Authors explore the history of a revolution
WAR CRY
9 January 2021 20p/25c
Paradise lost in mystery Ralf Little returns in BBC’s whodunnit series
Caring for the children of China
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WAR CRY Issue No 7507
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
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EDITOR From From the editor’s desk
EVERY so often, an advertising campaign will tell us that the product it is promoting will revolutionise our lives. It could be anything – new technology or the latest skin cream. The idea of something being revolutionary is bound to catch the public’s attention. Many real revolutions and revolutionaries have gone down in history – think of Lenin in Russia, Che Guevara in Cuba or Robespierre in France. One name that may not immediately be linked to a revolution, though, is that of Jesus Christ. Yet, according to writer Tom Holland, that is exactly what he was. ‘My background is in classical history,’ says Tom in an interview in this week’s War Cry. ‘I became interested in what it was about Christianity that had changed the Roman world so completely.’ As a result of his interest, the historian gathered essays by writers and thinkers from a variety of backgrounds and beliefs to explore the ways in which Jesus could be considered a revolutionary. One of those writers is Nick Spencer of religion and society think tank Theos. Nick identifies the way in which the teachings of Jesus and his followers broke down divisions between groups in society. Pointing to the writings of one early Christian, Nick tells us: ‘Very early on Paul was saying that there was neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, because all are in Christ.’ He describes that teaching as ‘momentous’. However, the revolution started by Jesus, and carried on through the centuries, is still needed today. If the events of 2020 taught us anything – aside from what it is like to live through a worldwide pandemic – it is that the message declaring the value of all people has still to reach everyone. Let us hope that this year, as a vaccine is rolled out to combat coronavirus, an effective antidote can be found to all discrimination and that a person’s worth, regardless of ethnicity, gender or ability, is acknowledged by all.
CONTENTS
What is The Salvation Army?
FEATURES 3
Sleuthing in the sun
Death in Paradise returns
5
Extended childcare
One man’s work to transform children’s
welfare in China
8
A revolutionary change
Authors on how the world was never the
same after Jesus
REGULARS
12
Now, There’s a Thought!
13
Bible Series
14 Puzzles 15
War Cry Kitchen
5
8
Front-page picture: BBC/Red Planet/DENIS GUYENON
15
TELEVISION BBC/Red Planet/DENIS GUYENON
DYING TO TELL THE TRUTH Emily Bright investigates the latest series of Death in Paradise
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NEW year, a new murder mystery on the idyllic fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie. It can only mean the return of popular sleuth DI Neville Parker (Ralf Little) in BBC One’s Death in Paradise. When the tenth series began on Thursday (7 January), viewers caught up with the fastidious Neville, who is set in his English ways. He fears that he has ‘sick building syndrome’ and is allergic to the police station. As a result, he tries to avoid his workplace, much to the ire of his colleagues. But when he receives a call out of the blue reporting that 25-year-old local TV reporter Melanie Sharpe (Eleanor Fanyinka) has been found dead in her pool, he springs into action. It transpires that Melanie was working on an exposé for the daytime news show Today with Tourné. She was threatening to speak truth to power to protect island residents. Before her death, and despite being warned off the story by her colleagues, she boldly declared: ‘We have a duty to tell the truth.’ But she never got the chance, as the story cut too close to the bone for some. Neville is left wondering who wanted to silence her. Everyone she works with is under scrutiny. The trouble is, most of the suspects have seemingly watertight alibis. Discovering the truth will not be easy. All over the world, and in both fiction and real life, people have risked everything to reveal or realise the truth. While some seek to uncover scandals or criminal activity in a search for the truth, many are on a mission to discover a truth on which they can base their lives. For many, their faith represents a
DI Neville Parker examines the death of TV reporter Melanie Sharpe life-transforming truth. Christians hold fast to the truth they see in their faith, because they see it as a powerful force for good. They believe that Jesus died for us all so that we could be reconciled to God and experience his love. Christians see that as a truth worth sharing. Jesus said: ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:31 and 32 New International Version). He explained that, by following him, people would be freed from the mistakes or past hurts that threaten and imprison them and rob them of the ability to live their lives to the full. While in some cases, we still face the consequences of those actions, Jesus can offer healing, peace and redemption in the middle of our struggles. He will sustain us in the challenges we face, if we let him. All the evidence points to a new and better life being available to each one of us. Are we willing to investigate Jesus’ offer and discover the truth of it for ourselves?
