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington DC, after ignoring police requests to leave the grounds.
I DITCHED PLAYBOY LIFESTYLE TO BECOME A VICAR!
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I RECOVERED AFTER A MAJOR STROKE MIRACLE... Weje Sekara was expected to be paralysed
by Becky Barlow
A WOMAN who suffered a huge stroke made a miraculous recovery – as her pastor prayed for her in hospital. Weje Sekara’s family members were told that she would be paralysed after a blood clot in her brain was discovered. But as her pastor, Terry Walsh, began to pray, the unconscious 58-year-old made a dramatic recovery and began to talk. Moments later, she spoke on the ● Continued on Page 3
PASTOR PRAYED AT BEDSIDE AFTER CLOT DISCOVERY
Issue 219 NEW LIFE 3
YOUNG POPSTAR NOW SINGS FOR LORD Miracle after NEW LIFE
IT’S ALL ABOUT HYMN!
stroke stuns medical staff
STAR TURN... Dax O’Callaghan. Dax’s story about former classmate Amy Winehouse appeared in a German magazine (far left). Dax with popstar Fergie
by Becky Barlow
A SINGER who has shared the stage with the Spice Girls and the Sugababes is now using his talents in church. Da x O’Ca l lagha n, 29, had a record deal with Universal and his band, Lexington Bridge, enjoyed five nu mber one h its i n seven countries. But Dax, who went to school with Amy Winehouse, quit his singing career in LA to move back to London. He is now a worship leader at Kensington Temple Church and has released his first Christian album, Bow Down.
surrender He said: “I wanted God as my complete centre again so I packed my bags one day while I was living in LA and flew home, leaving the job behind. “I knew God had bigger plans for me but I had to surrender, bringing my focus back to totally being on him.” Dax became a choreographer, working with the likes of Olly Murs,
ON STAGE... Dax (circled) dancing with JLS and (right) singing at church JLS and Jedward before getting involved in his latest project. In his younger years, he played a lead role in a West End musical when he was ten and appeared in Eastenders when he was 15. But by the age of 19, the child prodigy had reached a turning point. “I realised that I wanted more than fame,” he said. “It wasn’t fulfilling me. I was looking for something more in life. “I started picking up books about spirituality that didn’t make sense. Then I thought about the Bible and
the Koran. I’d always thought that religious people didn’t know what they were going on about – but I’d never read the Bible myself. “So I decided to give it a try. As soon as I started reading it, it hit me straight away. “It gave me the peace that I’d been searching for. I decided to try out what I was reading and saw amazing results. “I couldn’t believe it was so practical and realistic. “I read more and learnt more and it turned my whole life around. I laid everything down before God
● Continued from Page 1 phone to her daughter in America to tell her she had been healed. Weje sa id she fe lt powe r go th rough her body as Rev Walsh prayed beside her bed in Frenchay Hospital, Bristol. She told New Life: “My pastor came and prayed for me. My daughter was calling me from America, but she couldn’t talk to me because I was unconscious. “When the pastor finished his prayer suddenly I start speaking and after some minutes I started talking to my daughter in America. She was surprised and later the doctor said I didn’t need an operation because the blood clot had dispersed. “My God is a great God who can do anything. I strongly believe in him and I have big faith in him. When I was unconscious the doctor told my husband that I’d had a massive stroke and that there was a blood clot in my head but they couldn’t operate. My husband was very worried but I now know the whole church was praying.
amazed “The doctors and nurses thought I would be paralysed but now I am going to church every week and to Bible study.” Rev Walsh, who leads Destiny K nowles Pentecosta l Chu rch i n Bristol, said: “My wife and I went in to pray and we found her semiconscious. I prayed, ‘Sovereign Lord, Creator of the universe, please heal our sister. In the name of Jesus I ask this.’ “I’d seen God heal before because my mother was healed from terminal cancer but this happened right in front of us. “She immediately came round and started speaking to us. She told me later that when we prayed, she felt power go through her body.” Medics were amazed and found that Weje no longer needed an operation as the blood clot had gone. “When the doctors came, they told her that she didn’t need an operation and that she had had a miracle,” Rev Walsh added. “There was no sign on her face that she’d had a stroke.”
and not long after signed my first record deal.” D a x i s pl a n n i n g a to u r of churches this year showcasing his new album. He added: “This is not a project planned to trick people to God, but to show that God is in everything, and if people relate to the lyrics they can see that Christianity and God’s Word are relevant today.” MESSAGE... Rihanna
Success at the double A CHRISTIAN youth club threatened with closure a year ago has doubled its opening hours after a remarkable turnaround. The club, run by the Connect Centre in Wells, re-opened in October and was re-branded as the Connect Youth Club. Youth leader Tom Ruddle said the group was giving young people lots to do. He said: “We’ve got to know some fantastic young people in Wells. We meet them while providing them with a place they can hang out, make new friends and get involved with the range of activities we have.”
