War Cry World

Christianity provides ‘anchor’ for defender of faith

CRYSTAL Palace footballer Joel Ward told The Sunday Times that his Christian faith has acted as his ‘moral compass’ and ‘anchor’ during his career.

The defender’s parents, Phil and Kim, were part of the leadership team of a Bible college in Emsworth, Hampshire, and he regularly attended church and Christian youth groups when he was growing up.

Joel said that ‘the sole message of the Church’ is ‘the grace and gift of God’, and that the message plays a central role in his life.

‘Faith has given me a moral compass,’ he said. ‘It has given me an anchor besides my family and my circle – an anchor to hold on to, somewhere where I can get away. I can cast my burden and just talk and have support, just having that community. It’s been a constant throughout my life and kept me steady and consistent.’

Historic manuscript in North East

THE Lindisfarne Gospels – an historic manuscript collecting the four biblical books that tell the story of Jesus – has returned to the northeast of England for an exhibition.

The illuminated book, which is believed to have been created by a monk, Eadfrith, on Holy Island around AD700, is usually held at the British Library in London but is being displayed at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle until 3 December.

As well as the book itself, which is open at one of its richly decorated ‘carpet pages’, the exhibition contains other illuminated manuscripts, religious objects from the eighth century and a new film by Turner prizewinning artist Jeremy Deller exploring the journey of the Lindisfarne Gospels back to the North East.

The exhibition aims to explore the meaning of the Lindisfarne Gospels and its relationship with themes of personal, regional and national identity.

Calling the book ‘one of the greatest manuscripts in our care’, Dr Xerxes Mazda, head of collections at the British Library, says: ‘We look forward to seeing new audiences engage with this exceptional example of early medieval design.’ THE Salvation Army has celebrated 100 years of its work in Zambia and 50 years of its work in Spain and Portugal.

General Brian and Commissioner Rosalie Peddle, international leaders of the church and charity, attended celebrations in Lusaka and Lisbon.

In Lisbon, they met with Salvationists from Spain and Portugal, as well as city officials.

In Zambia, the couple were shown round Salvation Army facilities, including a newly constructed health clinic.

The country’s president, Hakainde Hichilema, attended the final Sunday morning meeting of celebrations, accompanied by the First Lady, Mutinta Hichilema. He said: ‘One hundred years of service to the community is not a mean achievement! I commend The Salvation Army for being dedicated to God’s work.’

He particularly thanked The Salvation Army for its health services and for the way it responded to severe floods in 2020.

The Lindisfarne Gospels

Century of service celebrated in Zambia

8 out of 10 consider themselves spiritual

RESEARCH has revealed that faith is a ‘core element of personal identity’ globally.

A survey, which was commissioned by the Faith and Media Initiative and carried out in 18 countries across North America, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, looked at the portrayal of faith and religion in the media. It showed that there is a strong demand for media coverage of the topic.

More than 60 per cent of respondents felt that high-quality content on faith and religion was needed in their respective countries, and more than 50 per cent said that media coverage actively ignores religion as an aspect of society and culture.

Dritan Nesho, CEO of HarrisX, the global market research company that produced the findings, said: ‘The data reveals that faith and religion are a core element of personal identity globally, with 82 per cent of respondents viewing themselves as faithful, religious or spiritual.’

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nFAITH groups are taking part in climate change vigils and rallies across the UK to pressurise corporate polluters into paying for the loss and damage caused by global warming.

Events that took place last week included a walk of witness from St John’s Church in Waterloo to Parliament Square.

The vigils and rallies were co-ordinated by the Faith for the Climate network. The organisation, which represents all faiths, aims to highlight how the communities who bear the brunt of climate change damage contribute the least carbon emissions.

Faith for the Climate director Shanon Shah said: ‘People are suffering deeply from the impacts of climate change right now. Those most impacted are the ones least responsible. As people of faith, we see this as a deep moral injustice.’

Miles and smiles

Runners take on the London Marathon

Feature by Claire Brine

SWEAT, tears and exhaustion could well be on the horizon for runners

taking part in the London Marathon tomorrow (Sunday 2 October). After months of gruelling training over a scorchingly hot summer, participants are preparing to hit the road and embark on their final 26.2 miles. Whether they feel ready or not, the finish line is closer than ever.

One runner who can’t wait to start pounding the capital’s pavements is my brother, Marc Brine, a forest school practitioner from Preston. Marc has been keen to run the London Marathon ever since our dad, mum and I completed it in previous years.

