Crime wave
There’s more detection needed in BBC1’s Shetland
TikTok couple on living with disability
What is The Salvation Army?
The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.
What is the War Cry?
The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major
Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow
Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku
Staff Writer: Emily Bright
Staff Writer: Claire Brine
Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk
Graphic Designer: Mark Knight
Graphic Designer: Natalie Adkins
Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk
The Salvation Army
United Kingdom and Ireland Territory
1 Champion Park London SE5 8FJ
Tel: 0845 634 0101
Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org
Founders: William and Catherine Booth
International leaders:
General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham
Territorial leaders: Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main
Editor-in-Chief: Major Julian Watchorn
weekly by The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226
The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399.
This week’s budget in the House of Commons has put finances front and centre of many people’s minds. Whether the subject is the state of the nation’s economy or how the announcements will impact business or personal finances, there is a lot of talk about money at the moment.
While there will be plenty of discussion in general terms, it is less likely that people will be having conversations about how they as individuals are coping. It seems that many of us find it hard to talk about how we’re doing with our money.
But next week is Talk Money Week, which is designed to encourage us to open up about our finances. In this week’s issue we speak with Lorraine Cook, who works as the financial inclusion development manager at The Salvation Army. She tells us why people can find it difficult to talk about money, particularly if they are encountering problems.
‘People can feel embarrassment and shame when it comes to money. They wonder what others will think of them,’ she says.
The Salvation Army helps people of all ages who have found themselves with money struggles, just as many debt advice services do. But there is a difference in the way the church and charity assists the people who go to it for support.
‘The key thing that makes us different to other services out there is that our work is embedded in prayer,’ Lorraine explains. ‘We’re not just about getting people out of debt. We want to link them to the wider work of The Salvation Army and address their broader needs.’
Prayer, combined with the practical support that The Salvation Army can give individuals through its various kinds of interconnected social action, means that people’s lives are being changed for the better every single day as they come into contact with the organisation.
And front and centre of the minds of the Christians who work for The Salvation Army is the belief that each individual they help is loved by God and more valuable to him than any amount of money.
Printed by CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper
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Your local Salvation Army centre
Search warranted
Cops look for missing mum in crime drama
TV preview: Shetland Wednesdays BBC1 and iPlayer
By Claire Brine
It’sparty time – but one couple at the ceilidh don’t seem to be in the mood for dancing. Instead, they are arguing in the car park. The next day, the police learn that the wife has gone missing – in a mystery that launches the new series of BBC1’s Shetland.
After spotting the tension between her friend Annie (Sarah MacGillivray) and Ian (Robert Jack) at the birthday party, DI Alison McIntosh, nicknamed Tosh (Alison O’Donnell), asks her if everything
After a party, Annie goes missing
is OK. Looking uncomfortable, Annie replies that she needs Tosh’s professional help. She asks Tosh to visit her in the morning, telling her that, because of the breakdown of her marriage, she and her young son, Noah (Jacob Ferguson), are temporarily staying at a mussel farm. ‘I’ll explain everything tomorrow,’ she says.
The next day, when Tosh turns up to see Annie, she and Noah are not there.
Tosh has a sinking feeling that something is wrong. And when she tries to call Annie’s mobile, there’s no answer.
Accompanied by DI Ruth Calder (Ashley Jensen), Tosh drives to Annie’s marital home, hoping something can shed some light on her friend’s whereabouts. When they arrive, they see signs of forced entry. Annie’s husband isn’t in. The rooms are in a mess. Are they dealing with a breakin as well as a missing mother and child?
Later, the duo encounter Professor Euan Rossi (Ian Hart), who claims to have been Annie’s university tutor many years ago. He explains that he travelled up from London to Shetland after receiving a distressed voicemail from Annie.
For Ruth and Tosh, the case appears to be throwing up more and more questions. Why did Annie call someone 700 miles away for help? And why her old university professor in particular? The inspectors agree that he won’t be leaving Shetland until
they’ve had time to check out his story.
In cases of TV crime and the dramas that can unfold in real life, knowing the truth about people matters. It’s hard to feel comfortable trusting someone when it is unclear who they are or what they stand for. That’s why it’s important to be able to ask questions and receive honest answers.