ON BOARD... Sally Magnusson and, inset, Pam Rhodes will appear on the cruise
Stars set sail for a Clean up act spiritual adventure Rihanna told A FLEET of showbiz stars plan to join passengers on a spiritual cruise this summer. Comedian Tim Vine will join broadcasters Pam Rhodes and Sally Magnusson and a host of ot her celebr it ies on boa rd of Saga’s luxury ship MV Quest for Adventure in conjunction with Christians in Entertainment. There are two trips, one that will take in the sacred sites of the British Isles in July and, for the more adventurous, a South American venture is planned in October. Pam, who will be offering her own
version of Songs of Praise on the tours, said: “It’s a special feeling being part of an on-board family. Visiting the places which have so much spiritual significance brings the Bible to life for me, as I know it will for others.” Christians in Entertainment’s Chris Gidney said: “The cruise is a real spiritual adventure of a different kind, offering relaxation of the body, stimulation of the mind and refreshment for the spirit. In our stressful world, holidays are ever more important, and if Jesus needed time away, so do we!”
POP mega star Rihanna has been urged to clean up her act – by her former religious mentor. Family friend and Barbados pastor Bishop Vibert Lowe says her homeland is praying for the singer. T h e 6 4 -y e a r - o l d c l e r g y m a n preached to Rihanna and her family at church every week before she moved on from the Caribbean island for pop stardom. He said: “A lot of people have been praying for her and hoping that she will drop these bad habits. I don’t see her much when she comes back – she seems too busy – but she should spend more time in church.”
NEW LIFE
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4 NEW LIFE Issue 219
EACH MONTH NEW LIFE ASKS A CHRISTIAN LEADER TO GIVE THEIR VIEWS ON LIFE
DEFENDER... Delia Smith
Delia takes faith stand TV cook Delia Smith has come to the defence of Christians and says devout secularists are “busting a gut” to drive believers off the radar. The celebrity chef’s comments follow a spate of headlines contesting the place of Ch ristian it y in Britain.
passionate Delia said: “I am – as you may or may not know – a passionate believer but of late, we are somewhat under the cosh. “There is a running battle going on in the press, and militant neoatheists and devout secularists are busting a gut to drive us off the radar.”
Iran’s boom in Christians
CHRISTIANITY is booming in Iran despite extreme persecution, according to an aid organisation that works there. Open Doors ranks the nation as fifth in its list of the top 50 persecutors of Christians. But president Carl Moeller said: “Men and women, out of emptiness of their current situation spiritually, are turning to faith in Jesus Christ despite the literally lethal risks in doing so. “That’s only attributable to the work of the Holy Spirit.” According to the Iranian government, there are about 200,000 Christians there.
NEW LIFE AMERICA’S Game Show Network is launching a Bible quiz programme to be presented by comedian Jeff Foxworthy. The one-hour show launches later this year.
NEWSFLASH
EU corruption fight launched CHRISTIAN campaigners have delivered 10,000 calls to action on corruption to the European Union. Representatives of Micah Challenge, Mission-Net, Tearfund and Exposed presented the postcards to EU decision-makers in Brussels. The organisations are urging the EU to pass strong laws that would force oil, gas and mining companies to publish payments to governments for access to natural resources.
Vicar lands job A FORMER RAF vicar who spent time in Afghanistan has been appointed as the University of Wolverhampton’s senior chaplain. The Rev Eddie Wynn started the role last month.
Don’t leave prayer for life’s bad times alone M
ost of us will have said a prayer at some time in our lives. And many in deep shock simply say, “Father!” or spontaneously call on the name of Jesus Christ without a second thought. You know what I mean!
KNEESY DOES IT... You may have prayed at bedtime as a child, but prayer isn’t just for the young or when times get tough
Maybe you said prayers at bedtime as a child. Or maybe as an adu lt there has been a si mple prayer of desperation – “Oh God, if you are there, please help!” At times of crisis, many of us say a little prayer. Before exams, or an important interview. Or when a relative has been ill. Or even when watching our favourite football team play – especially when they’re not on form!
nation Recently, the whole nation united in prayer behind Fabrice Muamba after he collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane – and lots of us prayed the simple prayer: “Please God, help Muamba!” Prayer is not some sort of heavenly slot machine where you put in your words and pull the lever to get what you want. It is far more earth-shattering than that. In telling us to pray, Jesus invites us to come to God with all our hopes and our fears, our dreams and our disappointments, and to offer them to God so that he can make a difference. We are never told in advance what God might do, but we are promised that God has the power to change any situation. The first step is to fear no evil. Not to be afraid. When I was a vicar in London, I prayed for a woman called Stella
❛ I don’t know what God will do when I pray ❜ who had cancer. She had been given three weeks to live and came to our church for the first time to be prayed for. I said a short prayer with her at the end of our service and she went away again.
dumbstruck Four weeks later, she came back to say that she had seen the doctors and her lymphomas had gone. I was dumbstruck. I had been worried for four weeks that my prayer to the Wounded Healer may have simply been shouting into a concrete
bucket. But then I have also prayed for people who have not got better. When my own mother was ill, I prayed that God would heal her of her cancer of the throat. The surgeon did a marvellous operation. She was with us for two more years. But after a week in Trinity Hospice, with me at her bedside, she gently passed from th is life, th rough death, to be with Christ. I don’t understand why God healed Stella but didn’t fully heal my mother. But I do trust God. When we pray for someone, we are
ASK THE VICAR
I AM a Christian and regularly pray and read my Bible. But I find other believers annoying and all of the churches in my area are rubbish. Someone told me I need to go to church, but why should I when I find it so boring?
