WAR CRY
Special branch
Vicky McClure explores her family tree in Who Do You Think You Are?
‘We need
to be aware of injustices around us’
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.
WAR CRY
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: Rodney Kingston
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
Founder: William Booth
General: Lyndon Buckingham
Territorial leaders: Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main
Editor-in-Chief: Major Julian Watchorn
Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226
From the editor’s desk
Sport fans enthralled by the excitement of the Olympics in Paris have learnt along with the athletes that a split second can make a big difference. In some cases, places in the final heats and colours of medals have been decided by just hundredths of a second.
While such fleeting moments don’t generally make so much difference to people’s day-to-day lives, many would agree that time is a valuable commodity. When life seems to be always busy, it can feel difficult to find time to do all the things that we would like to do.
It is something that Church in Wales vicar the Rev Dr John Gillibrand recognised when he introduced a 15-minute service at his church in Swansea. He wanted to help people fit prayer into their lives.
‘We think of the 15-minute service as an oasis of calm,’ John tells us in an interview this week. ‘It’s about empowering people. They have this time to pause, and then they can go back home feeling fresh to tackle all the urgent matters that need attention.’
We also reveal this week how another church is running a garden and allotment project to offer time and space for people to pause in their busy lives. ‘It’s like walking through the doors of the church,’ project volunteer Alison Sargent says. ‘There is a sense of peace and calm, and communing with God.
‘It’s a space where I can lose myself in nature, be with God, regenerate, reassess, ground myself, breathe and find the peace which fills me up and which then gives me the energy to go on for the rest of the day.’
Christians will be familiar with the peace that their faith brings and will know the words of Jesus: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28 New International Version).
That is an invitation anyone can accept – we just have to make the time to do so.
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 CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper
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Your local Salvation Army centre
FAMILY FORTUNES
Line of Duty star branches out in ancestral documentary series
TV preview by Emily Bright
Actress Vicky McClure takes on her most hard-hitting drama to date. But it’s not what you may expect. She’s investigating her family tree in Who Do You Think You Are? – which returns to BBC1 on Thursday (15 August).
Vicky finds out why her deceased paternal grandmother, Nonna Jean, was put into care at a young age. She is visibly moved as she recognises Jean’s determination that the childhood cruelty she experienced at the hands of foster parents would not define the person she would become.
‘She was so happy all the time, even to the end,’ remarks Vicky. ‘I don’t know anyone else on the planet quite as jolly as her, so into family, so all about love… But she had such a bad start. So in my head, it was her trying to break that chain.’
The actress also discovers what happened to her maternal greatgrandfather, Harry Millership, who was held as a Japanese prisoner of war in
1942. Following his story takes her more than 6,000 miles from her home town of Nottingham to Taiwan.
The experiences of Jean and Harry hit home more than Vicky ever expected. They lead her to reflect on where her family members inherited their inner strength from, and how their trauma has shaped the generations that followed.
As the programme draws to a close, she reflects: ‘The whole thing has just been the most incredible, disturbing and lifechanging experience. There’s been a lot of it I’ve not found easy. I’d hope I’d have that strength, that Millership strength.’
Whoever we think we are, life can often deal cruel blows. The people around us can hurt us with their words or actions, or circumstances outside our control dictate our future in ways we would never have wanted. Such times can sap our reserves of strength, and we may wonder how we will find the motivation to carry on.
But millions of people have taken
encouragement from wisdom passed down the generations through the Bible.
Thousands of years ago a poet and soldier, who was no stranger to suffering, spoke eloquently about the power of faith in sustaining him. He wrote: ‘The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me’ (Psalm 28:7 New International Version).
Christians all around the world continue to know the truth of those words centuries later. Their relationship with God gives them the strength to get through their struggles, no matter how huge they may seem.
The good news is that anyone can ask God for help. He invites us into his family, offering complete love and acceptance. All we need to do is say yes to him.
