NEW LIFE AUGUST 2010 • Issue 198 40p
GOOD NEWS STORIES
DON’T MISS THE FULL AMAZING STORY... PAGE 2
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MEET THE REV WHO WAS ONCE AN ARMED ROBBER TEACHERS TO QUIT FOR THE DESERT!
Mark tuk up challenge to raise funds! ADVENTUROUS youth worker Mark Pugh and five pals will ride the length of Great Britain — in a tuk-tuk! The team will ride in the threewheeled vehicle for six days, in an effort to raise a minimum of £20,000 to enhance the work of youth organisation Serious4God. The feat — from September 27 until October 2 — will see the team travel from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Mark said: “It will be uncomfortable, cold and we’re really praying for safety on the roads! A tuk-tuk has the potential of getting up to 45-50mph, but I think every bone in our body would be shaking if we did that kind of speed! “I’ve found that if I think about things too long I just won’t do them, and this is one of those things that I’ve had to announce publicly before counting the cost afterwards! On a serious note, we hope churches will join with us to help us raise our target.” Visit www.serious4god.co.uk for details on how to sponsor Mark.
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FORGIVEN! THREEMENDOUS... Mark Pugh with the tuk-tuk
THE TERRORIST wHO STabbEd my SON A former top cop whose son was murdered by a terrorist has spoken of how he has forgiven the killer.
FORGIVING... Robin Oake and Stephen, inset
Robin Oake heard on the Ten O’clock News that his son, Stephen, had been fatally stabbed during a police raid. He then broke the terrible news to his wife, Chris, in a phone call. Stephen Oake, a young detective, and a father of three, was stabbed to death while on an anti-terror raid in Manchester in 2003. Like his father, he was a devout Christian. Speaking recently, Robin, told a packed church in Norwich: “Revenge imprisons us, but forgiveness
sets us free.” The grieving father was quickly on the scene of the tragedy, where a TV reporter asked him how he felt about his son’s killer. Fighting back tears, he replied: “I forgive him,” adding that only God could give him the strength to do so. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was among the 1,000 strong congregation that attended Stephen’s funeral at Manchester Cathedral.
moving Since then, Robin Oake has written a moving book called ‘Father, Forgive’ and has seen many people across the UK discover afresh the power of forgiveness in the face of
extreme personal pressures. Robin and his wife, Chris, a former nurse, believe that with God’s help, the miracle of forgiveness is possible in every situation: “It is part of the healing process. For us, it has removed the bitterness and anger that we might have had.” Recalling his heroic son, who was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal, Robin told his audience: “I thank God for Steve. All the good memories of childhood, the difdif ference the Lord Jesus made in his life, his great marriage to Lesley and their three super kids; his abilities in music, his humour, his expertise as a police officer. I thank God he taught us so much.”
MY BIG BROTHER JOHNNY, US & GOD by Joanne Cash
FULL STORY ON PAGE 3