You need to get over yourself and get to church on a regular basis. If you’re looking for the perfect one, however, you won’t find it! Nobody is perfect – and that includes you and me! Don’t forget that human beings make mistakes and will let you down. You can’t expect the pastor to
bringing that person before God who knows them and loves them more than we can imagine. We pray knowing that God is able to do amazing things that we may not even have thought of. We pray because sometimes it is only God who can make a difference. I don’t know what God will do each time I pray. I only know that the Bible tells me: “Sentamu, your job is to pray.” And so as long as I have breath to do so, I will pray and bring people to God for him to make a difference.
YOUR FAITH QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Do I really need to go to church? be the best preacher on earth or the worship team to sound like a professional choir. These aren’t the reasons you should go to church. Going every Sunday doesn’t guarantee you a place in heaven, but it will strengthen your relationship with God. You will only get out of church what you’re prepared to put into it though, so make a decision to go this weekend and ask God to guide you to the right one. You won’t regret it!
Someone gave me a Bible but I just don’t know where to start. Can you help? I’d recommend that you read the Gospel of John first. It’s an account of Jesus’s life and you will find out who he is, what he did and what he can do for you! Read it slowly and ask God to help you understand any bits you’re struggling with. The Bible isn’t a novel, so I’d advise you not to read it like one.
Muamba recovery a miracle Doc admits he is amazed as nation prays for player THE doctor who oversaw Fabrice Muamba’s resuscitation has labelled his recovery as miraculous. Tottenham fan and London Chest Hospital cardiologist Dr Andrew Deaner ran onto the pitch when the Bolton star, 23, collapsed and ‘died’ for almost 80 minutes in the FA cup clash against Spurs in March. Dr Deaner told the BBC afterwards: “If you’re ever going to use the term miraculous it could be used here.” The nation turned to God when Muamba – who comes from a Christian family – was feared to be dead during the televised game. Footballers wore ‘Pray For Muamba’ t-shirts underneath their kits and national newspapers urged
the nation to pray. Muamba’s fiancée, Shauna Magunda, tweeted: “Fabrice WILL pull through because God is good. Love u so much @fmuamba keep strong we're praying for u honey xx.” Earlier she had urged fans to pray as she waited by his bedside telling them: “God is in control. Please keep @fmuamba in ur prayers xx.” Retired footballer Bruce Dyer – a former England under 21 international – told New Life: “The incident with Fabrice showed me that deep down within every human there is a knowing that there is a Creator. I began to pray for Fabrice straight away. It has been fantastic to see his recovery and I am now praying that one day he will play again.”
NEW LIFE
SPORT A MIRACLE... Fabrice Muamba moments before he collapsed. Above, Muamba’s fiancee asks fans to pray through the media. Below, the first picture of Muamba in hospital during his miracle recovery
DOING THE JOB I WAS MEANT TO
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CALL FROM FORMER VETERAN REVEALS HIS LOVE OF GOD ENGLAND STRIKER
FAITH’S RUFFLEd BIRD’S FEATHERS OWZAT for a great decision? Test umpire Dickie Bird has revealed he is a Christian.
The cricketing veteran officiated 66 test matches and 69 one-day internationals, and somehow made the transition from umpire to national institution for his legendary displays in the middle. His autobiography is the best selling sports book of all time; he has been awarded an OBE and an MBE; he has met the Queen 29 times and there is a statue of him in his hometown, Barnsley.
gift But above anything, Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird is a Christian. He said: “I’ve always had a strong faith in God. Throughout my life it’s done a lot for me and I hope I haven’t let the Good Lord down. I always say that God gives everyone a gift and that he gave me the gift of playing sport and then being an
HE’S THE ONE... Dickie Bird says God is his priority in life umpire – I am thankful to him for that and believe he was behind everything I’ve ever done and seen. “I’ve been a believer all my life and I know that if you have faith
in the Lord then you can conquer the world.” Dickie, 79, revealed how he would pray before test matches. “I prayed that the Lord would be with me for the whole match and that he’d guide me and that I wouldn’t make any bad decisions,” he added. “I was always confident that when I strolled out onto the middle he was right there by my side. “I pray every night – I pray for the aged and for those who have lost loved ones in disasters. I pray for young children who are sick and injured in hospital and for all the poor, blind and lame throughout the world. “I also pray for my own family. I thank the Lord for what he’s done for me, for giving me the gift to play county cricket and to umpire. “I go to church every week to thank the Lord for what he’s done in my life. I think if people can’t spend one hour of their lives on a Sunday ● Continued on Page 11
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