War Cry 18 July 2020

18 July 2020 20p/25c

Sounds like a different kind of Proms

MUSIC FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS MOMENTS FROM THE PAST

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

What is the War Cry? The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.

WAR CRY Issue No 7483

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.

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ONLINE a warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk @TheWarCryUK TheWarCryUK

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2 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

EDITOR From desk From the editor’s desk

SOMETIMES it is necessary to take action when faced with SINGING or is good for you.

So say scientists on the unfairness injustice.

As news outlets aroundquoted the world have BBC Future The experts said thatwhen singing boost reported overwebsite. recent weeks, there are times thecan right course moods and of social connection. ofour action is to joinsense together in protest and bring the issue to the Perhaps it is with these benefits in mind that people have been attention of everyone. joining choirs during lockdown.

In this week’s issue, the to Thereonline are other times when opportunities arise for individuals War new Cry’sprojects Sarah Olowofoyeku a virtual rehearsal ofThat the London start that begin tojoins correct the unfairness. is what International Gospel Choir to discover for herself the pleasures Juliet Coley did. people found singing yet together with only others.

In thishave week’s WarofCry Julietalone, describes the fact that 1 per cent Meanwhile Austen Hardwick literature has found similar in running. of main characters in children’s are blackvalue as a disgrace.

This Warblack Cry also includes interviewbeen, with the Sheweek’s says that people have an historically andmarathon continue to runner who found thatand hismisrepresented sport helped him regain his life afterTo be, underrepresented in to children’s literature. he suffered strokes while in his early forties. a company that address this three systemic racism, Juliet has established However, it was not only running that helped Austen’s recovery. helps black children to become self-published authors.

His Christian faith played a vital part in him taking a positive The former teacher is motivated to give black children a voice by approach to faith. all that heisfaced. her Christian She not alone among people of faith who want ‘When I was in are hospital,’ Austen says, ‘I asked take what to help those who discriminated against or whoGod are to finding life I was for going through and to transform me through it.’ tough other reasons. believe God can take anyAgainst situation or anything AChristians recent survey by that the charity Christians Poverty found that96 they or face and usequestioned it to make ahad positive in help others’ that perdo cent of churches given impact practical to lives orduring their own.

That has been the experience of painter Oliver people the coronavirus lockdown.

They provided many hours ofPengilley. voluntary support to thousands of individuals who were struggling.

Oliver hadfind developed successful career asloves an artist some Christians that theira belief in a God who and with values all of his work selling fortosignificant sums ofregularly money. But, as he people inspires them act. The War Cry reports ontells how the Salvation War Cry this week, grew frustrated.

The Army and he other Christian individuals and groups work ‘I didn’t see meaning it,’ social he says.

Now he travels to to help those in the need and to of fight injustice, including racism. churches all over thehad world to paint pictures during worship Jesus said that he come to ‘set the oppressed free’ (Luke sessions and his faith-based artwork has helpedcan other people 4:18 New International Version).

That oppression take manyin their own journey. forms.

But faith Jesus’ 21st-century followers will continue to act to make It is an amazing that God today can take any skillpractical a personhelp has a difference for goodtruth in the world by offering or any situation they are facing and can transform it into something and comfort to all. that can change their lives and the lives of the people around them.

Contents

What is The Salvation Army?

FEATURES 3

Variation on a theme A different kind of Proms season begins

4

‘I want to help everybody find a voice’ Why Juliet Coley is publishing books by black children

6

Channelling questions TV explores big ideas

8

BBC journalist Caroline Wyatt ‘In war zones I’ve wondered why God would allow this to happen’

REGULARS 12

Team Talk

13

Faces of Faith

14 Puzzles 15

4

War Cry Kitchen

8

Front-page picture of the Royal Albert Hall: Bikeworldtravel/Shutterstock.com

15

MUSIC

Blasts from the past With the Proms encouraging music lovers to look back, Philip Halcrow hears about a pair of late-night concerts

T

HERE are some key changes, but the Proms are getting under way. This year’s festival of classical music is having to be reworked.

