War Cry 23 October 2021

Couple provide a home to teenage refugees

WAR CRY

23 October 2021 50p

All clued-up Investigations are ongoing for DI Jimmy Perez in BBC’s Shetland

‘Long-distance relationship with Dad wasn’t enough’

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 Issue No 7548

HOME, it’s said, is where the heart is. And in this week’s War Cry we find out about a couple who have opened their home to teenage refugees who have come to the UK. The youngsters that Rachel and Nigel Poulton care for have fled their home countries because of war or persecution. Many of the teenagers arrive in a traumatised state, having lost family members or seen other people killed. Some of them have scars from being tortured.

‘While we can’t take away their pain and grief, we try to help them find some hope,’ Rachel tells us, adding: ‘Helping refugees is what God has always prompted us to do and we are delighted to do it.’

Rachel and Nigel have done this despite still having two of their own children living at home, and Rachel explains that the experience has made those two more empathetic and understanding.

Not everyone’s parents have such a positive impact in their lives. In this week’s issue we also speak with Blair Linne, who was raised by her mum, with her dad living some 2,000 miles away.

In her interview, Blair describes how she struggled with a surfacelevel relationship with her father that was mostly conducted over the phone or in brief visits.

‘This is not what a relationship between a dad and his daughter should look like,’ she says. However, Blair goes on to describe how she discovered another Father-child relationship when she was told how she could have a relationship with God, who would lavish love on her. Blair decided to receive that love and accept God as her heavenly Father.

‘That relationship transformed everything,’ she tells us. Millions of other people have also accepted God’s offer to be a loving Father and had their lives transformed. ad the War C e re The great news is, his offer is extended to ry v ’ u each of us as well.

Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 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 and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399.

Printed by CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper

INFO Your local Salvation Army centre

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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

From the editor’s desk

When yo

What is The Salvation Army?

CONTENTS 5

FEATURES

3

Suspicious minds

Who is behind the killing in Shetland?

5

Ditching disappointment with Dad

Author on discovering a new Father

figure 8

‘Some teenagers have scars from being

tortured’

8

Why Rachel and her husband opened

their home to young refugees

REGULARS

4

War Cry World

12 Team Talk 13 Wisdom in the Words

15

14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: BBC/ITV STUDIOS/MARK MAINZ

DI Jimmy Perez is investigating a murder

BBC/ITV STUDIOS/MARK MAINZ

DETECTIVE GUNS FOR JUSTICE Shetland isle is full of secrets TV preview by Emily Bright

A

MURDER mystery is still puzzling inhabitants of the Scottish isles as the latest series of BBC One detective drama Shetland continues on Wednesday (27 October).

In last week’s episode, which began the sixth series, DI Jimmy Perez (Douglas Henshall) received a shocking phone call from his colleague DS Alison McIntosh (Alison O’Donnell). She told him that an influential local had been shot dead on his doorstep in broad daylight.

To top it all, convicted murderer Donna Killick (Fiona Bell) was released from prison on compassionate grounds,

shaking the community to the core. She had killed an 18-year-old girl almost three decades before and allowed an innocent man to serve 23 years in prison in her place.

The community are angry, unforgiving and bitter – the atmosphere is toxic.

The death of the influential person is thought to be linked to his role in the compassionate release.

In next week’s episode, DI Perez looks deeper into the background of the suspects, and puts the misdemeanours from their past lives under the magnifying glass. One has been grappling with a drug addiction and has mixed with shady characters, another is a war veteran whose military service record comes into question, and still another could be seeking revenge for the death of her sister.

Audiences will discover, though, that uncovering the truth is a race against time, because the murderer’s reach and resources are far greater than anyone expected.

Over the decades, countless viewers have tuned into murder mystery shows, immersed in the intrigue of piecing together clues of someone’s guilt. Part of the appeal of the programmes is

that it gives viewers the chance to cast judgement and blame on the characters as more of their murky pasts are uncovered.

