War Cry 5 June 2021 by The Salvation Army UK and Ireland

‘After losing a child, the grief is ongoing’

WAR CRY

5 June 2021 50p

Horse power Cinema rides again with feelgood drama

Watching TV in the line of duty

The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity providing services in the community, particularly to those who are vulnerable and marginalised. Motivated by our Christian faith, we offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK to all who need them, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. To find your nearest centre visit salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church

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.

WAR CRY Issue No 7528

Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN Tel: 0845 634 0101 Helpline: 020 7367 4888 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Editor-in-Chief: Major Mal Davies Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland 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. Printed by Walstead Roche Ltd, St Austell, on sustainably sourced paper

Your local Salvation Army centre

INFO 2 • WAR CRY • 5 June 2021

EDITOR From the editor’s desk

‘EVENT TV at its finest’ was how Mirror TV columnist Sara Wallis described the last series of Line of Duty. When the series reached its finale, 12.8 million people tuned in on the night of its broadcast. One TV viewer who appreciates the way Line of Duty got people talking is Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, who is not only the Bishop of Ripon but also the chair of the Sandford St Martin Trust, which has the goal of ‘promoting excellence in religious programmes’. In this issue of the War Cry she suggests that viewers of the drama may have found themselves having conversations about ethics. Next week, the trust hands out its annual awards in a ceremony that has become an event in TV and radio programme-makers’ calendars. In previous years, actors, writers and presenters from such contrasting programmes as drama Call the Midwife, sitcom Rev and documentary A World Without Down’s Syndrome? have made the journey to pick up their awards. Last year, Stormzy and Michael Sheen took part in the online ceremony. Helen-Ann says that some of the programmes shortlisted every year are not explicitly ‘religious’. Wary of programming that treats religion as something to be ‘siloed off’, she says: ‘Religion is more than doctrine and ceremony.’ The reality is that Christians are guided, strengthened and comforted by their faith in every aspect of their life – sometimes in the most trying circumstances. This week’s War Cry also includes an interview with Jonny and Joanna Ivey, who describe their experience of losing a child before her birth. They felt shock and grief. But they also talk of experiencing a sense of peace. Joanna adds: ‘The grief is ongoing. But it’s the grace of God that gets Jonny and me through.’ As the pages of the War Cry show every week, Christians know that religion is not just about doctrine and ceremony, but about realising that God is with them in every event – however ordinary or dramatic – of their lives.

CONTENTS

What is The Salvation Army?

FEATURES

Coming up on the reels

Horse racing film hits cinemas

Pals appeal

Best friends celebrated

TV channels big questions

Bishop talks broadcasting and belief

‘We still think about the child that we lost’

Getting through the sorrow of a stillbirth

REGULARS

War Cry World

Team Talk

Puppy Tales

Puzzles

War Cry Kitchen

Front-page picture: © WARNER BROS ENTERTAINMENT

FILM © WARNER BROS ENTERTAINMENT

Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) with her horse Dream Alliance

Come rein or shine Emily Bright sees a community brought together by a dark horse

UDIENCES will be jockeying for position as they return to cinemas to watch Dream Horse, which was released yesterday (Friday 4 June). However, its main character Jan Vokes (Toni Collette), an ordinary woman in south Wales, does not seem at all set for the unexpected adventure that awaits her. As she juggles shifts at a supermarket, caring for her parents and husband and bartending at a working men’s club, Jan is left wondering whether this is all her life has become. However, one night she overhears pubgoer Howard Davies (Damian Lewis) regaling his mates with stories of how

his syndicate once owned a winning racehorse. Her ears prick up, and she decides to try to breed a foal and finance it through a syndicate. Taking a leap of faith, she pays £300 to buy a mare for breeding and installs a makeshift stable on her allotment. Jan convinces 23 of her fellow villagers to contribute £10 a week for the horse’s upkeep, with a plan to split any winnings. A foal is born. And in his first race Dream Alliance secures a delightfully unexpected fourth place. The horse gives Jan and her husband a new lease of life. Dream Alliance also galvanises the entire community as he goes on to achieve success beyond anything they could have believed. Based on a true story, the film highlights how hope can spring from the most unexpected places and unite people in a shared dream. Everyone has to put their hope in something, whether a financial investment, a career, a lifestyle goal or even a sport. But such hopes can be fleeting, and

