War Cry 25 September 2021

Bible translators transform communities

WAR CRY

25 September 2021 50p

For all eyes only James Bond has licence to thrill again as latest film is finally released

Modern slavery victim: ‘I was treated like a dog’

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 7544

THE general public’s awareness of human trafficking and modern slavery has grown over recent years. Newspapers and TV news bulletins have told of people being lured to the UK with promises of a good life only to end up abused and exploited.

Popular dramas such as Coronation Street and Line of Duty have featured storylines about this real-life horror that brings terror and distress to thousands of people. In this week’s War Cry we speak with a man we call Dan who was a victim of modern slavery. What may surprise some people, though, is that Dan was not brought into the country illegally, but was born and raised in the UK – and he is not alone in his experiences.

Last year, The Salvation Army, which has a government contract to support adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales, revealed that over a period of 12 months it had helped 243 British victims of this crime. They would have had experiences similar to Dan’s.

‘I was treated more like a dog,’ he tells us. ‘Sometimes I was working 75 to 80 hours a week, 60 hours during the week and then more over the weekend at the man’s business, and I wouldn’t be allowed to leave.

There was no food, just every now and then he’d come in with a sandwich for me.’

After police raided Dan’s workplace, The Salvation Army helped him to rebuild his life.

‘They did everything for me from day one to now,’ he says. ‘They’ve saved my life and made me a better person.’

The members of The Salvation Army are motivated to help others by their Christian faith and their belief that no one should be subject to exploitation and abuse. They want to make a difference in the lives of those who have suffered and to give them a growing awareness that they are loved, valued ad the War C e re ry and cared for by God. v ’ u

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 Walstead Roche Ltd, St Austell, 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

Shaken and stirred

James Bond returns to action

5

‘I want to warn other people what

can happen’

The experiences of a victim of modern

slavery

8

8

In so many words

How Bible translators are making a

difference around the world

REGULARS

4

War Cry World

12 Team Talk 13 Now, There’s a Thought!

15

14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: NICOLA DOVE/DANJAQ/MGM

0

Bond must rescue a kidnapped scientist

007 T

HE wait is over. Bond, James Bond is back. And while the secret agent is hoping for a quiet life in No Time to Die – released in cinemas next Thursday (30 September) – most fans won’t be expecting his hopes to be realised.

It seems likely that they will get their way. The film’s synopsis sketches out a picture of Bond (Daniel Craig) enjoying the tranquillity of Jamaican sunshine, having stepped away from a career that left him both shaken and stirred. But when an old friend from the CIA turns up asking for help, Bond’s peace is shattered.

Suddenly he has a new mission: to rescue a kidnapped scientist. He has a new nemesis: Safin (Rami Malek). And, no doubt, he has some slick new gadgets, thanks to tech boffin Q (Ben Whishaw).

In the countdown to the film’s release – which has faced multiple delays because of the Covid-19 pandemic – thousands of fans have been whetting their 007 appetite

Finally fans can see 00 7’s latest mission Film previe w by Claire Brine

with No Time to Die: The Official James Bond Podcast. It features interviews with scriptwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and treats listeners to an exclusive preview of the film’s music score. Actress Lashana Lynch also drops in to talk about playing Nomi, a new 00 agent, who ‘is very much there to shake things up’.

As well as sharing behind-the-scenes information about the new film, the podcast looks back on James Bonds of the past and explores how the character has developed over his near 60-year screen history.

Producer Barbara Broccoli explains how the film-making team try to keep the stories fresh, while also giving fans the bits of Bond they know and love.

‘When you talk about the relevance of the character, I think heroism is never going to go out of fashion,’ she says.

‘We always talk about these films as

In the ordinary, we recognise ourselves

Safin (left) is Bond’s latest villain, while Nomi is a new agent on the scene

NICOLA DOVE/DANJAQ/MGM

No time to lose

celebrating heroism of the regular person, the ordinary man. Bond isn’t a superhero.

And particularly in Daniel’s portrayal. He bleeds. He cries. We like to celebrate people who in everyday life do things for the greater good.’

