War Cry 11 September 2021

Ship’s crew face stormy waters in TV drama

WAR CRY

11 September 2021 50p

To be Franklin Jennifer Hudson portrays Aretha’s trials and triumphs in new biopic

‘I was a New York schoolgirl on 9/11’

The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered 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 more than 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

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 7542

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

MANY people can remember where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the terror attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.

The War Cry’s Linda McTurk is one of them. As she recalls in this week’s issue, she was at school in the Queens area of the city. In her account, Linda describes the confusion, worry and fear she felt as a 13-year-old girl trying to make sense of an incomprehensible act of violence.

Like Linda, George W Bush was also in a school when he first heard the news. The president, who had been visiting a Florida classroom, was then whisked away to a designated place of safety. As he went, he spent time praying for those who were suffering.

President Bush was not alone in turning to God at that time. But people of faith did more than just fall to their knees. Many of them also rolled up their sleeves and set about helping those affected.

Among those helpers were members of The Salvation Army in the Canadian town of Gander. Some 7,000 airline passengers were diverted to the small town of only 9,000 inhabitants as US airspace was closed.

Confused and scared, the passengers had nowhere to stay and no provisions, but the members of the church and charity were among the many townsfolk who found ways to care for them – even taking them into their own homes.

As we report in this week’s issue, their actions inspired the musical Come from Away, which is now being streamed on Apple TV+. ‘The Salvation Army was a huge force during that time,’ the show’s co-creator David Hein told the War Cry when the musical opened in the West End in 2019. And the organisation’s motivation to act was its desire to show the love of God to people who desperately needed to see it.

It was a timely reminder that, whatever evil we may encounter in this world, God’s love is ad the War C e re always stronger. ry v ’ u

CONTENTS

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?

6

FEATURES

3

All in the same boat

5

Helpful arrangements

Musical describes the care given by a community

6 ‘I couldn’t understand what was happening’

Remembering 9/11 as a schoolgirl 8

8

A troubled crew sets sail in drama

Respect for singer’s faith

Aretha film takes it to church

10 Aid is the wheel deal

Charity provides wheelchairs

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: QUANTRELL D COLBERT

Henry Drax joins an expedition on ‘The Volunteer’

BBC/SEE-SAW FILMS/NICK WALL

ALL AT SEA A ship’s crew try to find some hope for their lives TV feature by Emily Bright

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N Hull, 1859, master whale harpooner Henry Drax (Colin Farrell) stumbles into a pub, aggressively asking for a rum. He is feeling parched after spending his morning with a prostitute, and he’ll do anything to get what he wants. In The North Water, a BBC Two drama which started yesterday (Friday 10 September), Henry is a man who sails close to the wind.

Sitting elsewhere in the pub is Patrick Sumner (Jack O’Connell), a disgraced former army surgeon who’s preparing to join the crew of The Volunteer as their doctor. Injured in combat in India and

Patrick Sumner is looking for a fresh start

haunted by flashbacks, he’s keen to find a fresh start after experiencing betrayal, humiliation and bereavement in his personal life.

Both men are about to embark on an Arctic whaling expedition on board The Volunteer.

Before the ship leaves port, Henry takes Patrick on a night out which involves cavorting with women, fighting and drinking. When Henry and the ship’s first mate Cavendish take Patrick home drunk and unconscious, they rifle through his belongings to discover more about who he really is.

Among the things they find is a valuable keepsake that could offer them a way out of the whaling life and into untold prosperity. They discuss murdering him for his treasure.

As the series progresses, Patrick becomes increasingly suspicious of the two men as their true natures are slowly revealed.

Patrick’s outlook on his whaling adventure grows bleaker as the ship navigates austere Arctic waters. He wonders if life is simply something that ‘should be lived through and survived in

whatever fashion a man can manage’.

Life for many of us often feels as if it’s about keeping afloat, dodging mistakes and problems that have the potential to sink us. The people we live alongside may let us down, betray us or exploit us for their own ends. We can often wonder whether this is really all life can be.

We may have our own coping mechanisms, good or bad – whether food, drink, materialism, love or friendships – to deal with our reality.

Although they can help, they may not be there when we need them most, or they can leave us feeling unfulfilled.

In such times, millions of people have turned to God. One Bible writer, Paul, explains that through a relationship with God, we can increase our levels of ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ (Galatians 5:22 and 23 New Living Translation).

Through the support and strength that God gives us, we can become better people with lives of purpose and meaning.

If we seek a relationship with him, we can experience a sense of joy and peace that prevails through the storms of life. With God by our side, we will not just survive, but thrive.

Henry is a man who sails close to the wind

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Levelling up is falling short, says report MORE than a third of England’s most deprived areas will not receive funding from the government’s £4.8 billion Levelling Up scheme, according to a new Salvation Army report.

Understanding People, Understanding Places found that areas of the North West, Yorkshire, the Humber, the East Midlands, the East of England and South West should have been billed as high priority for funding, but were missed out of the government’s calculations. In particular, coastal and rural areas were most likely to be left out of government investment through the scheme.

The report, available at salvationarmy.org.uk/ levelling-up, added that pockets of deprivation in more affluent areas were also being overlooked.

The church and charity flagged up 45 areas in urgent need of investment, in addition to the 93 areas already being prioritised as part of the Levelling Up scheme.