it’s easy to bridle with frustration when our expectations are not met. However, one group of people have found a truth and a hope that will never disappoint, regardless of the circumstances that they find themselves in. Their hope is found in God. People around the globe have sought his wisdom, reassurance and love for the highs and lows of their lives. The Bible tells how, in ancient times, one such community had found itself uprooted and facing a future that looked far from stable. Their dreams were dashed, and all hope seemed gone. But God said to them: ‘I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version). In their darkest times, God reminded those people that he would be with them and that they would be able to rebuild their lives. God still extends that offer of his presence and support to everyone. It can be easy to be boxed in by our daily routine, without paying any thought to him. But if we let him guide us over the course of our lives, we can find a brighter future.

Hope can spring from unexpected places

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cxztWwxcx HELENA BONHAM CARTER took part in a service in Westminster Abbey last month to mark the work of nurses throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The actress read a passage from the Bible’s Book of Isaiah at the service, held to coincide with International Nurses Day and nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale’s birthday. The Bishop of London, the Right Rev Sarah Mullally, who was formerly a nurse, delivered the address. Ahead of the service, Ms Bonham Carter said: ‘Actors regularly get awards for basically pretending to be heroines, but we all know that particularly this last year it is the nurses who are the real heroes and deserve real recognition. ‘They have been there for our loved ones – our mothers, our fathers, our friends – providing care and comfort to patients during this horrendous pandemic. Some have lost their lives. They have selflessly put their lives on hold to support others under the most stressful of circumstances, and we are all indebted to them.’ The actress had a personal link to the day, as her great-great grandmother was an aunt of Florence Nightingale.

MATT CROSSICK/ALAMY

WAR CRY

Climate change ‘threatens cuppa’ THE future of the British brew is in peril as climate change escalates, according to a report from Christian Aid. In Reading the Tea Leaves: Climate Change and the British Cuppa the international development agency says that Kenya, the world’s largest exporter of black tea, is facing rising temperatures, droughts, erratic rainfall and new insect infestations. These factors, it says, are ‘forecast to destroy 26.2 per cent of the country’s optimal tea-growing areas by 2050’. In 2017, the UK imported 125,810 tonnes of tea, of which 62,222 tonnes came from Kenya. Richard Koskei (pictured), a tea farmer from Kericho in Kenya, said: ‘Tea is an example of how we are all connected. We grow it here in Kenya and it’s enjoyed by people around the world. But if we are to carry on growing it, we need those other, richer countries to cut their emissions, to think about how we are affected as tea farmers.’

SOME of the team behind a gospel music TV series that was broadcast in the 1980s and 1990s have made a vodcast about the show. People Get Ready Podcast Mix is a celebration of a series that was first screened in 1987 on Channel 4 and then moved to ITV. The documentary features some of the artists who appeared on People Get Ready, as well as presenters Bishop John Francis – whose Inspirational Choir had backed Madness on their No 2 hit ‘Wings of

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a Dove’ – and Juliet Coley. It was Juliet who set the ball rolling for the vodcast. Back in 2014, she uploaded some of her old VHS tapes of People Get Ready to YouTube. ‘The feedback from fans of the show who accessed it online was overwhelming,’ she says. ‘I loved my time presenting People Get Ready, but I was young at the time and didn’t really understand how significant it was. I now know that it meant a lot to the black community,

Inspirational women to figure in restoration project A CHURCH will install stone carvings on its exterior to celebrate the achievements of women, reports The Guardian. St Mary’s in Beverley, Yorkshire, has featured carvings for 500 years, but they have been eroded by the weather and are now unrecognisable. As the grade I listed building undergoes a restoration project, eight historical female figures will be carved on the outside of the church. Eighteenth-century author Mary Wollstonecraft, aviator Amy Johnson, pioneering nurse Mary Seacole and astronaut Helen Sharman are among those planned to be featured. Becky Lumley, the vicar of St Mary’s, said: ‘We have chosen these women for the work they have done which has either inspired or enhanced the lives of others. ‘Wherever we see the development of human society working to bring about the common good, we want to celebrate it and acknowledge that each person is made in the image of God with the capacity to do great works.’

especially Christians, when it was first broadcast. I thought it would be good to take a retrospective look at the programme.’ As well as clips from People Get Ready, the documentary, uploaded to the People Get Ready YouTube channel, includes the memories of contributors to the original show who are still working in music, sometimes behind the scenes, including Dave Arch, who is the musical director on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.