Discovering the truth will not be easy
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STRAWBERRY FIELD, the Salvation Army site that inspired John Lennon to write a Beatles hit, has announced the winners of its first People of Peace awards. The Liverpool centre, which today includes a Beatles exhibition and a training programme for young people facing barriers to employment, launched the awards to celebrate the legacy of John Lennon, who often sang and spoke about peace. As a boy, John played in the grounds of Strawberry Field, which at the time was a Salvation Army children’s home. He went on to write ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. In September, the centre asked for nominations of people from the city who have promoted peace. A panel of judges – among them Major Kathy Versfeld, mission director of Strawberry Field, and Charlie Roberts, a childhood friend of John Lennon’s early group the Quarrymen – chose five winners. They included Liz Spencer, who, as a non-Jewish head of a Jewish school and in other roles, has encouraged understanding across political and religious divides, and recipient of the young person’s award Alex Smith, who during lockdown played bagpipes for elderly and other vulnerable people to lift spirits. The winners will have their photos on display for a year at Strawberry Field.
Do you have a story to share? a warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk @TheWarCryUK TheWarCryUK
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Footballer tackles issue of persecution PREMIER League footballer Olivier Giroud has spoken out about the persecution of Christians around the world. Hosting an online charity gala, partly in aid of Christians in northern Cameroon, Mali and Mauritania, the France international said: ‘It is unimaginable to see so many persecuted Christians in the world today. We have to talk about it.’ During the auction, signed sports jerseys worn by Giroud, Major League Soccer player Aurélien Collin and French handball champion Astride N’Gouan went under the hammer to raise thousands of pounds for the French arm of persecution watchdog charity Open Doors, as well as Holistic Sports France. Clémence Martin, of Open Doors France, said: ‘Christians in the far north of Cameroon have suffered up to three attacks per week perpetrated by Islamic extremists Boko Haram. We try to encourage Christians there by maintaining a presence of our team members on site and by giving them essential goods.’
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SHEILA HANCOCK told Premier Christian Radio that, while she thought it was ‘foolish’ to close churches during lockdown last year, meeting on Zoom had been ‘a godsend’. In an interview, the actress talked of being a member of the Hammersmith Quakers in London, who moved into a new building in 2020 yet were unable to operate fully because of coronavirus restrictions. Sheila explained that, although the doors remained closed, members of the congregation stayed connected to one another online. ‘The good thing about Quakers is we can actually have a meeting anywhere because all we do is sit in silence and if somebody feels moved to speak, then they can and then we go silent while we think about it,’ she said. ‘It did seem awfully stupid for a group of people to sit there in silence on Zoom but we did it and it was rather wonderful.’ Sheila added that she could not understand the reason for closing places of worship during lockdown, saying she believed churches would have willingly followed safety measures and that keeping them open ‘could have only been good for the morale of the country’. When asked about her 25 years as a Quaker, Sheila – who was made a dame in the new year’s honours list – revealed that she had ‘never regretted it’. She said: ‘It’s absolutely right for me. I like the silence because it expresses an inability to find the answer, and I think life is one long quest to find the answer, which you probably never will. I don’t want people to give me their vision for the answer and I believe profoundly that there is that of God in everyone.’