The organisers hope that towards the end of the season, although they will probably not be able to welcome audiences to the venue, it may be possible to stage live music at the Royal Albert Hall, where programmes will include pieces commissioned for this year’s event – and for the unusual circumstances caused by the coronavirus.

A major part of this Proms season will be encores. BBC TV and radio are broadcasting highlights from past concerts, and Radio 3 and the BBC’s social media platforms are inviting audiences to share their Proms memories.

There have been many notable nights at the Proms.

Audiences have witnessed Leonard Bernstein, André Previn and Simon Rattle conduct top orchestras. They have heard old favourites, world premieres and – notably in the Late Night Proms – different musical genres.

Bazil Meade has memories of taking part in the first Gospel Prom in 2013 and a sequel three years later.

The founder of London Community Gospel Choir tells the War Cry that the first of the concerts ‘was a little

Bazil Meade (centre) with London Community Gospel Choir nerve-racking, because, although we’d performed in other events at the Albert Hall, this occasion reflected that there was more confidence among broadcasters to include gospel music at that level. We’ve always strived to get the art of black church worship to be recognised at the highest level.

So we were excited but nervous. We wanted it to go well.’

LCGC were one of several choirs who took part in the two evenings, where they were joined by artists such as Muyiwa and, for the second evening, Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child.

Bazil enjoyed the events because they were an opportunity to sing to ‘people who would probably not go to a normal gospel concert but might have always wanted to see a gospel choir. I think there were a lot of new experiences happening for the thousands of people in the hall.’

Bazil emphasises that the artists taking part saw the nights, which included songs such as ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘O Happy Day’, as ‘a celebration of God.

There’s an uplift that comes from gospel music

‘We were showing that we’re artists who love God and are happy to show our faith,’ he says.

Bazil is sure that music in general and gospel in particular can have a positive effect.

‘Music is a wonderful, soothing therapy,’ he says. ‘It plays an important role even in healthy times, but especially now after we’ve been living in lockdown and people have been experiencing problems with mental health and relationships.

‘There’s definitely an uplift that comes from gospel music.’

That uplift, he says, is connected with the faith that underlies gospel.

‘Faith is like a log that you can grab on to when you feel as if you’re being swept away by the strong current in a river. We’re living in such an uncertain time. We don’t know what lies ahead.

But faith can give us hope and strength to live through what is happening now and cope with what is ahead.

‘It’s why gospel music is inspiring and encouraging. It does not say that there are no difficulties – there are many things we don’t understand – but the message of the music can enable you to find strength.’

Willy Barton/Shutterstock.com

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 3

WRITING WRONGS

Former schoolteacher JULIET COLEY explains to Linda McTurk why she established a company that helps black children to publish books about characters who look like them

‘O Juliet’s son, Romeo, started writing from a young age

4 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

NE per cent of protagonists in children’s books are black – it’s an absolute disgrace,’ says Juliet Coley, founder of the publishing company BlackJac Media, which produces books written by black children.

Juliet, a former senior deputy head teacher of a secondary school in Tottenham, is determined to address systemic racism by helping black children aged 7 to 13 to become self-published authors. To date, the company has published 12 books, including Jacob’s Day Trip to Jamaica, Cook with Me and

Nanny Hazel and Hey, Black Girl! Several more titles are due for release by the end of the year. Juliet hopes the books will ‘keep the heritage and culture going’.

She believes that ‘it would have a massive effect’ if there was more children’s representation of diverse characters in children’s books.

Juliet says that black people have historically been, and continue to be, underrepresented and misrepresented in children’s literature. ‘If you see yourself described in books as somebody that is substandard,’ she tells me, ‘then you grow up to believe that that’s all you can be.

Seeing the underrepresentation and the racism, I recognised that I needed to be doing something for young black kids.’

Having taught for more than 20 years, Juliet believes in the power of education to change the lives of young people. But her reasons for starting her publishing company stemmed from a series of difficult events in her personal life.

In 2013, while driving back from the hairdressers, Juliet suddenly felt a pain in

Yazmin McKenzie

INTERVIEW

Juliet Coley wants to ‘help everybody find a voice’ her left arm and started vomiting. But as she had no previous history of ill health, it took her days to realise what had happened.