FEATURE LIBRARY PICTURE POSED BY MODELS

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Awards celebrate training courses A SALVATION Army centre in Sunderland that provides accommodation and support for people who have experienced homelessness has won several awards for its training courses, which learners say ‘got us through the pandemic’. At its annual Celebration of Learning awards recognising achievements in the northeast of England and beyond, quality assurance and accreditation organisation One Awards honoured tutor Sonia ParkRitchie (pictured), a group of learners and an individual student at Swan Lodge. As a result of Covid-19 restrictions, the event was held online. Tutors at Swan Lodge have helped students to gain qualifications in a variety of areas, including career preparation and personal development, through a combination of remote learning and face-to-face teaching conducted in a Covid-safe way. One student said: ‘I have gained so much confidence from the courses available and the way they are delivered. I have not only grown educationally but also as a person, allowing me to re-engage socially.’

That’s what friends are for Pals are encouraged to be thankful on Best Friends Day, writes Claire Brine

VERY day, we get by with a little help from our friends. So what better way to appreciate our pals than by celebrating Best Friends Day next Tuesday (8 June). It’s a date to remember our mates and be grateful for the role they play in our lives. For those who are unsure of how to mark the occasion, the website bestfriendsday.org has a few suggestions. It encourages us to give flowers to our chum or share a meal together, while friends who enjoy relaxing in each other’s company are invited just to chill. Whoever we are – and however much we may confess to needing our own space – we all need friendship. It’s important to have someone who cares about us. But it’s also important that we learn how to extend a hand of friendship to others. The Playground Friends scheme run by Dunkirk Primary School in Nottingham takes friendship seriously. It invites groups of children to undertake training so that they can ensure fun playtimes for everyone. According to the scheme’s guidelines, a Playground Friend is someone who helps children play together by teaching them new games and looks out for lonely children. In childhood and adulthood, when it comes to friendship, our actions matter. They show our loved ones how much they mean to us. Back in the day, Jesus’ followers learnt the value of the deepest kind of friendship when he revealed to them: ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15:13 New International Version). It wasn’t just a sentimental soundbite. Jesus meant what he said. He went on to die on a cross so that humankind’s wrongdoing could be forgiven by God. The sacrifice of Jesus made it possible for our friendship with our Creator to be restored. Then, Jesus’ resurrection proved that eternal life is possible, as long as we believe in him. As the years pass by and much-loved pals come and go from our lives, we can always have a constant friend in Jesus.

In friendship, our actions matter

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Broadcasting awards bring religion into the picture The Bishop of Ripon, Dr HELEN-ANN HARTLEY, tells Claire Brine why the Sandford St Martin Trust celebrates TV and radio programmes that highlight faith

‘T

HE Sandford St Martin Trust seeks to promote thought-provoking, distinctive programming that engages with religion of all faiths, ethics and morality,’ says Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the Bishop of Ripon and chair of the trust. ‘It was started in 1978 by Sir David Wills because he had a belief in the importance of excellence when broadcasting about faith. I think the work of the trust matters because we can’t understand a lot of what happens in the world if we don’t understand religion or how ethics drive our actions.’ Next Tuesday (8 June), the best TV, radio and online programmes that touch on faith will be celebrated at the annual Sandford St Martin awards ceremony, which, after being unable to take place in its usual venue of Lambeth Palace last year because of Covid-19 restrictions, is going online for a second time. In previous years, winning programmes have included Broken, a BBC drama series starring Sean Bean as a

Dr Helen-Ann Hartley 6 • WAR CRY • 5 June 2021

Catholic priest facing challenges in his Liverpool parish, and the comedy series Good Omens – also by the BBC – based on the novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen as respectively a demon and an angel trying to prevent the end of the world. ‘This year’s entries are once again uplifting, hard-hitting and challenging,’ says Helen-Ann. ‘We are looking for excellence in storytelling – and storytelling that prompts people to think about the big questions of life. ‘One of the programmes up for an award is BBC Two’s The Windermere Children, which focused on the friendships forged among young people who survived the Holocaust. ‘Another shortlisted programme is BBC Two’s Exposed: The Church’s Darkest Secret, about a historical sex abuse scandal. This was a story that needed to be told because it was so horrendous. The programme wasn’t afraid of painting the Church in a negative light – and rightly so in this instance. It reminds us that people of faith are human beings and are capable of making terrible mistakes.’ While many of the programmes recognised by the Sandford St Martin Trust have a clear focus on religion, Helen-Ann explains that promoting Christianity is not the purpose of the awards. ‘The trustees are a diverse group of people who represent different aspects of broadcasting and different faiths. We are not about evangelising. A lot of the programmes we highlight are not “religious” at all. But we are trying to provoke people to consider some of the important questions in life – the questions