Barbara is right. Stories – fictional or real-life – about ordinary people doing extraordinary things are captivating. In the ordinary, we recognise ourselves. In the extraordinary, we find inspiration about the kind of people we could be.

For 2,000 years, people have been gripped by the real-life stories in the Bible about a man called Jesus. In many ways, he was ordinary. He was a carpenter who loved his friends but sometimes got frustrated with them. He experienced days of joy and grief.

But Jesus was also extraordinary because he was God’s Son on a mission to change the world. He taught people to love their enemies rather than hate them.

He performed miracles, feeding 5,000 people with a handful of bread and fish.

Two days after he was put to death on a cross by his enemies, he rose to life, proving to everyone that eternal life was possible if they believed in him.

Though the story of a Saviour who transforms lives may sound too good to be true, followers of Jesus have discovered that it’s not. When we give him our hearts, our lives will never be the same again. With Jesus, we are in for an extraordinary adventure.

25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 3

WAR CRY

sztWwcxsz Minister hears of work hopes

Songs of Praise celebrates 60 years BBC TV’S Songs of Praise will mark its 60th anniversary with a special programme from Westminster Abbey.

The episode, which was recorded last week, will be the first to include new congregational singing since lockdown measures were introduced last year.

Scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday 3 October, the programme also includes interviews with Sally Magnusson and Pam Rhodes – who between them have presented more than 500 Songs of Praise episodes – and a duet featuring Aled Jones and Katherine Jenkins. Also taking part are the BBC Young Chorister of the Year, Alexander Olleson, and the Songs of Praise Gospel Singer of the Year, Monique McKen. Another programme to mark the anniversary will be broadcast tomorrow (Sunday 26 September). It will look back at standout moments from the 60 years of Songs of Praise, which was first broadcast on Sunday 1 October 1961.

The original programmes went out live on Sundays from churches, many of which were chosen because they were near sports grounds where the outside broadcast vehicles had been on the previous Saturday afternoon.

EMPLOYMENT minister Baroness Stedman-Scott took part in a video call to listen to the hopes of a group of young people who are being employed by The Salvation Army as part of a government scheme.

Under the Kickstart initiative, The Salvation Army is offering 85 paid jobs to young people who are claiming universal credit and who are at risk of long-term unemployment. The 16 to 24-year-olds have been offered the opportunity to work in various roles across the church and charity, including those of marketing assistants and activity co-ordinators.

The Department for Work and Pensions minister said it was wonderful to talk to some of the young people on the Kickstart scheme which, she said, is creating ‘vital jobs’ as the country recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the video call, she chatted with Charlie Buckingham, who lost his previous job during the pandemic. In June, he became a community support worker at Sheerness Salvation Army, where his responsibilities include working with the food bank, delivering food parcels and supporting the launch of a community service run from a bus.

‘The best thing about this job is that what I am doing is meaningful,’ he says. ‘It makes a difference. I am not just a number on a bit of paper, I am helping to make my community a better place.’

Baroness Stedman-Scott (centre top) joins the video call

Do you have a story to share? a warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk TheWarCryUK

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A CHURCH on an east London barge named Genesis has been awarded a national award for architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba). The awards, which have been presented since 1966, recognise the UK’s best new buildings and provide an insight into design and economic trends.

The floating church, designed by Denizen Works architects and commissioned by the Church of England’s Diocese of London, was recognised for its functionality and use of space. Riba said that its pop-up roof glows ‘like a beacon’ when the boat is illuminated from the inside at night. The roof can also be laid flat so the barge is able to pass under bridges.

The boat is currently moored on the River Lee alongside Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and is home to St Columba East London, a new church community led by the Rev Dave Pilkington.

GILBERT McCARRAGHER

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@TheWarCryUK

POPE FRANCIS sent 15,000 ice creams to prisoners during one of Italy’s hottest summers on record, reported The Guardian.

Inmates at Regina Coeli and Rebibbia received ice creams, which were intended to help them cool down.