However, in real life, casting judgement can have very serious consequences. It is easy to do when we feel let down by those who fall short of our expectations. But the reality is that we all do things that we’re not proud of, whether in our work or home life.

When we do fall short, carrying the judgement of others and our own feelings of guilt can wear us down.

Christians describe these times of messing up as ‘sin’. Sometimes seen as a loaded word, it simply means making very human mistakes.

But Christians also believe that we can find freedom from self-criticism and judgement from others through a relationship with God, who offers us his love and forgiveness. We just need to come clean with him and start again with a resolve to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

One Bible writer explained how being honest with God about our mess-ups can help us encounter his mercy and live our lives to the full. He said: ‘People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy’ (Proverbs 28:13 New Living Translation).

Confessing our wrongdoing is not always easy. But if we speak to God and ask for his forgiveness, we can experience his love and move forward in our lives. That’s surely something worth investigating.

We can find freedom from judgement

DS Alison McIntosh 23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 3

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A MAN’S life was transformed after staying at a Salvation Army centre for people experiencing homelessness, reported the Metro.

Will was a chronic gambler with alcohol and cocaine addictions which had spiralled after the death of his father on the day they were due to reconcile after a relationship breakdown five years before.

Will sometimes spent up to £2,000 in a night at casinos. He would beg, borrow and then steal from friends to fund his habits.

When he became homeless in 2012 and had no one to turn to, he moved into The Salvation Army’s William Booth Lifehouse in Birmingham, in which he found a supportive and safe place to recover. He stayed there for 13 months and was able to deal with his addictions and gain skills and experience.

He now works as a programme manager at the same Lifehouse.

‘I’ve just achieved nine years free from drugs and haven’t gambled for eight years,’ Will said.

Earlier this month, he spoke for The Salvation Army as it urged the government to keep the £20-a-week universal credit uplift.

WAR CRY

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Communities log in to online worship COVID-19 has accelerated a trend towards a more digital religious experience, according to research from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Chester.

Their report, Social Distance, Digital Congregation: British Ritual Innovation under Covid-19, examined how British religious communities adapted to the pandemic and its restrictions. Its aim was to understand the new ways that religious communities came together, and how to use those ways in the future.

The study suggested that a wider range of people were able to access online meetings at Christian churches, including people who couldn’t or wouldn’t go into a physical church building.

Dr Joshua Edelman, lead researcher, told the Premier Christian News website that, although the quality of engagement online doesn’t match engagement in person, digital technology can complement the in-person church experience.

‘These should be seen as enhancements, not as means of undermining physical church communities,’ he said. ‘The principles are the same: of community, service, worship and fellowship. But the techniques to do that may need to be relearnt.’

Do you have a Faith charities urge action on climate story to share? a warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk @TheWarCryUK TheWarCryUK

B salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

MORE than 100 organisations, including faith-based charities Christian Aid, Cafod and A Rocha, have signed an open letter to the prime minister, urging him to take action on climate change.

Members of the Climate Coalition, which represents 22 million people across the UK, published their letter in The Times and The Telegraph ahead of the UN climate change conference (Cop26), which begins at the end of the month in Glasgow.

The letter highlighted how weather-related events such as wildfires, floods and rising seas – whose frequency and intensity have been linked to climate change – were having a devastating impact on livelihoods around the globe. It warned that ‘the damage we’re doing to rainforests, oceans and our own countryside means that there are some sights our grandchildren will never see’.

The letter also highlighted the need for a global plan to cut emissions to prevent the world heating up by more than 1.5C. It flagged up the potential to slow climate change by building woodland and peatlands, and the need for UK investment in new green jobs and financial support to mitigate the impact of climate change.

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Firefighters tackle a wildfire in Peloponnese, Greece, during a heatwave last summer 4 • WAR CRY • 23 October 2021

‘I wanted my dad, but he wasn’t there’ After years of disappointment over the surface-level relationship she had with her dad, BLAIR LINNE found another Father who met her deepest needs Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku

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COURTESY OF BLAIR LINNE

ROM the age of three and throughout her teenage years, Blair Linne moved home 25 times with her mother and sister. Over Zoom from where she now lives in Philadelphia, she tells me about her childhood experience of growing up without a father.