‘I went into A&E and the doctor said I’d had a heart attack. I was gobsmacked,’ she recalls. ‘They did an angiogram and told me that four of my arteries were blocked and I needed quadruple bypass heart surgery. I thought I was going to die. But my mind was more on my kids than myself.’

The youngest of Juliet’s three children, Romeo, was only five years old at the time of Juliet’s heart attack. He found it hard to accept that his mother was ill.

‘My little boy wanted to stay at his grandma’s,’ Juliet explains. ‘He didn’t want to come home, because he thought I was going to die. He didn’t want to come home, and find me dead in the bed.’

Juliet referred Romeo to play therapy sessions to help him to come to terms with his feelings. After the sessions, he would write down his thoughts and feelings. His older sister thought it would be a good idea to put his words into a book. So she helped him to write it, and Juliet got it published.

‘That was how BlackJac Media was born,’ Juliet says. ‘We published the book, but just for him. The publishing company began with my son writing books to keep him motivated, to boost his self-esteem and for his confidence.

Then somebody saw one of them and entered it into a competition. The book Life without My Mummy? won an award.’

After the success of the book, parents began to ask Juliet to help their own children become self-published authors.

Since then, she has worked with 12 young writers. Juliet also still made time to help her son publish more books. Recently he wrote a book called Cancer, Mummy and Me. In it he describes the difficult time that his family experienced when Juliet was diagnosed with bowel cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy.

Even in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Juliet has not let her passion for helping children dwindle. Later this year, BlackJac Media plans to publish a book called Our Roots, detailing the profiles of grandparents interviewed by their grandchildren through video chat during lockdown.

Juliet says she is determined to ‘help everybody find a voice’, and is motivated

The company began with my son writing to boost his self-esteem

by her Christian faith – something that has also supported her through her own health concerns.

‘Up until the age of 40 I hadn’t even broken my leg,’ she says. ‘But from 40 plus, it has been trial after trial. I’ve had a heart attack, cancer, pneumonia, diabetes, Crohn’s disease.’

Juliet says that at one point she ‘had to have a really good conversation with God, asking, “are you having a laugh?”

‘But I don’t think I’d be as strong if I hadn’t gone through the things that I have,’ she says. ‘And it’s made my family stronger. It is a struggle, but it’s a struggle that I’m not in by myself. I know God as my friend.’

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 5

‘TV responds to the times’ EMMA HINDS talks to Sarah Olowofoyeku about the way in which TV can help us to wrestle with the big themes of life

W

ITHIN the first three weeks of lockdown, BBC viewer numbers increased by 23 per cent, and by April, new streaming service Disney Plus had doubled its number of global subscribers to 50 million. Films and TV shows kept many people company during a time when they weren’t able to see friends or family, go out to eat or do much of anything. Perhaps some of the material broadcast was doing more than entertaining. TV, says playwright Emma Hinds, can provoke thoughts about the bigger questions in life.

Emma has recently co-authored, with fellow churchgoer Alex Booer, a guide to the TV series Good Omens. ‘If you’ve watched the TV show and you enjoyed it, no matter what you believe or where you land politically, our book would be interesting for you,’ she suggests. ‘We have written it with the idea of asking big questions about how we interact with the world and what kind of world we are living in.’

While the guide, Ineffable Love, is about one programme in particular, she agrees that religious themes can be found in many shows.

‘One of the big themes that comes up a lot in TV is the idea of questioning our purpose and where we are in the universe. You can see that in shows like Doctor Who. But even in more upbeat shows, such as New Girl, there is still the question of “who am I and what is my purpose?”

‘TV often responds to the times,’ she adds. ‘So in the past couple of years we’ve seen a lot of TV shows, like Black

Mirror and You, that are about who we are in a virtual world and how that impacts us. Next year we’re going to see a lot of television about self, community and how we respond to disaster.’

Wondering why things are the way they are, Emma says, is a very human characteristic. ‘We have experienced it with the outbreak of Covid-19. There are big questions about why it has happened, but also what it means for who we are as humans and how we define ourselves. Is our purpose just to go to work and does that change when suddenly we can’t go to work?