Back when Jesus walked the Earth, he made claims indicating that he was the Son of God. Plenty of people wanted to check out his story before committing themselves to believing it. So they asked him difficult questions. They showed him what caused them to doubt. Jesus’ response to them was: Follow me.
When people followed Jesus, they saw someone who performed miracles, loved his enemies and forgave people’s wrongdoing. They saw the evidence of God’s power and his love for them in action. What they witnessed prompted many of them to believe wholeheartedly: this man was telling the truth.
We too are invited to check out Jesus’ claims for ourselves. When we do, we will encounter God’s own Son, who assures even the greatest of doubters: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life!’ (John 14:6 Contemporary English Version).
Getting to know Jesus is a life-changing opportunity that we wouldn’t want to miss.
DI Ruth Calder and DI ‘Tosh’ McIntosh are on a new case
WAR talk talk Team talk Team talk ‘ ’
j TEA M TALK
Charity donations make bags of difference
Claire Brine gives her take on a story that has caught the attention of War Cry reporters
I love a good rummage in charity shops. Many times I’ve turned to them in search of clothes, board games and other bits and bobs – and I’ve never been let down. That’s why I was interested to see a story doing the rounds on Facebook and Instagram about the importance of donating to charity shops before Christmas.
A social media post told how a woman at a charity shop had said she wished ‘people would clear out their children’s old toys in the lead-up to Christmas rather than after’. Apparently, in the days before Christmas, the shop is visited by parents who might be ‘strapped for cash’ but are ‘looking for toys for their little ones’. The shop would rarely have anything for them before Christmas, but would be ‘inundated with toys in the days after’.
The post – spotted and shared by Nigella Lawson and Caitlin Moran – went on to suggest that if families cleared out their toy cupboards in the weeks before Christmas (rather than afterwards), they might ‘make another child’s Christmas a lot more special too’.
We could focus on the value of giving
I found a perspective in the words of the charity shop woman that I’d never considered before. While I’m often collecting up items at home for our local charity shop, I rarely think about what happens to those items after I’ve dropped them off. I don’t reflect on who might be glad to buy our preloved items or the kind of lives they live. Perhaps I should.
As Christmas shopping season gets under way, it’s easy to feel pressured by countless TV adverts to buy loads of expensive stuff so that our loved ones can experience ‘the best Christmas ever’. But maybe it’s time for a fresh perspective. Maybe, this November, we could focus on the value (and blessing) in the act of giving, more than allowing our minds to be overwhelmed by the stresses to be found of what to buy next.
Though the big day is still more than seven weeks away, it’s never too soon to reflect on the Christmas story and what it means for each of us – that Jesus was God’s gift of eternal love to an imperfect world. All year round, his is the gift that keeps on giving.
David Grant
Fund supports charities
The charities behind a healthy lifestyle programme for prisoners and a scheme that works with churches to provide houses for people who are experiencing homelessness were among those awarded grants at a Christian Funders’ Forum showcase in London.
The annual event – presented this year by singer and vocal coach David Grant – gives Christian-based charities the opportunity to speak about their work to members of the Christian Funders’ Forum, a collective of grant-makers that give more than £70 million each year to various causes.
At the event, held at the Houses of Parliament, forum members heard about the 180 Project in Lancashire, which offers prisoners a fitness regime combined with life-coaching, education and an opportunity to explore faith to help them become physically and mentally healthier before they are released. They also learnt about Hope into Action, a charity that supplies houses for people experiencing homelessness and works in partnership with churches to support the tenants; and about Growing Hope, which provides free therapy to children with additional needs.
WAR CRYWnRLD
Truth recovery process request for testimonies
In Northern Ireland an independent panel appointed by the Executive Office is carrying out a truth recovery process about the operations and practices of mother and baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses. Its report will inform a future statutory public inquiry.
To help the panel in the process, specially trained testimony facilitators are aiming to gather people’s personal experiences sensitively in a non-adversarial forum.
As part of its work, the panel would be interested in finding out about The Salvation Army’s Thorndale Mother and Baby Home and Industrial Home in Belfast from 1922 to the closure of the mother and baby home in the 1970s. It would like to hear from anyone who spent time in Thorndale in any capacity, had family members who
did or were members of staff or volunteers.