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INTERVIEW
Family valued ROBERT GLOVER tells Claire Brine how he started a project to help find families for children in China
I Robert Glover
N 1998 Robert Glover left his home in Guernsey and moved with his wife and their six children to China, where he began to work with the country’s government on transforming its policies on the welfare of children living in care. ‘Our goal was to get 300 children out of state-run institutions and into families – in three years,’ says Robert, who founded the organisation Care for Children to carry out the task. ‘As a pilot project, it seemed achievable. I had support from the British and Chinese governments. I was an experienced social worker, having managed children’s care services in Guernsey. And I had a clear calling from God. I was sure that Shanghai was where I was meant to be.’ In his book As Many as the Stars, Robert recalls that his fascination with China began when he was a child growing up in Norfolk. He was drawn to ‘this mysterious culture in the Far East’, and vowed that one day he would visit the country. But after leaving school and serving in the Royal Navy, he settled into a career as a social worker. The ‘difficult teenagers’ he cared for got under his skin. ‘Often in my job I saw children coming into care and before long they would be learning how to smoke and steal from the others,’ he says. ‘Such deviant behaviour only added to the problems these kids already had. It didn’t hit me straightaway, but gradually I came to the conclusion that these children needed families. They needed that security, identity and warmth.’ Years later, when Robert left behind his stable career in the UK to take on a new challenge in China, his conviction that ‘God made the family for children’
People started abandoning baby girls
Ai Liang was one of the first children to be placed in a foster family by Care for Children, founded by Robert
became even stronger. In particular, he felt compelled to help those who had been abandoned in institutions as an unintended consequence of the country’s one-child policy. ‘It was an attempt by the Chinese government to slow down population growth,’ says Robert. ‘But things went drastically wrong.’ Robert explains that as a result of the policy, launched in 1979, most couples were desperate to have baby boys. This was because a son and his future wife were expected to take care of his parents in old age – a cultural practice that did not necessarily apply in the same way to daughters. ‘When girls grew up and got married, they had to look after their husband’s family before their own,’ says Robert. ‘That’s why it was really important to
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From page 5 have a son. As a result of the policy, many people started abandoning baby girls. A lot of disabled children were also abandoned.’ When Robert first visited the institutions across China, he saw that they were in crisis. ‘Some housed 1,000 children,’ he says, ‘and when I talked with them, I could see that they were in desperate situations. The staff were in chaos as well, having had only basic training or none at all. I knew that if we were going to make a difference to these children, then we needed to make some changes. In my conversations with the government, I said that systemic childcare reform was needed.’
Robert coached the Shanghai Canaries football team (top), as well as finding foster families for more than one million children
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rying to explain Robert’s vision – to replace residential care in China with family placement – was particularly difficult when he learnt that there was no word or expression for ‘foster care’ in Mandarin. ‘I had to work within the system and win people over,’ he says. ‘At first, some of the staff at the Shanghai Social Welfare Institution didn’t want me around. For a long time I wasn’t allowed to eat in the canteen with them. So I had lunch by myself in my little office with a rat who would sometimes come to join me.’ While Robert faced resistance from some of the staff, the children began to warm to him. He put together a football team – the Shanghai Canaries – which went on to win the Shanghai Schools Trophy. The victory resulted in Robert receiving a lunchtime invitation to the canteen. After that, more of the staff became keen to learn from him. ‘I trained them in how to recruit families, what to look for and how to find them,’ he says. ‘I taught them how to do assessments, how to match children with families and how to support them afterwards. My aim was always to
MIM HOWELL
INTERVIEW
Robert with his family
empower the staff, so that they could take on the programme themselves. And that’s what has happened.’ After the success of the pilot, Care for Children began to work across the country and beyond, into Thailand and Vietnam. To date, it has placed more than one million children in families. ‘In China, the scheme allowed families who already had one child to have up to three more, so it was a win-win for everyone,’ Robert says. ‘I remember going to see a family in Sichuan, where we had placed a young girl. The mother ran out to give me a big hug and a kiss. She said: “Thank you for transforming my family. Before we took on Evie, my son had gone to university and my husband had started drinking and gambling. We argued a lot. But now that we have Evie, my husband has changed. We are a family again.” ‘While I knew that we were helping children find families, I didn’t envisage that we would be rebirthing families that had become empty and stale.’ Robert often tells another story to highlight the effectiveness of family placement, about a boy from a village just outside Guiyang. ‘The city had an orphanage which had a lovely playground and a sparkling canteen. I knew that some of the children who had been living there had been placed into quite poor families in villages, and their homes didn’t have all these facilities. It made me wonder about what we were doing. But when I arrived in this particular village, a little boy ran up to
Since Care for Children’s launch in 1998, Robert has been training foster families in how to support their children
me and said excitedly: “Do you see that building? It’s my school! And that over there is my dog. And yesterday I climbed that tree and everyone watched me. I’m not going back to that orphanage.” ‘Suddenly I realised that this little boy – who felt known in his community and who had a dog – had found something in his village that was far more valuable than any of the sparkling things offered by the orphanage.’ While Care for Children has focused its efforts on transforming the lives of children in China, Robert has noticed that he, too, has changed. The past 22 years have caused his faith in God to become stronger. ‘When God calls you to do something, you need the faith to step into it and the obedience to do it,’ he says. ‘When I moved to China, my confidence was in him. I knew that if he went before me,
Systemic childcare reform was needed
then he would provide all. There’s no better place to be than where God wants you to be.’ It’s a conviction that guides Robert as he reflects on his hopes for Care for Children in the future. ‘Our vision is to see a whole world of children experiencing the richness of family life,’ he says. ‘That’s the most important thing. We have the hope and ambition – now people all around the world need to get on and make it reality.’