INTERVIEW

BBC/WORLD PRODUCTIONS/STEFFAN HILL/GERAINT WILLIAMS

The BBC series ‘Line of Duty’ provoked big questions

that religion has something to say about. ‘For example, a person watching the BBC drama Line of Duty may have found themselves in a conversation questioning the ethics of it. They may have asked: “How do you decide if you are going to shoot someone to kill them?” I think there’s meaty spiritual content underlying a lot of the secular programmes we watch – but it’s almost subliminal.’ Though Helen-Ann welcomes spiritual discussion on many TV and radio programmes, she admits that there are some faith-based shows with which she struggles to connect. ‘A lot of religious programmes reduce religion to ritual,’ she says. ‘Yet religion is more than doctrine and ceremony. ‘Recently the BBC broadcast a TV series exploring different faiths, called Being. It was transmitted at some ridiculous hour, and I felt it siloed off religion as being this thing we do only at important points in our lives. I want to see programme-makers being a bit bolder than that. I want to see the lived experiences of religion, where a soap opera character with faith isn’t a stereotype or fundamentalist, but a regular person who happens to do something good because they are motivated by God.’ An example Helen-Ann gives of bold programming is Channel 4’s It’s a Sin, a drama series broadcast earlier this year which followed a

A lot of the programmes we highlight are not “religious”

group of friends in the 1980s facing up to the Aids crisis. The programme is up for the Sandford St Martin award annually voted for by the readers of Radio Times. ‘When I watched It’s a Sin, religion felt like one of the characters,’ says Helen-Ann. ‘The Christian faith played an important backstory to one of the main characters, but the series also explored themes of forgiveness, compassion and resilience. And in the final episode, the character of Jill became a Christlike figure, sitting at the bedside of a man dying from Aids – a man no one else visited. ‘Jill’s actions are not being held up by It’s a Sin as the “Christian response to Aids”, but I recognised something in her that I could reference in my future conversations. I could say to someone else who had seen the series: “Christians are called by God to love the least, the last and the lost, and that’s exactly what Jill does.” ‘For me, good programming is about being entertained but it’s also about opening doors for a conversation, from a perspective of faith.’

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‘I knew before the verdict came – there was no heartbeat’ JONNY and JOANNA IVEY speak with Emily Bright about getting through the sorrow of a stillbirth

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HE midwife sat my wife Joanna on the bed and picked up the heart monitor to find the heartbeat of our baby,’ recalls Jonny Ivey. ‘My emotions were like a dam, pent up. The moment that she pressed it against Joanna’s tummy, there was a cold, brutal silence. And that’s when the dam just broke, as my worst fear was confirmed. The midwife’s tone changed and she said: “We need to get you in a scan room straightaway.”’ In February 2018, Jonny and Joanna Ivey discovered that they were to become parents for the second time. What followed is the subject of a new book, Silent Cries, written by the couple. ‘Joanna tends to have too much fluid in the womb, which is known as polyhydramnios,’ Jonny tells me over Zoom from the couple’s home in Birmingham. ‘So we had extra monitoring scans in the final trimester as per our hospital’s policy. ‘Thirty-five weeks and a day into the pregnancy, we had a scan and the midwife said for the first time: “It’s all perfect, there’s no extra fluid and the growth is fine.” We went home thinking there was nothing to worry about. When I came home from a church meeting later that night, the baby was really going for it.’ Joanna continues: ‘The next morning, I remember sitting in bed, drinking my cup of tea and reading my Bible and just thinking, “I haven’t felt anything this morning”, but not being worried about it. Babies aren’t necessarily moving all the time. ‘I got ready for work and told Jonny about not feeling the baby move. Then we did all the things that the hospital says to do, like drinking cold water and eating an ice lolly, to

