War Cry THE
Est 1879 No 7021
FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS
9 July 2011
salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry
Chris Hollins, Carol Kirkwood and (inset) Alexander Armstrong
20p/25c
WILL VIEWERS WARM TO A NEW TV SHOW? wonders PHILIP HALCROW
THE outlook is good for TV viewers fascinated by the weather. On Wednesday (13 July) a new programme will be moving across the UK, bringing with it scattered reports about a prevailing obsession.
BBC One will hope that The Great British Weather gets off to a bright start in the Cornish resort of St Ives when it begins next week. The new live show is to be warmly fronted by weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, her colleague on BBC Breakfast Chris Hollins and comedian Alexander Armstrong, with the help of meteorolTurn to page 3
BBC
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NEWS
The War Cry 9 July 2011
CHRIS GRAYLING VISITS SALVATION ARMY CENTRE Centre, Mr Grayling met Michael Armes, a client, and James Hanks, an ‘animateur’ at the centre. Animateurs are previously unemployed people who are given a post by The Salvation Army. In THE Minister for Employment Chris their post they motivate people to Grayling saw how people are being develop self-belief, learn new skills helped in their search for work and help their communities. when he visited a Salvation Army James has been an animateur at community centre in Ipswich. the centre since February. It has During his visit to the Priory been his first work since he left college last September. During his visit Mr Grayling praised the work of The Salvation Army. He said: ‘Areas affected by unemployment often need a tailored approach to the problems they face, and this is best provided locally by the experts on the ground like The Salvation Army.’ Ipswich Priory Centre helps people with job searches, CV writing and Chris Grayling (right) talks with James Hanks interview techniques.
RE petition taken to No 10 CAMPAIGNERS who want the Government to include religious education as a humanities option in the English Baccalaureate took a petition to Downing Street last week. MPs from across the parties helped to deliver the petition, containing 140,000 signatures, to No 10. The Re.Act campaign wants the Secretary of State for Education,
Michael Gove, to rethink his plans for the English Baccalaureate, which at present recognises only English, mathematics, history, geography, sciences and a foreign language. More than 100 MPs have also signed an early day motion calling on the Government ‘to recognise the importance and
relevance of religious education by including it as a core subject in the English Baccalaureate’. Conservative MP Fiona Bruce says that RE ‘promotes community cohesion, as it allows young people, who are growing up in a diverse society, to discuss and understand the views and opinions of people whose beliefs and values differ from their own’.
ACTIVITY DAY BOOSTS CONFIDENCE
Young people tackle Guards challenge
THIS ISSUE:
GOSPEL JEWELLERY p4
VICAR OF BAGHDAD p8
PLUS
MEDIA/COMMENT p6
problem-solving tasks based on real selection techniques by the Coldstream Guards recruitment team. Woodhouse Salvation Army carries out various kinds of youth work to transform the community. These include liaising with police community support officers to identify bored teenagers who are then encouraged to enjoy the youth club activities rather than hang around on the streets. Young people enjoy Youth worker Andrew Watson the activity day from Woodhouse Salvation Army said: ‘We work with young people from various backgrounds but predominantly those less AS a chaplain at HMP Hull, I was advantaged than discussing The War Cry with a others. However, in group of inmates. They were telling a disciplined and me what pages they looked at first. controlled One man said he turned first to the environment the ‘What’s Cooking?’ page and, after young people reading the rest of the paper, sends really took to the the recipes home to his wife in the soldiers.’ hope that her cooking will have
ANDREW WATSON
YOUTH club members at a Salvation Army church and students from a school took part in an activity day run by the Coldstream Guards. The day was arranged by The Salvation Army’s Woodhouse church in South Yorkshire to boost the young people’s confidence and teambuilding skills. At the Territorial Army Centre in Batley the young people from the club and the City School were given
The right ingredients for inmates!