Life won’t always be easy but – if we let him – God will be by our side, supporting us every step of the way. Rooting ourselves in a relationship with him is the best decision we’ll ever make.
Seem like kindred spirits?
A play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe imagines a conversation between Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and actress Thora Hird. Playwright CLARA NEL HADDON talks about portraying two very different characters who, in sharing their experiences of music, family and faith, discover that they have concerns in common
Interview by Philip Halcrow
ClaraNelHaddon
Never mind that one was a grunge musician while the other was an actress and presenter of a TV programme about hymns. Playwright Clara Nel Haddon has brought together Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Dame Thora Hird in a drama that begins its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Monday (12 August). And, while acknowledging that they were ‘disparate in terms of lifestyle and faith’, she portrays them as discovering ‘quite a lot of commonality’.
In When Kurt Met Thora, the two engage in conversation in a BBC green room.
‘I like Nirvana, and about two years ago I was playing their cover of the Vaselines’ song “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam”,’ explains Clara. ‘The harmonies on it are beautiful, Dave is harmonising with Kurt, and Krist plays accordion, and I was kind of haunted by it.
‘It started me thinking about the traditional church hymn “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam”, because my dad told me that his aunt had had it played at her funeral.
‘I was intrigued by the juxtaposition of that innocent song, which is probably a children’s hymn, and the Vaselines’ song performed by Nirvana.’
Clara’s mind also began to juxtapose Kurt Cobain and a figure who seemed to encapsulate the world of that ‘innocent song’: actress and sometime presenter of favourite-hymns TV show Praise Be! Thora Hird.
Clara wondered what would happen if they met. So she imaginatively brought them together at the BBC studios where, in November 1991, Nirvana made an uncomfortable appearance on Top of the Pops at which they had been asked to mime.
Clara read up on Kurt and Thora.
‘The more I read, the more I realised that what was true of them is what is true of most people: we probably have more in common than we don’t have. I thought it would be interesting to explore those two very different people and their views on family, fame, religion and – without sounding too twee – the meaning of life.’
Whereas Kurt is at the BBC to promote his group’s song, Thora is dressed in Salvation Army uniform, having presented a specially themed episode of Praise Be!, and is thinking back to her stint as Captain Emily Ridley in the 1980s sitcom Hallelujah!
Over the minutes that follow, the two explore the happier and darker sides of their experiences.
‘They bond over things like the
Beatles,’ says Clara. ‘He was obsessed with them, and she was in a TV show in the ’60s called Meet the Wife, which is quoted in the Beatles’ song “Good Morning Good Morning”.
‘There are moments in the play where they touch on similar beliefs like family and humour.’
She talks of fame being a fickle mistress
The play brings up the happy younger days of Kurt, who, says Clara, ‘talks about his own childhood in glowing terms’. It also highlights a tragedy that happened during Thora’s childhood, when her older sister was killed in an accident on Morecambe promenade.
‘In the play, Thora talks about her mother being a very loving woman to friends, family and people within the church but there also being a deep sadness because of the tragedy.’
Clara’s mention of church is not incidental. Even aside from Thora’s interactions with The Salvation Army, she was ‘a deeply religious woman’, a Christian in the Methodist tradition. The subject of faith comes up in the play.
‘Kurt was someone that sought spirituality,’ says Clara. ‘He was baptised at one point when he lived with a Christian family. He’d volunteered for the YMCA. He’d also looked into Buddhism, Jainism and other forms of religion. In the play he is much younger than Thora, and he is
still exploring things.
‘By contrast, Thora says she got off at the first stop, which was Methodism.’
But, says Clara, just as onlookers may be tempted to sum up Kurt Cobain in terms merely of ‘dead at 27, suspected suicide, Courtney Love, drugs’, so it would be inaccurate to see Thora Hird as one-dimensional. Clara hopes her play invites audiences to go beyond the stereotypes.
