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.
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major
Staff
Staff
Staff
Editorial
Philip Halcrow
Emily Bright
Claire Brine
Ewan Hall
Linda McTurk
Graphic Designer: Mark Knight
Graphic Designer: Natalie Adkins
Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk
The Salvation Army
United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 1 Champion Park London SE5 8FJ
Tel: 0845 634 0101
Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org
Founders: William and Catherine Booth
International leaders: General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham
Territorial leaders: Commissioners Jenine and Paul Main
Editor-in-Chief: Major Julian Watchorn
More than 56,000 people will be running round the streets of the UK’s capital this Sunday (27 April) in the London Marathon. That is a record number of runners, not just for London but for any marathon around the world.
Among those hoping to complete the 26.2-mile course is Jess Woolridge, who is running to raise money for The Salvation Army’s work with survivors of human trafficking.
‘The Army supports a lot of victims of trafficking – people who have lost their freedom and dignity as a result of modern slavery,’ says Jess in an interview in this week’s War Cry. ‘It helps them find ways to rebuild their lives, which I think is important.’
There are many Christian organisations – such as The Salvation Army – that work hard to support people who are finding life challenging, whether in this country or overseas.
Also in this week’s issue we speak with David Robinson, who for three decades worked in Thailand and Cambodia for the missionary organisation OMF. David explains that he faced times when his life was at risk.
He also describes how he conducted Bible studies in prisons.
‘The prisoners were happy for me to come, so I did that for two and a half years,’ he tells us. ‘I remember one guy said: “I murdered someone while I was drunk. Is there any hope for me? I’m so wicked.” I said: “Well, to my knowledge from God’s word, there is no sin too severe that God cannot forgive. He will forgive you if you truly repent.”
So he repented, accepted the Lord and discovered the peace of God.’
As far as God is concerned, it doesn’t matter how bad we may consider ourselves to be, he is willing to forgive us, share his love with us and give us a sense of peace. And if we accept his offer, we can be sure that he will be with us throughout our life, every step of the way.
Your local Salvation Army centre
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FAMILY FORTUNES
Celebrities explore ancestral roots
TV feature: Who Do You Think You Are? Tuesdays BBC1 and iPlayer
By Emily Bright
It’s said that the past is a foreign country. And that seems to be the case in more ways than one for the celebrities who travel to distant lands to discover more about their family history in BBC1’s Who Do You Think You Are?
The new series of the geneaology programme began with Hollywood star Andrew Garfield seeking to connect with his Polish and Jewish heritage. His investigations into his great-grandfather Ludwig Garfinkiel began in a small Polish town where, before the First World War, his Jewish ancestors faced waves of antisemitic violence, prompting some family members to emigrate to London. In the 1930s, others moved to Brazil. Andrew’s search ended with an emotional moment in which he commemorated victims of one of the Nazi death camps in Poland, Treblinka.
He then turned his attention to the ancestry of his greatgrandfather’s wife Sara Kupczy, whose family emigrated from Poland to London. He travelled to Hollywood to learn about how his two-times greatuncle Harry set up a women’s tailoring business in Beverly Hills before the Second World War.
Next week it’s the turn of news journalist Mishal Husain. The former presenter of Radio 4’s
Today programme looks into her family’s yesterdays as she explores her Irish ancestry through her paternal grandmother Mary Quinn.
Mishal travels to India, where she finds out how her two-times great-grandfather Thomas Quinn defied constraints on his social status, rising to become a personal physician to the Maharaja. And, to her surprise, Mishal learns that she has American relatives who played a key role in the country’s fight for independence.
The series takes the celebrities on a rollercoaster of emotions – from sorrow to joy, and from horror to delighted surprise – as they investigate and become invested in the lives of their ancestors. The famous faces never know what’s round the corner.
The same can be said in our own lives. We may have moments of unparalleled joy and find hope in surprising places, or suddenly face loss or tragedy. Over time, we will likely experience the full range of human emotion. And when we feel overwhelmed by unexpected events, it can be difficult to know where to turn.
But there is someone who will always support us. Many generations ago, God assured a group of people who were facing some of the toughest times: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you’ (Isaiah 41:10 New International Version). In the present day we too can be reassured that, whatever twists and turns our lives may take, God will always be on hand to carry us through. If we put our trust in the love that he has for all people, we can become part of his family. He will comfort us, guide us and also strengthen us, enabling us to face every day, with all its trials as well as its triumphs.