‘When I was three years old, my mother moved our family from Michigan to Los Angeles. My father was about 2,000 miles away in Chicago, and our relationship, if you could call it that, consisted of a few phone calls each year.

‘Sometimes we would visit our family in Michigan, and we would go to see him.

He was kind. He would buy me candy. But there wasn’t really a relationship. I didn’t

know much about him and he didn’t know much about me.’

Blair explains that she grew up around families in similar situations, with most of her friends also being raised solely by their mothers. But she still felt the pain of not having her father around.

‘When we went to family gatherings, or when I did plays and concerts at school, I wanted my dad to be there, but he wasn’t,’ she says.

‘And when we had our phone conversations, a lot of those things didn’t even come up. I wasn’t sharing my life and he wasn’t asking those questions.

‘I remember, from nine years old, wanting to scream at the phone: “This is not enough! This is not what a relationship between

Blair Linne

a dad and his daughter should look like.”

But I was too afraid to speak up.’

Her father’s absence affected Blair in ways that she didn’t become aware of until later in her life. In Finding My Father, the book that she has written to tell her story, she describes how she encountered poverty, had brushes with crime, suffered the loss of her baby brother and had suicidal thoughts – all of which are reflective of experiences statistically proven to occur at a higher rate among those who grow up without fathers.

‘Growing up, we struggled with poverty,’ she recalls. ‘My mum at times

Growing up, we struggled with poverty

Blair grew up without her father

Turn to page 6 f

23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 5

From page 5 sacrificed her own food so my sister and I could eat. I later realised that I struggled with authority, and with my own identity.’

Blair’s life became even tougher as she matured and had to make life decisions.

Because she hadn’t had a male role model, she struggled to know what to look for in the men who showed an interest in her.

‘I didn’t know who I was,’ she says. So she summoned up the courage to talk to her father about the impact that his absence was having on her. To her relief, he listened.

‘He shared with me his own fears,’ she says. ‘And how he didn’t have his father in his own life and was just repeating that cycle. I’m thankful for that conversation. It helped me to see his humanity.

‘I’d looked at my dad as a superhero who would come in and save the day and everything would be fine, but I learnt that he was not perfect. He was a broken man just like I was a broken woman. That brought my expectations down some.’

After their conversation, Blair’s father started to call her more regularly and she was pleased that they started to speak monthly rather than a few times a year.

However, the biggest change in Blair’s

life came when she discovered another Father.

‘I was 22 years old, and going through a tough season,’ she says. ‘I was in a place where I couldn’t rely upon my parents to satisfy the ache in my heart. Even though I was having conversations with my dad, there wasn’t that depth. I got to a low point. I even reached out to a psychic. Things just weren’t working out as I had hoped they would and I was trying to figure out life.

‘I remember meeting someone who shared with me how you can have a relationship with God. I had attended church since I was nine years old, but there were things he told me about the Bible that were new to me or that I hadn’t understood.

‘This person told me about Jesus, his death and resurrection. And how if you had faith in Jesus, you could have a relationship with God, who would like to be your Father. I’d understood that God was a judge who pardoned sin, but I didn’t understand that he desired to be more than that. God had to teach me that he was more than a judge. Instead, he was a Father, who wanted to lavish love on me.

That relationship transformed everything.’

Blair describes it as ‘a relationship by faith’.

She says: ‘We have the Bible, which is God’s way of communicating and letting us know who he is. I communicate with God through prayer.

That doesn’t mean I hear God speak back to me, but often I will communicate my concerns, and through

There’s nothing wrong with me that caused my dad to be absent

reading the Bible, I can hear from him or hear his perspective. Another part of it is, as Christians, we gain God as a Father and we gain the Church as our family. It has been a blessing to get to know other Christians, and even have older godly men and women who have stepped in as spiritual fathers or mothers to me.’