The panel’s remit is to gain as wide a view as it can and to hear from people with as many different experiences as possible.
The testimony-gathering process is confidential and has the consent of participants at its heart.
Panel members or testimony facilitators are happy to travel to interview people at a place of their choice or in their testimony rooms in Belfast. Testimonies can also be taken online or in writing.
The testimony team can be contacted by post at Truth Recovery Independent Panel, 4th Floor, Equality House, 7-9 Shaftesbury Square BT2 7DB, by email at testimony@independentpanel.org.uk, or by phone on 028 9052 0263 (from 11am to noon and 3pm to 4pm, Monday to Friday).
Help in wake of floods
The Salvation Army in Bangladesh has helped people affected by severe floods in the eastern part of the country.
Thousands of families have been displaced by the floods, which have also damaged crops, property and infrastructure.
Working in co-operation with other organisations, The Salvation Army has distributed food, water, water purification tablets, toiletries and buckets.
Timely questions on current issues
Topics of health and wellbeing will be explored in Questions of our Times, a series of conversations produced by the Christian Evidence Society and broadcast live on Premier Christian Radio.
In the first programme, on Tuesday (5 November), Major Nigel Bovey – former editor of the War Cry – will interview Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes about her ministry in the former coalmining areas of Co Durham and how poverty affects the health of communities and individuals.
Future episodes will feature conversations with the Right Rev Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, on health and spirituality; journalist and author Chine McDonald (pictured) on the beauty industry and the influence of social media; and medical ethics expert Dr Claire Gilbert on issues such as stem-cell research, gene therapy and AI.
Episodes of Questions of our Times will be broadcast live on Premier at 1pm on Tuesdays, and will be made available as video conversations shortly afterwards.
Captain Tushar Dash helps distribute relief in Bangladesh
Let’s talk about money
Talk Money Week begins on Monday (4 November). So LORRAINE COOK, The Salvation Army’s financial inclusion development manager, who talks money all year round, explains why the church and charity offers financial support with a difference
Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku
Discussing finances is often seen as a taboo. But the UK’s Money and Pensions Service is looking to change that with its annual Talk Money Week campaign, which seeks to highlight the importance of opening up about the subject.
The Salvation Army is an organisation that banks on the value of talking money.
Lorraine Cook, its financial inclusion development manager, says: ‘People in this country don’t tend to talk about money. There’s a lot of stigma around it. And people end up suffering and struggling alone. We need to break down these barriers.’
To help people talk about money more easily, the church and charity’s debt advice and financial inclusion services are keen to change the language that tends to be used.
‘For a group of elderly people and their pension “credit”, we might say that it’s their “entitlement” and something
they “worked for”,’ Lorraine explains. ‘And for people who are claiming “benefits” for instance, we might talk about how they can maximise their “income” and minimise their “expenditure” or think about how they could get into employment and what the barriers to it might be. We just try to say to people that it’s better to talk about money before it becomes a problem.
‘People can feel embarrassment and shame when it comes to money. They wonder what others will think of them.’
Lorraine suggests that one way to change society’s reluctance to talk about money is by starting the conversations from a young age, especially at a time when spending looks different from in the past.
‘We’re in a cashless society, so children see their parents tap, tap, tapping, and it just keeps working. We don’t even have to tap our card, we can tap our phone, so they’re not seeing the
cash or understanding how it is used.
‘Talking about money from an early age can be part of what we do as families – giving the children their bit of money to spend, telling them that we have to get food and that we have to pay for something else. Then children will grow up being comfortable with that and may be less likely to struggle.’
Although honest conversations about finances can contribute to a change in our attitudes, there is no denying that, for many reasons, people can still easily fall into money problems. Lorraine lists some of them: ‘A sudden increase in interest rates, trying to keep up with the Joneses, not doing a budget and not being realistic about the budget, the cost of living crisis.
‘People feel ashamed that they can’t afford to do things, so they do them anyway and end up with debt. They can also experience sudden unemployment, another child coming along or someone
Lorraine Cook
in the family getting ill and being unable to work.
‘A lot of people don’t save, and often spend to their budget, so when unexpected things happen, there are no reserves to pay for them.’
The Salvation Army’s debt advice service helps adults of all ages who have found themselves with money struggles, and they do so without discrimination or judgement.