‘It’s always been on my radar as something I’ve wanted to do,’ he says. ‘And I love running with other people, so I’m excited to be part of one of the biggest races in the world.’

As well as running hundreds of miles in training, Marc has been using the months leading up to the marathon to raise sponsorship for a Salvation Army refugee resettlement project in Preston. On We know there race day, when his legs begin to ache, he hopes that focusing on the cause will give him could be laughter the strength to keep going. ‘A mantra that I’ve used in tough runs in the and tears ahead past is “smile every mile”,’ he says. ‘Because if you aren’t enjoying it, what’s the point?’ Finding the joy in difficult, sometimes agonising, situations is no easy feat. But it is possible. Many marathon-finishers go on to describe the experience as the best day of their life – despite the pain they endured to get there.

Running aside, when we consider the journey of our own life, we all know how it feels to have good days and bad days. We know there could be both laughter and tears ahead.

When the going gets tough, the Bible encourages us to keep going – by focusing on God, who is a source of joy. One of its writers says: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!’ (Philippians 4:4 New International Version).

Whatever our circumstances, God’s love for us has the power to fill us with strength, courage and hope as we face the future. If we turn to him, we can experience deep joy every step of the way.

The children are the future

While Black History Month is a time to celebrate the past contributions and stories of black people, it is also a time to learn how to value black people all year round. LORETTA ANDREWS, co-author of a book about how to raise ‘antiracist kids’, explains why such conversations are critical, even with young people, and how they can help make the world a better place in years to come

Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku

THE summer of 2020 was tough on

everybody. But it was particularly challenging for black people and people with mixed heritage, because of the increase in social awareness of racism, after the killing in the US of George Floyd – an event which reverberated across the globe.

Loretta Andrews is mixed race, having one black parent and one white, and she describes that summer as ‘pretty wild’. However, out of it came something that she hopes will bring about change.

‘I had loads of interesting conversations with my white friends,’ she says. ‘Some were difficult and didn’t go well, but I had some good ones. One of them was with my friend Ruth Hill, who I’d met when we were both pregnant. We had set up an conversations over Zoom and exchanged online platform called More than a Mum to thoughts over voice notes. They mostly support women, because you feel like you wrote their own chapters but worked lose your identity a bit when becoming a together on a few. One of their priorities mum. We had said we was to write a book that would write a book back then, but our kids are Kids notice was non-judgemental. ‘We wanted the tone of now 13!’ But after their recent difference from the book to be like a good friend putting their arm conversation and the intervention of a publisher a very young age around you and guiding you, rather than saying friend, they had the idea what was rubbish,’ says to collaborate on writing a book for Loretta. ‘Because shame and guilt just parents to bring up the subject of race stops people in their tracks, it doesn’t with their children. They’d call it Talking do anyone any good. Also, what we hear to Children about Race. over and over again is people saying that

With Ruth living in Wiltshire and they want to have these conversations but Loretta in London, the pair had a lot of they don’t know how and they are worried about getting it wrong. We wanted to make people feel like it’s better to get it wrong than not try at all.’ While some may say that talking to children about race is inappropriate, Loretta disagrees. She says that racism can start from an early age. Children are exposed to the news and they may overhear what adults say, so having direct conversations means they are well informed instead. Loretta argues that talking about race does not create racism. ‘Kids notice difference from a very young age,’ she says, ‘it’s just that they don’t attach anything negative to it. It’s only turned negative when adults and society around them attaches meaning and they pick

the future

up on that. That’s why it’s so important for it to be addressed early. If we can get in there young enough to guide them away from the reactions they see others having – a security guard following a black person around the shop, for example – then their whole trajectory could be different.’

The book seeks to help the conversation by covering a range of topics, such as white privilege and being antiracist. Loretta and Ruth use simple language so that parents can feel informed and concepts can be conveyed to children clearly.

Another topic in their book is colour-blindness, which, Loretta says, ‘a whole generation thought was a good thing’.

‘People would say we should teach children to be colourblind and that we don’t see colour. But we need to see and celebrate different colours and different races. We don’t want people not to see difference, we don’t want them to attach a negative meaning to it. By not being colourblind, you are saying that you see all of who somebody is – you

Turn to page 8 f

From page 7

in recent years and signifies a different mindset from simply not being racist. She says that it is the difference between being passive and being active.

