War Cry World

Marathon effort for Big Brother star

FORMER Big Brother contestant Glyn Wise is to run next month’s London Marathon to raise funds for The Salvation Army.

The 34-year-old, who appeared in the Channel 4 programme in 2006 and is now training for the priesthood, has joined an athletics team to help him prepare for the run.

‘I run with a mixture of people,’ he said. ‘Some are Christians and some are not, but they always ask me to pray before our meals when we socialise after going out for a run. I enjoy teaching people about the Bible and about Christianity, and I’ve noticed that more of the people I run with are taking more of an interest.

‘My advice for getting through the tough miles or if you hit the wall is to make sure you drink plenty of water or fluids. Do your stretching – and a tip is to keep a few sugar cubes in your pocket to help you when you need that sugar rush to keep your energy going. I also find that it helps the mind because sometimes you’ll have those voices in your head saying “I want to give up”, but the sugar rush helps keep you going.’

He said the marathon was ‘a really good way of raising money for charity’.

Church offers hope, says archbishop

THE Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, has said that church buildings provide ‘a space of memories, of connection with the past and of hope for the future’.

Writing in The Times, the archbishop said: ‘For me, the heart of church buildings is the important part they play in our worshipping lives; we gather as God’s people to worship daily in some places, weekly in others. However, the impact of the church building extends far beyond the gathering of the faithful.’

He explained: ‘In many places, the church hall hosts community play groups, exercise classes, youth groups, a food bank and other help for local people, making it a bustling hub of activity.

‘These activities show the many and varied ways in which the church building is central to the vitality of the community and why so many people who are not part of the worshipping community feel passionate about church buildings.’

He continued: ‘Just as the steeples rise into the city skyline, so hope should rise from the message of the church, a place of safety, a sanctuary, a gathering place, a community hub.’ n GUINEA has become the 133rd country in which The Salvation Army is officially at work.

The church and charity began exploring the potential of developing its outreach to the west African nation in 2018. It now has one main church and five outreach centres in the predominantly Muslim country, where only 10 per cent of the population identify themselves as Christians.

Speaking about the establishment of the work in Guinea, the international leader of The Salvation Army, General Brian Peddle, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome Guinea into the worldwide Salvation Army fellowship. Africa is a wonderful example of God’s presence. It is fantastic to see God answer prayers made in faith so many years ago in creating this opportunity. God bless The Salvation Army in Guinea.’

Do you have a story to share?

a

warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk

@TheWarCryUK

TheWarCryUK

B

salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

Bibles bring Ukraine ‘light in the darkness’

THOUSANDS of Bibles and other Scripture-based books have been distributed in war-torn Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than six months ago.

Provided by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and distributed by the Ukrainian Bible Society, the literature includes 34,000 Ukrainian compact Bibles, 57,000 Ukrainelanguage copies of Beyond Disaster, a booklet enabling people to look at trauma in the light of the Bible, 7,000 New Testaments and 20,000 children’s Bibles.

Anatoliy Raychynets, deputy general secretary of the Ukrainian Bible Society, revealed that Bibles have been in increasing demand since the conflict broke out.

‘I have personally delivered several thousands of Bibles,’ he said. ‘It is light in the darkness.’

Among those to receive Bibles were Andriy and Yana. The couple have had to flee conflict twice, first from their home in the Donetsk region in 2014 and this year from their new home in Mariupol, when it came under sustained Russian attack.

They came to faith under fire in Mariupol as they queued for food outside a shop. Russian bombs fell close to where they were. ‘Faith started at that point, when God spared all of us,’ said Andriy.

‘We try to get busy with work and studying the Bible. So, everything that happened to us before, it slowly departs. And the wound in your soul becomes smaller because – and this is how we understand the Bible – we don’t focus on losing our home, we focus on retaining our lives.’

As well as Bibles, since February the Bible Society of Ukraine has been delivering bread and first aid.

On the case

The Thursday Murder Club are back solving crime

Feature by Claire Brine

TROUBLE is never far away for the Thursday Murder Club. The

investigative pensioners from Cooper’s Chase retirement village are back, looking into old police files, finding fresh clues and tackling unsolved crime in Richard Osman’s third novel, The Bullet That Missed, published by Viking next Thursday (15 September).