‘There’s an earthiness to Thora,’ she says. ‘Some of her jokes were quite risqué and she played very complex characters in Alan Bennett’s plays. Later in life she did a play about dementia, Lost for Words, and she’s absolutely brilliant in it. I don’t think you can play those parts unless you’ve lived a life.’
And, however she arrived at that first stop of Methodism, Thora felt she benefited from her beliefs.
‘She had found fame quite early on, and she talks of fame being a fickle mistress but how God sustained her. There’s a simplicity to that and a comfort – a comfort that I don’t think Kurt has found.
‘She talks in the play about having a really good relationship with “him upstairs”, and it’s almost as though she had quite an intimate relationship with God. She felt that God was a confidant. She talks about praying to God, how nourishing that has been and how it has sustained her throughout her life.’
l When Kurt Met Thora is at the Space @ Surgeons Hall until 17 August
Ant Hopkinson and Kellie Gamble in ‘When Kurt Met Thora’
Long story short
The Rev Dr JOHN GILLIBRAND explains how his church started holding 15-minute services to attract busy people
Interview by Claire Brine
‘You wouldn’t think that “Vicar goes to church to pray” would make a news story,’ laughs the Rev Dr John Gillibrand. But that’s exactly what happened when he started holding 15-minute worship services every Monday teatime at St David’s Church in Penllergaer, Swansea.
‘Vicar introduces 15-minute “microservices” to attract busy worshippers back to church’ was the headline that caught my eye in The Telegraph. Then I stumbled across the story again when a report on the ITV News website explained that the ‘speedy services’ were designed to help ‘busy people fit prayer into their day-to-day lives’.
While he was grateful to receive such wide press coverage, John admits to
feeling surprised by the level of interest in his church’s latest venture. He tells me how the idea for a 15-minute church service came about.
‘After the Covid lockdown I started asking myself: “What does the Church have to offer people? And what does my denomination – the Church in Wales – have to offer?” I always think that Christians should be leading, front and centre, with the offer of peace.
'We can offer people the opportunity to find genuine peace in a troubled and troubling world. That’s what the Church should be famous for.
‘So, I was praying about all this and asking God what we should be doing. Then, after a lot of reflection, the idea of 15-minute church came up. It was great that people in our church were prepared
to try something new.’
Back in April John held the first 15-minute service at St David’s, receiving positive feedback from those who attended. The services continue to run every Monday at 4.45pm.
‘We chose that timeslot because it coincides with the turnout time from a major local employer,’ he says. ‘We wanted to offer something that was in keeping with people’s needs and the patterns of their lives.’
So far, John’s Monday congregation has included a mixture of faces. Some people are regular attenders of the church on a Sunday but are keen for a little spiritual top-up. Others have come along to see what it’s all about, despite having never or rarely stepped inside the building before. There are also those
The Rev Dr John Gillibrand
people who cannot get to a service at the weekend, so are glad to fit in a time of worship during the week.
‘We think of the 15-minute service as an oasis of calm,’ says John. ‘But that doesn’t mean that I regard it as a shelter, necessarily. It’s about empowering people. They have this time to pause, and then they can go back home feeling fresh to tackle all the urgent matters that need attention.’
I want people to know that they are blessed by God
Perhapsto the surprise of some of the newcomers to the church, John is able to pack a lot of spiritual content into the 15-minute services, which he breaks down into three parts.
‘The first five minutes includes the
welcome and then a Bible reading, which sets the theme for the day,’ he says. ‘I always stress that the welcome we offer in church is unconditional.
‘The second five minutes invites the congregation to reflect on the Bible reading. That part of the service is often about helping people or supporting them in their prayer life.
‘Then, the final five minutes is used as a time of prayer. It can be prayer using words, but often it is a time of silence.
‘I always finish the service by saying a blessing, because I want people who are in the middle of a busy or troubling life to know that they are blessed by God.’