Experiencing God’s forgiveness helped Blair to forgive her parents.

‘I could’ve allowed the pain that I experienced to remain in my heart,’ she says, ‘or I could forgive in the same way that I’d been forgiven. I continue to ask God for help in forgiving those who have offended me and also to help me realise that I’m not the centre of my parents’ decisions. There’s nothing wrong with me that caused my dad to be absent.’

Today, Blair is married to Shai and they have three children.

‘I’m grateful that my husband is here,’ she says, ‘and that he’s emotionally and spiritually invested in our children.

He has daddy days when he takes the kids hiking or to get doughnuts.

And it means so much. Becoming a parent, you realise how imperfect you are; how much you want to give your child and how far you may fall at times. But we have learnt that we don’t have to be perfect or put ourselves on a pedestal.

We just have to be consistent and apologise a lot when we’re wrong.’

Blair wrote Finding My Father in the hope of starting a conversation about fatherlessness and its many implications, which, she believes, is often not taken into

Blair never spent Christmas with her father Blair and her husband, Shai, have three children 6 • WAR CRY • 23 October 2021

consideration in society.

She also wrote it to ‘bring some sense of healing and comfort to the fatherless’.

She says that readers can look at her story, which is not an easy

one, and be encouraged.

‘My hope is that people can look at the trauma and the difficulty that I experienced and how I’ve been able to come out of it, and that I can point them to the hope that is on the other side.’

l Finding My Father is published by the Good Book Company

23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 7

‘We have safety, so pleasure RACHEL POULTON shares her experiences of opening her home to teenage refugees Interview by Claire Brine

E

IGHT years ago, Rachel Poulton and her husband, Nigel, felt God was prompting them to extend their family home, adding some more bedrooms. Though they had no idea who would be inhabiting the extra space, they started the building work with the conviction that everything would become clear. Three years later, in 2016, it did.

‘We felt that we needed to care for more people,’ says Rachel, who over the past five years has welcomed 17 young refugees into her home.

‘We have cared for youngsters who have had to flee their home countries because of war or persecution. Some of the teenagers who have stayed with us were at risk of being recruited as child soldiers.

Though I am often in tears when I think of the sadness these young people have faced, it’s a beautiful position to be in when you can show them love.’

When Rachel and Nigel volunteered to open their home to teenage refugees, they asked their local authority in the north of England if they could take in ‘the most vulnerable’.

They knew from their years of working in refugee camps that the young refugees would have endured great trauma, and they wanted to help them.

‘We always said we wanted to take

in the young people most in need of a home,’ Rachel says. ‘We didn’t know if that would be girls or boys, children with disabilities or whatever. So far, the majority of the refugees who have come to stay with us have been boys aged 13 to 17, coming from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Some of them have stayed with us for just a couple of weeks, whereas one guy has lived with us for two and a half years now.

‘When the teenage refugees arrive, they are all traumatised. Many of them have seen people killed or drowning. Some of them have scars from being tortured. Lots of them have lost family members. While we can’t take away their pain and grief, we try to help them find some hope.’

Rachel has been concerned for refugees for many years. She trained as a paediatric nurse and spent several years in refugee relief work in Asia, Africa and Europe. She met Nigel when they were both working with refugees in a camp on the ThaiCambodian border. They married in 1984 and have seven adopted children.

‘Helping refugees is what God has always prompted us to do and we are delighted to do it,’ says Rachel. ‘Though five of our children are now grown up, two are still at home and they have been living with refugees since they were eight and nine. Over the years, they have become so empathetic and understanding. The experience has given them a strong awareness of human need in the world.

When the refugees move on, our children often ask when the next person is coming

Many of them have seen people killed or drowning

Nigel chats with a teenage refugee at home

8 • WAR CRY • 23 October 2021

it’s our to help refugees’

Rachel and Nigel met while working in a refugee camp

Rachel kits out the refugees with a phone and laptop

to stay. They want to help.’