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INTERVIEW

Jonny, Joanna and two of their children, Josiah and Halle

get the baby to move. When that didn’t work, we rang the hospital. They asked us to go in.’ What unfolded next was what every expectant parent dreads. As the couple were whisked into the room for another scan, Jonny sensed something wasn’t right. ‘We saw this picture on the screen. The day before, metres away from where I was sat, we’d seen the baby rolling around, and had got that perfect verdict. But on this scan, the baby was the wrong way up, and there was no movement. I just knew, before the verdict came, that there was no heartbeat, the baby had died.’ When the midwife delivered the news,

Joanna was in shock. She says: ‘It just felt very surreal, and I couldn’t really engage with what was happening. You never think such a thing is going to happen to you.’ Yet in their sorrow, Jonny felt the closeness of God. ‘In that moment, it hit home that God was not distant,’ he says. ‘Our God had not only lost a child, but had willingly given up his child, Jesus, for us. In that moment, I just wanted to pray with Joanna. I asked the sonographer: “Can I pray?” And she said: “Yeah absolutely, would you like me to leave the room?” I replied that she could stay, and so the sonographer heard my heartfelt prayer.’ The next piece of news they received

I couldn’t really engage with what was happening

jolted them into their new painful reality. ‘We were taken through to a suite that is designated for bereaved parents,’ Jonny says. ‘Once there, we found out that Joanna would be given a drug that would tell her body that the baby had died.’ Joanna recalls that the couple both felt ‘weird about that, it was so definite’. Jonny says: ‘I wondered if we were taking away the possibility that God might do a miracle. At the same time, we had to face the reality of the situation, and that was to tell Joanna’s body what to do.’ The couple had assumed Joanna would undergo a caesarean section, but they learnt that she would have to deliver

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From page 9

the baby naturally through labour. Joanna says: ‘We wanted everything to be done as quickly as possible, but it’s not the way they do it. We were sent home and went back into the hospital two days later for me to be induced and have a natural birth. I can understand why now, though. It’s better for the woman and her recovery. ‘We spent this very strange Wednesday preparing stuff, but not really knowing how to prepare. We didn’t know if our baby was a girl or boy. So we bought both a little girl’s and a little boy’s outfit.’ Jonny was unsure how he would react to saying goodbye to his little one. ‘I’ve never been more apprehensive about anything in my life,’ he says. ‘But from the moment we got into the hospital, there was a real calmness. I experienced that Bible verse where Paul talks about the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. There was no reason we should have felt calm, and yet we both did. There was a tinge of excitement, to meet either Edith or Asher.’ On 18 September 2018, Edith Joy Adeah was born. Jonny and Joanna spent precious hours with their daughter as they said their goodbyes. Joanna reflects: ‘I thought it was a terrible thing to give birth to a baby who has died, because you go through all the labour without a living child at the end. I think in one sense, that is brutally true. ‘But actually that morning, God helped me to realise that I still was doing those things for her to be born, for us to see her, hold her and find out who she was, and to spend time in hospital with her. We also knew that lots of people at church were together that morning, praying for us. That definitely made a difference.’ Looking back, Joanna adds that creating those memories with Edith was vital. ‘We were encouraged by our midwife to take lots of photos,’ she says. ‘Even if we didn’t want to look at them for months or even years, she said that there might be some time in the future when we would. ‘We asked other people to come and see the baby, and that was so important. It meant that she’d been shared with some of our closest friends and family, who had held her and seen how real she was.’ Jonny remarks that, outwardly, Edith seemed like any other newborn baby. ‘When we wrote our book, we called it Silent Cries because the fact that she wasn’t crying was one of the few things that set her apart on that first day.’ In the wake of their loss, the couple saw the world differently. ‘It totally changed our views of the

hospital,’ says Joanna. ‘Before, it had been where I’d given birth to our son, Josiah, and it was about life. Losing Edith opened up our eyes to all these people walking around the hospital who had also just found out that their baby was really poorly or had died, or they’d had multiple miscarriages. ‘We were in a room next to where babies were being born, and we could hear them crying. Although that’s very difficult for some people, for us, there was this strange sense of hope that the majority of babies are born alive and well, and a thankfulness that we had Josiah.’ Jonny adds: ‘Seeing and holding Edith, my dead daughter, and then going home to my son, who was running around while holding a dinosaur, I got the dual perspective of the joy and suffering involved in this life. ‘It’s only in the face of death when the gospel makes the most sense. Jesus came to put away death and bring new life on the other side of this fallen world.’