When we root ourselves in God, we discover a powerful love that can transform our life story.
Mishal Husain
Andrew Garfield
talk talk Team talk Team talk ‘
Bids reach biblical proportions
Room for improvement with self-awareness
Sarah Olowofoyeku gives her take on a story that has caught the attention of War Cry reporters
Self-awareness is a gift, but sometimes it can be frustrating. Knowing how we are raises the question of whether we can change.
In an article in The Guardian, journalist Elle Hunt revealed that she took a personality test on the ‘big five’ traits and scored just 33 for ‘agreeableness’, a category which included empathy, co-operativeness and social skills.
‘Does that mean I’m doomed to be disagreeable?’ she asked. ‘Or can I change who I am?’
The words of a fellow journalist gave her some comfort. Elle cited the book Me, But Better, in which Olga Khazan, staff writer at the Atlantic magazine, documented her year-long attempt to become more outgoing.
People may want to change their personality to be more likeable or gain others’ approval, and Olga says that ‘addressing blind spots or imbalances can also help us achieve our goals, and feel happier and more fulfilled’.
I’ve been frustrated by my shyness
Elle described her own ‘two weeks of gentle effort’ in this endeavour as productive. While she hasn’t changed her personality, she has ‘gained more grasp on its expression’.
Many of us can probably relate to Elle or Olga’s desires to change their personalities. Over the years I’ve been frustrated by my shyness, and sought ways to be more confident socially.
But I’ve found that, when it comes to being a ‘better version’ of myself, there’s only so much I can do on my own, and I’ll never be completely satisfied. I discovered something more appealing in my faith: the offer to become a brand-new version of myself.
Being a new me doesn’t mean that I stop being Sarah, who can find social situations overwhelming. It means that my identity is set on something completely different. When I became a Christian, it no longer mattered how extrovert I was.
Because I am a new creation in Christ, what defines me is that I am completely loved, approved of and accepted by God. Knowing that, I can feel secure as I work to make changes for the better – and with God’s help can live out who I truly am.
Charity shop workers were left in ‘complete shock’ after a donated Bible fetched more than £56,000 at auction, reported the BBC News website.
According to the article, the text, which was ‘the first Bible written in Chinese’, was dropped off at an Oxfam bookshop in Chelmsford. Believing it to be valuable, volunteers put the text up for auction, expecting to receive around £800.
The shop’s manager, Nick Reeves, said that staff were ‘absolutely speechless’ when the Bible (pictured) sold for £56,280.
Dating back to 1815, the Chinese Bible was ‘plucked from a pile of donations’ by volunteers two years ago and never placed on the shop floor. An auction specialist from Bonhams, Dr Lorenza Gay, said that the Bible was ‘exceptionally rare’.
WAR CRYWnRLD
Chaser’s ‘intellectual faith’
Anne Hegerty, a star of ITV quiz show The Chase, spoke to Songs of Praise about the events that led her to become a Christian in her mid-30s.
Anne (pictured) was given a Bible at school, and reading CS Lewis’s Mere Christianity – a book about the faith – alongside it proved to be a turning point.
‘I remember being really impressed by that,’ she told the BBC programme, ‘and thinking I actually can’t come up with a rebuttal to any of this.’
Decades later Anne embraced her belief in God and was baptised.
‘I believe that Jesus was the Son of God,’ she said, ‘but I do think I see how his dying on the cross redeemed us. And if we just lay hold of that faith, then I can see how we can be saved.’
At the age of 47, Anne was diagnosed with a form of autism. She explained that her faith is ‘quite intellectual, quite academic. It’s a head thing and not so much a heart thing. That’s because being autistic, I’m not terribly in touch with my feelings and don’t entirely trust them.’
Interns try abbey life
nThe Salvation Army church in Keighley celebrated Bradford’s year of being the UK’s City of Culture by hosting a samba drumming session.
A monastery in West Sussex is giving young men insights into what life is like as a monk by offering internships, reported BBC News.
Up to five interns will live among the monks for two months, disconnecting from social media and exploring their spirituality.
A previous intern, James, described his time at the abbey as ‘the best time of my life and the most serene I’ve ever felt’.