LETTER
VERON GRAHAM
Minister sees employment work
THOUSANDS BACK SCHOOL RETHINK
HEALTH p7
PUZZLES p12
improved by the time he is
INNER LIFE p13
released! However, he did have one complaint – that samples of the food do not arrive with The War Cry. But the verdict of all the men was that they look forward to getting the paper every week. Major Jack Middleton Scarborough
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
p14
RECIPES p15
9 July 2011 The War Cry
From page 1
The weather can influence our mood Library pictures posed by models
ogist Tomasz Schafernaker and veteran weather presenters John Kettley, Michael Fish and Bill Giles. What is forecast for the series? The BBC says that it will be a mixed bag. Carol will report on the weather from 15,000 feet in the air as she paraglides into a cumulus cloud and addresses such questions as ‘How much does it weigh?’ and, less predictably, ‘What does it taste like?’ Chris is to follow a trail of plankton to find out why the Gulf Stream attracts basking sharks to Cornwall. Some stories from history are also likely to develop as the presenters explain that accurate weather predictions were vital in planning the Normandy D-Day landings. In lighter spells they will consider questions such as whether red sky at night does mean shepherd’s delight and will unfold the history of the umbrella. As well as being live, the series is interactive. The programmemakers want viewers to submit questions about the weather, and they hope that when the show arrives in Cornwall’s St Ives the public will help the team to create an interactive weather map on the beach. Alison Kirkham, who commissioned the series, hopes that it will be ‘tapping into the great British obsession with weather’. Whether weather is a peculiarly British obsession or not – Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote a treatise about meteorology more than 2,000 years ago – it certainly affects people’s everyday lives. The weather
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can influence our mood. It has drifted into our language to symbolise elements of our life. One person has a sunny disposition, while another is under a cloud. A romance can be stormy. We can give someone a warm welcome but
sometimes treat people with icy sarcasm. If we’re feeling sorry for ourselves, it never rains, it pours. When riled, we have a face like thunder. Such words highlight the light and shade of life’s experiences. But some weather-based wisdom spoken almost 2,000 years ago has helped people make sense of an unpredictable world. Speaking in a dry, hot climate where rain was as welcome as sun, Jesus explained that God ‘makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil’ (Matthew 5:45 Good News Bible). Jesus was presenting the truth that the prevailing love of God means that he cares for us, whatever we are or do. When we look to make the most of the life God has given us, he loves us. But when we make life a misery for others with our self-centredness, prejudice or apathy, he still loves us – and offers to forgive us. Our outlook depends on whether we accept his love, which is there for us, come rain or shine.
One person has a sunny disposition, while the other is under a cloud
4 The War Cry 9 July 2011
Jesus bids us
‘I
N 2002 I was talking to a group of women about how God’s plan for our lives often involves a hidden talent or something we have always wanted to do,’ says Norma Murrain. ‘At the end of the meeting I challenged the women to take a step of faith and pursue their dreams. I left the meeting thinking: “That went well, but what about me?”’ The next day, business teacher Norma got into conversation with Jim, one of her work colleagues. She explained that, although she loved teaching, all she really wanted to do was make jewellery, but she knew nothing about it. Much to Norma’s surprise, her colleague replied: ‘I teach silversmithing.’ ‘It was one of those “God moments”,’ smiles Norma. ‘I signed up for Jim’s evening course.’ It took Norma a while to get to the stage in her life where she makes and sells jewellery which is
NORMA MURRAIN speaks to Renée Davis about sharing the gospel through jewellery RENÉE DAVIS
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G For more information visit silverfishjewellery.com
inspired by her faith. She became a Christian at the age of 11. ‘I was in church one Sunday. During the singing of “How can you refuse Jesus now?” my heart opened up and I accepted Jesus,’ says Norma. From that day, she was very active in her Sunday school. But at the age of 15, Norma fell out of love with her church. She remembers: ‘There were a lot of dress rules. We couldn’t wear trousers. I bought a purple pair which I was determined to wear. I was almost in a leadership position with the young people and was supposed to be setting them an example. Some of the church leaders questioned me about my trousers. I found them really comfortable and didn’t see why they were a problem.’ The dispute led Norma to question other rules, such as not listening to any music apart from gospel and not going to the cinema. Norma left the church and started doing the ‘normal teenage thing’. At the age of 21, Norma met a man she knew from Sunday school. They married and moved to Germany for her husband’s work. ‘I had the fairytale wedding I’d always wanted,’ she says. ‘I had a nice car, a penthouse and a thriving career in marketing. I’d also had a baby. But I still felt something was missing. When I got married to Den he reminded me of Sunday school and that’s where
Norma moulds a piece of jewellery