‘There are a lot of lovely people who genuinely are not racist. If they saw someone calling someone else names because of their race, they would be outraged and say that it was awful and that they would never do that. That’s one thing and that’s great, but what would it mean to not just say you would never do that, but to go over to the perpetrator and tell them what they’re doing is not OK? Or to check in with victim, and see if they are OK? Or instead of just rolling your eyes when a family member says something racist, speaking up and saying that it’s inappropriate?’

While the advice in the book is not explicitly religious and co-author Ruth doesn’t identify as a Christian, Loretta’s passion to tackle the injustice of racism stems from her Christian faith.

‘What Jesus modelled to us most was fighting for the oppressed and the underdog,’ she says. ‘So I don’t think you can be a Christian and not be against racism, homophobia, poverty or any

see their culture, injustice. I don’t their race and their think I could be living background and you out my faith properly if see that it’s great.’ I wasn’t fighting any kind

While Loretta wrote a lot of injustice. about certain principles based ‘I struggle with people on theory, she also had to draw who have politicised the word on personal experiences to write the “antiracist”. I’m not talking about book, which she says was traumatic. In politics; I’m talking about people being day-to-day life, there are often instances held back and oppressed because of that she just has to let go of, because ‘you their race. Making it political forgets the can’t make an issue of it every time’. person, and it derails the conversation.

‘Writing the book made me more aware ‘When I feel anger about such things, of how many instances there have been,’ I feel like I’m tapping into Jesus turning she says. ‘I had to consciously look at over tables at the Temple when he was the points in my childhood where I’d angry at the unfair way people were minimised what had happened, because behaving there. I think it pains God’s people often say, “You’ve got a chip heart to see injustice and to see people on your shoulder” or, “You’re making forgetting to fight for the person.’ everything about race”. Because she cares about people, I thought about specific incidents that were without We highlight Loretta wants to keep the conversation about racism going. a doubt racist, but it brought up other experiences that I normalising ‘The conversation didn’t just happen in 2020 and now it’s over,’ she says. ‘We’ve realised were racist as well. It was quite disturbing. Yet black joy got a long way to go with discussing racism but kids are great at it, and we I’ve been lucky compared to can learn from them. We will get it wrong, my friends who are dark-skinned. I have but we don’t need to stay in a place of light-skin privilege, so I’ve had even fewer guilt and shame. Instead we need to keep experiences than they’ve had. working and keep moving forward. And in

‘Racism is alive and kicking here in future generations, it the UK, and it’s wrong, and in the book would be amazing to we highlight it. But we also highlight see racism become a normalising black joy and black non-issue.’ experiences. So we don’t want people to just get their kids books on diversity and how to not be racist; we also want them to get a book on rainbows that has a little black girl as the main character.’

Such actions are part of what Loretta describes as ‘being antiracist’, an expression that has gained popularity

Ruth and Loretta

l Talking to Children

about Race is published by SPCK

‘Climate change is a systemic social injustice’

To mark the Great Big Green Week, a nationwide celebration of action on climate change, activist LAURA YOUNG recalls her experiences of Cop26 and reveals why she cares so deeply about tackling climate change

Interview by Emily Bright

‘COP26 coming to Glasgow, my home city, was one of the biggest moments in my career,’ says climate activist

Laura Young when she thinks back to last year’s climate change conference. ‘It was fantastic to be there while I was working for Tearfund, because the charity played a huge part in my becoming an activist.

‘The high point was meeting Nicola Sturgeon and five other representatives of countries that had been paired up with our organisation. It was amazing to have that time to discuss important issues.’

Laura’s interest in campaigning against climate change was kindled while studying geography and environmental science at Dundee University. As she learnt in more detail how human exploitation of resources was causing climate change and having a lasting impact on people around the globe, she decided to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.

‘When I was in my final year of uni, I took on a new year’s resolution to try to be more sustainable,’ she says. ‘That was 2018, when we’d seen Blue Planet II on TV, and awareness around plastic pollution and climate change was heightened. As I tried to live a more sustainable lifestyle, I realised there was so much more I could do, so I got involved in campaigning.’

In 2019, international development charity Tearfund ran a huge campaign about plastic pollution. ‘That was the first time I’d ever heard a Christian organisation talk about environmental issues,’ says Laura.

It dawned on Laura that faith and campaigning against climate change go hand in hand.

‘My passion for the environment didn’t initially come from my faith,’ she says, ‘but in the last few years, I’ve realised that caring for the planet is an

integral part of what we need to be doing as Christians. My faith is now the driver of everything that I’m doing.’