l As Many as the Stars is published by Hodder & Stoughton
9 January 2021 • WAR CRY • 7
Liberty Equality Christianity He did not lead an armed struggle. He did not meet the expectations of those hoping to topple the ruling elite. But, TOM HOLLAND argues, he changed the world completely – and the historian has gathered essays by writers and thinkers from a variety of backgrounds and beliefs to explore whether and how Jesus was a revolutionary. Tom and one of the book’s contributors NICK SPENCER talk to Philip Halcrow
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S the writer of the popular Dynasty: the Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar and Rubicon: the Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic, historian Tom Holland has long been, in one sense, very familiar with the ebb and flow of life in ancient times. But he has also felt that if he was in ancient Rome, he would not be able to do as the Romans did. And he became interested in the reason why. The evidence points to one figure. ‘My background is in classical history,’ says Tom. ‘I’ve particularly written about the Roman Empire, and it’s hard to try to get inside the heads of the Romans without feeling how alien they are to us, how profoundly different from us they are in their assumptions in terms of morals and ethics and the most fundamental issues such as how they view the way society should function. ‘Whether you’re a believing Christian or not, in the modern West the way you
see the world is fundamentally a Christian one. I became interested in what it was about Christianity that had changed the Roman world so completely. The figure of Jesus stands as the fountainhead of that transformation. I wanted to find out what it was about him and the way he came to be understood that was so revolutionary.’ It is the question explored by Tom and nine other authors in the book he has edited, Revolutionary. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, including philosopher and journalist Julian Baggini, novelist and biographer AN Wilson and professor of Christian origins Joan E Taylor. Looking at the subject with a historian’s perspective, Tom argues: ‘The idea of revolution is a profoundly Christian one. In my last book, Dominion, I wrote of how the coming of Christianity into the classical world was the primal revolution. ‘It reconfigured the Roman Empire. Then
The idea of revolution is a profoundly Christian one
Tom Holland 8 • WAR CRY • 9 January 2021
FEATURE
there was the specific process of societal revolution which took place in the 11th century – what historians call the Papal Revolution – in which the ambition was essentially to rebaptise society, to cleanse and reorder it in the same way that an individual sinner might be cleansed of sin and baptised. That provided an archetype – it was referred to as
reformatio, the remaking of society. It set up cycles of reformatio that convulsed Latin Christendom repeatedly, and in the 16th century there was what we call the Reformation. Then in the 18th century there was a similar cycle with the Enlightenment, of which the French Revolution was the most dramatic expression. ‘The French Revolution established a
model that is what most people think of when they think of revolutions, but its impetus is obeying highly Christian dynamics, and ultimately those dynamics originate in the figure of Christ.’ Many historians grapple with what can be reliably said about that figure. They try
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From page 9 to work out exactly what he said and what he did. Tom rejects the extreme position held by only a few people that Jesus of Nazareth did not even exist. He says that, in the context of his books Dominion and now Revolutionary, the issue of the extent to which the Gospels are an authentic portrayal of what Jesus did is less important than the effect the Gospels had. ‘The truth is that nothing has had quite the impact of those four texts. Their impact is revolutionary. The figure that they’re portraying is remarkable.’ One fact about Jesus accepted by ‘pretty much everyone’ raises another question about Jesus and his revolution. Tom says that it is
10 • WAR CRY • 9 January 2021
almost impossible to deny that Jesus was crucified by the Romans. And the Romans ‘crucified people in the provinces because they were rebellious – either slaves rebelling against their masters or provincials rebelling against Rome. So we have to assume that Jesus was crucified because he was seen as a threat.’ Over the years, a few authors have suggested that Jesus, therefore, must have been a violent threat. Tom, however, maintains that the evidence points in the opposite direction.