He said: ‘I lived amongst a community that are constantly trying to create an environment of gospel living, and I got to be part of that briefly to learn how they do it, why they do it and the origin of what it means.’
Worth Abbey, West Sussex
The session, held as part of the City of Culture’s community arts initiative Our Patch, took place as part of the church’s weekly dropin activities aimed at supporting asylum seekers and refugees.
The church will be taking part in several other community projects as part of Bradford’s City of Culture, including a cultural cooking afternoon, which will teach people to cook on a budget.
More congregate at church
The number of people attending church in the UK has grown significantly, according to Bible Society.
The organisation’s new report, The Quiet Revival, which is based on surveys by YouGov, reveals a particular rise among Generation Z and ethnic minorities. From 2018 to 2024, monthly church attendance rose from 8 per cent to 12 per cent of the adult population, with young adults aged from 18 to 24 years old showing the most dramatic increase.
The survey results also highlight how churchgoers reported higher levels of wellbeing and engaged with their community through volunteering and charity donations more than people who did not attend church.
The report’s co-author Dr Rhiannon McAleer said that there are more than two million additional people attending church than there were six years ago.
Paul Williams, chief executive of Bible Society, commented that ‘far from being on a slippery slope to extinction, the Church is alive and growing and making a positive difference to individuals and society’.
SMILES TO GO
JESS WOOLRIDGE explains why she’s happy to be running the London Marathon and reveals what keeps her strong when the going gets tough
Interview by Claire Brine
‘It’s crazy to think that I’m running the London Marathon,’ says Jess Woolridge. ‘Growing up, I wasn’t very sporty at all. But in recent years, I’ve grown to love running. So when I was asked if I’d run the marathon for The Salvation Army, I said: “Yeah I’ll do it.” I think that crossing that finishing line will be a massive achievement.’
Jess, who works as a digital officer for The Salvation Army, got into running back in 2019, when a friend recommended the Couch to 5k plan. Aimed at beginners, the programme starts by encouraging participants to run for just one minute, followed by a 90-second walk. Gradually, the time spent running increases.
‘It’s a slow process – and I found it tough at first,’ says Jess. ‘But it really does work. The more I ran, the more I built up my strength to run for longer. By the end, I could run for half an hour.’
Much to her surprise, Jess found that she enjoyed running. And last October,
she undertook her first half marathon, completing the course in two hours. However, she never envisaged that just six months later she’d be tackling the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon.
‘I’d watched my brother-in-law run it, and it spurred me on to think about it,’ she says. ‘But I just thought that I’d keep on doing half marathons instead. Then, back in January, I got a message from The Salvation Army’s fundraising team, saying that one of their runners had dropped out and asking whether I’d be interested in taking their place.
‘I didn’t have long to think about it. I remember saying to some colleagues that I didn’t know what to do. I felt a bit scared, but I said yes – and I was so pleased that I did. My next thought was: “I need to go home and start training right now!”’
Over recent months, Jess has been training for the marathon by running four times a week. Three of those runs take place on work days, covering shorter
distances. On Saturdays, she has been completing much longer runs, up to 32km.
Jess Woolridge
‘Two guys with guns came out to intercept us’
DAVID ROBINSON tells how he volunteered to be a Christian missionary in some of the most dangerous areas of Thailand and Cambodia
Interview by Emily Bright
ODavid Robinson
n 8 August 1982, David Robinson, without realising it, stopped an assassination attempt. Bumping along in a bus on one of Thailand’s dirt roads, he chatted to the man next to him, and, during a discussion about spirituality, told him about the Christian faith.
A few weeks later, David visited the man in his village. As they talked, the man revealed that he was a construction worker with a surprising sideline business – as an assassin. The day he had met David, he was travelling to kill someone, but after their conversation, he had had a change of heart and returned home. He later became a Christian and turned his
life around.
This anecdote and many more are included in David’s book Mud, Bullets and Open Roads, which details the highs and lows of his life as a missionary.
David’s adventure of faith began when, as an 18-year-old, he attended an event at Manchester City’s stadium, where the American evangelist Billy Graham was speaking. David was deeply moved by what was said and attended another gathering Billy had arranged the next day. While he was there, David decided to become a Christian. That date is inscribed in his Bible: 17 June 1961.
‘As I walked out of the stadium, I knew I was a different person,’ says David.