‘People feel like they’re trapped and there’s no way out,’ Lorraine says. ‘But we would say that there is a way out, so talk to someone about it.
‘There’s an old saying that a problem shared is a problem halved. If you talk about your situation with our debt advice service, for example, we might have opportunities to get that debt written off or provide advice to stop debts spiralling.’
The number of people supported by the service has grown from some 1,900 in 2020 to 3,500 in 2023. It deploys
86 advisers and operates in 23 locations across The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland, as well as remotely.
Its work is motivated by The Salvation Army’s Christian faith.
We ensure that we offer holistic support
‘The key thing that makes us different to other services out there is that our work is embedded in prayer,’ Lorraine explains. ‘When people struggle with money, it can have an impact on their family, break down relationships and increase anxiety and depression. We ensure that we offer holistic support, meeting people at often the most vulnerable and worst times of their life when they don’t have anywhere else to turn.
‘We’re not just about getting people
out of debt. We want to link them to the wider work of The Salvation Army and address their broader needs, whether that’s food assistance, mental health support or help with housing.
‘This work is not just a service we provide; it’s our mission. It is inspired by the words of Jesus: “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.”
‘At Christmas we will be celebrating that, through the birth of Jesus, God is with us, comes alongside us and journeys with us in every part of our life.
‘That idea is central to our work. Clients who come to us are often isolated and overwhelmed. We tell them that they are no longer alone. We are with them, providing support for as long as they need.’
l For more information email thqdas@salvationarmy.org.uk
‘There
can still be joy and hope regardless of trauma’
TikTok stars JADE and JOHN REYNOLDS explain how their faith has sustained them through hard times and why they’ve written a book about their experiences of disability
Feature by Emily Bright
‘We laughed and bantered a lot,’ says author and TikTok star John Reynolds, who –sitting next to his wife Jade while we speak over a Zoom call – recalls the time that they spent together before they became an item. ‘We were serious about our faith and about the things that mattered, but not much else.
‘I found that really attractive, and I thought: If Jade wasn’t in a wheelchair, I wouldn’t think twice about asking her out. I should see what it’s like to date someone in a wheelchair. If I’m rubbish at this, she’s not going to want me, so let’s find out if I am or not.’
Jade’s disability is caused by a rare autoimmune condition known as acute transverse myelitis. It has undoubtedly shaped her life, but she has never wanted it to define her.
She has decided to write a book with John, Able to Laugh, in a bid to challenge people’s perceptions of disability and to
encourage people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
Jade took some convincing to write about her experiences, as she didn’t want it to be ‘tokenistic’ or for her to be seen as ‘the person with a disability who still has a life’. However, her perspective changed.
‘I realised there is power in my story,’ she says. ‘Not to talk about my disability and the hard times would be a disservice to what God has done in my life. I’m learning to embrace my disability more. It is something that has shaped me, but there is so much more to me.’
John and Jade share a sharp wit, wisdom and a resolute faith which sustains them. Much like their book, our interview, where they chat with me from their home in Preston, is filled with humour and heart. They take it in turns to tell me the anecdote of John’s proposal at the Burj Khalifa fountain show in Dubai. The pair playfully recall how John
was acting so weirdly – fumbling around in the wheelchair toolbox, looking for the ring he’d stashed there – that Jade thought he had heatstroke. Yet they take a serious tone as they address the tough questions that disability poses.
Each chapter of Able to Laugh starts with a question frequently asked by people on TikTok, the social media platform where the Reynoldses regularly post videos about family life and have more than 650,000 followers. Going by the book, I ask its first question: Why is Jade in a wheelchair?
‘It happened on May 13 2003, two weeks before my 13th birthday,’ she remembers. ‘There were no signs that anything was about to happen. I was on the swings at the park with my dad and my younger sister. I jumped off the swing and, as I landed on my feet, I felt these pains out of nowhere shooting up my legs.
‘They were so painful that I lay down
on the wet grass. I managed to get up, and I could see a bench across the park. I thought: “I need to sit down. I feel really strange.” With each step I took, I could feel the power draining from my legs. They were getting harder and harder to co-ordinate. I made it to the bench, and that was the last time I ever walked, because I couldn’t get back up again. I felt too weak. My dad piggybacked me home, and we went straight to A&E.’