When the refugees arrive at Rachel and Nigel’s home, the couple’s immediate priority is to ensure they feel safe and comfortable. On occasion, the young refugees have asked them: ‘Why are you doing this?’

‘At first, they don’t know whether they should trust us,’ Rachel says. ‘So I explain to them that if one of my children was in a foreign country after having been treated very horribly back home, and if they had

no friends, food or money and couldn’t speak the language, then I’d want somebody kind to open their door and to care for them.

I’d want someone to help them feel safe. And when I think of it like that, I see it as a pleasure to help refugees.

It’s a privilege of our wealth and safety.’

Another reason Rachel is passionate about helping refugees is that, she says, ‘the Bible instructs us to’.

She explains: ‘Jesus tells his followers to care for strangers, foreigners, orphans and poor people. A lot of the refugees I meet tick all those boxes.’

When a teenage refugee turns up on

Rachel’s doorstep, usually she knows little about them. But as her guests settle in, their stories begin to emerge.

‘Before the young refugees arrive, we may have been told their name, age, nationality and religion,’ says Rachel, ‘but that information is not always correct, because their history is usually taken the moment they have stepped off the boat or lorry, so they are a bit confused and exhausted.

‘When Nigel and I welcome them into our home, we don’t ask them lots of questions or encourage them to tell us their story. We follow their lead.

‘The important thing is that these

It’s important that these teenagers trust us

Turn to page 10 f

23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 9

Rachel and Nigel welcome refugees into their family with shared meals and trips out

From page 9 teenagers begin to trust us. So we tell them that we want them here, that no one is making us take them in. We give them a little card that says we hope they will be happy with us and we show them their bedroom. I always lay out some chocolate bars and toiletries on the bed.’

Rachel also makes sure that, as soon as possible, the young refugees are kitted out with a decent bike, a phone and a laptop. She spends several days helping them to navigate various appointments, including health assessments and meetings with a social worker. Arranging English lessons is another priority.

‘Most of the teenage refugees who stay with us don’t speak any English but they are keen to learn,’ she says. ‘More than that, they want to go to school. It’s not always possible to get them into a

place of education straightaway, but we do try to set up English lessons with a qualified teacher within that first week. We want to show these teenagers that what’s important to them is also important to us.’

Although the refugees are grateful to Rachel for giving them a safe place to live, many of them feel unsettled and struggle to process the trauma they have suffered. Nights can be particularly difficult.

‘I remember one occasion when a guy was lying immobile on the floor in a state of terror,’ says Rachel. ‘It took us a long time to help him come out of it.

In the end, he and I sat on the sofa at 2.30 in the morning watching Countryfile on TV. Then he went off to bed.

‘Helping the young people through their trauma is the hardest part of what we do.

I once cooked a meal for a lad who hadn’t been with us very long. As I watched him

The refugees are keen to learn English

10 • WAR CRY • 23 October 2021

eating, he lowered his head and looked really miserable. I told him that he could leave his meal if he didn’t want it, but he said he was OK and kept eating.

‘After dinner, I went to see if he was all right and he burst into tears, saying: “My mum used to make that dish.” The smell and taste of the food had triggered all those memories for him. He reached out to me for a hug.

Being there to offer support is important, even if we can’t take away the pain.’

R

achel also believes it is important to remind the teenage refugees that there is hope for a brighter future. On occasions when they are struggling, she encourages them to consider another perspective.

‘One guy who stayed with us had had boiling water deliberately poured over his foot in an attempt to extort money,’ she says. ‘When I hear stories like that, and when I see the gunshot wounds, I say to the young people: “Even though you have seen cruelty, it hasn’t made you cruel.

What’s beautiful is that you are still a kind person. You are still trying hard with life.

You still have a sense of humour.” I tell

them that is an amazing thing.’

Rachel says that humour plays an important role in helping the refugees find security and comfort in their new surroundings. It also helps them grow in confidence when it comes to speaking English.

‘Humour relaxes everyone,’ she says.