The Vatican said in a statement that the Pope’s charities office did not take a holiday this summer, but instead its volunteers continued ‘to devote themselves, among other things to two of the seven works of mercy: visiting prisoners and consoling the afflicted’. It said that the donation was a gesture made ‘to help and give hope to thousands of people in Rome’s prisons’.

‘I worked 80 hours a week but never saw any wages’ Over the past 10 years, The Salvation Army has supported more than 12,500 adult victims of modern slavery in England and Wales. Dan, who was born and raised in the UK, became a victim of this crime when he was 18 Feature by Sarah Olowofoyeku

D

AN hasn’t seen his parents in years, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to go home again. At the age of 18, he became a victim of modern slavery, in the form of forced criminality and forced labour, while he was doing an apprenticeship.

‘Everything was good for the first three years, then someone new started work as head of security at the warehouse,’ Dan says. ‘He had so much money and such a lavish lifestyle. Because I was young and naive, I wanted to be in that crowd. He just seemed like he was having the perfect lifestyle. He’d treat me nice and take me for dinners. He’d make me feel like I was his friend.’

But after a while, things started to change.

Dan explains: ‘He started to deal drugs on the property. I didn’t want anything to do with it, but I soon learnt that he was good friends with the boss at the warehouse and that I had to do what he said or risk losing my job.

‘He made me help him, and at one point gave me several thousand pounds’ worth of drugs to sell, which he charged me for. I didn’t have the money to pay him back, so he told me there was interest to pay and doubled the amount I owed. When I said I couldn’t pay, he went to my parents’ house and smashed it up. Then he said he was taking the money back from me through my wages. My salary went through the books at the warehouse, but I never saw a penny of it.

‘Sometimes I was working 75 to 80 hours a week, 60 hours during the week and then more over the weekend at the man’s business, and I wouldn’t be allowed to leave. There was no

For his safety, Dan cannot return home

Turn to page 6 f

25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 5

From page 5 food, just every now and then he’d come in with a sandwich for me.

‘I was treated more like a dog, like somebody who could do his work for him all weekend.’

Terrified of what the consequences might be, Dan felt unable to leave.

‘In 2017, I took an overdose of medication and ended up in hospital for three days. They tried to offer me support for my mental health, but I couldn’t tell them the story because of what would happen if anyone ever found out.’

Dan felt like a bad person and a criminal. He didn’t feel he could tell anyone what was going on.

He feared that things would get worse.

The man had threatened to hurt Dan’s family and had already hurt Dan. ‘Over the years, he beat me up so badly that I’ve lost most of the teeth at the back of my mouth, had broken ribs and a damaged knee, which still needs an operation. When they knocked my teeth out, I needed to go to the dentist, but the man wouldn’t give me the money to go.

So for years, I had broken teeth and

I was in agony. It was terrible.

‘Members of my family were threatened on the streets and were terrified of leaving their house. My nan’s house was broken into, and she was made to give up my dead grandad’s savings. The family was concerned about where the money had gone, and I couldn’t say. My parents just thought I was a bad person.’

And still, no matter how much Dan worked or how much money he gave, his debt continued to mount.

‘From my understanding, I owed him £1,000,’ Dan recalls. ‘But he took that up to £50,000. He said he’d shoot me if I did a runner without paying.’

Dan was trapped. Then one day, police raided the warehouse where he worked.

‘The police found stolen vehicles, drugs and guns,’ he says. ‘They arrested a lot of people, including me. But this was a pretence to protect me and, as soon as we were at the police station, they treated me like a victim and not a criminal.

‘The next day, my life changed for ever.’

Two people from The Salvation Army

Members of my family were threatened on the streets

6 • WAR CRY • 25 September 2021

drove Dan to a safe house. For his safety, he had to go hundreds of miles from home.

‘Those two people and everyone I met were great,’ he says. ‘They made me feel like things were going to be OK. I stayed at the safe house for many months. I was treated with respect, honesty and integrity.

I learnt so much – from cooking skills to languages and other cultures – and their positive energy would instantly cheer me up whenever I felt down. They also helped me apply for work, and my confidence grew under their care. I will forever be in their debt.