A consultant told me:
‘You’re not going to walk again’
Blood tests, x-rays and MRIs followed, but Jade’s doctors still had no clear diagnosis. Within 24 hours, she had lost all movement and about 90 per cent of feeling in her body from her waist down. After six weeks, she was diagnosed with
acute transverse myelitis.
‘They don’t really know what causes it,’ she explains. ‘The most commonly held theory is that I had a cold virus in my body. My immune system went to attack the cold virus but got confused and attacked my spinal cord instead. Most of the brain signals don’t reach my legs because there’s a hole that’s been worn into my spinal cord.’
While some people recover mobility, others – like Jade – don’t.
‘The doctors kept saying that when you can wiggle your toes, that’s a good sign that you’re getting better. It never happened for me. I was one of those few people who didn’t recover from it at all. I still have some feeling in my legs, but it’s minimal. I don’t have any movement at all. A consultant told me: “You’re not going to walk again.”
‘That was the watershed in my life, when everything changed. I couldn’t go home, because my house wasn’t
equipped. I lived in hospital for about four months. When I went home, I had my bedroom in the living room for about a year, because we were getting an extension built. It was really weird going from being completely healthy and ablebodied to being disabled and facing all the challenges that come with that.’
As if that wasn’t enough to contend with, Jade also had to field people’s philosophical questions, including: ‘Why would God let this happen to you?’ Jade had a matter-of-fact response.
‘I remember thinking: “Why not me? What have I done that it should happen to other people and not me?”
‘I didn’t understand, but I felt God’s presence with me, and that has been a source of comfort to me and my family in the hard times. When I read the Bible
Turn to page 10 f
John and Jade Reynolds
page 9
it’s full of people going through horrible situations, but God is with them.’
Jade’s relationship with God has anchored her throughout the tough times that she has faced.
‘I’ve seen God as my mentor, because when you have a disability or chronic illness, you often get told what you can’t do,’ she says. ‘But I’ve always felt that God has been speaking words of encouragement over me. You can listen to his advice because, whatever you’ve been through, he has been through something similar.
‘If you’re heartbroken, if your body’s failing you, God has experienced all of that in the person of Jesus. When I struggle with my health, I know
that Jesus endured the cross. God’s encouragement spurs me on to not give up and not listen to the words the world wants to speak over me. I listen to what God has to say first.’
There’s something worse than sickness – having a
crushed spirit
J ade believes that her disability isn’t an obstacle to God’s plans for her life. She knows that he is at work in every situation.
‘As a teenager, I remember feeling that God was saying to me: “My grace is
sufficient for you. It’s not a problem for me whether you walk or not.” God knew that this would happen and that there was going to be a fulfilling life to come from this. He’s still going to use me for his glory, and he doesn’t need me to be healed to do that.’
Jade is also struck by Jesus’ example of sensitivity and respect, as described in the Bible.
‘What he often says before he heals someone is: “What can I do for you?” I used to find that weird because I’d be like: “Well, they’re blind. What do you think they want?” But Jesus is such a gentleman. He’s treating them as a human, asking them what they want and how he can help. That will look different for every single person.’
Jade believes that it’s not bad for people to desire healing, and that she knows people who have been healed. But she acknowledges that God doesn’t heal everyone in the here and now.
‘I know that in eternity, I will be healed,’ she says. ‘I’ll have a body in Heaven, I’ll be able to walk, run, whatever. But right now, God is using me in my situation.’
John points out that people with good physical health face problems too.
‘We’re also limited if we’re able-bodied. God is working all the time with broken people, no matter what that brokenness looks like.
‘Jade often touches on the Bible verse Proverbs 18:14, which says: “The human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” We know that, while it’s hard when you’re ill, you can endure.’
Jade adds: ‘There’s something worse than sickness – having a crushed spirit, which is being without hope. And, as a Christian, I’m not without hope.
‘If you’d told the 13-yearold me that I would go to uni, get married, have children and have a book out, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine it. God has bigger plans for us than we have for ourselves.’
Yet, within the book, the couple don’t shy away from the difficulties that disability
presents. These include insensitive questions and jokes. Jade makes the point during our interview that, while she enjoys dark humour, it should be ‘rooted in relationship’ and led by the person with the disability.