‘At home we laugh when we play games together. We play everything – board games, computer games, Uno, football.

The boys who have stayed with us like watching football on the telly as well. On Fridays we all sit down and have a movie and chips night together. The teenage refugees become part of the family.

‘When I see these young people laughing and playing games, it gives me such a lift.

It’s lovely to see their accomplishments.

Some of them have passed GCSEs, learnt to drive and got part-time jobs while they have been staying with us. I love seeing them becoming happier, working hard and developing their own identities as they grow up.’

After staying with Rachel and Nigel for weeks, months or sometimes years, the refugees eventually move on to more permanent housing. Rachel doesn’t ask

them to hand back their front door keys, which lets them know that they are always welcome to return.

‘Often the young people will drop in or pop back to see us for a meal,’ she says. ‘We stay in touch with most of the teenagers who have stayed with us. Nearly all of them are still in full-time education or employment, working in restaurants or doing deliveries. It’s lovely to see good things happening in their lives and to share it with them. It saddens me that more people don’t consider opening their homes to young refugees, because we have loved having so many of them living with us. It would feel strange if we stopped setting that extra place at the table.’

Though Rachel understands that many people feel nervous at the thought of taking refugees into their home, she wants

They become part of the family

to encourage more people to do it. She’s a big supporter of the Hospitality Pledge, a campaign that works in coalition with UK and international charities to speak up for all asylum seekers.

‘The pledge is asking people to help refugees by using their voice and, if they can, using their home,’ says Rachel. ‘I’m 100 per cent behind it. It’s not rocket science to make up a bed for someone and put a chocolate bar on it. Nigel and I aren’t special in any way for doing what we do. Sometimes we make mistakes, and I have to turn to God, saying: “Please help me. Show me what to do!” And then I feel my way through. Often I’m praying for energy, asking God to top me up with whatever I need for the day ahead.

‘In every situation that we encounter, Nigel and I just do our best and try to do it with warmth. I think if people are genuine and their care for refugees comes from the heart, it usually works.’

23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 11

Prayerlink THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their ­circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, Lon­don SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

j

Becoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Amen

talk ‘ ’ Team talk TEAM TALK Faith can be found outside, naturally

Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

‘WE may no longer be a nation that in practice defines itself in terms of faith, but faith has nonetheless shaped our history,’ wrote Peter Stanford in The Times. In an article exploring the value of churches and what they can teach us about the past, the author and self-confessed ‘church-crawler’ encouraged readers to pay their local historic church buildings a visit.

Churches, Peter said, have ‘a rare power to connect us in a tangible way … to the everyday flow of history’. He referred to a visit to a 15th-century church in Norfolk, where he marvelled at its fixtures and fittings, including an architectural feature that was ‘probably the oldest thing I had ever touched’.

While contemplating the stories of churches past, Peter also wondered ‘what will future generations of church-crawlers go to see, touch and know the story of belief in the 21st century?’ Reflecting on problems of climate change, he suggested a possibility would be ‘outdoor church’. Some Christian congregations, he explained, have been meeting outside to ‘seek the sacred in the natural world’.

As someone who often steps outside to find peace and a fresh perspective on life, I can appreciate Peter’s idea. Perhaps, for some, the idea of connecting with God on the beach, in woodland or on top of a mountain feels new – and more exciting than hymn-singing in a pew.

But people have been finding God in nature since the beginning of time.

The writer of one of the Bible’s psalms asks God in wonder: ‘When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places – what are human beings, that you think of them?’ (Psalm 8:3 and 4 Good News Bible).

Even Jesus, God’s Son, went outdoors to the Mount of Olives to pray and seek comfort from his Father before his death.

However fascinating the history of a church may be, faith does not have to rely upon a building to become meaningful for us. The God I know is everywhere I can think of – always has been and always will be.

Faith does not have to rely upon a building

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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 • 23 October 2021

Keith Burr explores song lyrics that have a note of truth about them

Wisdom in the

Q

QUICK QUIZ 1

Which Welsh rock band had a No 1 hit last month with their

album The Ultra Vivid Lament?