‘Both in the letters of Paul, which are the earliest Christian texts, and in the Gospels, the great emphasis is that Jesus goes willingly to his death. He does not fight it, but submits to it. This seems to have bewildered and impressed the earliest people who wrote about him, and it is so fundamental to their understanding of him that it is very hard to explain why they would have thought the way they did if he had been a conventional rebel leader. ‘Under the Roman rule of Judaea in the 1st century there were lots of people who were crucified as rebels against Roman power, but none of them were written up in the same way that Jesus was described by Paul and the Gospel writers. To conclude that he was a rebel, you’d have to assume that either they massively got the wrong end of the stick or
FEATURE that there had been some conspiracy to change the facts – but neither of those options seem likely. It seems much likelier that Paul and the Gospel writers were reporting what they think happened and what did happen.’ Tom sees Jesus’ subversion of expectations as being pivotal. ‘There were many Jews in the 1st century who were waiting for a rebel to lead an uprising against Rome. They thought the Messiah would come with a sword in his hand. In a way, the revolution consists of the fact that that is not what happened – instead God ended up on the gallows. ‘In the long run, the implications of that would prove to underlie the idea of revolution. For instance, Frantz Fanon, the postcolonialist theorist from Martinique who took the side of the Algerians in the revolt against France in the 1950s and 1960s, talked about what decolonisation meant. He said it can be summed up by “The first shall be last and the last first”. He’s quoting Jesus. ‘The idea that there is power in powerlessness, that slaves will triumph over the master and the tortured will triumph over the torturer breeds the assumption that revolution is positive.’ Tom sees Jesus as someone who always surprises.
‘For instance, very early on Paul was saying that there was neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, because all are in Christ – that was a momentous success in terms of breaking down hard and fast divisions between groups in society by locating people’s final identity and worth in their relationship with God rather than their social status or gender.’ He points to other moments throughout time – such as when the early Christian thinker Gregory of Nyssa preached a sermon ‘in which he said pretty much uniquely for the classical world that no human being can own another human being’, taking the earliest Church’s attempt to ensure that slaves were treated generously a step further and rejecting the institution of slavery entirely. He highlights Stephen Langton, a medieval biblical scholar, whose insistence that everyone – however powerful – was subject to the rule of law influenced the drafting of Magna Carta. He mentions the Putney Debates, held at St Mary the Virgin Church, where Colonel Thomas Rainsborough declared: ‘I believe that the poorest he in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he.’ ‘Then there was William Wilberforce, who was part of the campaign against slavery, which was an extraordinary campaign to be conducting during the Napoleonic Wars when frankly a lot of people were concerned with survival rather than with freeing people who lived thousands of miles away. ‘So there are lots of high points in the revolution – as well as low points too, obviously.’ The revolution is still suffering setbacks, perhaps unsurprisingly given the scale of the opposition. ‘It sounds a bit glib but it’s probably true that the biggest obstacle to the revolution is human nature,’ says Nick. ‘This is not like a political revolution where once the dictator is overthrown it can be declared a success. ‘There are certain specific obstacles, such as the inordinate power that some people wield over others, the financial strength of some compared with others, the social hierarchies in some countries. But these obstacles have deep roots in our human nature of wanting to assert my will, my existence, my priority over other people.’ Nick begins his chapter in Revolutionary by sketching out the way in which, after growing up in a non-Christian household, he came to faith. It is a personal beginning to his reflection on a subject that crosses continents and centuries. A distinguishing characteristic of Jesus’ revolution is that it