After the service congregants who need to dash off home are free to make a swift exit, but those who want to remain in church a little longer are welcome to stay for a cup of tea. It’s a time for people to chat and build relationships.
‘The bottom line is, if people can’t get to church on Sunday for whatever
reason, we are still there for them,’ says John. ‘Everyone can come to us just as they are, whatever needs they might have.’
Individuals who are pushed for time, such as full-time carers, or those with conditions such as ADHD and autism, are in the forefront of John’s mind as people who may find a shorter service more appealing than its longer Sunday counterpart.
‘I have an autistic son, so I’m very aware of the neurodiversity that we have in the church and the different needs that people might have,’ he says. ‘I don’t think church should ever be about shoehorning people into our services, as though we are trying to produce a standardised Christian. There’s no such thing.
‘The important thing is that our church is an open door for everyone. There’s a verse in the Bible which says, “Taste and see how gracious the Lord is.” We want people to come along and do just that.’
John leads a 15-minute service
Ahead of National Allotment Week, which begins on Monday (12 August), ALISON SARGENT talks about volunteering on the allotment at her Salvation Army church and explains why the plots mean so much to local people
Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku
Community digs connection
‘It’s one of my favourite places on Earth.’ Alison Sargent cannot hide her enthusiasm as she talks about the Growing Together Garden and Allotment at the Salvation Army church that she joined with her husband, David, in 2012.
‘We were blown away with what a fantastic place it was,’ she says. ‘It was hidden away in the centre of Sale, so nobody knew it was there really. My husband is a gardener, and I love gardening, so we got connected with it.’
Today the community garden and allotment is far more widely known. And Alison and David have taken on the responsibility of being volunteers to help to co-ordinate the running of it.
‘There are 10 small allotments and 3 planters,’ she explains. ‘We have three elderly ladies who tend to the planters, which are for people in wheelchairs or who
can’t bend down.
‘We’ve also introduced three little sections for children who come in for Tots on Plots on a Friday. They grow strawberries and sunflowers. It’s beautiful to watch them. It’s a lovely intergenerational space.’
While there are only a certain number of allotment plot holders, the garden is open to the general public. Anyone is welcome to visit.
‘The gates are open first thing in the morning, and we close them at about 10pm for security,’ says Alison. ‘A couple of people come in while walking their dogs, and they’ll let them have a wander round on the grass. One lady used to come from six miles away with her grandchildren in the summer. They’d cycle over, have a picnic and then do a bit of gardening, which they loved. We also have a community fruits
section that anybody who comes to the allotment can take from.’
Within the space, visitors can also find a wildlife pond and a memorial rose garden. There are tables, chairs and spaces for people to picnic.
As a volunteer, Alison takes a lead in ensuring the site as a whole is well maintained. But its upkeep is a communal effort.
‘David and I do the grass-cutting, the hedge-trimming, the sweeping and other general tasks that are not specifically plotorientated,’ she says. ‘Tools are shared, so we lock them away in the shed and deal with any problems with equipment. We have a couple who come along to jetwash the paving slabs. Everyone who has a plot tidies up their own area. It’s a real community project.’
Such togetherness is one of the benefits
Alison Sargent tends roses in the garden
of the garden and allotment – a site which, Alison says, for some people is ‘life-saving’.
There is a sense of peace and calm
‘They
get a boost from nature and the beauty of community. One of the ladies who comes is recovering after having had a couple of nasty falls, and doing physical stuff in the garden is helping with her rehabilitation. Another lady’s husband has Parkinson’s, so she brought him down, and then she got involved. Physically it helps her to be standing, and from a social point of view she gets chatting to people.
‘There’s a school round the corner, and the caretaker comes on his lunch hour to
sit in his garden. He’ll enjoy conversation if people are around, but he loves the silence and the peace and being in a little space of beauty.’
Alison says that the allotments are a place where people can simply ‘be’, explaining that when people walk in through the gates, ‘it’s like walking through the doors of the church. There is a sense of peace and calm, and communing with God.’