Since graduating, Laura has worked for Tearfund in a series of campaigning jobs, delivered a TEDx Talk on ending plastic pollution and appeared regularly on BBC radio networks and The Daily Climate Show on Sky News. She gives talks in schools and generates discussions in businesses about sustainability. This month she begins pursuing a PhD in climate science, and hopes that her research will influence climate policy.

For Laura, climate change – the focus of the nationwide Great Big Green Week campaign, which ends tomorrow (Sunday 2 October) – is a pressing issue of social justice. She explains why.

‘The link is clear between human actions in western countries – emitting too much carbon dioxide and pollution – and climate change damage, such as the recent floods in Pakistan. It’s an injustice because the people who are impacted are

not the people who are causing it. ‘A Tearfund report found that there are numerous African countries who are now spending more money on climate adaptation than on their own healthcare systems. The continent of Africa only contributes about 4 per cent of global emissions.’ African countries Tearfund’s Dying to Adapt report, spend more money published in August, on climate adaptation predicts that climate change adaptation than healthcare costs may spiral upwards further to five times what subSaharan African countries spend on their national healthcare. Laura says: ‘When you start seeing these numbers, you just think it’s not fair. That’s why we should be calling for better investment and reparations. It’s not only about our individual actions and trying to be more sustainable; it’s this systemic injustice too.’ She sees tackling social injustice as a central theme of the Christian faith. ‘God calls us to love our neighbour,’ she says. ‘I can love my neighbour by praying for them or by supporting them financially through charity initiatives. I can love them when I see them suffering on the street by talking to them and caring for them. But if my neighbour is being impacted by my lifestyle or my country’s infrastructure, I also need to campaign to change that.’

As a sustainability influencer, Laura highlights the key battlegrounds in tackling climate change in our everyday lives.

‘The food that’s worst for the planet is the food we waste,’ she explains. ‘And we waste a third of our food in the UK. If food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of carbon. When food goes to landfill, it breaks down and releases methane, which is 16 times worse than carbon dioxide as a contributor to climate change. Combatting food waste is one of the most effective things we can do.’

There are a few simple things anyone can do, she says.

‘Think about meal planning and prepping. Don’t overbuy ingredients. Use your intuition and think: “Does the majority of my shop come from outside the UK? Can I find more UK-based food?” Plantbased foods are also more sustainable. It might be a case of reducing your meat intake by one meal per week. If you’re buying animal products, buy them locally where you can.’

Another significant contributor to climate change is fast fashion. Laura explains that overconsumption is the main problem.

‘Packaging, the dyes and the material all contribute to how sustainable something is or isn’t. But the most unsustainable thing is the sheer amount that we produce.

‘We buy five times more fashion than we did in the 1980s. Brands will not be sustainable unless they start reducing how much they are making, even if they claim to have a new eco-friendly range of clothes. At the moment, there are no advertising standards on sustainability and there’s no regulation on having to prove the claims companies make.’

Laura offers a few tips on reducing fashion carbon footprints.

‘Ultimately we need to stop buying things, or we need to get the things we want in a slightly different way, through charity shops and second-hand clothing apps,’ says Laura.

‘Often you wear a dress or suit once for

Laura visiting a zero-waste shop in Edinburgh (above) and (right) a charity shop in Glasgow

a special occasion, then it sits in your wardrobe. There are now renting platforms, which are good for things like weddings, graduations and other fancy occasions, where you can pay a fraction of the price and then give it back. ‘There are also platforms for renting kids wear. I read a stat which said that in the first year of your life, you grow 10 sizes. Young parents can rent a bundle of clothes for a couple of months. By that time, their We buy five times child may have outgrown the items, and they can more fashion give them back.’ Whether she is than in the 1980s embarking on climate research or influencing people to live more sustainably, Laura is encouraged in her work by references in the Bible to the environment and social justice. ‘In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we were told to look after the planet,’ she says. ‘If you look around, you can see that we aren’t doing that. Jesus taught us to speak up against issues of injustice. My faith drives my work from a sense of responsibility, and from a love of God and his creation.’

She says that in her life, Jesus is ‘a point of reference to come back to’.

‘I look at the Bible and see how he navigated situations. If I can’t figure it out from the Bible, I pray about it and ask for divine inspiration.’

While the scale of the climate change challenge may sometimes seem overwhelming, Laura trusts that God will provide her with the energy and resources she needs to continue campaigning.

‘My activism is hopeful, because I’m not doing it in my own strength,’ she says, ‘but rather in God’s strength.’