‘They did everything for me from day one to now. They’ve saved my life and made me a better person.’

D

an has worked in a few different places in the past few years, but has had to move on when he doesn’t feel safe. He does not think it will ever be safe for him to go home to see his family again. His trafficker has not been convicted.

‘I find it difficult to think about my future,’ Dan says. ‘I can’t really think further ahead than a month and, because I have to be

so careful about my identity, it’s hard to have friends or a partner. Things are pretty stable at the moment. I have a full-time job and am studying for a degree.

‘I used to want cars and stuff, but now it means nothing. I’m just happy I’m alive, that I’m earning myself money and no one’s taking it off me.

Some days it’s very difficult, when I miss my family. But I’m thankful for how life is. I do have a couple of friends, and I’m happy I’m not in that situation, happy I got rescued and saved.’

Dan warns that modern slavery is happening ‘a lot more than people think’.

He says: ‘I think people assume it’s only European nationals, but it’s British people too. It can be anyone in the world.

It happens so often, but people don’t see it. Since I’ve been rescued, I’ve stayed in two different safe houses, and I was with 11 people from all over the world.

‘I want to use my experiences to warn other people about what can happen. I wish I’d heard somebody telling this story a couple of years ago, because I’d have

been able to get myself sorted quicker. I want to explain how much help there is out there for anyone who was trapped like me.’

To raise awareness of modern slavery, The Salvation Army is asking supporters to buy and wear special temporary tattoos ahead of AntiSlavery Day (Monday 18 October). As part of the campaign, people are also invited to take a photo of their tattoo and share it on social media, using the hashtag #WeAreNotForSale and tagging The Salvation Army UK. With their barcode design, the #WeAreNotForSale tattoos show how slavery treats people as objects that can be bought and sold. They are available for £1 online at sps-shop.com, and all proceeds go towards the Survivor Support Fund, which empowers people who have been victims of modern slavery to move forward in their lives.

I want to warn other people about what can happen

l Dan’s name has been changed

25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 7

Lots in The world’s bestselling book has been translated hundreds of times.

Yet still one in five people does not have access to it in their first language. Ahead of the UN’s International Translation Day, some of the people working with Wycliffe Bible Translators talk about their task of making the Scriptures available to communities around the world Feature by Philip Halcrow

T

HE United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a record-breaker. According to Guinness World Records, it is the most translated document in the world. The UN says that the list of fundamental rights, published in 1948, now exists in more than 500 languages.

With communications between countries being such a key part of the UN’s raison d’être, it’s appropriate that it observes an International Translation Day. The day is marked every year on 30 September – chosen because in the Church calendar it is the feast day of Jerome, who in the late fourth and early fifth centuries translated large parts of another record-breaker, the Bible, from its original tongues into the language of the Roman world: Latin.

It is also why the date is marked, in one form or another, by many organisations that are still translating the world’s bestselling and most widely distributed book, including Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Taking its name from a 14th-century churchman who promoted the translation of the Bible into English, Wycliffe Bible Translators emerged in the UK in the middle of the 20th century after Christians began hearing about a US organisation started by a missionary who had worked in Guatemala.

James Poole, executive director, says: ‘In the 1950s, Britain was still a big country for sending missionaries around the world. Mission organisations and Bible colleges heard that some American missionaries were making good progress by using people’s own languages rather than encouraging them to speak the colonial languages. They invited people over from the States to run a training camp, as a result of which some of those mission organisations founded Wycliffe, adopting the name of the

American organisation.

‘So we came about when other mission organisations decided that they didn’t want for them all to translate the Bible and do it badly.

They thought it was better to have a specialist organisation to focus on the task.’

James explains how Wycliffe carries out the task.

‘People sometimes imagine that we sit in our office, translating. It’s not like that. Instead, we provide support to communities, wherever they are in the world, to enable them to do the translation for themselves. We offer training and mentoring.

The task of translation may require the provision of equipment, specialist software and funding.