‘As somebody who has a faith, I will always say that those questions are a kind of God-signature in every human being.

They’re placed in us almost like a homing device. But a lot of writers focus on them because they are interesting questions, and they’re universal. Everybody is different, but everybody wonders.’

Emma believes that TV and other forms of art are the best way to grapple with those questions.

‘When we engage with the arts, we are opening up a different capacity of our minds,’ she says. ‘We’re more receptive to bigger ideas and concepts, and less defensive.

‘What we do as humans when we produce art is something that is sacred in itself. Our act of creation is reflective of God’s own act of creation.’

Emma studied imaginative theology at the University of St Andrews, a field which she says looks at the ways the arts communicate theological ideas and how God can work through the arts.

She explains how imaginative theology

Everybody is different, but everybody wonders

6 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

could play out: ‘If you’ve watched the end of Gladiator, for example, you may feel something that resonates with the idea of a world beyond, seeing loved ones on the other side or having a continuance of a soul into another realm. I believe those moments create a possibility for an encounter with God. ‘God can be found in so many more places than we think. We can find the truth of Jesus through the arts, TV, music and films that we absorb and that we love.

And to me, it is a tremendous message of love that the Creator of the universe

INTERVIEW

Emma Hinds

inhabits our creation and is so interested in us.’

Emma has sensed God speaking to her through the art form of literature. When she had a breakdown in her twenties, she found reading helpful. ‘The Lord of the Rings has always been one of my favourite books, but it was so meaningful and wonderful to reread Tolkien at that time,’ she says. ‘And some of the lines of those books have stayed with me. I felt

that God impressed them on my heart.

‘Those encounters are always comforting and encouraging because you feel that the God of the universe is interested in your emotions. It is that feeling of not being alone. God can speak to us through the words we might hear in books, film or television, and the message is: “I am here, I know what you’re going through, and I care.”’

l Ineffable Love is published by Darton, Longman and Todd

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 7

BATTLING BBC journalist CAROLINE WYATT talks to Emily Bright about how she faced Taliban attacks, an MS diagnosis and a crisis of faith

‘W

E almost got blown up twice in one day,’ remembers BBC journalist and former defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt. ‘We were covering the presidential election in Afghanistan in 2009 and were leaving a pretty dull but important press conference. We took one step out of the Helmand governor’s house and, as we did so, a bomb landed in the garden next door. Thank God there was a really high wall, which stopped the shrapnel from the bomb hitting us.

‘We hit the ground in our flak jackets and helmets. The cameraman turned his camera back on and filmed the aftermath.

That was the beginning of election day for us.

‘We were taken to a safe house and watched for two hours as the Taliban shelled the town to stop people going out to vote. We eventually persuaded our security team to allow us to go to a polling station in a lightly armoured vehicle and carry on filming.

‘As we were driving, there was this massive bump and bang. We’d driven 8 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

over an improvised explosive device but it hadn’t gone off fully. I gave enormous thanks. On days like that, I knew there was a God who was looking after us.

‘I then spoke to women who were voting at the polling station, some for the first time. It was amazing. Afghan women are resilient and phenomenally brave.’

Caroline says such moments of engaging with normal yet extraordinary people have been the highlights of her career.

‘When I was a correspondent in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was a privilege to talk to the people living there. Sitting down with a farmer’s wife in Helmand and discussing her hopes and fears has stayed with me far longer than talking to any president or prime minister.’

Some may find such a statement surprising given Caroline’s CV, which spans 30 years at the BBC. She has been a foreign correspondent in Berlin after reunification, as well as in Bonn, Paris and Moscow. She covered the Kosovo conflict

in 1999 and was embedded with British troops during the Iraq invasion of 2003.

She became defence correspondent in 2007, and then in 2014 switched to religious affairs correspondent, with only a weekend turnaround between the two jobs.

When I mention this, I detect a chuckle at the end of the phone line as she recalls the rapid transition, but she adds: ‘It wasn’t as big a change as you might think.