She adds: ‘It’s a space where I can lose myself in nature, be with God, regenerate, reassess, ground myself, breathe and find the peace which fills me up and which then gives me the energy to go on for the rest of the day.’
In Alison’s eyes, being in the allotments has parallels with the principles of the Christian faith.
‘All the ethics and morals of the
teachings are brought out beautifully with people in the allotment,’ she says, ‘because it’s a community. For instance, we teach the little ones to be careful where they’re walking, because of the frogs from the pond.’
While users of the garden do not necessarily attend Sale Salvation Army, Alison says that they are all part of the church community.
‘It’s a big family and everybody fits in. A lot of them come along to the concerts we do and bring friends, which is lovely.
‘The garden brings people together in friendship. And even if people don’t come to the worship meetings or activities, we can have conversations with them about what our church does and the different groups we have. They can discover more about it. And this is important to us, because Sale Salvation Army cares about the community.’
The community garden is used by Salvation Army groups and is open to members of the public
A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
Rachel Walker
Just Stop Oil, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo are among the movements that have grabbed news headlines in recent years. Activism can be a big story
Some of the actions that have accompanied various campaigns have perhaps caused ‘activism’ to seem a loaded word, associated with the justification of vandalism or antisocial behaviour. However, Oxford Dictionaries, getting down to basics, defines it simply as ‘the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change’.
The definition is in my mind when I talk with Rachel Walker, co-author of a new book, The Hopeful Activist
Rachel has worked with the Praxis Centre for Hope and Activism, an organisation that speaks out about poverty and injustice. It runs courses called Praxis Labs, which provide Christians with a grounding in what God says about justice in the Bible.
She tells me about one Bible story which she believes provides an example
Co-author of a new book on activism
RACHEL WALKER reveals why love should be a central part of any campaign
Interview by Emily Bright
of activism for the ages – that of Queen Esther and how she saved a nation from being wiped out.
Rachel explains: ‘Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, sees her position of influence with the king, and so he goes to her and says: “We have been threatened with genocide. Can you talk to the king about it?”
‘Esther asks the people to pray and fast and then goes to the king and tries to influence him. If she talks to the king without his consent, she could be killed. But she bravely steps up and speaks out about this injustice that’s going to happen. She recognises that she has a voice, and that she can do something.
‘And she does. She’s successful and manages to avert a complete crisis. Although the Book of Esther doesn’t mention God, we see God working through her.’
The story was one of the topics discussed in the podcast The Hopeful Activist, which Rachel hosted with Praxis Centre’s executive director and Tearfund advocate Rich Gower, and it
was through the podcast that the idea for their book emerged.
The duo interviewed more than 100 Christian campaigners about how their faith affected their activism. Some of those interviews are now included in the book.
We can bring restoration, healing and transformation
Rachel says that the book stems from a desire to see Christians engage with ‘what God’s heart for justice means, and what the Kingdom of God looks like in terms of hope, transformation and bringing justice’. Laying the groundwork in the first chapters, Rich and Rachel make it clear that the basis of all activism should be love, as shown through the Bible.
‘There’s a real story of God’s love throughout the Old Testament,’ Rachel
tells me. ‘In the New Testament, Jesus says to us that the most significant commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbour as yourself. We’re called to love others by practically serving and supporting them, finding out what their needs are and seeing what we can do to help.
‘Ultimately, Jesus calls us to be aware of the injustices and sufferings that are around us, and to bring restoration in relationships between people – but also restoration in our relationships with God.’
Yet with so many issues in the world, knowing where to start can be tricky. So the authors set out steps that anyone can take.
‘We talk about a thing called living the questions,’ says Rachel, ‘which is asking yourself each day: “How can I learn to love today? Where am I seeing injustice? What can I do about it? How can I help people be all that God has made them to be?”