‘When a translation is made, it may be the first time that the language is being

It may be the first time the language is being written down

Wycliffe executive director James Poole

WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS

Translators take part in a Himba language workshop in South Africa

8 • WAR CRY • 25 September 2021

translation

Turn to page 10 f

WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS/JENNIFER PILLINGER

written down, so we also do literacy work so that people will be able to read it.

‘Translation should always be led by the community, and when there are already Christians in a community, it should be led by the Church.’

Occasionally communities request help, says James, but more often Wycliffe identifies local people who travel round and gather information on the linguistic lie of the land.

‘Sometimes it just requires someone to get on a motorbike and go round the villages with a small team of people, doing a survey to understand how many languages and dialects are spoken.

‘It’s the sort of work that you might think the country’s government or local civil service would have done, but typically no one has bothered. Many of these people are marginalised in their own countries. No one has bothered with their languages or their dignity.’

James notes that, although Wycliffes’s aim is ‘to introduce people to Jesus’, the act of translation has ‘ripple effects’.

He says: ‘When the language is written down for the first time, the people no longer think of themselves as nobodies – they see that they have a real language that is as good as all the other languages. They see themselves as a proper people group who cannot be ignored or pushed around by the government. Simultaneously, when their teachers start engaging with that language in a way they couldn’t before, schooling improves.

‘A task which is initially about spiritual care also affects their status and the

25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 9

WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS/JENNIFER PILLINGER

Rendille women read the New Testament together

From page 9 local economy.’

The Rendille people of Kenya, whose New Testament was completed in 2019, have experienced significant changes in their community because of Bible translation work, according to Rendille church leader Pastor David Gargule.

The translators, he says, ‘empowered the Rendille community by running adult literacy programmes and offering education for children’.

He explains: ‘Most Rendille are illiterate and cannot read or write even in Rendille.

The education provided through Bible translation has freed the community from the shackles of illiteracy, to look beyond their limitations and for a brighter future for their children.’

The recognition of the worth of languages may have a beneficial effect for people groups, as can the production of literacy resources and the writing down of a community’s folk tales so that they

10 • WAR CRY • 25 September 2021

are not lost, a task with which Wycliffe also helps. But ultimately the translators’ aim is to open up access to the message of the Bible – a message that can result in major changes within individuals and communities.

David says that within Rendille culture there is a continuing fight against oppressive traditions.

‘The Church is challenging traditions such as female genital mutilation and early marriages, by embracing the gospel and a transformative world view,’ he says.

‘We’ve rescued many girls from early marriages and FGM and have placed them in Christian schools. We’re giving them a chance for a better life and freedom in Christ from abusive practices.’

Jackie Marshall-Ringer, a Wycliffe worker, says that the arrival in 1996 of

a New Testament for the Murle people of South Sudan has played a part in the growth of Christianity and has changed aspects of their way of life. She reports that ‘a full understanding of biblical truths’ has led Murle Christians to ‘break free’ from the cattle raiding that is ‘a normal part of life across many communities in South Sudan’.

Members of communities who read the Bible in their first language for the first time speak of how it touches their heart, deepens their understanding of Christianity if they were already believers, and transforms their view of the world.

The task of making translation that is ‘accurate and clear’ can entail challenges, says James.

‘Some languages don’t have words that we take for granted in English, such as “forgiveness”, “mercy” or “grace”. These are critical words for understanding the gospel.

‘Often people misunderstand the Christian message until the translation is available. “Forgiveness” is a powerful word in English, but, although a community may have the concept of forgiveness, they may not have that word in their language, and it’s very difficult to explain the gospel without the vocabulary of forgiveness. Their concept may be that after an argument they hug each other in front of the elders and a public reconciliation takes place. So the

I’ve met people whose lives are in danger

translator would have to rephrase the Bible text to say, “God hugs you in front of the elders” or whatever the relevant expression is. And when people see that, they understand the concept and say, “Wow! God would do that for me!”’

While some of the challenges faced by translators come from the text itself, others come from the society that surrounds them as they work on the translation. Some areas of the world do not uphold article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that ‘everyone has the right to freedom of … religion’.

James says: ‘I’ve met people whose lives are in danger because of the translation work they’re doing. In some Islamic contexts, there are risks involved for someone in certain parts of a country if it is known that they have become a Christian.

