War Cry 8 June 2019

8 June 2019 20p/25c

‘DOCTORS DON’T KNOW WHY I’M STILL ALIVE’ Former Paralympian who danced with the stars

‘PRISONS ARE FOR REHABILITATION’ Chaplains talk about life behind bars

It’s still all about Eve

DEADLY DANGERS LURK AS HIT TV DRAMA RETURNS

2 COMMENT AND CONTENTS • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

What is The Salvation Army?

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

From the editor’s desk SOME television programmes capture the public’s imagination to such a point that it seems as if everyone is watching them.

Last weekend millions tuned in to see Chelsea pensioner Colin Thackery win Britain’s Got Talent. Tonight (Saturday 8 June), vast numbers of viewers will be watching the start of the second series of the gripping drama Killing Eve, which we feature in this week’s War Cry. Another programme that dominates the TV schedules when it’s on – and many newspaper headlines throughout the year when it’s not – is Strictly Come Dancing. The BBC One show was first aired in 2004 and versions of the programme are now shown in countries around the world.

In the United States it is known as Dancing with the Stars, and in 2017 Victoria Arlen was among the show’s contestants.

Victoria’s appearance was remarkable considering that ten years earlier she had been in an unconscious state that she did not wake from until 2009. It was to be another seven years before she would begin to walk again.

In an interview in this week’s War Cry, Victoria describes how she went from being an energetic and healthy young girl to a teenager battling locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological condition that left her totally paralysed and unable to speak.

Victoria tells how, through determination, the support of her family and the strength she received from her Christian faith, she slowly regained her health. She went on to win gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games before becoming a TV sports presenter.

She describes her experiences as ‘extraordinary challenges’, but explains how they have led her to ‘an extraordinary victory’.

There are not many people, if any at all, who go through life without experiencing their own challenging times. Victoria’s story is a great reminder to each one of us of the hope the Christian faith can give, however difficult life may become.

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 7426

Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Claire Brine Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight War Cry office: 020 7367 4900 Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN Tel: 0845 634 0101

Contents

Helpline: 020 7367 4888 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@sp-s.co.uk Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Secretary for Communications: Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant

Published weekly by The Salvation Army ©The Salvation Army United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity.

The charity number in England and Wales is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399.

Printed by Walstead Roche Ltd, St Austell, on sustainably sourced paper

Your local Salvation Army centre

FEATURES 3

All about Eve TV drama returns for second series

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Time for faith Chaplains talk about their role within prisons

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‘Extraordinary challenges led to extraordinary victory’ The Paralympian who overcame illness

REGULARS 4 News 12

Browsing the Bible

13

Now, there’s a thought!

14 Puzzles 15

What’s cooking?

Front-page picture: BBC/BBC America

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BBC/BBC America

8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • TELEVISION 3 Villanelle (left) and Eve are on a quest to find each other

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HAIRPIN as a murder weapon was enough to make MI5 employee Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) think that the assassin was a woman. But what she did not suspect was how her world would collide with the international killer’s. In the second series of BBC One spy thriller Killing Eve, which begins tonight (Saturday 8 June), the plot thickens.

The team who were set up to find the killer are learning more about the organisation that has hired her as a hitwoman. And, though Eve was released from the team, she is still on a personal quest to find her.

Eve used to have a fairly mundane existence: a nice home, a loving husband and a desk job with the potential, though not always fulfilled, for excitement. But when she was called in by an MI6 boss, a new chapter of her life opened. Together they identified the assassin who had been behind a spate of killings: Villanelle (Jodie Comer).

Villanelle is flamboyant with her kills, taking pleasure in watching her victims die. She shows no remorse. Instead she shows off a wicked sense of humour.

The young assassin is generously remunerated for her work and uses her earnings to fulfil her desire for a lavish lifestyle, including a fridge full of champagne in a grand Parisian apartment.

While at the outset Killing Eve seemed to be a simple tale of good versus evil, viewers soon discovered

MI5 employee is determined to track down the assassin who wants to kill her, writes Sarah Olowofoyeku

otherwise. Eve and Villanelle have strayed from their mission, risking their jobs and other people’s lives as well as their own.