‘I think it’s about doing a lot of what Jesus did – seeking to challenge unjust
authorities and to bring restoration, healing and transformation. There might be skills that I’ve got that I can use to challenge systems of injustice.’
In The Hopeful Activist, co-author Rich suggests that to advance a cause, people may be able to use their talent for negotiating, organising, persuasive writing or listening.
But, as the book outlines, there’s an additional key ingredient to activism: prayer. Just as Esther called the people of Israel to pray for God’s redemption, so Rachel sees prayer as the driving force of all campaigning, keeping her grounded in faith and love.
‘Prayer helps me to orientate myself towards God again,’ she explains. ‘It reminds me that he is the creator of the universe, and he has made people in his image. So even if people are irritating me or not doing what I want them to do, I try to remember that they are made in his likeness and I need to love them.
‘Prayer also changes how I approach things. It means that campaigning doesn’t become about me; it’s about
God and what he’s doing. It helps me to trust in him and to continue to have hope when things are difficult.’
As our conversation draws to a close, Rachel shares a striking question that emerged out of her own explorations of faith and that summarises Christian activism: ‘God cares about justice; the world is full of injustice. What does it mean for me to be part of tackling that?’
l The Hopeful Activist is published by SPCK
Your prayers are requested for Anthony, who is in prison, and for his family.
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
BOO K REVIEW
12 Things God Can’t Do
Nick Tucker
The Good Book Company
I have never been keen on ‘action songs’. But, to my regret at the time, going to Sunday school in the 1980s involved singing and simultaneously waving my arms around to the Church’s equivalents of the primary school disco hit ‘Superman’ and Village People’s ‘YMCA’.
I remember one of those action songs having the lyrics: ‘My God is so big,/ So strong and so mighty/ There’s nothing that he cannot do.’ So, it must be the case that, although I didn’t care for the actions that went with the song, I remembered the lesson that it was teaching – God can do anything.
I was reminded of the song when it was referenced in this book by Anglican vicar Nick Tucker, in which he sets out to reveal some things that God is not actually able to do. His list includes learn, be surprised, change, lie and die.
The waitress said there was no charge
Each of the dozen topics is analysed seriously with a mixture of references to the Bible, early Christian teaching and current Church theology. However, they are all explored in a way that is easy to understand – and with some humour.
In his introduction, Nick says that he hopes his book will help readers know God better.
‘The 12 things God can’t do,’ he writes, ‘all express aspects of his nature and character which we can embrace with relief, celebrate with joy, worship with awe.’
By seeming to concentrate on the things that he claims God can’t do, Nick is actually highlighting positive aspects of God’s character and nature, thereby helping his readers to learn more about the creator of the universe.
This is a book that would suit anyone who is not comfortable reading academic titles but who has a desire to know more about God and the comfort and reassurance he can bring. Picking it up and reading it is an action they won’t regret.
To receive basic reading about Christianity and information about The Salvation Army, complete this coupon and send it to
War Cry 1 Champion Park London SE5 8FJ
Or email your name and postal address to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk
Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International
Andrew Stone
QUICK QUIZ
1 2 3 4 5 6
Who played New York socialite Holly in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
Which rock band had a hit in 1973 with their album The Dark Side of the Moon?
In which South American country is most of the Amazon rainforest located?
Who wrote the bestselling novel The Housemaid?
What chemical element is represented by the symbol Mg?
Which artist painted The Wounded Deer and Diego and I?
2. Pink Floyd. 3. Brazil.
A day foR The ages A day foR The ages
Young people are given a platform by UN
Feature by Sarah Olowofoyeku
Did you know that half the people on planet Earth are aged 30 or younger? But they make up only 2.6 per cent of parliamentarians around the world. These facts and others are under the spotlight for the UN’s International Youth Day on Monday (12 August).