I felt happy. By marrying him I almost felt like I was getting back into a relationship with God.’ Norma, though, developed depression. ‘Every time I looked over the apartment balcony I felt like throwing myself off or that I was going to fall. I became ill and stopped eating. My weight dropped to eight stone. I was desperate.’ In 1995, Norma returned to Birmingham to see her mother. It was a visit that changed her life. ‘I was in my old bedroom at my mum’s house. Beside my bed was a Bible. I picked it up and it fell open at Isaiah 43, where God says “I have called you by name” and “I have blotted out your sins”. ‘I felt God was speaking to me. I could see a bright light in the room. My heart broke. I felt exactly how I did when I was in Sunday school. The tears flowed and I said: “Lord, I’m sorry I rejected you. I have really messed up. Please come into my heart again.” The next morning I just knew everything was different.’ Within a year of taking the silversmithing course, Norma came across an empty shop in Birmingham’s jewellery quarter. ‘I heard God tell me: “This is your new shop,”’ says Norma. ‘I called the council to ask if it was available. By the end of the day, I’d signed the contract for
the lease. People thought I was crazy. But I believed that was what God wanted me to do.’ And it was. Since 2004 Norma and her team at Silverfish Jewellery Company have created more than 500 pieces of jewellery. The various collections include Noah’s ark for children and a new collection for men based on the life of King David. Each piece of jewellery is accompanied by an encouraging Bible verse. Norma has found that the jewellery has had a significant impact on customers’ lives. ‘People often come in to get a piece specially designed and made. One woman had been through a difficult time. I was making a bangle for her and told her I was going to do some hammering on it. I explained that the hammering represented that life is sometimes painful and our hearts feel like they are being battered. But through it, God is strengthening and shaping us. ‘I also made a heart on the bangle and put four holes through it. The holes represented her four children. Then I bound up the holes with a kiss which, I told her, represented the love she had for her children. She couldn’t stop crying. ‘The gospel is something people can connect with. With jewellery, people connect with the design and the beauty and see God through it.’ Norma hopes to use her jewellery as a way of communicating the gospel in other parts of the world. In October she will be going to Haiti to train people who were paralysed by the earthquake. ‘It’s exciting for me to share God’s word through something I’ve always wanted to do,’ she says. ‘When I was a little girl, people at Sunday school said I’d grow up to be a preacher. I didn’t realise I’d be doing it through jewellery.’
People said I’d be a preacher
MEDIA
Comment
AGE shall not weary her. School librarian Lesley Evans, from Sittingbourne, Kent, is celebrating reaching her 60th birthday by setting herself 60 challenges. While many people commemorate a big-0 birthday with a once-in-alifetime spectacular, Mrs Evans – reported The Daily Telegraph last week – has decided to do things she has always wanted to do but has never got around to doing. Absent from her wish list are adventures such as free-fall parachuting over the Alps, hot-air ballooning over the pyramids or white-water rafting on the Zambezi. Instead, Mrs Evans wants to fulfil simpler, more modest ambitions. Complete a sudoku puzzle, visit Lord’s cricket ground, board a submarine and buy a fascinator are among the 43 challenges already completed. Bell-ringing, playing bridge, riding a tandem and visiting Ireland are among those on the to-do list.
‘State schools are ignoring RE requirement’ Library picture
Overdue
IN THE PRESS
6 The War Cry 9 July 2011
HUNDREDS of state schools are ignoring the legal obligation to teach religious education, reported the Daily Mail. According to the paper, the law states that RE should comprise at least 5 per cent of a schoolchild’s curriculum, and 14 to 16-year-olds must take half a GCSE course in the subject. But research has shown that one in four schools does not teach RE at GCSE level. Religious experts are concerned that RE is at risk of disappearing altogether in many schools. Ed Pawson, chairman of the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education, said: ‘The subject is more relevant today than ever and gives pupils an understanding of their culture and heritage, and the culture of others.’
‘COVENTRY Cathedral plans to be the first cathedral in Britain with rooftop solar panels,’ reported The Daily Telegraph. According to the paper, the cathedral wants to install £100,000 of solar technology on the Grade I listed building. Director Jane Woodward said she hoped that Christians would turn the city into a patchwork of solar panels.
Olympian prays for Games
PA photo of Christine Ohuruogu
INTERNET
Experience
OLYMPIC gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu reads a prayer for next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in a new podcast from the Church of England. The British runner, who won the 400m gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, prays for the competitors training for the Games, for their loved ones and for churches who are planning special events for London 2012. The podcast is available at churchofengland.org/media-centre THE Christian understanding I of Hell is the subject under discussion at the beginning of a new series of Radio 4’s Beyond Belief on Monday (11 July 4.30 pm). Presenter Ernie Rea will talk with three guests about the development of the idea and the questions which surround it. GOSPEL singer Mavis Staples I is the guest of Cerys Matthews on Cerys on 6 on Radio 6 Music on
RADIO
Mrs Evans explained her unusual celebrations: ‘I was dreading turning 60 but this list has made me realise that it’s all in the mind. Sometimes we need to be booted out of a rut. ‘It has really made me realise what other people experience in their daily lives but also made me appreciate how much I have achieved in my own life, because you do tend to forget.’ Whether or not we take a leaf from this librarian’s book, it is easy to take life for granted. It is also easy to let it slip by – to waste time or to put things off only to find the opportunity never comes again. With the financial reality of having to keep a roof over our heads and pay the bills, we may find it hard to have a life-work balance. Those who care for others can feel that they have no life of their own. Making the most of the time God has given us is a challenge. One day he will call us to account. He will reward those who spent their lives serving him.