He explicitly denounced all forms of violence
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imilarly, Nick Spencer of religion and society think tank Theos tells me that in his contribution to Tom’s book he initially planned to describe Jesus as ‘the revolutionary revolutionary’. He explains: ‘In the narrower sense of the word, Jesus wasn’t particularly revolutionary, or at least conventionally revolutionary – which sounds like a contradiction in terms. When I think of a revolutionary, I can’t help but have the image of Che Guevara in mind. The word “revolutionary” indicates an individual bringing together a small band of people who are extremely disaffected with the status quo and inspiring them to completely transform it, often by violent or coercive means. ‘In the immediate term, Jesus wasn’t revolutionary, because the classical world circa AD40 was pretty much the same as the classical world of AD30. And he explicitly denounced all forms of violence and coercion. But in the long run, he turned the world upside down.’ Evidence of the revolution can be seen throughout history, says Nick, though he emphasises that it is a work in process. ‘You’ve got to be careful not to say that the revolution is done and dusted. Anyone who knows history can see that it’s a frequently failed process – but there are moments of success.
is personal. He tells me: ‘In the latter half of the 20th century, a lot of radical activists had the slogan that the personal is political. You could say that for Christianity the political is personal. You can strive all you like to overturn corrupt regimes – and indeed you must – but it isn’t the end of the matter, because this political revolution is ultimately rooted in the soil of the human heart. Unless you’re endlessly tilling that, no external revolution is ever really going to deliver the goods.’ Like Tom, Nick sees Jesus’ attitude towards force and violence to be crucial. ‘Jesus’ revolutionary moment is to effect change not through the exercise of power or coercion or violence,’ says Nick, ‘but through absorbing acts of violence in himself and forgiving. Ultimately the only way of righting relationships is through forgiveness. And that is what Jesus physically does.’ The rest is history.
l Revolutionary is published by SPCK
Nick Spencer
9 January 2021 • WAR CRY • 11
EXPLORE
Prayerlink THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.
j
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.
Now, ther NOW, THERE’S
a thou A THOUGHT!
by Jo Moir
Wizard ideas on what to ask for I HAVE been watching old films during the recent periods of lockdown – among them that classic The Wizard of Oz. It is a tale of four unlikely friends searching for answers and asking for the things they most wanted. Dorothy’s three companions are seeking things they feel they lack. The Scarecrow asks for a brain (wisdom), the Lion asks for bravery (courage) and the Tin Man asks for a heart (compassion). In the end (spoiler alert!) they all get what they need. The Scarecrow gets a PhD, the Lion finds out he was already brave and the Tin Man discovers his heart. If we could ask for anything, though, what would it be? Wealth? Good health? Forgiveness or maybe peace? Not all the things we ask for will do us good but, when you think about it, the three things the Wizard of Oz characters desire are great things for us to ask for too. For every situation we face, we need wisdom – the right words to say, understanding about what to do and where to go next. We need courage to face each day or to make the right choices. And without compassion we might find ourselves becoming unkind. Wisdom, courage and compassion – a great request list. But who can we ask for these qualities? I know there are no wizards to go to. However, millions of Christians have found they can go to God with their requests. The Bible records Jesus talking to his followers about prayer. His ideas about how to talk to God are simple but powerful. He says: ‘Ask and you will receive’ (Matthew 7:7 New International Version). That doesn’t mean we get whatever we want whenever we want it, especially if it’s not good for us, but Jesus goes on to say that God gives good gifts to us. Some of us are just like Dorothy’s companions. We long to have the qualities that will improve us as people. The good news is that, if we ask God and follow his way, then he will give us all that we need to make that possible.