‘Statistically in such contexts it is very likely that they became a Christian through Bible translation. Perhaps they were travelling in another part of the country and accessed the Bible. They can’t speak openly about Jesus, but

they want to let people know the good news about him. They may feel that one of the ways in which they can is by translating and distributing copies of the book that they read, perhaps electronically. Sometimes people don’t want a printed Bible, because if the police see them with one, they will be in trouble.

So we make Scripture apps available.

‘Our concern is that everyone should have access to the Bible in the language and the format that speaks to them best.’

Those formats and languages include audiobooks for people who cannot read and videos for people who use sign languages.

Whatever the language or format, James has become aware that different parts of the Bible speak to different cultures more easily. He says that whereas westerners may feel more at home with Paul’s letters in the New Testament – written in a context influenced by the same Greek culture that helped shape European culture – ‘lots of the world think that the Old Testament is much easier to understand, because it talks about

WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS

Everyone has the right to know what God is saying to them

whether the rain is going to fall and about crops and farming, which many of us in the West have no idea about.

‘And that is one of the reasons why we have to give people whole Bibles. We can’t say that our favourite bit is John’s Gospel, so we’ll just give people that.

John’s Gospel may resonate with us but feel very different to others. It’s not for us to pick and choose which part of God’s word people should hear. It can be surprising which parts people are most drawn to.

‘For instance, a group of helpers were working with a community to translate Matthew’s Gospel. The helpers thought they would not start at the beginning with the genealogy and the long list of names; instead, they would first work on some of the stories of Jesus, thinking that they were more interesting.

‘So they worked their way through the Gospel and then at the end thought they better go back to the beginning and add the genealogy.

‘But it was at that point of going back to the genealogy that the community started saying, “Ah! This man Jesus was real. We know who his ancestors are. This proves that this is a trustworthy story because we can see his family line.”

‘In the West we typically skip over the genealogy, because we don’t value our ancestry in the way that others do.’

Guinness World Records says that ‘although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s bestselling and most widely distributed book’. Many of the estimated five billion copies printed between 1815 and 1975 alone will have been read in translations from its principal original languages of Hebrew and Greek.

Yet Wycliffe says there is still the potential for it to reach many more people, with translation work already taking place in about 2,700 languages.

‘I was shocked when I realised that one in five people worldwide don’t have the Bible in their language,’ says James.

‘One translator was asked about why he risked his life for the sake of his people.

He simply said that everyone has the right to know what God is saying to them.

‘We live in a world that is concerned about many injustices, and there is a basic injustice if some people cannot easily access what God is saying. In the gospel, God is offering us a relationship with him, forgiveness, joy and a meaningful life now that lasts eternally. Everyone should have access to that.’

Pastor Sunday Wenji, a translator, reads from Mark’s Gospel in the Nyankpa language of Nigeria 25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 11

Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Clifford, who has been suffering with back pain for years; and for Carlo, who wants to be healed mentally and physically from drugs and alcohol and is concerned about his friends.

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 Test is one of a kind

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

PROFESSOR Robin Banerjee is raising questions about kindness – and he wants the public to provide some answers. In an article in Radio Times, the head of the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex explained why his team was working in partnership with Radio 4 to launch the Kindness Test, which he described as the ‘largest ever public science project on the topic of kindness’.

The online questionnaire is designed to ‘delve into the detail of how people see kindness, where, when and with whom it’s experienced, where it’s valued (and where it’s not), and lots more’, he wrote. ‘What are the barriers to being kind? Is kindness sometimes considered a weakness? How important is it to be kind to yourself?’

The professor hopes the results of the questionnaire, which will be revealed in early 2022, may shed some light on ‘how kindness relates to other aspects’ of life, including community, relationships and mental health. ‘Acts of kindness,’ he suggested, ‘might just be the glue that holds us all together. And given everything in our lives that has been separating us recently … it feels like this might be more important than ever before.’

To my mind, there should be no downplaying the value and necessity of kindness in the world. People should be – need to be – kind to one another.