The pair also write about accessibility issues with kerbs, toilets and lifts and the associated medical problems that come with disability. Jade gives the example of when she was in hospital and bedbound for a year after contracting sepsis from a pregnancy pressure sore. She felt isolated and vulnerable as she cared for her baby boy, Elijah, despite John’s loving support. In such times, their shared faith has proved pivotal.
John remembers: ‘A combination of work life, parenthood and health came to a perfect storm, but Jesus is an everpresent help in trouble. We’ve had so many such moments since we’ve been married.
‘I’d been made redundant from two different jobs, Jade’s health was awful
when she first had Elijah. There have been moments of happiness, joy and laughter, hence the book. But there have also been moments of endurance, where you look back on them and you’re like: “I honestly don’t know how we coped.” But God is always there, helping.’
As they navigated parenthood, the pair faced additional difficulties related to Jade’s disability. But Jade knew that, regardless of her physical limitations, she would make a wonderful mum, modelling valuable life lessons to her kids, Elijah and Areli.
‘I can be a listening ear, I can guide them, I can show them how to still live a good life when they face adversity. There are a lot of important lessons that I can teach my children, and probably more so from my position of being paralysed. They know bad things in life sometimes happen, and sometimes they don’t get better. I’m not going to get better from being paralysed.
‘I want them to know that there can
still be joy and hope regardless of traumatic things happening to us. That resilience is important for everyone, and I feel fortunate enough to have learnt that at a young age because of my situation.’
Ultimately, the pair hope to share the life lessons they’ve learnt not just with their own kids, but with the readers of Able to Laugh too.
John says: ‘I think normalising faith and normalising disability are two really cool by-products of the book. Life is tough, but it is also what you make it. It’s so much easier to make it good if you’ve got God in your life.’
l Able to Laugh is published by SPCK
John and Jade with their children Elijah and Areli
The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 1 Champion Park, London SE5 8FJ. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.
jBecoming a Christian
There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God
Lord Jesus Christ,
I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.
Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.
Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen
Eating fruit and vegetables is good for us – and, according to the Bible, a healthy inner life also includes fruit. In this series Peter Mylechreest takes his pick of nine life-enhancing qualities called ‘the fruit of the Spirit’
Elizabeth, a committed Christian, had responsibility for the welfare of a number of young adults. When one of them disclosed a safeguarding issue, Elizabeth rightly spoke to her manager. However, he seemed to regard the accusation as the product of a teenager’s imagination.
It didn’t help that the alleged offender was the son of someone personally known to the manager. Elizabeth, however, felt that she had a duty of care towards the person who had confided in her, and she persisted in her investigations to get to the truth. It was difficult to continue, particularly as she didn’t feel she was fully backed by her boss. But eventually the full truth came out and the matter was dealt with correctly.
In choosing to continue as she did, even though there was an easier but wrong path that was open to her, Elizabeth demonstrated the quality of goodness.
Often there is a price involved both in being good and in doing good. A person may lose popularity or be ostracised by those who take a less honourable way. Goodness is not doing something right once, but doing something right over and over again.
Paul, an early Christian teacher, said that goodness was a quality of ‘the fruit of the Spirit’. That is, goodness is something that grows within a Christian the more they rely on the Spirit of God to guide them.
Perhaps of all such qualities, goodness is the slowest to develop. It is difficult to define, yet recognisable. It doesn’t parade itself, and it is far removed from the behaviour exhibited by the ‘nosey-parker do-gooder’. Yet it is a sign that someone has the ability to sense what is wrong and to make a commitment to do the right thing regardless of personal cost.
While being good at something could refer to ability, action or achievement, goodness itself is all about character – integrity, honesty, moral courage and caring about how other people are treated. It can’t be manufactured, but it grows with God’s Spirit, and it helps Christians day in and day out to spread goodness in all directions.
Goodness is good to grow.
To receive basic reading about Christianity and information about The Salvation Army, complete this coupon and send it to
Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International
QUICK QUIZ
1 2 3 4
On which date this month does the US presidential election take place?
Who were crowned winners of this year’s series of the TV competition Celebrity Race Across the World?
Who last month became England’s all-time leading runscorer at Test cricket?