Cathedral’s solar panels first
GARETH COPLEY/PA Wire
Sunday (10 July 10 am). Mavis – who started her career singing with the Staple Singers in the 1950s and has won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award – has recorded a new album You Are Not Alone, which has been produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
HEALTH
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Awareness of sickle-cell disease grows
Sickled blood cells cannot squeeze through blood vessels as easily as normal blood cells. This can lead to the blockage of blood vessels, which stops oxygen passing through to
Library pictures posed by models
JULY is Sickle Cell Awareness Month but how much do you know about the condition? Sickle-cell disease affects the red blood cells. People with this disease have sickle haemoglobin, which is different to normal where it is needed. This haemoglobin. The can result in severe pain red blood cells and organ damage. During such episodes (or become hard and ‘crises’) symptoms may form the shape of a include abdominal pain, sickle.
bone pain, fatigue, fever and rapid heart rate. Sickle-cell anaemia can be inherited if one parent has two copies of the sickle haemoglobin gene. If a
person has one copy of the sickle haemoglobin gene along with normal haemoglobin, they will end up having a sickle-cell trait. This is not an illness but it
does mean that the person will ‘carry’ the gene and may pass it on to their children. Sickle-cell disease is most common in people of African and Mediterranean descent. People from the Caribbean, South and Central America and the Middle East may also be affected. NATIONAL Transplant Week draws to a close The good news is tomorrow (Sunday 10 July). This year’s campaign: that people with ‘What are you waiting for?’ has raised awareness of how sickle-cell disease many people in the UK are waiting for an organ transplant. can lead normal The figure lies at around 7,500. lives as long as they On average, three people a day die while waiting for a know how to handle transplant. But lives can be saved and the number of people the condition. Going waiting can be reduced if more people join the organ donor for regular checkregister. ups, drinking eight As part of the campaign, staff at National Transplant to ten glasses of Week toured a number of locations in the UK, including water a day and London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast and Newcastle. They having a balanced went on location and found people in train, bus or shop healthy diet can help queues and entertained them with performances from prevent crises. singers, dancers and musicians while they were waiting. Recent reports say This was in the hope that it would draw attention to the long that new therapies wait that people go through for an organ. They also hoped can help lessen the to encourage more people to sign the donor register. pain of crises in Sally Johnson, director for Organ Donation and babies and young Transplantation at the NHS, says: ‘We all know how children. During this frustrating it is to wait for something we want – whether it’s month there will be a bus, exam results or a delivery at home – but our lives various fundraising don’t depend on it. Imagine how it feels to be waiting on efforts to help to average three years for a life-saving transplant. This week find new treatments. we are asking people to do their part and join the NHS For more organ donor register. It only takes two minutes.’ information visit sicklecellsociety.org
Donors needed for life-saving surgery I
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Andrew, what on earth is an English clergyman doing in Baghdad? I’m in Baghdad simply because I think that’s where God wants me to be. Nobody else wants me there. Everybody thinks I’m mad. But sometimes God calls you to be where you don’t want to be. He places you and gives you a love for that place and its people. I’ve never been happier anywhere than I am in Baghdad. We are on the receiving end of rockets and bombs. My people are being killed – more than 200 since November – and yet we are a happy congregation. People are fearful. Some have left the country. I thought our numbers would decrease but they have increased. We have more than 4,000 Iraqis in our congregation, including Muslims. They can’t all fit into the church at the same time, so we hold services on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. There is no way the church can serve God without serving people. So every week we hand out large amounts of food to our congregation, because they have little. After the service they line up to receive their groceries. We also run a clinic and a large school. Apart from running St George’s – the only Anglican church in Iraq – I do a lot of political and diplomatic work, particularly on religious or sectarian matters. Sometimes that means I’m dealing with extremists. The main problems are Sunni against Shia Muslims and Sunnis targeting Christians. A number of Christians have left Iraq for Kurdistan. But that is only because of the extremists. Never confuse extremists with the majority. Are people in church only for the food? No. There are times when we haven’t got food because we have no money. People still come to worship and they tell us they’d keep on coming even if there were no food. Are the clinic and school only for Christians? No. About 95 per cent of our patients and pupils are Muslim. How do Muslims react to one of their number going to Christians for help? It’s fine coming for food, education or medical care. But a Muslim will never be allowed to become a Christian. It’s very dangerous for a Muslim to convert to Christianity. Last year, I secretly baptised 13 Muslim converts. The following week, 11 of them
frrme.org
Divining were killed. It is now too dangerous to baptise converts.