‘One of the first stories I covered was what happened with the Yazidis in northern Iraq, when Isis was taking territory. I was back in my flak jacket and helmet. Although my title by then was religious affairs correspondent, the fundamentals of reporting are the same: go and talk to people affected, find out what is happening, and don’t be misled by any propaganda, gossip or rumour. Then talk to more people to make sure your story stands up and makes sense.’

Each answer Caroline gives is delivered

We’d driven over an improvised explosive device

Turn to page 10

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THROUGH INTERVIEW

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 9

BATTLING From page 8

with eloquence and professionalism. She politely navigates my questions, and when I jump to a wrong assumption, she corrects me so gently that I barely notice it, before she propels the conversation forward.

However, when she tells me about reporting on how Yazidi women in Iraq were treated by Isis, her tone changes. The pace of her voice slows and she adds emphasis to each word.

‘That was one of the toughest stories that I’ve ever covered,’ she reflects. ‘What happened to the young Yazidi women was unthinkably horrifying. You didn’t even want to believe it. Words fail me on that story; it is something that still haunts me.’

When Isis invaded the Sinjar mountains in 2014, it massacred men, women and children from the Yazidi religious minority community as they fled their homes. It captured younger women and girls, using them as sex slaves whom they beat, imprisoned and raped.

Caroline says hearing about those horrors challenged the way that she perceived her Christian faith.

‘I have never had more arguments with myself than when I am in war zones over why God would allow this to happen,’ she explains.

‘And I always came down to: “Well, it’s because you have free will to do bad things as well as good.” I came out of war zones feeling that I couldn’t believe in a God that

Caroline joins a Kandahar patrol (above) and reports from Iraq

10 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

allowed that, and then at the same time, knowing that my faith could offer comfort.

‘It’s like that quote: “There are no atheists in a foxhole.”

If you come under fire, even if you’re not a believer I think you pray, because you need and want that help or comfort.’

Caroline says that her faith in both humanity and God was partially restored through her other reporting assignments on religion.

Caroline speaks with Pope Francis ‘A lot of what we covered in defence Canterbury. ‘Seeing the reception they got quite often showed the bad side of what and the hope that their visits generated was some people describe as faith,’ she says.

‘However, covering religious affairs brought pretty awesome,’ she remembers.

‘Pope Francis is one of the most me back to seeing some of its positives fascinating people I’ve ever met, in that again. And for that I will be eternally he’s incredibly chatty, warm and able to talk grateful. to anyone.

‘What struck me the most when I was ‘When you’re part of the Vatican press covering religion was how much people of corps, you travel on the papal plane. The faith do for others, such as helping those Pope comes to the back of the plane who are homeless or trapped in modern to hold a press conference for about slavery.’

While she was 70 journalists, for five minutes at most.

‘But I remember one which went on for religious affairs about two hours on the way back from correspondent, Cuba. I was staggered at his eloquence she had the after a gruelling tour when frankly most of opportunity to us were exhausted. He was trying to be travel with the open about his aims, and on things like the Pope and the environment especially, where his message Archbishop of

G

INTERVIEW

went beyond religion to humanity.’

Caroline’s tenure as religious affairs correspondent abruptly came to a close when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2015, and she decided to step down from the role in 2016.

MS is a condition affecting the body’s central nervous system. It can cause problems with vision, balance, memory and movement.

Receiving an MS diagnosis took a toll on Caroline’s faith.

‘It has been a challenge,’ she remarks wryly.

‘However, prayer brings solace, and through covering religion, I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends of different faiths. They understand the challenges of ill health or adversity, and have useful ways of seeing and dealing with it. They also have a huge reservoir of compassion.’

Looking back, she believes that her MS was already manifesting itself well before 2015. ‘The symptoms started soon after I joined the BBC, probably in late 1991, early 1992. I started to get what doctors thought was repetitive strain injury, particularly during night shifts. By the middle of my shifts at three in the morning, I couldn’t feel my hands or my arm.