2

Who played Dan Forester, the

family man turned hero, in the

A recent film The Tomorrow War?

3 4

What is a baby goose called?

Who played Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the Yorkshire-based TV crime drama Happy Valley?

5

Caritas means ‘charity’ in which language, spoken during the time of the Roman Empire?

6

In which German city is the Brandenburg Gate?

ANSWERS

words Everyday heroes R

EADERS of a certain age will no doubt remember local independent record shops and know that there was a time when an album could be bought as much for its sleeve design as for its music.

So it was with one of the first albums I ever bought – Bombers’ Moon by songwriter and comedian Mike Harding. It was 1986 and I chose it because it had a Lancaster bomber on the front. I remember that when I passed it to the shop assistant to pay, she looked at me and said, rather snootily, ‘I’ve listened to it and I can’t find anything funny about it!’

With the album containing tracks such as ‘The Accrington Pals’ and ‘God Help the Poor’, I don’t think Mike was trying to be funny, but rather to communicate his observations of life. In his own words, ‘most of these songs are about ordinary people’.

He explained: ‘I don’t write about queens or princes or lords or millionaire oil men because I don’t know any.’

One track on the album, ‘These Poor Hands’, was inspired by a sign on a factory wall, saying ‘Hands Wanted’.

‘It occurred to me then,’ wrote Mike, ‘that the working people of the world have never been thought of as anything more than a pair of hands to weave, dig, fish or fight for a country.’

As Mike’s beautiful poetry in the song reminds us: ‘These hands have held the growing and the dying of the year,/ The hands of those who waited in the evening sun,/ For the long working day was done.’

During the first lockdown, a lot of people gained a new respect for ordinary working people – many of whom have become heroes. Bakers, lorry drivers, shopkeepers, nurses, farmers, care workers and so many others whose ‘ordinary’ work has kept us alive, fed and safe.

This respect that we have for people who at first glance can seem unimportant, though, is nothing new. Two thousand years ago, Jesus spent his time with ordinary people – fishermen, carpenters and those who were considered unimportant.

Every individual, regardless of what others thought of them, mattered to Jesus. And the good news is that we matter to him as well.

‘Ordinary’ work has kept us alive, fed and safe

23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 13

1. Manic Street Preachers. 2. Chris Pratt. 3. A gosling.

4. Sarah Lancashire. 5. Latin. 6. Berlin.

PUZZLES Quick CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Dictatorial (5) 4. Tendon (5) 8. Perform (3) 9. Merchandise (5) 10. Bequeath (5) 11. Pig (3) 12. Despondency (5) 13. Stonework (7) 16. Hit (6) 19. Scold (6) 23. Blow up (7) 26. Bring upon oneself (5) 28. Rodent (3) 29. Oval fruit (5) 30. Over (5) 31. Douse (3) 32. Swill (5) 33. Rash (5) DOWN 2. Braking system (5) 3. Woman’s veil (7) 4. Mark of shame (6) 5. Requirements (5) 6. Broaden (5) 7. Noisy and disorderly (5) 9. Remuneration (5)

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

2

6

9

9

3 1 7 3

8 5 4 7 6 6 7

5 9 6 2 9 3 8

4 9 4 8

4 8

14. Paddle (3) 15. Groove (3) 17. Tariff (3) 18. Unwell (3) 20. Monumental inscription (7)

21. Eagle’s nest (5) 22. Ridicule (6) 23. Black wood (5) 24. Before (5) 25. Sea (5) 27. Angry (5)

1

WORDSEARCH

2 1 6 3 9 5 7 8 4 5 9 7 8 2 4 3 1 6 Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally 3 faith-themed 6 1 7 films 2 5 9 on the grid to4find8these 8 5 9 1 7 3 4 6 2 R N N S Z H T G C N R T N T Z G P B K T 3 4 1 2 6 8 5 9 7 E E X W V P D Z B N A Q H P Q N B T G B D V Z H F M B Z B Z F E R Y B S M F H P 7 6 2 4 5 9 1 3 8 I A D G Z L J B L Q S H Z G Q B H A X G 6 7 5 9 4 J K R C R B 1 8 2 3 I E F L X G K Q I H S U Q E M H Z Q C Q R G A Q M R D F 1 2 8 7 3 Z R Q Q B G 6 9 4 5 W M L N S I I C Z R H B Z O I Y M A Z F 9 3 4 5 8 2 6 7 1 E O P B Z O K R J H X E W E X N Y E D B