I had the dual perspective of joy and suffering

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onny was comforted by the belief that, even though Edith never drew breath outside the womb, she was precious to God. ‘Psalm 139 is such a huge one for me, being a parent,’ he says. ‘It gives us insight into God’s creation of life and the formation of babies in the womb, but also his sovereignty over how many days he assigns each one of us.’ Joanna agrees: ‘That Bible passage made Edith very real and gave significance to her life. She had been called home to her Father God.’ As time went on, Jonny and Joanna considered trying again. ‘We really wanted to have more children,’ Joanna says, ‘but it felt like a very scary thing. When I got pregnant with Halle in 2019, I felt daunted about

how I would get through the months until she was born. It was difficult not to live assuming that she was going to die as well. I look back and think: “How was I even functioning when I was pregnant with Halle?” ‘People said to us that we were brave and strong. But we were not strong, we were not brave. We were weak and scared. But God gave us grace for the present, and that was sufficient.’ Jonny says: ‘It felt like living for nine months under a weight that was too much for us. Yet the days ticked by, and at the end of the nine months, Halle was born. There was no way I could have carried that

INTERVIEW

burden on my own. God carried it with me.’ The couple gradually began to process their sorrow. ‘It took me a long time to properly cry and grieve,’ says Jonny. ‘I have to take myself to that place of processing my grief quite deliberately. There are songs that we can listen to, we’ve got a memory box that we look at.’ ‘Over the time that we wrote the book, our grief, both individually and together, changed and almost increased,’ adds Joanna. ‘In the immediate aftermath of the

stillbirth, there was the shock, and then while being pregnant with Halle, I couldn’t deal with my grief. It was only really after Halle was born that I started to even engage with my grief around Edith.’ It has been two years since the couple lost Edith, and they now have daughters Halle and Lois as well as Josiah, but Joanna still experiences grief. She hopes that through the book, ‘people will never feel like they just have a period to grieve and then be done

It took a long time for me to properly grieve

with it. You’re never not thinking about the child that you’ve lost on those special days. Having another child doesn’t replace that child, and grief is ongoing. But it is the grace of God that gets Jonny and me through.’ l Silent Cries is published by Inter-Varsity Press

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EXPLORE

Prayerlink 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, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

Becoming 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

talk ‘ ’ Team talk TEAM TALK A little more conversation Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

PODCAST host Anna Sale is an expert in ‘difficult conversations’, writes Amil Niazi in The Guardian. Anna’s US podcast Death, Sex and Money is one to ‘make you squirm, but almost always leave you wanting more’. Instead of shying away from thorny subjects – such as infidelity and infertility – Anna has spent seven years encouraging guests to talk about them. In an interview with Amil, Anna explains how living through a pandemic has prompted many people to have big conversations about topics they once avoided. ‘We’re all out of our depth,’ she says. ‘We’re all feeling loss, questioning and a lack of certainty. And that is worth talking about on its own. Hard conversations are generative when you let someone in what is uncertain or troubling for you.’ How we talk to While opening up to others can be helpful, Anna is and listen is aware that many people prefer to keep certain topics off-limits. Sometimes, she has discovered, people crucial don’t know what to say in response to a friend’s pain or shame and find it easier to avoid the conversation entirely. Anna offers them a different option, which focuses on listening. ‘Letting go of the idea that you need to fix something is really important,’ she says. ‘When someone reveals something that they’re struggling with … I often find myself saying, “I’m so sorry, thank you for sharing that with me.” Let’s acknowledge that you’ve just said something, that there’s nothing I can say that’s gonna lift that pain.’ Like Anna, I think that tricky topics need to be discussed rather than hushed. Honesty matters. Relationships work best when people communicate openly – even if the subject is awkward, embarrassing or painful. But I also think that how we talk and listen is equally crucial. I believe that God gives us gifts of patience, kindness, compassion, understanding and self-control as tools designed to help us in everyday life – and on the worst days of our lives. He wants us to adopt these qualities when we face difficult conversations. Perhaps, when we do, some of those thorny subjects will begin to feel a little bit easier to address.

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Looking for help?