‘I developed chronic fatigue, and I was feeling exhausted. I decided that I had to

change my life. I’d wanted to be a foreign correspondent anyway, so when I went abroad, it just meant that I could order my life to suit me better.

‘It wasn’t until 2001 that I had another really bad phase when I was falling over and feeling dizzy. I had a brain scan and I was told that it might be MS, even though I didn’t get a formal diagnosis until 2015.’

Her relapsing remitting MS has now become secondary progressive, the stage at which symptoms gradually worsen.

She says that MS has changed her life ‘totally, utterly and completely.

‘I can’t walk well any more, and I’m losing the use of my right hand very slowly. It’s getting number and number. I know that I have a limited time left where I can do the kind of work that I’m doing now.

However, I have never wanted to become bitter or regretful. The more I’ve lost, the more grateful I am for the things I still have.

‘I would say to anyone who has been newly diagnosed: do not despair. There’s lots of help out there. Your life will probably change, but not as much as you fear. My enormous hope is that we will find things that really work within the next five to ten years, because the science is progressing.’

These days, Caroline can be found behind a radio microphone rather than in front of a camera. Having previously

Anything journalism can do to make us less polarised is a good thing

presented segments on Radio 4’s From our own Correspondent and anchoring The World This Week for the World Service, she now hosts the Saturday slot on Radio 4’s daily current affairs programme PM. ‘PM is fabulous because the team that produces it are quite young, and they’re bursting with energy and ideas. It gives me lots of hope for the future of an industry which is going through a difficult time.

‘There’s so much that’s wrong information, disinformation or misunderstandings. People, wittingly or unwittingly, are trying to split society. So presenting the facts is a vital part of what journalism is doing now.

‘It’s quite often hard to get to the bottom of the story or to understand why things are happening. Certainly on PM, we try to explain the causes of the stories and not just say, “Here are the headlines”.

I think that anything journalism can do to explain to people what’s really happening and make us less polarised has got to be a good thing.’

Having spent a career on reporting on people’s lives around the world, Caroline takes a moment to reflect on her own. ‘I am profoundly grateful to have a career that I’ve loved, a fabulous family and wonderful friends,’ she says. ‘Life isn’t all good. Suffering is part of our experience, but one of the most useful lessons of the Christian faith is that you’re not alone.’

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 11

EXPLORE

Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Andrew, who is in prison and wants to find his calling in life.

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.

Team talk Team talk

talk ‘ ’ Matters of the arts can help us through uncertain days Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

‘O MOST happy hour’, as Shakespeare would say. After months of lobbying from theatres, music venues, art galleries and other cultural institutions, the government has announced that it will provide a £1.57 billion support package for the arts industry to help it recover from the losses caused by coronavirus. Many of those working in the biz say that it’s just in time to save the industry from total collapse. Here’s hoping.

In the weeks leading up to the government’s announcement, artists had been flooding social media sites with photos of them working creatively, alongside the hashtag #savethearts. Of course actors, musicians, artists, stage technicians, producers, directors, designers and so on want to save the arts – their livelihood depends on it. But as a consumer of all things artistic, this matters to me too.

I want to jump on the #savethearts bandwagon because, whether we work in the culture industry or not, the arts matter. They reduce stress, heighten joy and bring fulfilment and purpose to life.

The arts do much more than provide us with a job or leisure activity. A play has the power to challenge a person’s beliefs. A piece of music can evoke powerful emotions. A painting has the ability to inspire new ideas. Public consciousness evolves because people find meaning and a way to express it through art.

After the difficult months we’ve had as a nation, I’m convinced that the arts are our lifeline – and a beautiful gift from God to help us navigate the uncertain days ahead. As the UK emerges tentatively from lockdown and finds its feet in a new way of life which seems strange and unfamiliar, the arts will help us make sense of it. The arts will connect us deeply to people when we can’t be close to them physically. The arts will help us to process where we have been and where we are going.

So while I applaud the government’s decision to save the arts, my thanks will be going to God – for using the arts to save us in the first place.

The arts are a beautiful gift from God

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

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War Cry 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN

Basic reading about Christianity Information about The Salvation Army

Looking for help?