We need courage to make the right choices
Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen
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EXPRESSIONS
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QUICK QUIZ 1
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In what year did Andy Murray help Great Britain to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936? Gingerbread, Lollipop and Marshmallow were names of old versions of which mobile operating system? What French duo had a hit in 1997 with the electro-funk song ‘Around the World’? ANSWERS
by Mal Davies
A sight for old eyes H
AVE you ever been told something wonderful would happen, and then you’ve been left just to wait? Expectation builds and you dream of the day it happens, but you don’t know when that will be, so all you can do is … wait. The Bible story of Jesus’ birth concludes with someone who had become proficient at waiting. In Luke’s Gospel, we read of Simeon, a devout and righteous man who had received a promise from God that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, the one who would save people from their suffering. The story says that one day God prompted him to attend the Temple in Jerusalem. He did, and it happened to be at the same time Joseph and Mary had brought Jesus there to be dedicated to God (as Jewish law required of them). The elderly Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God for the child, saying, ‘My eyes have seen your salvation’ (Luke 2:30 New International Version) and acknowledging that he could now die in peace, having seen the Saviour. Have you ever had someone say of you that they can see something ‘in’ you? They’re generally referring to some quality of your character that may lead you to achieve something wonderful – they ‘see greatness’ in you. Simeon could see something amazing in Jesus. He could see that Jesus would bring salvation and allow all people to be reconciled with God. God sees something in you. He sees someone who has needs that can’t be met by all that the world offers. He sees someone who needs to feel loved. He sees someone who longs to know if life has a meaning and purpose. He sees someone who has made mistakes and wants to be better. If you need to know where to start, you can say the prayer or send in the coupon on page 12. You can have a coffee and a chat with a Christian you know, or you can look up a local church online and make contact. Maybe it’s time to finally answer the question: who is Jesus to you?
God sees something in you
9 January 2021 • WAR CRY • 13
1. Florence. 2 John le Carré. 3. Geraldine. 4. 2015. 5. Android. 6. Daft Punk.
CROSSWORD CROSSWORD
PUZZLES
QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 3. Spring (3) 7. Language (6) 8. Responds (6) 9. Getaway (6) 10. Attack (6) 11. Horse (3) 12 and 21 across. Noël Coward play (6, 6) 14. Impede (6) 17. Mary _____ , 1970s pentathlete (6) 21. See 12 across 24. Devour (3) 25. (Of novels) supernatural (6)
26. Former Yorkshire district (6) 27. Cultivated (6) 28. Groups of nine (6) 29. Ovum (3) DOWN 1. Official based overseas (6) 2. Appalled (6) 3. Calm (6) 4. Irish county (6) 5. Two-wheeled carriage (6)
6. Try, with effort (6) 12. Bread roll (3) 13. That girl (3) 15. Mountain (3) 16. Decay (3) 18. Unfamiliar (6) 19. Breathe out (6) 20. Withdraw (6) 21. Thread (6) 22. Halogen (6) 23. Natural (6) by Chris Horne
SUDOKU
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9
HONEYCOMB HONEYCOMB
7
9 5
9
1 8 8 4 9 7 1 6 2 9 5 3 8 2 6 4 5
WORDSEARCH AMBITION
ANTICIPATION ASPIRATION
ASSURANCE BELIEF
QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 3. Spa. 7. Tongue. 8. Reacts. 9. Escape. 10. Assail. 11. Nag. 12. Blithe. 14. Hamper. 17. Peters. 21. Spirit. 24. Eat. 25. Gothic. 26. Riding. 27. Tilled. 28. Nonets. 29. Egg. DOWN: 1. Consul. 2. Aghast. 3. Serene. 4. Armagh. 5. Hansom. 6. Strive. 12. Bap. 13. Her. 15. Alp. 16. Rot. 18. Exotic. 19. Exhale. 20. Secede. 21. String. 22. Iodine. 23. Innate. HONEYCOMB 1. Gravel. 2. Ballet. 3. Dollar. 4. Clever. 5. Oxford. 6. Profit.