Contact details of a Salvation Army minister Name Address Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

Or email your details and request to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk 12 • WAR CRY • 5 June 2021

EXPRESSIONS

puppy tales Life with a young dog leads Barbara Lang to look at the world from a new perspective

Hide-and-seek W

QUICK QUIZ 1

Who plays Dr Meredith Grey in the long-running TV medical drama Grey’s Anatomy?

In which decade did Motorola

publicly demonstrate the world’s

A first mobile phone?

Who had a No 1 hit in 1969 with

Who wrote Hamnet, a novel

In biochemistry, what does DNA

Who won best director at the

the song ‘Sugar, Sugar’?

about Shakespeare’s son?

stand for?

Academy awards this year for her film Nomadland?

ANSWERS

ELSH collies are clever at herding sheep and problem-solving. That is great in a farmer’s field but not so easy to live with at home. When our small Welsh collie puppy, Jak, grew a little bigger, he started to bark and nip and try to get the family members doing what he thought they should be doing. Jak worked on problems such as how to get out of his pen and how to get on top of the kitchen worktop or dining table. Cute Jak became naughty Jak almost overnight. Every day, Jak needed to have a new trick to work on to keep his mind active. He can now play hide-and-seek with his toys. He will sit and wait while I hide a small toy and then excitedly hunt everywhere for it. He really enjoys the game. Sometimes we need activities in our lives that challenge and excite us, keeping us focused on important things. When God created people he made them to be unique, with their own thoughts, preferences and feelings. But, although each one of us is different and responds differently to problems and difficult situations, we can all know that God understands how we feel. And, through the words of the Bible, we can find encouragement for each day of our life.

‘You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ (Psalm 139:13 and 14 New International Version )

PODCAST REVIEW Patient 13 BAFTA-WINNING producer and writer Bob Ayres gives a fresh take on the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with this podcast – made by the Things Unseen podcast team – told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Judas (played by Brian Vernel) wakes up in a modern hospital looked after by a doctor who helps him unpack his memories of events. Listeners hear Judas recall his conversations with another of Jesus’ disciples, Peter; with Mary, who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet; and – in encounters that had unintended consequences – with the chief priests, who handed Jesus over to the Romans, an act that resulted in his crucifixion. The drama presents Judas as a man of complex motives who does not foresee how events will unfold. Perhaps the podcast has a point – maybe in the end, Judas was just a flawed human being who was in need of God’s grace, like all of us.

Linda McTurk

5 June 2021 • WAR CRY • 13

1. Ellen Pompeo. 2. The 1970s. 3. The Archies. 4. Maggie O’Farrell. 5. Deoxyribonucleic acid. 6. Chloé Zhao.

PUZZLES

CROSSWORD QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Tarry (4) 3. Front of boat (3) 5. Resolute (4) 7. Tired out (9) 9. Rave (4) 10. Plunge (4) 11. Footwear (5) 14. Exploded (5) 15. Fruit (5) 17. Up to (5) 18. Imagine (5) 19. Jumped (5) 20. Trivial (5) 23. Ache (4) 25. Inheritor (4) 27. Made up (9) 28. Not one (4)

29. Auction item (3) 30. Narcotic (4)

DOWN 1. River dam (4) 2. Passage of Scripture (4) 3. Seashore (5) 4. Squander (5) 5. Bolted (4) 6. Female horse (4) 7. Vigorous (9) 8. Paraded (9)

11. Baffle (5) 12. Eight musicians (5) 13. _____ Phillips, actress (5) 14. Not good (3) 16. Consume (3) 21. Perform well (5) 22. Silent (5) 23. Chess piece (4) 24. Memo (4) 25. Grasped (4) 26. Ladder step (4)

SUDOKU

Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9

HONEYCOMB HONEYCOMB

Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

ANSWERS QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Wait. 3. Bow. 5. Firm. 7. Exhausted. 9. Rant. 10. Dive. 11. Shoes. 14. Burst. 15. Apple. 17. Until. 18. Dream. 19. Leapt. 20. Petty. 23. Pain. 25. Heir. 27. Concocted. 28. None. 29. Lot. 30. Drug. DOWN: 1. Weir. 2. Text. 3. Beach. 4. Waste. 5. Fled. 6. Mare. 7. Energetic. 8. Displayed. 11. Stump. 12. Octet. 13. Sally. 14. Bad. 16. Eat. 21. Excel. 22. Tacit. 23. Pawn. 24. Note. 25. Held. 26. Rung. HONEYCOMB 1. Kidnap. 2. Ticket. 3. Mallet. 4. Flimsy. 5. Curtsy. 6. Hornet.