He is the turbulence You became vicar of St George’s in 2003. You priest. In 2002 he have known life before and after Saddam Hussein. How is life different since his negotiated the relief of the overthrow? There’s no comparison. Now I cannot walk down the street or step outside our church Church of the Nativity compound by myself. I have 30 armed guards – provided by the Iraqi Government – around me siege in Bethlehem. all the time because extremists want me dead. Did Saddam want you dead? Today he is the vicar of St No. As I was an Englishman in Iraq with contacts, Saddam tried to manipulate me to say George’s, Baghdad – the certain things. He wanted the West to remove the sanctions and back his regime. I worked only Anglican church in very closely with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and met Saddam’s sons, Uday and Qusay, but I never met Saddam personally. I did see Iraq. Last month he him a lot – in court, during his trial. received this year’s Was life, in some respects, better for Iraqis under Saddam? Being a Sunni, Saddam was in a minority. International First Christians are a minority. So life was safer for Christians under Saddam because he persecuted Freedom Award.The the majority Shia, not the minorities. But people lived in constant fear. It was so Arabic and English blackreal you could almost touch it. One day my Turn to page 10 humour sign on his office door warns: ‘Do not approach within 100 metres or you will be shot.’ Every day in his parish, people take that risk for real to be with Canon ANDREW WHITE, a vicar with enemies, SAFE HOUSE: as he tells Nigel St George’s, Baghdad Bovey
9 July 2011 The War Cry
for
peace in Iraq
I’ve never been happier anywhere than I am in Baghdad BODY ARMOUR: Canon Andrew White
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From page 8 assistant told me that Saddam’s sons had sent word that they wanted me to meet them at the notorious Hunting Club. When I told him that I was prepared to meet one of them but not both he started to cry. When I asked him why he was crying, he said that if I didn’t go they would kill him and his family. So I went to the worst dinner party of my life. As you need an armed escort wherever you go, to what extent do you live in fear? My problem is I have no sense of fear, which is very worrying for my security staff. The Bible says that perfect love casts out fear. I have perfect love from my people. But it’s not your people who might put a bullet through your head, is it? No, but I also have to love my
TROOP CARRIER: Andrew talks with military personnel frrme.org
enemies, because that’s what Jesus told us to do. My enemies really are enemies. I’ve had hundreds of death threats. They happen all the time. At one time, there were ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ posters of me all over Baghdad. Is there a price on your head? There was. It started off disappointingly low – only a few thousand dollars. I was very upset that people thought that was all I was worth. But it went up to several million, and that made me feel much better.
Jesus is all they have left
Your church offers medical facilities and prays for people to be healed. What evidence do you have that God is answering those prayers? The other week a Muslim man came to the clinic and said his daughter was ill. He asked if we could help make her
better. The doctors referred him to me. He didn’t know what was wrong with the girl, but agreed that I should pray for her, which I did. After the prayer I told him that his daughter was going to be all right and that he should go to the hospital to see her and keep praying to Jesus. When he got to the hospital, the doctor was waiting for him and told him that his daughter had died. The doctor took the sobbing father to see her. She was lying on the bed, covered with a sheet. The father pulled back the sheet and gave her one last hug. She then sat up and said: ‘Daddy, I’m hungry.’ When he came back to tell me what had happened, I told him: ‘Don’t worry, this has happened before!’ The girl was medically dead, but God gave her life. Another instance was when a group of women from the church were making one of their weekly hospital visits. They came across a woman who was screaming because her baby had just
9 July 2011 The War Cry 11
FATHER ANDREW: young people at worship
died. The women went to the hospital mortuary and retrieved the baby’s body from the fridge. As they held it, the baby started to cry. They took the baby back to the ward. There were then two people crying – the mother and the baby. Although these are extreme instances of God at work, we’ve had all sorts of other healings – from complications after kidney surgery, cardiac disease… When I was a vicar in England and prayed for people to be healed, only very occasionally did they become well. In Baghdad it happens all the time. Why is that? Because our people have lost everything. Jesus is all they have left. Nothing is complicated. They just love Jesus. It’s not only Christians who are healed. Jesus is healing Muslims. As a result of those healings, are any Muslims becoming Christians? Muslims worship in church, especially women who say they are not welcomed in the mosque. The Muslims – including a number of imams – describe St George’s as the church where the miracles happen, so if you need a miracle, you go there. Are other types of miracles happening? Yes. For instance, one day a grand ayatollah came to me and said: ‘Father, Father, can you get us some meat?’ I asked him how much. He said, ‘Enough for everybody in Iraq. It’s going to be Eid’ – the feast that marks the end of Ramadan. When I told him I had only $12, he said: ‘Pray about it.’ That night, I did. Next morning, an American came up to me and said: ‘Hey, Father, I hear you’re helping the Iraqi people. Do you want some meat?’ I said: ‘Yes, please. How much is there?’ He said: ‘174 tonnes.’ And he had the lorries to deliver it, so every family in Iraq got some meat. It was an answer to prayer. As well as the danger, the death threats and the challenges of church life, you are contending with multiple sclerosis. Is God healing you? Yes. At its worst, my MS meant my speech was slurred, and even though I’ve been teetotal all my life (even the Communion wine is non-alcoholic) people thought I was drunk. I had little control over my body movements. I was always tired and grumpy. Then one day, a friend of mine, Dr Majid, said he’d like to try treating me using stem cells. I told him I was ethically opposed to the use of embryonic stem cells. But he said he would take
G Andrew tells more of his story in Faith Under Fire, published by Monarch. For more information visit frrme.org
stem cells from my blood or bone marrow, and inject them either into the vertebrae, the soft tissue or blood supply. I asked if he’d ever done this before. He said no, but we could start tomorrow. So we did. I became his guinea pig. The next morning after treatment I was a different person. It’s still working. Not only has the treatment put a brake on my decline, it is reversing the effects of the disease. I am not completely free of symptoms. I still have some difficulty with my balance but I don’t feel ill any more. Dr Majid has gone on to treat some 3,000 patients and, because his hospital is run-down, he’s going to have his stemcell clinic located at our clinic at the church. Has your stem-cell treatment changed your view on the research use of embryonic stem cells? I am now more opposed to it. In all of the patients I know, their own stem cells are working well without any sideeffects. Besides MS, we’re treating people with Parkinson’s, motor neurone
disease, cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, and the results are looking good. Sometimes people pray for healing but it doesn’t happen. Why is that? I think it’s because ultimately all of us are going to die. We’re here only for a short time before we return to our Maker. Living in a war zone means you don’t see life short-term. I’ve had times when I’ve been in tears because my people have been killed. A boy once came to me and said: ‘Daddy’ (they all call me Daddy) ‘don’t cry, Daddy, because they’ve gone to Heaven and they all speak the same language as Jesus’ (the Christians speak Aramaic) ‘so it will be fine for them.’ I don’t have God in my pocket. Christianity doesn’t have an answer for every question. Being a Christian does not mean that life is automatically easy. But God promises to be with his children in their suffering.
NEXT WEEK: Calling, suffering and family life
PUZZLEBREAK
12 The War Cry 9 July 2011
SUDOKU
WORDSEARCH Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these items of jewellery Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 Solution on page 15
ANKLET ARMLET BANGLE BEADS BRACELET BROOCH CAMEO
QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Succulent (4) 3. Raincoat (3) 5. Rebuff (4) 7. Scold (9) 9. Elderly (4) 10. Expensive (4) 11. Cheerless (5) 14. Push (5) 15. Vote in (5) 17. Liquid measure (5) 18. Volley of fire (5) 19. Soft oily cement (5) 20. Land of the leek (5) 23. Conduit (4) 25. Begotten (4) 27. Custom (9) 28. Open-air swimming pool (4) 29. Large cask (3) 30. Intend (4)
ANSWERS
Y I E R N R G M O B E A D S P
M T A W H G N G P G N G G H T
H C O O R B I E N I N E B C W
E R E G N I R Y T I N R E T E
CROWN CUFFLINKS EARRING ENGAGEMENT RING ETERNITY RING
C W A L C T T A R F R N A A D
E P E N D A N T C I E E R W D
R F E U T N E A E E S M A B I
R N T L G N M E D A L L I O N
I S P L G E E A A E R E T F G
W C C I O N G C T E A R T R R
A A S S N C A N K L E T I L I
T G L E S L G B S L P R N N N
FOB WATCH LOCKET MEDALLION NECKLACE PEARLS PENDANT PIN
C U F F L I N K S H A E D T G
H D T R A T E K C O L C E P N
N I E H I T W L L E E I E N T
RING SIGNET RING STUD TIARA WATCH WEDDING RING
HONEYCOMB Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number 1. Where the 1986 football World Cup was held 2. Narrow border of cloth fitted across the top of a window 3. Multiple of ten 4. Style of popular American music DOWN 1. Molten rock (4) 2. Take notice of (4) 3. Ethical (5) 4. Punctuation mark (5) 5. Transmit (4) 6. Obscure (4) 7. Remember (9) 8. Trickery (9) 11. Underneath (5) 12. Praise (5) 13. Retains (5) 14. Distress signal (3) 16. Endeavour (3) 21. Examine accounts (5) 22. Consumed (5) 23. Not bright (4) 24. Set of three (4) 25. Deep sound (4) 26. Midday (4)
5. Black and white long-tailed member of the crow family 6. Make wide or more open
QUICK QUIZ 1. Which actor played Kirk Douglas’s half-brother in the 1958 film The Vikings? 2. Which animal is the symbol for Peugeot? 3. How many times did Tim Henman reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon? 4. In the nursery rhyme, where was Doctor Foster going? 5. How many legs does a butterfly have? 6. Complete the saying: What goes up…?
QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Lush. 3 Mac. 5 Snub. 7 Reprimand. 9 Aged. 10 Dear. 11 Bleak. 14 Shove. 15 Elect. 17 Litre. 18 Salvo. 19 Putty. 20 Wales. 23 Duct. 25 Born. 27 Tradition. 28 Lido. 29 Tun. 30 Mean. DOWN: 1 Lava. 2 Heed. 3 Moral. 4 Comma. 5 Send. 6 Blur. 7 Recollect. 8 Deception. 11 Below. 12 Extol. 13 Keeps. 14 SOS. 16 Try. 21 Audit. 22 Eaten. 23 Dull. 24 Trio. 25 Boom. 26 Noon. QUICK QUIZ 1 Tony Curtis. 2 A lion. 3. Four. 4 Gloucester. 5 Six. 6 Must come down. HONEYCOMB 1 Mexico. 2 Pelmet. 3 Thirty. 4 Hip hop. 5 Magpie. 6 Dilate.
INNER LIFE
9 July 2011 The War Cry 13
The
To commemorate this year’s 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, PHILIPPA SMALE looks at some everyday expressions popularised by the translation
flesh is weak
‘Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak’ (Matthew 26:41)
can’t keep up with what the spirit wants to do – that sometimes it is difficult to live up to the high moral standard God requires. Far from feeling defeated to the extent that there’s no point in trying, we can be encouraged by the truth that Jesus knows what it is to be human as well as divine. We can know that he will accompany us on our journey of faith.
Jesus knew what it is to be human
BOOK
Library picture posed by models
GRANDAD Bob had just completed his third game of hide-and-seek with his four-year-old granddaughter, Kelly. He flopped down in his chair for a breather. Two minutes later, she was tugging at his hand, demanding: ‘Let’s play again, Grandad!’ ‘I’m sorry, Kelly. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak,’ he told her. Not having any idea what he was talking about, she glared at him as only a four-year-old granddaughter can. ‘Now, Grandad!’ she insisted. Grandad Bob was quoting from the New Testament. Jesus said these words to his disciples not long before he was arrested and put on trial. They had just had their last meal together and then had gone on to a place called Gethsemane. Jesus wanted to spend some moments praying, as he knew that time was running out for him. In just a few short hours he would be hanging on a cross, and he had to prepare himself spiritually and mentally to face the ordeal. He took Peter, James and John with him and found some space away from the other eight disciples. (By this point Judas was already on his way to betray Jesus.) He asked them to keep watch while he prayed. Unfortunately, the late hour and the meal caught up with the three disciples and they fell asleep. Jesus returned to find them sleeping and said: ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’ (Matthew 26:41 New International Version). Jesus knew what it is to be human. He knew that sometimes the body
PHRASE
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
14 The War Cry 9 July 2011
The day I my
SOME months ago I broke my wrist. I attended the hospital fracture clinic where, to my surprise, I was asked what colour I would like my plaster cast to be. Technology had moved on since I last broke a bone. Faced with the choice of six weeks wearing electric blue, shocking pink or vivid green, my mind went blank. But I was
cast
determined not to have a boring white cast. In the end I decided that, as I wore a lot of blue, I may as well opt for a similarly coloured cast. The children I met in the fracture clinic loved the colour options, and I found myself comparing notes with the adults and finding out the reasons behind their choices. Most of us make choices all day long. Some of them are minor ones, such as picking a colour for a plaster cast. Had I later regretted my choice it would have been an inconvenience, but nothing more. But other decisions we make, such as choosing a career or a spouse, have a much bigger impact on our lives. Whether we realise it or not, though, the most crucial decision we will ever make is whether to
by CHRISTINE BARRETT
accept or reject Jesus. Jesus said: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14:6 New International Version). Faced with that statement, we can choose to accept or reject it. If we accept the statement as truth, we will find ourselves following what Jesus described as the narrow road that leads to life (see Matthew 7:14). If we reject the statement, we follow the broad road that leads to destruction. Our choices have consequences, and our destination is decided by the road through life that we take. Those who choose to accept Jesus and follow his narrow road can expect to experience the full rainbow colours of life, now and in the world to come.