Eve became intrigued by Villanelle.

She is motivated by something other than the need to arrest her. In turn, Villanelle has taken a twisted liking to Eve and used her assassin skills to track her down.

It was no surprise that the first series ended with a bang. The two women

Ultimately what matters is our choice of what to pursue came face to face. Eve stabbed Villanelle, who then tried to shoot her. When Eve came out from hiding, Villanelle was gone.

Eve and Villanelle take huge risks in their personal and professional lives because they believe that pursuing each other, for whatever reason, is worth it.

Sandra Oh says of her character: ‘Everything is fine about her life, right?

But there is more and she just happens

to be a character who ultimately wants more.’

It’s no crime for anyone to want something more. Ultimately what matters is our choice of what to pursue.

We may chase a dream of a new job, expensive items or a family. We may engage in something out of character that is thrilling but destructive.

People from many walks of life have found that attaining certain goals does not always bring the satisfaction they expected. Instead they have been most gripped by the discovery of God’s love, as revealed in his Son, Jesus.

One early Christian, Paul, who had experienced success, wealth and adventure, knew what this felt like. He wrote: ‘Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:8 New Living Translation).

He had come to see that when anyone puts their trust in Jesus, they can receive forgiveness for their wrongdoing, guidance in turning their lives round for the better and the experience of a love that never ends.

Countless people have followed a personal quest to find Jesus and discovered that pursuing him is always worth it.

BBC

Adamant Eve

4 NEWS • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

Day to tackle religious persecution announced THE UN has declared an international day to commemorate victims of religious persecution.

Members of the general assembly adopted a draft resolution to make 22 August an International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief in a bid to tackle the rise in religiously motivated attacks across the globe.

The day was proposed in a meeting at the UN’s headquarters in New York.

Poland’s foreign affairs minister Jacek Czaputowicz, who introduced the resolution, said: ‘We hope that it will help combat hate crimes and acts of violence related to religion or belief, and will further strengthen interreligious dialogue.’

Musicians unite at Trafalgar Square for major festival of faith

A FREE festival is being staged in Trafalgar Square tomorrow (Sunday 9 June) to mark Pentecost, the Christian celebration of God sending his Holy Spirit.

The event in London is one of a number being held round the UK as part of the Thy Kingdom Come global prayer movement. It will include food stalls, worship and music from gospel outfit the Kingdom Choir, who sang at last year’s royal wedding, modern worship singers Matt Redman and Lou Fellingham and eclectic ministry team Sounds of New Wine.

Lawrence Johnson (pictured, centre), creative director of Sounds of New Wine, says he was eager to take part because the event strikes a chord with him.

He tells the War Cry that the festival will be ‘about people coming together and not worrying about what church you go to, what day you go on, what you do and don’t do.

‘From an early age I’ve been interested in people from different cultures coming together THE UK government must take some responsibility for debt crises in as one,’ he says. ‘We shouldn’t be ashamed of developing countries, says Christian Aid in a new report. our backgrounds, but I’m also glad to be part Irresponsible lending to developing countries has triggered record of the human race and especially the Christian levels of global debt which hit £122 trillion in 2016, the relief and faith.’ development charity asserts in The New Global Debt Crisis.

This attitude has shaped his work throughout Research conducted by the Jubilee Debt Campaign reveals that more than 30 years in music, during which he 31 countries have a debt crisis, while a further 82 countries are thought to helped found London Community Gospel Choir be at risk. and fronted Nu Colours, an R&B group who had a number of hit singles in the 1990s.

Average debt repayments as a proportion of developing countries’ ‘I love mixing the sounds from all the governmental revenue have risen by 85 per cent since 2010, with 90 per different people from different backgrounds – cent of publicly traded loans to African governments being approved it’s the kind of sound I expect to hear in through English law.

Heaven,’ he says.

‘The UK has a strong history of helping these countries when they Sounds of New Wine are due to be the opening are most in need; but too often the lack of transparency in the loans act at the festival, which begins at midday and means we are giving with one hand and taking away with the other,’ said runs until 6 pm. And, though Lawrence is a fan Christian Aid’s director of policy and public affairs Laura Taylor. of new sounds and new collaborations, he says ‘It’s time we played our part in ending this new debt crisis rather than the group’s set list at the festival will be familiar. exacerbating it.’