This year the annual observance will focus on ‘digital pathways to sustainable development’. In the lead-up to it, people have been invited to submit youth-led or youth-focused digital solutions that aim to accelerate the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The UN recognises that digital technology is transforming the world and that young people are at the forefront of the change, with three quarters of 15 to 24-year-olds using the internet in 2022. The organisation says that it is important to celebrate the contributions of young people and inspire further innovation that will help the world to achieve the 17 goals, which include the elimination of poverty and hunger.
Audrey Azoulay, director-general of Unesco, says: ‘It is by giving young people the resources to shape their dreams that we will create a better future for everyone.’
It’s true that younger people will have different ways of looking at the world from those who are older. They may be better placed to make decisions about their own futures, and they may have a fresh sense of hope about life. Some of us may remember our youth fondly, thinking that back then we had more energy and the feeling that we could change the world.
But the Bible says that ‘even young people get tired, then stumble and fall’. Youth, then, isn’t the main key to a better life. Something else is. The passage goes on to say, ‘but those who trust the Lord will find new strength’ (Isaiah 40:30 and 31 Contemporary English Version).
Young and old people in many nations have found these words to be true. Putting their trust in the Lord has given them the strength, confidence and hope to make a difference in the world for good.
Audrey Hepburn.
Freida McFadden. 5. Magnesium. 6. Frida Kahlo.
Quick CROSSWORD
1. Caper (5)
4. Adroit (5)
8. Nothing (3)
9. Slogan (5)
10. Boredom (5)
11. Which person (3)
12. Gaiety (5)
13. City state (7)
16. Hasty writing (6)
19. Inverts (6)
23. Pacify (7)
26. Tend (5)
28. Mine (3)
29. Era (5)
30. Bay (5)
31. Idiot (3)
32. Whim (5)
33. Secured (5)
2. Following (5)
3. Expertise (4-3)
4. Recess (6)
5. Expel (5)
6. Something which invigorates (5)
7. Extraterrestrial (5)
9. Infectious disease (5)
(3)
shot (3)
(7)
Perspire (5)
22. Move strategically (6)
23. Ward off (5)
24. Confirmation (5)
25. Pale (5)
27. Ease tension (5)
HONEYCOMB
Salmon and watercress quiche
INGREDIENTS
150g plain flour
75g butter
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
3tbsp water
200g smoked salmon, torn into bite-sized pieces
75g watercress, roughly chopped
70g spring onion, thinly sliced
10g dill, finely chopped
5 eggs
200ml milk
50ml double cream
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3.
INGREDIENTS
750g selfraising flour
185g butter or plant-based margarine
120g sultanas
120g caster sugar
350ml milk or oat drink
Strawberry jam and clotted cream, to serve
To make the pastry, place the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a bowl and rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add enough water to create a dough with the mixture. Wrap it in baking parchment, then place in the refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes.
Once rested, roll the dough to about 3mm thick. Use the pastry to line a 23cm sandwich tin, gently pressing it down into place.
Lightly prick the base with a fork and blind bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly coloured and cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
To make the filling, place the smoked salmon, watercress, spring onion and dill in a bowl and combine well, then spoon into the cooled pastry case.
Add the eggs, milk, double cream and some salt and pepper to a large jug and whisk together well. Pour the mixture gently over the filling and bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden and the filling almost completely set.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Fruit scones
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.
Place the flour and butter or margarine in a large bowl and rub together till the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sultanas and sugar and combine gently.
Add three quarters of the milk or oat drink to the dry mix and stir to combine, then pour in the remaining quarter to form a dough that is soft, but not too sticky. Tip the mixture on to a lightly floured surface.
Roll out the dough until 4cm thick. Use a 7cm straight -edged round cutter to cut out 12 scones, rerolling the dough as needed.
Place the scones on a lined baking tray. Brush the top of each scone with a little milk or oat drink.
Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until risen and lightly coloured.
Serve with the strawberry jam and clotted cream.
The only way to have a friend is to be a friend
Ralph Waldo Emerson