Our choices have consequences
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WHAT’S COOKING?
9 July 2011 The War Cry 15
Planning a picnic? Why not try these imaginative takes on some traditional snacks
Pork picnic loaf Ingredients:
Sausage rolls with a twist Ingredients: Pork chipolata sausages 500g packet puff pastry Tomato ketchup (or mustard or yeast extract) Egg, beaten, to glaze Milk, to glaze Method: Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface (or use ready rolled puff pastry). Cut the pastry into 2.5cm strips and dot with the tomato ketchup, mustard or yeast extract. Place a sausage on top of each strip of pastry and roll up. Beat the egg and milk together, then brush over the top of the sausage rolls. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes until golden. Serve with baked beans, corn on the cob or a mixed salad and your favourite relish or chutney. Makes 24
SUDOKU SOLUTION
225g leftover roast pork, ham or bacon, cold and thinly sliced Small bloomer loaf 4tbsp fruit chutney Large handful of rocket or watercress 25g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 1 ⁄2 red onion, sliced into rings 1 dessert apple, peeled, cored and sliced Knob of butter Soft brown sugar, for sprinkling Method: Slice off the top crust of the loaf, then tear out the bread from the middle. (Use the discarded bread to make breadcrumbs for other recipes or freeze.) Fry the apple in the butter, then sprinkle with the sugar and cook for 2–3 minutes until caramelised. Spread the inside of the loaf with the fruit chutney, then layer with the rocket, sundried tomatoes, red onion and caramelised apple. Top with the meat slices. Replace the lid of the loaf, wrap in foil or clingfilm and leave in the fridge for a few hours. When ready to eat, unwrap the loaf and slice into chunks. Serve with salad. Serves 5 Recipes reprinted, with kind permission, from lovepork.co.uk
LOOK EXCITEMENT is positively blossoming among enthusiastic gardeners at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, which began on Tuesday (5 July).
We reap what we sow writes CLAIRE BRINE
Bestique
Anoushka Feiler’s Visitors to an edible garden can garden learn about wild plants that can be foraged for food. Poetry fans may wonder as they wander through the English poets’ gardens. And those into classic literature can take in the Wonderland of Roses exhibition, based on the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Visitors interested in art can expand their minds by exploring the show’s nine conceptual gardens, which aim to push the boundaries of contemporary garden design. The title of designer Anoushka Feiler’s conceptual garden is Excuse Me while I Kiss the Sky. Her aim is to get people looking upwards rather than down at the earth, to view the world from a the heavens makes them different perspective. realise how small they She explains that a visit are. Or maybe their to a building in Venice problems appear less inspired her upside-down important in the grand garden. ‘The building was scheme of things. not that impressive … Many people find that until you were handed a when they turn to Jesus mirror to look at the they face a similar painting on the ceiling. experience. They see the My garden encourages way he behaved and people to look up,’ she discover a different way says. of living for themselves. When a person turns They realise that they their face to see the sky don’t have to be driven by instead of the ground, selfishness or greed. they are able to see the Instead it is possible to same world in a new way. live a life of love, joy and The focus has shifted. peace. Perhaps the vastness of Jesus challenged his
They see the same world in a new way
The War Cry is printed on paper harvested from sustainable forests and published by The Salvation Army (United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland) on behalf of the General of The Salvation Army. Printed by Benham Goodhead Print Ltd, Bicester, Oxon. © Linda Bond, General of The Salvation Army, 2011
Library picture posed by model
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followers to love their enemies, not just their friends. He taught them to care for people who were outcasts, and not just people who could return the favour. He advised people to forgive others, rather than carry a grudge or seek revenge. When we look up to Jesus and dedicate ourselves to following him, life can take on a whole new meaning. Why not see for yourself.