‘We’re leading people in worship, so the idea The report suggests that UK legislation should be changed to ensure is for us to perform songs that people know and that loans given by British-based banks are transparent. It also argues can sing with us. We’ll probably do one of our that UK courts should prevent loan sharks from ignoring agreed debt own songs at the end – “Your Love is Forever”, restructuring so that they can make a profit. which is quite dancey.

‘But we don’t want people simply to sit and watch us as entertainment.’

Lawrence sees the whole event as being about more than entertainment.

A CHURCH of England app for smart speaker Alexa has received more than ‘Everybody goes through difficult times, 75,000 questions since launching in May last year. whether they’re Christians or not. I hope that The Alexa ‘skill’, which can be enabled on a phone or website browser, offers the Christians who are at the festival will feel prayers, explanations of the Christian faith and a church finder tool. reaffirmed in their faith and will know that God Up to 40 per cent of people who used the Church of England app asked Alexa for a is with them. At the same time there may be prayer, while 31 per cent inquired about the Christian faith. people there who don’t know about Jesus, and ‘The aim of the Alexa skill is to help users know more of the love of Jesus Christ I hope that we can lead them towards him. and to enable regular churchgoers and those exploring faith to connect with God in ‘Pentecost is a celebration of what God has another way and at a time that’s right for them,’ said the Archbishop of York, the done for us. And it brings so many people together.’

Most Rev John Sentamu.

Transparency needed in UK loan laws, says Christian charity

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8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • INTERVIEW 5

‘The prisoners have done wrong, but that does not make them wrong people’ F

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Chaplains COLIN NICHOLLS and MAMADOU BOCOUM tell Andrew Stone about their work in one of Britain’s high-security prisons ANDREW STONE

OR many people, removing belts, throwing loose change into a tray and walking through a metal detector are the forerunners to boarding an aeroplane and jetting off on holiday. But for Colin Nicholls and Mamadou Bocoum, they signify the start of a working day at HMP Woodhill, a category-A high-security prison in Buckinghamshire.

They are members of the prison chaplaincy team.

Mamadou is an imam while Colin works for The Salvation Army. The pair represent the Muslim and Christian faiths, and work with other religious leaders to support the men serving custodial sentences.

‘Some of the people we meet are in prison for the first time and they can be distraught,’ explains Mamadou. ‘We tell them that we are from chaplaincy and that we realise this can be a difficult journey for them, but that we are here to help.’

A little known fact outside a prison’s walls is that every new inmate has to be seen by one of the chaplaincy team within 24 hours. These visits form one of the statutory duties every chaplain has to carry out. Other duties include daily visits to prisoners in healthcare and segregation.

‘We also have to see those who are going to be released,’ says Mamadou. ‘It’s always nice to do those visits as it is a happy day for them – although some people don’t have anywhere to go once they are released. So we see if they have spoken to the probation service and have a meeting about housing arranged.’

Colin Nicholls

Mamadou Bocoum

6 INTERVIEW • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

From page 5 Although the statutory duties can play a large part in any day, the chaplain’s work also involves meeting the other prisoners.

‘I have conversations with people if they have been given a lengthy sentence,’ Colin says. ‘I ask them how they feel and try to help them get their head around the sentence.

Gradually, I may introduce the idea of them helping other people in the prison.

‘I tell them that they are uniquely placed because they are on the wing and see things that we and the prison officers may miss. They can help identify those prisoners who are most at risk. They can become listeners, available to other prisoners when they want someone to talk to.’

hile people may like the idea of prisoners W helping each other, some will think that it is not necessary to use paid chaplains

PA

to support men who have been found guilty of a serious crime. Mamadou, though, has a different approach to the people he works with.

‘I don’t believe that prisons are meant for punishment,’ he asserts. ‘I think they should be providing rehabilitation. So the prisoners

HMP Woodhill

Prisons should be providing rehabilitation

are not being punished, but they are paying for their wrongdoing.

‘The fact that the prisoners have done wrong does not make them wrong people.