M O HONEYC B Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

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

1. Express admiration 2. Oily substance 3. Light fall of rain 4. Middle Eastern river 5. Cloth used to protect garments 6. High-pitched cry

ANSWERS 2 5 4 8 3 7 6 1 9

1 9 8 5 4 6 7 2 3

6 7 3 9 1 2 5 8 4

3 8 6 1 2 4 9 7 5

9 2 1 7 6 5 4 3 8 8

8 6 7

5 4 7 3 8 9 1 6 2

7 3 2 4 5 1 8 9 6

8 1 5 6 9 3 2 4 7

6

1 4

9 4

4 6 9 2 7 8 3 5 1

HONEYCOMB 1. Praise. 2. Grease. 3. Shower. 4. Jordan. 5. Napkin. 6. Shriek.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Bossy. 4. Sinew. 8. Act. 9. Wares. 10. Endow.

11. Hog. 12. Gloom. 13. Masonry. 16. Strike. 19. Berate.

23. Explode. 26. Incur. 28. Rat. 29. Olive. 30. Above.

31. Dip. 32. Rinse. 33. Hasty.

DOWN: 2. Servo. 3. Yashmak. 4. Stigma. 5. Needs. 6. Widen.

7. Rowdy. 9. Wages. 14. Oar. 15. Rut. 17. Tax. 18. Ill. 20. Epitaph.

21. Eyrie. 22. Deride. 23. Ebony. 24. Prior. 25. Ocean. 27. Cross.

14 • WAR CRY • 23 October 2021

6

A HIDDEN LIFE BEN-HUR EXODUS HARRIET JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR MARY MAGDALENE MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN

NOAH OVERCOMER RISEN SILENCE SON OF GOD THE PRINCE OF EGYPT THE SHACK

Okra and potato curry Ingredients 2tbsp vegetable oil 1tbsp panch phoron (mixed Bengali spices) 2 bay leaves 1 onion, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated 3 medium potatoes, cubed

Method Heat the vegetable oil in a pan, then add the panch phoron, bay leaves, onion, garlic and ginger. Cook on a low heat for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture starts to brown. Add the potato cubes, then cover and cook for 5 minutes until they start to soften.

Add the okra and mix well. Pour in the water, then stir and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, until the okra is softened.

Serve as an accompaniment to dahl.

450g fresh okra, washed and halved 350ml water

SERVES

4

Bengali fish curry Ingredients 4 unsalted fish steaks ½ tsp turmeric powder Salt 4 medium tomatoes, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 4 green chillies, finely chopped 1tbsp mustard powder 470ml water 4tbsp mustard oil 1tsp onion seeds Fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

Method Place the fish steaks in a bowl with the turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside for later.

In a blender or mixing bowl, blend the tomatoes, garlic, 3 green chillies, mustard powder, 120ml water and a pinch of salt into a smooth paste.

Set aside.

Heat 2tbsp mustard oil in a pan. Fry the onion seeds for 10 seconds, then add the blended tomato mixture.

Stir over a low heat for 8 minutes.

Once the mixture has turned a darker colour, add the remaining water and stir well. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Heat the remaining mustard oil in a pan and fry the marinated fish steaks until golden brown on both sides.

Add the fish to the tomato mixture and leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Garnish the curry with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

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

SERVES

4

23 October 2021 • WAR CRY • 15

Change only happens when ordinary people get involved Barack Obama

WAR CRY