We all know that the world is a harsh place when we are not.

As I prepared to write this article, I wondered what else I could say on the subject of kindness. Surely there must be something punchy and clever to write about why it matters.

But then I realised that kindness, by its nature, isn’t complicated or flashy – and it certainly doesn’t need me making it so. To be kind means to show care, generosity and respect to another person. Kindness undoubtedly matters, but it’s simply about helping people, whatever that help may look like.

While kindness can take many forms, I think the basic idea is simple to grasp – just ask my two-year-old who is beginning to learn and understand all about it. The concept may make for an interesting study for professors and researchers, but the practice of being kind is, undoubtedly, for everyone.

Kindness, by its nature, isn’t complicated

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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 • 25 September 2021

Q

QUICK QUIZ 1

NOW, THERE’S A THOUGHT!

What animal is featured in Sir Edwin Landseer’s

painting The Monarch of the Glen?

2

A 3 4

What is the capital city of Turkey?

A cygnet is a young what?

Which boy band had a UK

No 1 in 1999 with ‘I Want It That Way’?

5

What does it mean to ‘bake

6

What TV sitcom followed

pastry blind’?

the misadventures of tech experts Roy and Moss?

ANSWERS

1. A red deer stag. 2. Ankara. 3. Swan.

4. The Backstreet Boys. 5. To bake a pastry case without a filling. 6. The IT Crowd.

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by Jim Burns

Clean inside and out?

C

LEANING a garden ornament that has been out in all weathers for many years is no easy task. So, I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to work on cleaning up a monument.

That’s why I’m sparing a thought for the team who are restoring and repairing the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro ahead of its 90th birthday next month.

The art deco figure of Jesus, which stands at 38m tall, originally took nine years to complete and has undergone various works over the years. The statue’s clean-up is not a small job – this year’s restoration involves more than 40 people, including engineers, geologists and architects.

No doubt it will look even more stunning when it is restored to its former glory. However, there are times when things that look good on the outside can be hiding decay and rot underneath.

That may not be the case for the statue, but it can be true of people. Many of us may have met someone who appears to be a good person, but they’re actually hiding their true personality.

It’s not a new phenomenon. In the Bible, there are accounts of religious people who were focused on how they appeared and what others thought of them but were not doing the right thing on the inside.

Jesus’ words to them were harsh. ‘You hypocrites!’ he said. ‘You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins’ (Matthew 23:27 and 28 Good News Bible).

Jesus was unhappy with people who were pretending to be better than they were. He was more accepting of people who didn’t put on any airs and graces but knew that they were not perfect.

As long as we are honest with Jesus about who we are, he is willing to lovingly repair and restore the parts of our personality that may need some work.

The statue’s clean-up is not a small job

25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 13

PUZZLES Quick CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Timepiece (5) 4. Performed (5) 8. Santa’s helper (3) 9. Foundation (5) 10. Knock over (5) 11. Couple (3) 12. Discourage (5) 13. Quick retort (7) 16. Eatable (6) 19. Affront (6) 23. Disaster (7) 26. Competed (5) 28. Riotous crowd (3) 29. Hesitate (5) 30. Ooze (5) 31. By way of (3) 32. Abrupt (5) 33. Answer (5) DOWN 2. Beginning (5) 3. Falcon (7) 4. Able to buy (6) 5. Whack (5) 6. Sediment (5) 7. Army chaplain (5) 9. Emblem (5) 14. Away (3)

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

1

9 6

3

8 6 6 9 2

2 3 2 6 7 1

1 6 8 4 15. Large cask (3) 17. Owing (3) 18. Bleat (3) 20. Refrain from (7) 21. Evade (5)