It is important that, as chaplains, we see the prisoners as people who have made mistakes who are now under our care.’

To help the chaplains provide that care, prisoners are asked what religion they identify

with. Where possible, they are given the opportunity to attend the appropriate acts of worship in the prison.

However, the chaplains do not restrict themselves to visiting only prisoners who share their faith. While serving their sentence a prisoner may receive a visit from a chaplain of a different religion. Mamadou explains that, in his experience, prisoners do not have

8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • INTERVIEW 7 ANDREW STONE

Colin, a Christian, and Mamadou, a Muslim, work together on the chaplaincy team a problem with such visits.

‘I have never had a time when I have gone to a Christian prisoner to carry out a statutory duty and they have refused to see me because I am a Muslim,’ he says. ‘That’s because, more than anything else, they are looking for support.’

Colin’s experience has been that prisoners who are not Christians are even willing to accept spiritual support from him.

‘I once offered to pray with a Muslim prisoner who was in distress,’ he recalls. ‘He was happy for me to do that, so we prayed together in his cell.

‘But I wouldn’t have tried to convert him, because I respected the fact that he had a Muslim faith. My main role was to bring comfort to him in his distress, not to say to him that he might feel better about it all if he was a Christian.

‘Actually, within the prison service, we are not allowed to try to convert a prisoner from one religion to another.’

But that does not mean that people do not find faith while in prison.

‘Proclaiming the faith and bringing people into the Church is what we are about as Christians, and it does happen in prison,’ says Colin.

‘We’ve had baptisms and other prisoners who have joined churches after their release.’

We agree on the importance of compassion and being merciful Mamadou adds: ‘As chaplains we are not in competition with each other. Instead we need to be thinking about how we can make a change in people’s lives – how we can care for them and provide pastoral support.

‘It wouldn’t be helpful for me to go up to a distressed prisoner and say they should convert

to being a Muslim.

‘The faith of the person I am helping is the least of my worries. What is more important is whether I am in a position to give them the pastoral help they need.’

This approach of wanting to provide care and support enables the different faiths to work together in what can be a challenging environment. But, as Colin explains, it does not mean the chaplains waver in what they believe.

‘I respect the faith and views of the others,’ he says. ‘But that doesn’t mean we can’t discuss religion, even in the areas where we have differences of belief.’

Through such discussions he and Mamadou have learnt more about each other’s faith.

‘I see there are a lot of similarities,’ Mamadou says. ‘But there are also some difficulties when we look into theology, so we could never be uniform in our beliefs.

‘But we do agree on the importance of compassion and being merciful as we work together in multicultural Britain. That is where the two faiths are hand-in-hand and trying to make a difference.’

8 INTERVIEW • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

Tomorrow (Sunday 9 June) is TM Awareness Day, which aims to highlight the rare neurological condition transverse myelitis. VICTORIA ARLEN tells Sarah Olowofoyeku how her experience of TM and another neurological disorder caused her to be locked inside her own body, and how she overcame the illness

S

HE won gold for the US at the London Paralympics and she has been a contestant on the TV show Dancing with the Stars. Sports broadcaster Victoria Arlen is as active as they come, but for four years of her life the 24-year-old was out of the game. When she was just 11 years old, her body began to shut down.

‘I was the last person you would ever think this would happen to,’ she says. ‘I had no health issues growing up and was very active. I’m from a family of athletes, so I grew up playing sports.’

Massachusetts-born Victoria enjoyed ‘One day I woke up with severe pain on her childhood. She was one of a set of my right side.’ triplets and remembers always doing Victoria and her family could not have everything with her brothers. But soon anticipated what was ahead of them. after her tenth birthday, life began to After a series of tests and hospital change for the family. visits, including the early removal of her Victoria explains: ‘My immune system started shutting down. But I would bounce appendix, which did nothing to alleviate the pain she was feeling, Victoria was back. I was the kid who could barely sit admitted to a psychiatric ward. still, so I’d be on the couch for a few days In constant pain, she could not sleep and then right back at it. It wasn’t anything or eat, but the doctors were unable to out of the ordinary, until I was 11.

