2 November 2019 • WAR CRY • FILM 3
FLYING HIGH A
FLAMBOYANT hot-air balloon pilot and an ambitious meteorologist rise through the skies of Victorian London. Their attempt to reach a record altitude results in some moments of high drama in The Aeronauts, which is scheduled to be released in cinemas on Monday (4 November). Two years after a flight that had tragic consequences, pilot Amelia Wren (Felicity Jones) is still recovering from the trauma. Her sister advises her to distance herself from ballooning, seeing only danger. Meanwhile, academic James Glaisher (Eddie Redmayne) longs to learn more about the weather, believing that if correct predictions are made, lives can be saved. His ideas are dismissed as ludicrous by members of London’s leading scientific academy, the Royal Society. He is criticised in the press, and even his parents struggle to understand his ideas. Then James meets Amelia and urges her to take him on a flight that will help him understand more about meteorology. Overcoming her fears, she agrees. As they ascend above the clouds, they see some extraordinary sights, such as fluttering swarms of butterflies and a full-circle rainbow. James witnesses all kinds of phenomena and develops his scientific knowledge beyond what he could have imagined. The pair continue to climb in altitude, defying the critics and naysayers. But as they seek to push the boundaries of what is possible, they encounter conditions that will test the balloon’s capabilities and their survival instincts to the limit. Felicity Jones describes The Aeronauts as ‘a film about hope and feeling that anything is possible’. She
Courtesy of Entertainment One
They seek to push the boundaries of what is possible
James Glaisher and Amelia Wren take flight
Is the sky the limit for hot-air balloonists? asks Emily Bright
says: ‘It’s great to have a film that is about optimism and to remind people that humans are capable of great things when they put their minds to it.’ It’s true that, when striving to achieve our ambitions, we humans can hit the heights – but it’s also the case that there are times when, as individuals, we feel we’ve reached the end of our tether. Circumstances derail our plans. We are misunderstood. We may face unfair criticism, rejection, prejudice and disappointment – times when casual words of optimism from others are likely to go down like a lead balloon. But facing seemingly impossible situations, many people have found hope in a timehonoured truth. One of the first people to realise it was the Bible writer Paul. He endured imprisonment, hunger and persecution when he was striving to reach new people and places with the groundbreaking message about God’s love for humankind, as revealed in Jesus. And what gave him hope through those times was the message itself. Aware that there were no boundaries to the love Jesus has for every individual, Paul understood that nothing could ultimately rob him of a sense of peace. He knew that Jesus cared for him whether he was living through good or bad times, causing him to say: ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13 New Revised Standard Version). Jesus offers us all the same support. Whether we’re feeling deflated at disappointments or weighed down by worries, he can reignite our hope. With the knowledge that he cares for us, we can more than weather any storm.
2 November 2019 • WAR CRY • FEATURE 5 JOSS BARRATT
WHEN WORK DOESN’T As new film Sorry We Missed You focuses on the pitfalls of the gig economy and the resulting problems, Linda McTurk reports on how The Salvation Army helps people facing such challenges in the real world
ARD-working Mancunian Ricky H Turner wants to provide the best in life for his wife and two school-aged
children. But problems keep getting in the way, as cinema audiences discover in Sorry We Missed You, released in cinemas yesterday (Friday 1 November). A decade ago, Ricky and his wife, Abby, almost bought a house, but the financial markets crashed. Ricky then lost his job and, with it, any hope of getting a mortgage. Since then, he has moved from job to job. Although both of them work full-time, Abby and Ricky are still renting their home and only just making ends meet. Ricky dreams of a better life for his family. When he hears about a new opportunity to work as a self-employed delivery driver, he jumps at the chance, hoping to earn more money. But even before his first day on the job, Ricky’s employer asks him to buy or rent his own work vehicle. Desperate for a chance to do something different, Ricky sells Abby’s car to invest in a work van. A matter of days into his new job, Ricky finds his employer is unfairly deducting money from him. Before long, he
seems to be losing more than he is earning. To make matters worse, without a car, Abby, who cares for people in their own homes, has to work round the clock to travel to her clients. She is angry at Ricky for taking her car away. The difficulties faced by the couple hardly help their life at home with their children – and threaten to drive their loving family apart. Many families over the years have been through situations similar to the Turners’. For more than a century, The Salvation Army
Turn to page 6 ➥
Ricky wants the best for his wife and children
6 FEATURE • WAR CRY • 2 November 2019
From page 5 has helped to lift people facing such circumstances out of poverty. Since the 1890s when the organisation opened an early labour exchange, it has helped individuals get back on their feet. Today, some 3,000 people a year benefit from its Employment Plus programme. Employment Plus helps jobseekers with their applications, interview preparation and CVs. Its goal is to give people the tools to be able to change their lives and to support them every step of the way, regardless of how employable the individual may seem. Lee Durbin, an employment development co-ordinator for the programme in Bristol, says: ‘We work out of Salvation Army centres, as well as libraries, community centres and job centres. And we work with absolutely everyone – it doesn’t matter whether or not they are a British national. The only criterion is that they have be to 18 or older. ‘We do a lot to help people who have
The Turner family cherish moments together in ‘Sorry We Missed You’
addiction issues and people who are homeless. We give them the support they need with things such as benefits, GPs or help with addiction. ‘We have a lot of people who, because of the life they have led, are physically never going to be able to work because