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

Or email your details and request to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk 12 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

j Q&A

EXPRESSIONS

FACES OF FAITH LOUISE HIGHTON from Preston on Joe Wicks workouts, the books by her bedside and taking on too much What’s your typical day?

I wake up at 7.30am, read a daily quote and Bible verse on a phone app, then check my emails. During lockdown, my kids haven’t been going to school, so my husband makes their breakfast while I do an hour’s work. At 9am we come together as a family to do a Joe Wicks workout.

After a quick shower I get back to my desk. I’m a managing partner of an accountancy firm. I work until about 6pm, then have dinner with my family.

In the evening, we might take part in a quiz on Zoom or watch a film together. Then I put the kids to bed and do a bit more work. Sometimes during lockdown, I’ve been working till 1am.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a till girl in a shop. I even wrote a poem about it when I was eight years old.

What was the last book you read?

I can’t remember – but I’ve got some books by my bedside I want to read. One is Gary Barlow’s autobiography, A Better Me. Another one is called Serving Without Sinking: How to Serve Christ and Keep Your Joy, written by John Hindley.

q a quick QUIZ

What advice would you give your teenage self?

Learn to say no. Sometimes I think I can do it all, then I take on far too much and end up in a mess.

How did you become a Christian?

1

Who wrote the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

2

Which city in Scotland was given the nickname Auld Reekie?

I was raised in a Christian family, so my faith has always been there. But when I was about 14 years old, I was sitting in my bedroom, singing a Christian song and something just clicked. The song – which I had sung with the Salvation Army kids’ choir – talked about God giving us strength when our burdens grow greater. Suddenly I thought: I get this now.

3

What was the name of the first space satellite?

What’s good about being a Christian?

4

In which TV series did George Clooney play Dr Douglas Ross?

Knowing you’re not on your own, because God is there.

5

Who painted The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up?

What one question would you ask God?

According to the song sung by Julie Andrews in the film Mary Poppins, what does a spoonful of sugar help to go down?

ANSWERS

1. Harper Lee. 2. Edinburgh. 3. Sputnik One. 4. ER. 5. JMW Turner. 6. The medicine.

6

Why can some people eat anything they want and be skinny, and why do some of us put on six pounds by just looking at a cream cake?

What do you pray about?

I pray for my family – that my children will be happy. I also pray about what I should be doing with my life.

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 13

CROSSWORD CROSSWORD

PUZZLES

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Caretaker (US) (7) 5. Timepiece (5) 7. Wooed (7) 8. Renovate (5) 10. Unusual (4) 11. Priestly (8) 13. Enrol (6) 14. Engross (6) 17. Aesthetically pleasing (8)

19. Classic car (4) 21. Frock (5) 22. Emitting light (7) 23. Managed (5) 24. Quietness (7) DOWN 2. Unbiased (7) 3. Ballerina’s skirt (4) 4. Puzzle (6)

5. Closet (8) 6. Pick-me-up (5) 7. Put right (9) 9. Good health (9) 12. Rated (8) 15. Personal view (7) 16. Toadstool (6) 18. Slumber (5) 20. Poultry (4)

SUDOKU

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

HONEYCOMB HONEYCOMB

4 5

3 1 9 6 7 2 3 7 2 3 4 9 8 3 4 5 7 8 2 8 5 6 1 8 4 6 1 7

1. Brief look 2. Motor vehicle fuel 3. Turn into ice 4. Instrument used for sewing 5. Close-fitting necklace 6. Fibrous tissue attaching muscle to bone

Answers HONEYCOMB 1. Glance. 2. Petrol. 3. Freeze.

4. Needle. 5. Choker. 6. Tendon.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Janitor. 5. Watch.

7. Courted. 8. Renew. 10. Rare.

11. Clerical. 13. Enlist. 14. Absorb.

17. Tasteful. 19. Mini. 21. Dress.

22. Glowing. 23. Coped. 24. Silence.

DOWN: 2. Neutral. 3. Tutu. 4. Riddle.