Courtesy of the Arlen family

Paralympic gold medallist: ‘Doctors cannot explain why I’m still alive’

Victoria Arlen

discover what was wrong physically. They labelled her condition as psychological.

It would be another seven years before Victoria received an accurate diagnosis.

After visiting a specialist doctor in 2013, she finally learnt that her condition had been a result of a rare combination of two neurological disorders, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and transverse myelitis.

In Locked In, a book she has written about her story, Victoria calls the next chapter of her life ‘hell’. In

God was and is my anchor

Victoria, one of a set of triplets, had a happy childhood

the psychiatric ward, none of her family were allowed to stay with her and she describes how the nurses and doctors on the ward severely

8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • INTERVIEW 9 PA

Victoria stands on the podium with Britain’s Ellie Simmonds (left) and Germany’s Tanja Groepper after winning gold at the 2012 Paralympics mistreated her, in particular one nurse she calls ‘F’. She writes: ‘In the mornings, “F” puts me in a cold shower and taunts me when my upper body strength gives out and I fall.’

Despite all that happened to her, Victoria never doubted or questioned God. ‘He was and is my anchor,’ she tells me.

And, though she had grown up attending church with her family, she says that she did not ‘really learn what faith was about’ until she had nothing left except the ability ‘to talk to God’.

Not long after first being admitted, Victoria felt she had run out of emotional and physical strength. She was fearful and ready to give in. After saying what she thought were her final prayers, she sensed that she was comforted by God’s love.

In her book, she writes: ‘He is holding me, and I know that whatever happens it’s going to be okay.’ Then her mother entered her room, with two paramedics who were there to take her out of the terrible conditions in which she had been living.

However, her ordeal was not At 15 years of age, Victoria was completely yet over. In August 2006 she was paralysed and unable to speak

struck down with a ‘crushing headache’ and was rushed into an ambulance before she lost consciousness. Everything went dark.

Victoria remained in that darkness for more than two years. She has no recollection of what took place during that

Being locked-in was horrible. There is nothing worse time – her body had shut down. It was not until 2009 that she regained awareness of her situation and realised that she was ‘locked in’.

Locked-in syndrome is a rare condition in which a person is conscious and aware but completely paralysed and unable to speak. Victoria was surrounded by family, but she could not communicate with them.

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10 INTERVIEW • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

From page 9 She was just 14 years old.

‘It was horrible,’ she says. ‘You can’t understand it until you’ve been there.

There’s nothing worse.’

She was in that state for a year.

As well as being locked in, Victoria was experiencing seizures that caused her body intense pain. Doctors had no idea what was going on and were not hopeful that they would find answers or that Victoria would ever recover. Some specialists were still calling her crazy. She was still being abused by medical staff and could not express what was being done to her.

But her family, and especially her mother, refused to give up on her.

‘My family has been my strength,’ she says. ‘They helped me and showed me what fighting and not giving up is all about.

I get my fight from them.’

And it was one moment with her mother that marked the start of what would become the fight of their lives.

After being prescribed with a sleeping medication, Victoria’s seizures had become less frequent.

then sentences.

She had to relearn basic, simple tasks, but was determined and made amazing progress. Even after missing four years of school, she worked hard and was able to graduate at the same time as her triplet brothers.

But having been in a vegetative state for so long, Victoria was told by doctors that she would never ‘We had basically gotten on top of the walk again. seizures,’ Victoria explains, ‘and I realised Victoria was an active child who loved to swim Sport became I had control of my eyes. I made eye one way in contact with my mum and she could see I way to get out of my wheelchair, to relieve which Victoria found not only her physical was focusing on something. She told me some of the nerve pain I was feeling and to abilities again, but also a restored sense to blink if I could hear her, and so I did. find freedom.’ of self.

That was the start of my recovery.’

But before Victoria knew it, swimming ‘I used to swim before I got sick,’ she Over the next few months, Victoria became more than therapy or a way of says. ‘After being back in the world it was began to regain what she had lost. Slowly reconnecting with her brothers. She began part of my recovery and therapy. It was a she started to form sounds, then words, training intensively to compete at an international level. In 2012, the 17-year-old Victoria, her parents, older brother and triplet brother after her win at the London Paralympics

Swimming was a way to get out of my wheelchair and find freedom

8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • INTERVIEW 11 Courtesy of the Arlen family

Victoria has become a sports presenter

I was told I would never walk again was swimming for Team USA at London’s Paralympics.