22. Take away (6) 23. Storehouse (5) 24. Not sharp (5) 25. Applaud (5) 27. Blockhead (5)

2 3 4 8 9

7

5 9

WORDSEARCH

6

1 7 2 9 5 3 4 6 8 4 9 3 6 8 2 5 1 7 Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally 5 these 8 cooking 6 1 herbs 7 4and2 spices 3 9 on the grid to find 6 1 7 3 4 8 9 5 2 L U D G M H W Q W W Z R Q N S V R E 9 5 4 2 6 7 1 8 3 P I K D S R S A Z J Z R Q Y D N D L B K I S C G K G S 2 3 8Z W H S 5 9 T 1Y Y M L 6 7 4 G K O A I I B Z V N M J N D H S O S 7 2 I 1W G 4 F 3Q N 6Z O M O 8 9 5 Z F T X R N M G E Z C P E K 3Z M W J 6 9 P 8 X M X 2 5S Z 7 A G 4 1 H M A O M E U Q Z C W D F P A U D D 8 Z Q N L 4 5 7 X R B L R R C 1 9 3 2 6 I P Y Q R C J

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

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

1. Feeling of the need to drink 2. Season 3. Used with a saucer 4. Choose 5. Film actor, _____ Reed 6. Moveable indicator on a computer screen

ANSWERS 1 4 5 6 9 2 7 3 8

7 9 8 1 5 3 2 6 4

2 3 6 7 4 8 1 9 5

6 8 4

9 6 1 3 2 5 4 8 7 7

1

5 8 7 4 6 9 3 2 1

3 2 4 8 7 1 6 5 9

4 5 2 9 1 6 8 7 3

6 1 3 5 8 7 9 4 2

5 9

8 7 9 2 3 4 5 1 6 6

8 9

HONEYCOMB 1. Thirst. 2. Spring. 3. Teacup. 4. Select. 5. Oliver. 6. Cursor.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Clock. 4. Acted. 8. Elf. 9. Basis. 10. Upend.

11. Two. 12. Deter. 13. Riposte. 16. Edible. 19. Offend.

23. Debacle. 26. Raced. 28. Mob. 29. Pause. 30. Exude.

31. Via. 32. Terse. 33. Reply.

DOWN: 2. Onset. 3. Kestrel. 4. Afford. 5. Thump. 6. Dregs.

7. Padre. 9. Badge. 14. Off. 15. Tun. 17. Due. 18. Baa. 20. Forbear. 21. Dodge. 22. Remove. 23. Depot. 24. Blunt.

25. Cheer. 27. Chump.

14 • WAR CRY • 25 September 2021

6 8 1

BASIL BAY LEAVES CARDAMOM CAYENNE PEPPER CINNAMON CLOVES CORIANDER CUMIN

GARLIC POWDER GINGER NUTMEG OREGANO PAPRIKA ROSEMARY THYME TURMERIC

Punjabi keema Ingredients

Method

400g can chopped tomatoes

Blend the tomatoes, ginger and chillies together and set aside for later.

20g fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan on a medium heat. Cook the onions for 5 minutes until softened and beginning to brown, then add the garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes.

4 green chillies 30ml rapeseed oil 2 onions, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1½ tsp turmeric 150g frozen peas 700g turkey mince 1½ tsp ground cumin 1½ tsp ground coriander

Add the blended tomato, ginger and chilli, along with the turmeric and frozen peas. Stir well and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Add the turkey mince, along with the remaining spices and, if using, salt. Mix well and keep cooking until the meat has turned white. Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes.

1tsp salt, optional

Remove the lid and carry on cooking for a few minutes to allow any excess water to evaporate. Once ready, top with chopped coriander.

Fresh coriander, finely chopped, to garnish

Serve with chapatis or in a wrap with plain yoghurt.

2tsp garam masala

SERVES

4

Hummus and salad wrap Ingredients 2tbsp reduced-fat hummus 1 large wholemeal wrap 1 small carrot, grated Small wedge of lettuce, shredded

Method Spread the hummus over the wrap, then sprinkle on the carrot and lettuce.

Fold opposite edges of the wrap, to keep the filling in, then roll it into a burrito shape and cut in half.

To make up a lunch box for later, pop 2tbsp frozen mixed berries in a small pot ready to mix in 3tbsp low-fat Greek-style yoghurt.

Serve the wrap with the berry mix, cherry tomatoes and a bottle of water.

SERVES

1

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

25 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 15

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