David outside one of the OMF’s churches in Cambodia
leaving the mission field was selling a motorbike and the price was £200.’
To David, it was a reminder that he could trust God to provide for his family.
After the couple finished their initial term in Thailand, OMF invited them to join a team in Tha Tako. The district was notorious for having one of the highest murder rates in the country. But the couple still decided to move there in 1977.
‘It was a lawless town, with a lot of killings and robberies, but we felt that God wanted us to be there,’ explains David. ‘We linked up with another missionary couple, Koos and Colleen Fietje. Koos and I reached out to people in town and to villagers.
‘During the day, the adults were in the rice fields working. So we used to go out to villages in the evening, have a meal with them and share the gospel.
‘As we talked – sometimes up to midnight and beyond – their hearts would soften and they’d say: “We want to believe in the Lord.” We’d sleep over in their house, then go home the following morning.’
In July 1981, David and his family returned to the UK on leave. Three months later, David received a call from Jenny with horrendous news: Koos had been killed the night before.
‘When Koos was relaxing after an evening meeting,’ says David, ‘a hired assassin fired a shot at him through the fence, and he died.’
Though feeling his own personal loss, David flew back to Thailand to comfort Koos’s family and the church community. He was moved to discover that some of them had gone to visit the man arrested for Koos’s murder in Pai Sali jail, offering him food and forgiveness.
When the Robinsons returned to Tha Tako in 1982, Jenny was apprehensive, because David was going to places where Koos had served. Thankfully, there were no further violent incidents, and the couple went on to become team leaders in central Thailand and then Bangkok, overseeing the welfare of missionaries. While in Bangkok, Jenny taught English classes and helped disabled orphans with their speech difficulties. But in 1993, everything would change for the couple.
‘Jenny began to complain of back pain and we went to a mission hospital
in central Thailand,’ recalls David. ‘They operated on her and found a huge growth attached to her spine. It was a terminal cancer.
‘We came back to the UK, and she was admitted to a cancer hospital in Manchester. She was there for about two or three weeks. Her spine was so damaged that she couldn’t stand. I invited church leaders to come and pray over her, trusting the Lord to provide healing.
‘She wasn’t made better physically, but her fear of death was taken away. When the surgeon found that they couldn’t operate – there was too much damage in the spinal area – he recommended that we make her comfortable in a hospice.’
While at the hospice, Jenny shared her
faith with her fellow residents and prayed for the nurses who looked after her.
Two months after being admitted to the hospice, Jenny died peacefully, with her family by her side.
‘I felt a sense of peace in my grief,’ recalls David. ‘But it felt like I’d had one of my arms ripped off, and that my insides were a block of ice – it took about a year for it to melt.’
When he felt ready, David began studying for an MA at the London Bible College, where he regularly attended prayer meetings for East Asia. One week, the group were praying for Cambodia after the end of the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge, which had killed up to three million people between 1975 and 1979.
David with his wife, Jenny, and their daughter, Hannah, outside OMF’s Study House – a centre for new missionaries – in Thailand
‘There was a state of semi-war there,’ says David. ‘The church, that had originally been about 18,000 people, had been decimated. There were only about 1,000 Christians left, so we prayed for that situation.
‘Then I returned to Manchester. Lo and behold, a letter had come from the leader of our mission in Thailand and Cambodia. They said that they’d like me to go to Cambodia as the new team leader.
‘I thought: “Lord, this must be a joke. I’ve just heard what a terrible place it is. Is this your will?” He assured me that yes, it was.’
Overcoming his trepidation, David flew out to Cambodia. On arrival, he had a rude awakening about the fallout from the Khmer Rouge era.
‘During my first night, there was a rat-a-tat of machinegun fire out in the street,’ he remembers. ‘In the morning, my host explained: “The fire service isn’t working, so if anybody has a house fire, they shoot their guns into the air to call the local populations to come and put the fire out.”’
David set to work as a missionary, learning Cambodian from a retired soldier. He ministered to communities traumatised by the Khmer Rouge regime and fostered community among his team.
Through a mutual acquaintance, he also met Mary, a physiotherapist working at an OMF hospital in south Thailand. In 1996, they married and Mary joined him in Cambodia.
There were a lot of bandits in our area
While the couple set about serving God, they believed they encountered his protection first-hand.