‘It was amazing,’ she enthuses. ‘Two years prior, I was waking up from a vegetative state and now I was on the world stage winning a gold medal with all my family around me. It was truly a blessing from God. ‘Doctors still don’t know why I’m alive and why I’m talking,’ she says. ‘I’m called a miracle and I say it was Jesus.’

Victoria believes that God healed her.

She says that the strength he gave her played an important part in her recovery.

y the time of her Paralympic win, B Victoria had not only faced physical challenges but had also been challenged

on her eligibility as a Paralympian.

Though she was unable to walk, the International Paralympic Committee initially deemed that her impairment was not severe enough for her to qualify for the Paralympics. Only a successful appeal against the decision meant she could compete in London.

Questions arose again before Victoria was due to take part in another competition. The IPC ruled that she was not eligible to swim. No longer able to compete, she tried to work out what she could do next. She eventually entered sports broadcasting and became the youngest presenter on ESPN. It was a dream come true.

But still she was keen to reach another goal – one that she felt would be the completion of her miracle.

‘I was told I would never walk again, that I would be paralysed for the rest of my life,’ says Victoria. ‘I was also told I would never amount to anything or be a functioning member of society. I challenged that.

‘My family had made a promise to me that they would do everything they could to help me get back everything that was taken from me. We didn’t know what that would be like,’ she admits, ‘but we explored the possibility of walking, and then we discovered a programme called Project Walk. We ended up opening our own franchise in Boston.’

About a decade after Victoria had first been taken to hospital, she started to walk again. Through the Boston branch of Project Walk, she has helped other people learn to walk.

After helping so many others, Victoria stood on her own two feet in front of millions to dance on national TV. She writes in her book: ‘Dancing with the Stars, aside from all of the glitz and glamour, is one of the biggest healing experiences for me. Each time I set foot on the dancefloor, I am reminded of what I can do, and I find a greater purpose for all the pain that I have endured.’

ents Victoria stands tall with her par

And it is this perspective that has enabled Victoria to achieve so much for herself and then inspire others. In 2017, she launched Victoria’s Victory Foundation, which provides financial assistance and support for people with mobility challenges. It aims to give them hope as they face the daily obstacles and isolation of living with special needs.

‘Extraordinary challenges lead to an extraordinary victory,’ she says. ‘Even when you’ve hit rock bottom you have to keep trusting God and know that your story doesn’t end in defeat.’ l Locked In is published

by Authentic Media

12 INNER LIFE • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

Prayerlink 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

Nigel Bovey gives chapter and verse on each book in the Scriptures

Song of Songs LSO known as the Song of Solomon, A traditionally this book is ascribed to King Solomon. Scholars disagree

over whether the book is a historical or allegorical account. As the book does not mention ‘God’, some question its meaning and purpose.

At its heart is a love story. It is presented as a series of exchanges between a young couple, with occasional comments from young women of Jerusalem, perhaps the woman’s handmaidens.

The man is King Solomon. Although not named, the vineyard-owning woman is referred to as the ‘Shulammite’ (6:13).

Shulam is thought to be the village of Shunem, which was the home of Abishag, a young companion of Solomon’s father King David (1 Kings 1:3). Some commentators suggest she could be the protagonist here.

The language the couple use is intimate and sensual. They extol each other’s physical appearance. He loves the way she looks, especially admiring her hair, eyes, lips, teeth, neck and breasts (4:1–7; 7:1–5). She reciprocates. She loves his physique and admires his

Key verse ‘Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away’ (Song of Songs 8:7 New International Version)

physical strength (5:10–16).

Their love is all-consuming. They love each other’s scent (1:13). Their love takes their breath away. It is as ‘strong as death’ and ‘burns like blazing fire’ (8:6). They cannot bear to be apart.

Some suggest it is an allegory of how God loves his people The couple revel in the experience of knowing not only what love is but also that they are loved (2:16).