Billie Eilish’s ‘What Was I Made For?’ won the Oscar for best original song after featuring in
GOING ON A BEAR HUNT
Paddington and co head to Peru
Film preview: Paddington in Peru in cinemas from 8 November
By Emily Bright
Marmalade-loving
bear Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw) is truly at home with the Browns in London’s Windsor Gardens. But, in the latest Paddington big-screen adventure, his domestic idyll is disrupted after he receives a letter from the Home for Retired Bears in Peru. The Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) – the nun who oversees the residential care of his Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton) – encourages him to visit his aunt as soon as possible.
Mrs Brown (Emily Mortimer) sees a trip to Peru as the perfect opportunity for a holiday, particularly since the family have drifted apart. But when they all arrive at the Home of Retired Bears, Paddington discovers that Aunt Lucy has embarked on a personal expedition without leaving a trail. It prompts Paddington and the Browns to travel into the heart of the Amazon rainforest to find her, helped by riverboat captain Hunter (Antonio Banderas) and his daughter.
The adventure may prove testing for the family, but, as Ben Whishaw explains, Paddington’s character will anchor them.
‘He always brings joy,’ he says. ‘Paddington always brings optimism. He’s unfailingly kind. He’s never knocked down for very long, and he bounces back up. I just think that there’s such a spirit in the films of the acceptance of difference, kindness and respect.’ Many of us wish we could embody such wonderful qualities in our own lives. However, the reality is that life throws up distractions and unexpected events, which we don’t always react well to.
The good news is that we don’t have to bear our struggles alone. One Bible writer, who admitted that he sometimes behaved in ways that he regretted, reassures us that there is help available.
Paul explains that, if we believe in Jesus, he will enable us to cultivate ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, selfcontrol’ in our own lives (Galatians 5:22 and 23 English Standard Version).
A relationship with Jesus is not hard to find. And, if we ask him for help, he will equip us with everything we need for life’s adventures.
The Browns join Paddington (below) in the search for his aunt
PUZZLES
Quick CROSSWORD
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Give in (9)
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Amount owed (4)
Also-ran (5)
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Snort (5)
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8. Comforted (9)
11. Collide (5)
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14. Male cat (3)
16. Groove (3)
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9
Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these words associated with peace
Slow cooker chicken hotpot
INGREDIENTS
Light oil spray
METHOD
Preheat the slow cooker, if necessary.
500g chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
4 carrots, diced
½ swede, diced
200g button mushrooms
½ tsp dried thyme
1tsp smoked paprika
Ground black pepper, to taste
1tbsp plain wholemeal flour
500ml reduced-salt chicken stock
500g roasting potatoes, thinly sliced
INGREDIENTS
25g tortilla chips, roughly crushed SERVES 4
Spray the oil into a large non-stick frying pan and warm over a medium heat. Cook the chicken and onion, turning until the chicken has browned on all sides and the onion has softened. Transfer to the slow cooker.
Add the carrots, swede and mushrooms, then sprinkle over the thyme and paprika. Season with pepper and mix thoroughly.
Stir the flour into the stock, then pour into the slow cooker and mix well.
Arrange the potato slices so they overlap and cover the top of the chicken and vegetables, then press the slices down, so they are just beneath the surface of the stock.
Cover and cook for 5-6 hours on high, until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender.
Remove the pot from the slow cooker. Lightly coat the potatoes with oil spray and place under a preheated grill for about 4-5 minutes. Serve with steamed greens.
Mexican chicken salad
METHOD
2 skinless chicken breasts, cooked and roughly chopped
198g can sweetcorn
150g cherry tomatoes, halved
25g jalapeño peppers, chopped
400g can kidney beans, washed, drained and cooked
2 spring onions, finely chopped
¼ iceberg lettuce, shredded
2tbsp low-fat sour cream
1 lime, juice
Freshly ground black pepper
50g reduced-fat cheddar cheese, grated
In a large salad bowl, mix together the chicken, sweetcorn, tomatoes, jalapeños, kidney beans, spring onions and lettuce. Set aside.
To make a dressing, mix together the sour cream and lime in a separate small bowl, then season with pepper. Drizzle over the salad and toss everything together.
Mix in the cheese and tortilla chips,
Psalm 18:2 (New Living Translation)