5. Wardrobe. 6. Tonic. 7. Corrected.

9. Wellbeing. 12. Assessed. 15. Opinion.

16. Fungus. 18. Sleep. 20. Fowl.

6 3 9 7 2 4 8 1 5

2 8 1 6 9 5 7 3 4

4 5 7 1 8 3 9 6 2

5 7 4 2 1 9 3 8 6

8 1 2 3 6 7 5 4 9

3 9 6 5 4 8 2 7 1

9 4 5 8 3 1 6 2 7

7 2 8 4 5 6 1 9 3

1 6 3 9 7 2 4 5 8

SUDOKU SOLUTION

4 5 8 1

7 8 5 6 8 4 6 1 7

14 • War Cry • 18 July 2020

ordsearch ordsearch ordsearch ordsearch ordsearch

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

Wordsearch BLACKBIRD BLUE TIT

CHAFFINCH COAL TIT

COLLARED DOVE DUNNOCK

GOLDFINCH GREAT TIT

GREENFINCH

HOUSE SPARROW LONG-TAILED TIT MAGPIE ROBIN

STARLING

WOODPIGEON

Look up, down, forwards, backwards

6 and 2 diagonally 4 5 8on the 3 grid 9 to 7 find 1 these birds 3 8 5 7 1 9 4 2 6 9 1 7 4 2 6 5 8 3 H L U H U X N D O U Z T L L Y P T R V T S D R L B 7 6 I 1 I 2H Y O G F B A O X 3 5 8 4 9 X Z A O Y Z W H L M H B G Y Y B S C 2 9 8 1 6 4 3 5 7 S F F B N Q B O D V G H V X E T B F J B G S N V B D R 4 5 3 9I B K C A L B Q D 7 8 1 6 2 Z O E T H S W Z Y R Z O M T A S H C 8 7 9 3 5 2 6 1 4 J B F G F C L J S T A R L I N G M H J M K V B Z N Q C R T P D T 1 3 6 8 4 7 2 I 9Z Y A 5 A K A V X A X I M P Z G S D Y K H F 5 4 2 6 9 1 7 3 8 D C S G O F B G F B O O Y E B R P F

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

2

D Baked cod bruschetta with salsa Ingredients

Method

2tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/ Gas Mark 5. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and onion, frying them over a medium-low heat for 3 minutes.

Add the cocktail or cherry tomatoes and aubergine and fry gently for 5 minutes, stirring often, until very soft.

1 garlic clove, crushed 1 red onion, finely chopped 4 medium British cocktail or cherry tomatoes, finely chopped 1 small aubergine, finely chopped 2tbsp sun-dried tomato paste Balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper 4 thick slices ciabatta bread 4 x 150g skinless cod fillets

SERVES

4

4 sprigs British plum on-the-vine tomatoes Basil leaves, to garnish

Cumin-spiced salmon Ingredients

Method

4 British cocktail or cherry tomatoes, finely chopped

Mix the tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, chilli and coriander together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

¼ cucumber, finely chopped 4 spring onions, finely chopped 1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped 3tbsp fresh coriander, chopped, plus sprigs to garnish Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 x 150g salmon fillets 1tbsp olive oil 1tsp cumin seeds 1 lime, juice

Stir in the sun-dried tomato paste. Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar and season to taste.

Spread the pieces of bread thickly with most of the tomato and aubergine mixture. Arrange the bread pieces in a baking dish. Top each slice with a cod fillet, then spoon the remaining tomato mixture on top. Place the plum tomato vines round the sides. Season with black pepper and drizzle with the extra olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

When cooked, the flesh should flake easily when tested with a fork. Garnish with the basil leaves, to serve.

SERVES

4

Preheat the grill. Arrange the salmon fillets on the grill rack and brush with olive oil. Grill for 8 minutes, depending on their thickness. Halfway through cooking, sprinkle with the cumin seeds and season with pepper.

Place the fillets beside the tomato mixture on 4 serving plates. Drizzle with lime juice and garnish with coriander sprigs, to serve.

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the British Tomato Growers’ Association website britishtomatoes.co.uk

18 July 2020 • War Cry • 15

If God loves me, then it ’s my job to love all the people around me Robert Bruce