They have eyes only for each other. To her, he is ‘outstanding among ten thousand’ (5:10). To him, she is ‘my dove, my perfect one’, who is ‘unique’ (6:9), despite the fact that Solomon already has many other wives and concubines (6:8). Arguably, it is only now that Solomon has discovered true love.

Commentators offer a number of suggestions as to why this book is in the Bible.

Some suggest that it is to be read as an allegory of how God loves his people. Some interpret it as a picture of how Christ the bridegroom loves his bride, the Church.

It is worth noting that the book’s inclusion strongly indicates that, contrary to some schools of thought, physical attraction and sexual attraction are not sinful.

Rather they are precious gifts from God.

Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

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8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • EXPRESSIONS 13

NOW, THERE’S A THOUGHT!

by Callum McKenna

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Courage needed to take the plunge WIMMING is one of our favourite family pastimes. It has been thrilling to see Henry, my energetic two-year-old, become S acquainted with the water. He just loves splashing around.

Recently, we’ve been trying to encourage him to jump into the water by himself. He climbs out of the pool and stands at the edge excitedly as we shout: ‘Three, two, one – jump!’ And then? Nothing.

He looks as if he is about to take off. His facial expression tells us that he is desperate to, but it is as if some heavy weight enters his legs and he is unable to make the leap of faith into the pool below. This can go on for some time.

We coax and encourage from below, but he has not yet made the jump without us gently raising up our arms, making contact with him and holding his hand.

Tomorrow (Sunday 9 June), Christians celebrate Pentecost. The story goes that, on this day about 2,000 years ago, Jesus’ followers were together, locked inside a room. Jesus had ascended into Heaven, and they’d We feel we have been sent to jump into the big, wide to make it through world and set the Church in motion. The problem? They were terrified. life on our own As much as they might have wanted to do it, they just couldn’t bring themselves to leave that room. Everything changed when God sent them the Holy Spirit – his Spirit – as a sign and as an assurance that they weren’t on their own, but that God himself was with them.

Here’s the thing: often, we can feel as if we have to make it through life on our own, that we’re by ourselves or that nobody else cares about us.

Just as it does for Henry, the pool beneath us can look intimidating and scary.

But, as those first disciples found, God gives to us his Holy Spirit as a reminder that we’re never alone. The Holy Spirit brings us peace, joy and hope even when we feel afraid or anxious.

At Pentecost, Christians are celebrating that God is closer than we think – he is right beside us. The message is the original ‘you’ll never walk (or swim) alone’.

14 PUZZLES • WAR CRY • 8 June 2019

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS

1. Pour down (4) 3. Cushion (3) 5. Thrash (4) 7. Hilarity (9) 9. Tarry (4) 10. Haul (4) 11. Intends (5) 14. View (5) 15. Presentiment (5) 17. Affray (3-2) 18. Mirror (5) 19. Swift (5) 20. Sailing vessel (5) 23. Man (4) 25. By mouth (4) 27. Very good (9) 28. Amphibian (4)

HONEYCOMB Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number 1. Express admiration 2. Film starring John Travolta 3. Light fall of rain 4. Middle Eastern river 5. Cloth used to protect garments 6. High-pitched cry

WORDSEARCH

ANSWERS

ACTION ACTOR ASPECT RATIO BEHIND THE SCENES BILLING BLOOPER CAST COMPOSER DIRECTOR DISTRIBUTOR DOCUMENTARY EDITOR FEATURE FILM PRODUCER SCORE SCREENPLAY SEQUEL STUNT

11. Muddied (5) 12. Loft (5) 13. Not tall (5) 14. Droop (3) 16. Secreted (3) 21. Leading (5) 22. Bisect (5) 23. Lament (4) 24. Way out (4) 25. Burden (4) 26. Grass (4)

29. Perish (3) 30. Bewilder (4)

DOWN 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Melt (4) Encounter (4) Money bag (5) Devil (5) Discover (4) Mob (4) Unhappy (9) Carry goods (9)

SUDOKU

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

9

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2

Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these words associated with film production