‘There were a lot of bandits in our area,’ says David. ‘Mary and I were going down a small, dark lane on a motorbike. We observed two guys with guns coming out to intercept us.
‘At that point, another motorbike came from the opposite direction. These two bandits backed off, and we realised that almost certainly, that motorbike – whether
it was an angel or whatever – was sent at the right point. We were safe.’
In 2005, after 10 years as field director in Cambodia, David handed over the role and returned to the UK with Mary, where they have ministered to Thai communities ever since.
Looking back on his decades of sharing the gospel, David sees God’s faithfulness powerfully at work.
‘I have walked narrow pathways and had testing times,’ he says. ‘But God’s provision and rescue have always been there. Ever since that Billy Graham event, God has been with me in a living way.’
l Mud, Bullets and Open Roads is published by 10Publishing
David and his second wife, Mary, outside a newly built mission home in Cambodia
QUICK QUIZ
1 2 3 4 5 6
In which European city is the Brandenburg Gate?
Who plays DI Humphrey Goodman in the BBC crime drama Beyond Paradise?
What is the name of the galaxy that includes Earth?
What is the name of Dorothy’s dog in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz?
Which golfer won this year’s Masters?
Who is the author of the poetry collection To the Women?
SEEDS OF A GOOD IDEA
Week aims to highlight the joy of nurturing green spaces
Feature by Ewan Hall
We’re being encouraged to have our green fingers at the ready. From 28 April to 4 May, the Royal Horticultural Society is inviting people to get gardening.
The RHS may be known for its flower shows – such as those at Chelsea and Hampton Court – which highlight the creations of highly skilled horticulturalists. But, through initiatives such as the annual National Gardening Week, it also aims to inspire millions of people to make the most of their own everyday green spaces.
The focus of this year’s week is on beginner gardeners. The organisers of the campaign understand that starting an outdoor garden or even beginning to look after indoor plants can be daunting.
To help those starting out on a green-fingered adventure, the RHS will be providing tips, how-to guides and instructional videos on its website. Its own gardens at Wisley, Bridgewater and Hyde Hall will also be hosting talks on subjects such as winning the war against weeds.
For Clare Matterson, director general of RHS, the week is an opportunity to inspire the next generation of gardeners.
‘People get a deep feeling of accomplishment when they grow a plant,’ she says. ‘We want all gardeners – and their gardens – to flourish from the very beginning.’
Not only can gardening bring a sense of accomplishment, but it also releases serotonin and endorphins, our body’s feel-good hormones. Appreciating nature supports mental health, which often takes a back seat to daily stresses such as work deadlines and social commitments.
But gardening isn’t the only way in which we can stop and smell the roses. Christians find that spending time with God provides them with an always-growing sense of peace.
Describing God’s comforting presence, one writer in the Bible talks of how ‘he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul’ (Psalm 23:2 and 3 New International Version).
Despite the hectic nature of our day-to-day lives, if we choose to place our trust in God, he will provide us with times of peace and fulfilment that will help us flourish.
INGREDIENTS
1 large cauliflower
Salt and pepper
200g potatoes, peeled and cubed
350g broccoli, roughly chopped
200g leeks, roughly sliced
50g cornflour
450ml milk
50g butter
100g Stilton cheese, crumbled
250g strong cheddar cheese, grated
30g fresh parsley, roughly chopped
100g gluten-free bread
75g cornflakes
Cauliflower cheese gratin
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4.
Remove the outer leaves and base of the cauliflower, then break it into small pieces.
Bring a pan of water to the boil and add 1tsp salt. Add the cauliflower and potatoes and cook until soft. Drain and place in a bowl. Add the broccoli and leeks to the bowl, then stir well. Set aside.
To make the sauce, dissolve the cornflour in a little milk in a bowl.
Gradually add the butter and remaining milk to a pan and bring to the boil. Add in the cornflour mixture and continue to stir until the sauce thickens. Add the Stilton cheese, 200g cheddar and 15g parsley, then stir until melted and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Tip the vegetable mixture into the pan with the cheese sauce and stir well, then pour into a baking dish.
To make a topping for the gratin, put the bread, cornflakes and remaining parsley into a food processor and whizz until broken down. Add the rest of the cheddar and pulse a couple of times to ensure it’s mixed through. Sprinkle the topping mixture over the dish in an even layer.
Bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is bubbling and golden, then serve.