In the gang’s latest case, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron are trying to get to the bottom of what happened 10 years ago to a young woman named Bethany Waites. What they know so far is that Bethany was a successful reporter investigating a massive story of VAT fraud. Late one night she left her apartment and was spotted on CCTV with an unidentified passenger in her car. The next day her vehicle was found at the We may be bottom of Shakespeare Cliff, completely wrecked and containing her blood and clothes. The police called it searching murder, though no one was caught and her body never found. for answers The Thursday Murder Club ponder some key questions. When Bethany left her apartment on the night she disappeared, was she going to confront someone? Why did the short journey to Shakespeare Cliff take four hours? Who was the passenger in her car?

Although finding out what happened to Bethany is no easy feat, the pensioners are committed to uncovering the truth.

While readers are likely to enjoy trying to solve the mystery alongside the members of the Thursday Murder Club, many of us will have more serious times when we look at the life in front of us and feel clueless. We may be searching for answers to our big questions, but not know who to ask or where to look.

The Bible is a good place to start. It tells the true story of a God who loves us, forgives us and wants us to turn to him with our troubles. He promises that, in every confusing circumstance, ‘you will … find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 New International Version).

In cases when life is messy, overwhelming and difficult to understand, God is by our side every day of the week, waiting to reveal his love that lasts a lifetime and beyond.

The sheriff’ s in

LIONEL WALLACE, the former high sheriff of Hertfordshire, explains how he used his appointment to champion young people

Interview by Emily Bright

SAY the word ‘sheriff’, and you might

think of hardy law-enforcers in westerns or Robin Hood’s nemesis. But when I meet Lionel Wallace, the former high sheriff of Hertfordshire, he couldn’t be more different. He’s affable, enthusiastic and earnest in his drive to help young people in the county.

The role of high sheriff has been woven into the fabric of British social history for hundreds of years, as Lionel explains.

‘It’s the longest sovereign-direct appointment in the history of Great Britain,’ he says. ‘The sheriff was noted in certain documentation up to 1,200 years ago. As the sovereign’s representative, they looked after taxation, law and order, justice and policing.’

There are currently 55 high sheriffs across England and Wales, who serve their respective counties with their time, resources and title for 12 months. Lionel was appointed on 10 March 2021.

The two official duties of a high sheriff are to announce the results of MP elections and, if the sovereign dies, to declare who succeeds them. Beyond those duties, high sheriffs can decide the causes that they’d like to invest in during the year, typically supporting

High Sheriff emblem

Lionel meets young people from a One YMCA group in Hertfordshire to talk about volunteering as magistrates

town

law-enforcement, emergency services, community groups and the voluntary sector. In his year, Lionel prioritised youth initiatives.

‘I looked at opportunities for young people to increase their employability and sense of citizenship,’ he says. ‘I’ve also focused on youth engagement with the magistracy. Not many people know you can become a magistrate without any legal qualification from the age of 18.’

Lionel, a full-time aviation engineer who also pastors a church, agreed to be nominated for the appointment after a seemingly innocuous invitation to coffee

from the high sheriff at the time, who suggested that Lionel should give it a go.

‘I considered it an honour being asked,’ he says. ‘The opportunity to be selected by the Queen to be one of 55 high sheriffs from millions of people isn’t something that passes your door every day.’

But Lionel’s primary motivation was to ‘do some good for people and use it as a platform’, which he has continued to do since his appointment ended.

Lionel’s work ethic and sense of civic duty came from his upbringing.

‘I grew up in a large family, and my parents were migrants to the country in the 1950s. They were extremely hardworking.

‘There were also other people who, through school or other activities, made differences to the choices I made. As a result, I’m a great believer that society can impact young people for good.

‘As high sheriff, I wanted to demonstrate that we ought to invest in our young people more and give them much greater roles as citizens. Lots of them have got great ideas, capabilities and creativity, and I think they should be encouraged.’

For example, says Lionel, young people should be encouraged to become magistrates. He points out that, while a

We ought to invest in our young people more

Turn to page 8 f

Lionel at a justice service, held in St Albans Cathedral, which gave thanks for those who administer law and order, prevent offending and protect people

From page 7

met who was caught in adultery and broke religious law, and who was condemned to be stoned by all the people around her.