9

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1

S E N E C S E H T D N 5 3 2 1 6I H E B J 9 8 7 T D 4 V S Q B F V Z P R O D U C E R S G Q 7 1 4 2 5 8 3 9 6 G U V Z B A A H X C Y L B S Z O A U 2 5 1 8 7 J U L Z C Z 6 4 3 9 D F S T N U T S M U A V J C R P S T Z L P M Q I O T R M R S 6 9 3 5 1 4 2 8 7 D P L C Y A L P N E E R C S R I H Y 4 7 8 9 2 3 1 M K R 6 5 C V A X N Z C K Z N C O Z T W M Y K W M D N A W T S T S J W B D J 3 4 5 6 9 2 7 1 8 T D K V Z K L F E A T U R E F I L M 8 2 9 7 4 1 6 5 L Q 3 S G F F A A A E W R N B O A R L B L C Z X F O D U Y A 1 6 7 3 8I T E T L D H 5 9 4 2 S Z D D I J N I D Q I R C Y Y I O F D O F D M U Q T Z N E T A Z D N O Z W B N L D S C O M P O S E R Z G X H X A P G Q U Q R O R Q I S Z X X U C D H Z T N W X O Z V A D T J I F C C C L B Z A K L Z W C M P H C J M D O P M N L Z B L K W Z M H S R A L W V

HONEYCOMB 1 Praise. 2 Grease. 3 Shower.

4 Jordan. 5 Napkin. 6 Shriek.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Teem. 3 Pad. 5 Flog.

7 Merriment. 9 Wait. 10 Drag. 11 Means.

14 Scene. 15 Hunch. 17 Set-to. 18 Glass.

19 Rapid. 20 Yacht. 23 Male. 25 Oral.

27 Excellent. 28 Newt. 29 Die. 30 Stun.

DOWN: 1 Thaw. 2 Meet. 3 Purse. 4 Demon.

5 Find. 6 Gang. 7 Miserable. 8 Transport.

11 Messy. 12 Attic.13 Short. 14 Sag. 16 Hid. 21 Ahead. 22 Halve. 23 Moan.

24 Exit. 25 Onus. 26 Lawn.

6

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7 9 5 8 3 1 4 2 6

3 7 6 9 5 8 2 1 4

8 4 9 2 1 7 5 6 3

5 1 2 3 4 6 8 9 7

9 6 7 1 2 4 3 8 5

4 5 1 6 8 3 9 7 2

2 3 8 5 7 9 6 4 1

SUDOKU SOLUTION

7 9

3 7

8 4

5 1

9 6

4 5

2 3

8 June 2019 • WAR CRY • WHAT’S COOKING? 15

Steaks with barbecue sauce 2 x 300g lean rump steaks, each cut in half 1tbsp Worcester sauce 2tbsp barbecue sauce 2tsp balsamic vinegar Salt and freshly milled black pepper 1tsp sunflower oil Rocket leaves, to garnish

Place the steaks in a nonmetallic dish. Mix together the sauces, vinegar and salt and pepper in a bowl, then pour it over the steaks. Cover and marinate for 10 minutes.

SERVES

4

Beef salad with watercress and basil sauce 25g pack fresh basil leaves 2 garlic cloves, peeled 2tbsp lemon juice 2tsp Dijon mustard

then add the olive oil in a steady trickle and blend until thick. Transfer to a small bowl, season to taste and set aside in a refrigerator.

1 large bag watercress leaves

Season the steaks with salt and pepper, brush with sunflower oil and cook the steaks under a preheated grill for 6 minutes – well done – on each side.

Transfer to a warm plate and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

To prepare the sauce, place the basil, garlic, lemon juice and mustard in a blender.

Whizz to make a rough paste,

Pile the watercress leaves on a serving plate. Slice the steaks diagonally, adding any meat juices to the sauce. Toss the strips in the leaves and drizzle with the sauce. Serve immediately.

3tbsp extra virgin olive oil Salt and freshly milled black pepper 2 lean sirloin steaks 2tsp sunflower oil

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the steaks for 6 minutes – well done – on each side.

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board website simplybeefandlamb.co.uk

Arrange the steaks on a small bed of rocket leaves and serve with mash.

SERVES

4

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever Hebrews 13:8 (New International Version)