I find the gig economy to be generally exploitative they have damaged their bodies. That is the reality for some people. On the other hand, we also work out of job centres and get a lot more people who haven’t got as many barriers to employment.’ As portrayed in Sorry We Missed You, the UK job market has changed significantly over the past two decades. Many low-skilled job opportunities appear
in the gig economy, in which a worker is not paid by the hour as an employee, but is instead given money for every freelance job that they do for a company as a selfemployed person. Other people may find jobs through zero-hour contracts, in which an employer does not have to offer any set hours to an employee. ‘What I generally find is that people who work in low-skilled jobs in the gig economy lack a lot of the rights that they would have as employed persons,’ Lee says. ‘A lot of the time they have to do their own national insurance and tax. They are not guaranteed any hours. It is very transient work. Most people on zero-hour contracts want more hours than they actually get.’ Lee says that, while these types of jobs may be beneficial to a small group of people, such as students, they can be bad news for low-skilled workers. ‘I find the gig economy to be generally exploitative. Most agency workers I speak
2 November 2019 • WAR CRY • FEATURE 7
to would be able to tell me about times when they have been shortchanged by an agency or not had money paid to them. uniforms. It There are all happened some good agencies very quickly – it was three weeks out there, but between me there are also speaking to Lee and lots that really take Le s u eD l him sorting this out. advantage because tP urb in of Employmen ‘Lee is a good man and they know they can.’ Aware of the dangers of I feel grateful to him. But, to be honest, this hard time in my life still exploitation, Lee wants to help his has not finished and I’m disappointed with clients at Employment Plus avoid being circumstances I’m not able to understand.’ unfairly treated. Lee acknowledges that not all of his ‘I’m street-smart and I can fight my own corner,’ he says. ‘But there are lots of clients’ situations can be easily remedied. people who aren’t able to But, despite various setbacks that people do that because of illness may face, he hopes that his work at or being worn down. I try my best to help people who are being taken advantage of. It seems to happen far too often.’ One of the individuals that Lee has helped to get back on his feet is Michael, who has found it difficult to attain a steady job since arriving in the UK from eastern Europe. Michael says of his search for stable work: ‘I’m very sad that despite trying for 15 years, I have generally failed. One of the companies I worked for promised me a pay rise and a contract, which I didn’t get. Instead of what I was promised, the company offered more duties and a wage cut.’ Michael encountered many similar situations in his search for a stable job, including one company that, like Ricky’s employer in Sorry We Missed You, threatened unfairly to deduct money from him. Desperate for help in his search for stable work, a few months ago Michael contacted Lee. ‘I explained my situation to Lee,’ Michael says. ‘He asked to have a look at my CV. Then he put me in contact with a potential employer at a care home. He also provided me with some
I try my best to help people who are being taken advantage of Employment Plus will continue to help people get on the right track. ‘I’m motivated when people leave with a new sense of purpose, feeling relieved and less anxious,’ he says. ‘They know that there is somebody helping them and that there is somebody they can speak to. When I hear good news about people finding employment after a long time, or that their lives have been improved in any way, it gives me the motivation to come to work.’
l Michael’s name has been changed JOSS BARRATT
12 INNER LIFE • WAR CRY • 2 November 2019
Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Jean, who has shingles; and for Hellen, who is undergoing major surgery. The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances. Send your requests to Prayerlink, War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your envelope ‘Confidential’.
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 Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International
Nigel Bovey gives chapter and verse on each book in the Scriptures
The gospels HE word ‘gospel’ comes from the Old T English ‘godspel’ and means ‘good news’. Like four reporters covering the
same story, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record key events and quotes from the life of Jesus from different angles and for differing audiences. Matthew, Mark and Luke focus on what Jesus said, did and experienced. John delves into who Jesus was. All four heavily feature the events immediately leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. The gospels are not a product of divine dictation or angelic revelation. They are not myths, philosophies or allegories, but are firmly set in human history – real time, real places, real people and real events. Just as journalists have their sources, so the gospels are based on information from witnesses. Dating from between AD65 and 70, Mark is the earliest and shortest of the gospels. Scholars detect Mark’s associate and Jesus’ lead disciple Peter as a key source. With much of Mark’s stories appearing in Matthew and Luke, scholars have battled to discover Matthew and Luke’s sources. One theory is that they used Mark plus an undiscovered source that scholars label Q (from quelle, the German for ‘source’) plus their own material. Because these gospels cover much of the same ground, they are known as the Synoptic (literally, ‘together seeing’)
Gospels. John was written independently. By the early 2nd century, the Early Church had accepted the four gospels as inspired, authentic and authoritative. Occasionally, excited references to ‘lost gospels’ appear in the media – as well as in the novel The Da Vinci Code. Quoting the
Dan Brown popularised the idea that the Church suppressed the truth ‘Gospel of Philip’ and the ‘Gospel of Mary’, Dan Brown popularised the idea that the Church historically suppressed the whole truth about Jesus. Products of the 3rd century, many of these ‘gospels’ are the works of Gnosticism, a philosophy that linked salvation with secret knowledge. By contrast, 1st-century convert Paul outlines the truths that we need to believe in order to be saved: ‘By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you … that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day … and that he appeared’ (1 Corinthians 15:2–8 New International Version). These are events that are recorded by all four gospel writers.
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