‘However, Jesus took the view that it would be better for her to receive mercy and to have a chance not to do it again than for her to be killed. The people were choosing to have her killed according to their interpretation of the Law, but they were wrong in the heart of what God wanted.

‘Through Jesus, God gives people an opportunity to change. Sometimes that opportunity involves orders that constrain their liberty. I don’t think that putting people into prison is an unjust act in itself. It may be what some people need to change. It may be that, when you put them into prison and they receive some level of restorative justice or education, it’s doing them good.’

Alongside his role as high sheriff, Lionel juggled a full-time job as an aviation engineer. His passion for aviation was first sparked when he was 14 years old, staring out the window during a French lesson at school.

‘At the time, there was an aircraft company in Hatfield,’ he recalls, ‘and an aircraft flew low across our school field. I thought to myself: “Now, that’s what I want to do. I want to be a pilot flying like that.”

‘I started making applications and

significant percentage of defendants are tried to become a professional pilot, but aged between 18 and 24, that age group that didn’t happen. Instead, I applied make up only 1 per cent of magistrates. for an apprenticeship with the aircraft

‘Defendants are the complete inverse company in Hatfield. I started off as a craft age to the people they see on the bench,’ apprentice, learning how to build aircraft he says. ‘Young people haven’t really and learning skills such as woodwork and been encouraged to be magistrates. We metalwork. would see a different society among the ‘Since then, most of my working life has youth if their peers told them that their been spent on what we call airworthiness, behaviour was unacceptable. It’s a much where I make sure the design of stronger message coming from their peers.’ the aircraft matches the regulatory

To boost recruitment, Lionel has requirements that enable it to carry launched a magistrate intern programme, passengers and operate safely.’ which takes young people from the age He later gained his pilot’s licence in the of 16, teaches them United States and flew private planes at about how the justice system works and God gives people an airfield in Hatfield. Whether he’s in the air or grounded enables them to make an informed decision an opportunity in the realities of improving life in his community, Lionel’s faith consistently on whether or not to become a magistrate to change runs throughout all he does, providing reassurance when he needs it the most. when they turn 18. ‘There are many passages in the Bible

His work to support the criminal justice that speak to me at different points in system and empower young people to my journey and have been an immense serve as magistrates is motivated by his support,’ he reflects. ‘One that particularly Christian faith. He says: ‘If you read the sticks out is Philippians 4:13, which says: Old Testament and the New Testament, “I can do all things through Christ who there’s a concept of God and the justice gives me strength.” I trust in God, and I try that he seeks, one that is not self-seeking to listen to him on what to do and how to but is serving.’ do it.

Through the lens of his faith, Lionel ‘When I look back on my time as high also sees the role of justice as not purely sheriff, I can see God’s hand working in punitive, but restorative too. what I was able to achieve, the people I

‘There’s the example of justice in the met and the things that might happen in New Testament about the lady that Jesus the future.’

FESTIVAL MOTORS ON

MotoFest Coventry festival director JAMES NOBLE explains why he created a city-wide weekend celebration of cars and motorbikes

Interview by Emily Bright

‘THE first word I learnt to say was the name of a Ford car – Cortina,’ laughs James Noble, festival director of MotoFest Coventry, a weekend celebration of the automotive industry,

which starts today (Saturday 10 September). ‘That probably tells you all you need to know. James Noble

‘I have a mechanical bent and was taking bicycles apart when I was eight years old. As soon as I could, I persuaded my parents to let me buy an old car to fiddle with.’

So, it’s perhaps unsurprising to hear that James embarked on a career in the automotive industry.

‘I moved to do my master’s in automotive design at Coventry University 22 years ago and fell in love with the city,’ he says.

Then, in 2011, his life took an unexpected turn. He decided to leave the automotive industry and become a pastor of Jubilee Church Coventry instead.

‘To leave a job I loved doing was the hardest decision I ever had to make,’ he says. ‘But Volkswagen, who I was working for at the time, made it easier for me. They said: “Why don’t you go and try it? We’ll hold your job for the next year or so.” And they gave me a laptop to write my sermons on as a leaving present.’

As James settled into his job as a pastor, Coventry City Council gathered a group of community and business leaders in a bid to revitalise the area.

James explains: ‘They basically said, “We have a problem. We know that Coventry has a bright future as a city, but the people who live here haven’t got any hope for it.”