2 8 9 4 3 5 7 6 1

5 4 7 2 1 6 8 9 3

1 6 3 9 8 7 4 2 5

4 1 8 7 5 2 6 3 9

3 5 6 8 9 4 2 1 7

9 7 2 1 6 3 5 8 4

7 9 4 6 2 1 3 5 8

8 2 5 3 4 9 1 7 6

6 3 1 5 7 8 9 4 2

SUDOKU SOLUTION

6 6 9 2 1 5 9

14 • WAR CRY • 5 June 2021

3 9

3 1

4 7

1 3

6 9 2 1 5 9

ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH

1. Abduct and hold captive 2. Official notice of a traffic offence 3. Wooden hammer 4. Light and thin 5. Women’s formal greeting of bending the knees 6. Large wasp

9 7 6 9 2 3 2

WORDSEARCH A LIFE LOST

A PROMISED LAND BECOMING

BEYOND ORDER GROWN UPS HAMNET

KLARA AND THE SUN MY GARDEN WORLD ONE OF THE FAMILY SHUGGIE BAIN

TALES FROM THE FARM TAP TO TIDY

THE DREAMER THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

THE SALT PATH

2 Look 5 up, 1 down, 4 3forwards, 9 7 backwards 8 6 and diagonally on the grid to find books 8 these 4 6 1 from 5 the 7 bestseller 9 2 3lists 9 7 3 8 6 2 4 5 1 C I M Z V N D N R P Z M L F T T P Y 4 2 9 7 8 1 6 3 5 L J Y Z H F M E Z Q X H Q Y L T D K 1 8 5 9 6 2 4 7 X L G J T 3T R N Y Z G P A F W E Q B X J A Z V U A C 5 6 7 I 2Q C Z P M L S G Z 4 3 1 9 8 S B R N T U F P V A D S R G N Q L H 7 8 4 6 2 5 3 1 9 I C E D U T Y E Z T P B C O Q S E C L Y E S Z F H P R L W E M H Z H T B 6 9 2 3 1 8 5 7 4 Q O N E O F T H E F A M I L Y I T B 1 3 5 9 7 4 8 6 2 D N W H R E M V M Z Q S S G Z G W B

H D O T D S O J A C M N E K G Y L R P O R D J Z R P E Q B X D H Z U X Y D R L N Q C F Z R P U I L W T S H L F D D A V D S Q D Z Q L A A Q P D S F E Y A E X E Q E S P U N W O R G F Y R A R B I L T H G I N D I M E H T U Q E A T U A U T S O L E F I L A Z W K Z L F Q T A P T O T I D Y M Q N I W D K B E C O M I N G H M H T E Y

1 3

Spaghetti bolognese Ingredients

Method

300g extra-lean minced beef

Heat a large pan and add the minced beef, a handful at a time, cooking until browned. Add the onion and cook for another few minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients, apart from the spaghetti and black pepper. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.

1 large onion, finely chopped 400g chopped tomatoes 2 garlic gloves, crushed or finely chopped 2tbsp tomato purée 2tsp dried mixed herbs 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped 3 handfuls mushrooms, sliced 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 courgette, chopped

SERVES

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Season the bolognese sauce with a pinch of pepper. Drain the spaghetti and top with the sauce, to serve.

150ml reduced-salt vegetable stock 300g dried spaghetti Ground black pepper

Tropical fruits with banana dip Ingredients

Method

1 fresh mango, peeled, pitted and sliced

Arrange the mango, papaya, pineapple and strawberries on a serving plate. Slice the banana into a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add the yoghurt and stir well to mix. Serve the pieces of fruit alongside the dip.

1 fresh papaya, peeled, deseeded and sliced 200g pineapple pieces in natural juice, drained 100g strawberries, halved and stalks removed 1 banana, peeled 4tbsp low-fat natural yoghurt

SERVES

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the Public Health England website nhs.uk/change4life

5 June 2021 • WAR CRY • 15

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything Philippians 4:6 (New Living Translation)

WAR CRY