CONFIDENCE DESIRE
DREAM
3 5 8 2 6 1 9 4 7
7 4 6 9 5 3 1 8 2
2 1 9 7 8 4 5 3 6
1 9 5 3 4 6 7 2 8
8 7 3 1 9 2 6 5 4
4 6 2 8 7 5 3 9 1
9 2 4 5 1 7 8 6 3
6 8 7 4 3 9 2 1 5
5 3 1 6 2 8 4 7 9
ENCOURAGEMENT EXPECTANCY FAITH
OPTIMISM PATIENCE PROMISE
PROSPECT RELIANCE REWARD
SUDOKU SOLUTION
TRUST
6 1 9 4
4
5
14 • WAR CRY • 9 January 2021
4
3 1 6
ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH
1 9 4
ANSWERS
9
6
Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number 1. Small stones used for paths and roads 2. Artistic dance performed to music 3. Monetary unit of the US 4. Quick to learn 5. City of Dreaming Spires 6. Financial gain
8
3Look 7 up,2 down, 1 forwards, 8 4 9backwards 6 5 and diagonally on the grid to find 5these 4 words 1 9associated 7 6 with 2 8hope 3 8 6 9 5 3 2 4 7 1 R Z H C Q T Z A S W D P M F F R A V 2 9 7 3 1 8 5 4 6 N Y N R S V C B Z R S E G Z T M R W L Q F P I Y Q J A S O C S Y B F T G 6 5 8 4 9 7 1 3 2 E R V W E N Q W B R T N C I L Z B E 1 E H R F 3 4 6Z A T C R N Y O 2 5 7 9 8 C Z R J T F N F J J D R C G B Z N 9 1 5 7 6I V R Z E K Y 3 8 2 4 A K M X L Q U E C R O L V Q N C C N 4 8 3 2 I 5E Z C K N H D 9 6 1 7 R E E C E H C S Z N U M G B N Q X E T P T R O O A E A F 7 2 6 8 4 1 3 5 9
S Q P J H H P F Y D A U P T K D E S S P X Z T G B P Z N R T C K S I L W A O J R I P T R C A I E I F L F K K I R Z Q A R Q E G M P P A E A N H Q X N T M F Z H E I X S S B M N O Z J H I R Z X W M S E Z A R Q N T C E I D Z Q E E E M U Q N P R O M I S E L Q W B A N T I C I P A T I O N Q M W C R Z T C E P S O R P L K Y V T R Z
2
5
3 8 6 2
9
D Toasted bagel with spinach and eggs Ingredients
Method
60g baby spinach
Place the spinach, water and a pinch of nutmeg in a pan over a medium heat, cover and shake well. Cook for 3 minutes until the spinach has wilted. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drain off any excess liquid.
1tsp water Freshly grated nutmeg Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 wholemeal bagel 2 medium British Lion eggs 2tbsp semi-skimmed milk 1tsp margarine
Beat the eggs and milk together with seasoning, then melt the margarine in a non-stick pan and pour in the egg mixture. Cook over a low heat for 3 minutes, stirring until most of the egg is set. Remove the pan from the heat and continue to stir for a further 30 seconds.
SERVES
1
Parma ham and basil omelette Ingredients
Method
15g butter
Melt half the butter in a medium non-stick pan. Crack the eggs in a jug, then add the cold water and seasoning. Pour half of the egg mixture in the pan. Cook over a medium heat for about 3 minutes. Use a spatula to push the cooked egg into the centre of the pan until no more runny egg remains and the base is golden.
6 large British Lion eggs 2tbsp cold water Salt and ground black pepper 2 slices Parma ham, torn into pieces Basil leaves, torn 15g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Scatter over half the ham, basil and cheese, then tip the omelette out on a plate, folding it as you tip. Repeat to make a second omelette. Serve hot.
Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the British Egg Information Service website eggrecipes.co.uk
Cut the bagel in half horizontally. Place cut-sides up on a baking sheet and toast under a hot grill until golden. Set aside.
Place the toasted bagel halves on a plate and spoon the spinach over them. Top with the scrambled eggs, to serve.
SERVES
2
9 January 2021 • WAR CRY • 15
y a w y l n o e h T d n e i r f a e v a to h e n o e b o t is
Ralph Waldo Emerson
WAR CRY