‘I knew from my work in the car industry that the city had global influence. It didn’t matter where I went in the world, I could walk into a manufacturing facility or design facility and would meet somebody either from Coventry or trained in Coventry.

‘Meanwhile, the people that I’d met in

From page 9

A classic car display in front of Coventry Cathedral

the city knew that it had had a great manufacturing heritage for the automotive and other related industries, but they felt that was all finished. However, I knew the story was different. It was still a world centre for research and development.

‘I said to the group: “What if we could put an event on that tells that story, that meets the past and the future and gives people in Coventry back some belief in the city’s future?” The group said: “Go and make it happen.”

‘My church supported the idea and released some of my time to make it happen, as it was about making a difference to people’s social wellbeing, MotoFest seemed to tie in with a Bible passage, Jeremiah 29, that talks about blessing the city that you’re in for the good of the city and for the good of you.’

The concept of MotoFest Coventry was born, and the first event took place in 2014.

‘We decided the event must be in the city centre, have live motorsports and link the past with the future,’ continues James. ‘So, through various displays around the city, we showcase vehicles that Coventry has made over the past 100-plus years. What’s wonderful is that people who used to be in the factories making those cars

come up to the owners and tell the stories of how they welded the bodyshell together or put in the carpets or upholstered the seats. It’s lovely to see those interactions.’ Among the attractions is a concours d’elegance. Situated in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral, it showcases classic and vintage vehicles. This year’s display theme is the We expect to see lots Queen’s Jubilee, highlighting the of future technology past 70 years of Coventry’s motoring heritage. Elsewhere at the festival, modern cars, motorbikes and sleek supercars are on display. The West Midlands Fire Service will be conducting car-cutting demonstrations and hosting virtual reality experiences. Live music performances provide the soundtrack to the weekend. MotoFest is also gearing up for a cycling expo, which includes e-bikes, a riding skills course and a bicycle health check station. And on Saturday evening, people can cycle round the festival’s twomile sprint circuit on the ring road. The festival is about the future of the industry too, with a focus on advanced automotive technology, electric cars and alternatively fuelled vehicles. ‘We expect to see lots of future technology at the event,’ says James. ‘We’re looking

towards a more sustainable way for people to move around and at how to make sure people don’t experience transport poverty.

‘As people move to electric cars, there won’t necessarily be the trickle down of older vehicles, because electric cars don’t last as long as petrol cars. For poorer families, it won’t be as easy for them to access the vehicles, so we need to think about how else they get around. We’re working with the city council now on cheaper transport policy, and it’s encouraging to have an influence on all of that.’

MotoFest is conscious of its carbon emissions, so has partnered with Chrome Carbon, a reforestation and carbon reduction programme, to ensure that the festival offsets the environmental impact of the weekend.

James has a feeling that Coventry MotoFest is becoming a driving force in the city. In 2019, 229,000 people attended the event over the two days.

‘Coventry appears to love it,’ he says. ‘But it also resonates with people wider than that. We drew a national audience from the very first year. And that’s been great for Coventry. We were part of the bid for Coventry winning the UK City of Culture, and we’ve seen the city transformed. It’s clear that Coventry does have an industrial future now. I think people who live here believe that.

‘Coventry University calculated in 2019 that the uplift to the local economy was £10.7 million over the weekend.’

James says that the event has had a significant social impact too, drawing the city together.

‘We see a large number of families, which is great, and not necessarily people you would class as being petrolheads. Ultimately, transport is about bringing people together and connecting different communities.’ James sees the creativity on show at MotoFest Coventry as mirroring his Christian beliefs.

‘The car has been described as the cathedral of the 20th century. It’s one of the most complex pieces of design you can imagine. It has aesthetic beauty and incredible functional engineering, and feels like the ultimate expression of human creativity. And the author of that creativity is

the God who I worship. ‘If you believe in a God, you have to believe in creativity and that the world was designed. Whether you believe that the creation story is allegorical or factual isn’t really important. What’s important is the God is an concept that God is a creator, a designer, an engineer. engineer ‘I find it fascinating that when his Son, Jesus, was doing his ministry on Earth, he chose to be a carpenter. He did stuff with his hands. And it was those same hands that were then nailed to a cross so that we could receive the grace of God and have a relationship with God again.’

DARREN SKIDMORE