While the government’s analysis was based on unemployment figures, the Salvation Army report, produced in partnership with the Institute BRENDA EDWARDS, a presenter on BBC One’s Songs of Praise, for Employment Studies, considered the impact described how her Christian faith was established from a young age, of zero hours contracts, lack of access to when she appeared on ITV’s James Martin’s Saturday Morning. childcare and seasonal Brenda, pictured with her aunt, told James how employment. she was raised by her grandmother and extended The researchers family after her parents were killed in a car crash CHILDREN’S comic the Beano recommended that the when she was only four years old and that some congratulated the Christian comic government should members of the family were elders and pastors at Kids Alive! on being the longest-running re-examine how it allocates a Pentecostal church. children’s publication in the world. funding and should listen ‘My life was church,’ she said. ‘Church Kids Alive! is published by The to the coastal communities on Monday was Bible study, Tuesday and Salvation Army, which celebrated the who need its help. They Wednesday were prayer meetings, Thursday was comic’s 140th anniversary on its social also encouraged the young people’s meetings and Friday, Saturday media platforms. In response, Beano government to invest in and Sunday was services. posted on Instagram: ‘Being published skills and employment ‘I was literally at church every day of the week.’ in 1881 is seriously impressive’ and support and accessible added a clapping hands emoji. childcare to enable people to access work and training opportunities.

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Church support for drained vets

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ALLAN WRIGHT/CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

THE Church of Scotland has appointed its first minister for the veterinary community.

The Rev Allan Wright (pictured), himself a working vet, will be supporting people who practise veterinary medicine in Newcastle upon Tyne.

‘Veterinary medicine is a stressful, timeconsuming and mentally draining occupation and is often an overlooked industry in society,’ he explains. ‘I understand the struggles and the pressure because I am a vet and I will be there for all those who work in practices, without judgement and agenda.’

Veterinary surgeons are four times more likely to die by suicide compared with the general population and can feel isolated in their work.

‘Establishing a safe space within the profession but outside the workplace is important to allow true emotional discussion about the difficulties faced,’ Allan added.

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

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Spiritual community in virtual world

A REAL SONG AND DANCE True story of community spirit inspires musical Feature by Andrew Stone

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A ‘Minecraft’ church RESEARCH is under way into how video game Minecraft can help young people with disabilities to engage with their religious communities.

As part of a six-month project called the Spiritual Loop, Glasgow Caledonian University is teaming up with the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton in America.

Minecraft allows users to create their own worlds and interact with other people online.

In the new initiative, each congregation member will be given their own avatar, or personalised character, in the video game, through which they can interact with other members of their religious community.

Modifications made by researchers will also enable the game to offer spiritual guidance through artificial intelligence.

Professor Gordon Morison of Glasgow Caledonian University said: ‘The use of video games has extended to education, giving users the ability to be creative to complete tasks towards a goal and interact socially. Video games are very inclusive, even for people with disabilities, who may not otherwise be able to access typical social settings.’

FTER terrorists hijacked four planes in September 2001, US airspace was shut. Planes already in the air were grounded. Many were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. As a result, 7,000 people were stranded in the small town.

Many were confused, scared and unsure what was happening to them.

But the townsfolk of Gander united to help them, and the story of their actions inspired the award-winning musical Come from Away.

Through song and dance, the show, which is now available to stream on Apple TV+, portrays the ways the Ganderites helped their unscheduled visitors. One of the community groups which took part in that effort and is featured in the show is The Salvation Army.

When carrying out research for Come from Away, co-writer David Hein looked through the town’s emergency committee records and discovered the level of support given by the church and charity.

‘There are 29 pages of what happened,’ David told the War Cry when the musical arrived in the West End in 2019. ‘The Salvation Army is mentioned time and time again. The notes repeatedly say, “we have such-and-such a crisis” and then “The Salvation Army will take care of it”.

‘The Salvation Army was such a huge force during that time.’

Throughout its 156-year history, The Salvation Army has worked to support people who are feeling vulnerable or in need. As a Christian organisation, it is inspired in its actions by the belief that God offers his support to people in their tough times. One Bible writer put it this way: ‘God is our protection and our strength. He always helps in times of trouble’ (Psalm 46:1 New Century Version).

It does not matter what our problems may be or whether they are a result of our own bad decisions or the actions of others. God is always willing and able to help us. All we have to do is turn to him and follow his direction for our lives.

We don’t have to feel as if our problems are stopping us from going anywhere in life. With God, we can start a new and exciting future.

7,000 people were stranded in the town

11 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 5

‘A day I’ll never Today marks 20 years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, during which two hijacked commercial airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the twin towers collapsed. More than 2,700 people were killed in the attack. The War Cry’s LINDA McTURK recalls what it was like for her as a 13-year-old child to be in New York City on that day

I

WILL never forget seeing my teacher cry on September 11, 2001. During our social studies class, someone phoned to tell him that an airplane had been deliberately flown into one of the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan.

As a 13-year-old middle school student in Queens, New York, at the time, I didn’t understand what a ‘terrorist attack’ was, but I instinctively knew from seeing my teacher’s reaction that something catastrophic had happened.

After hanging up the phone, my teacher briefly explained to the class that there had been an attack on the World Trade Center. ‘We don’t know all of the details yet, but we will do everything in our power to keep you safe,’ he said.

I immediately wondered whether my mom was okay. At the time, she worked in midtown Manhattan. My dad was on a business trip in upstate New York.

Would he be okay?

The teachers took me and the rest of my school of many hundreds of students to our ‘home’ classrooms, where they instructed us to sit and wait. So we waited. First minutes, then hours, for any news.

My classmates were full of theories about what could have happened. One child said: ‘Someone fired a rocket into Manhattan.’ I thought it was an outrageous idea, but I was desperate to hear any news. I just wanted to know my parents were safe.

Suddenly, a voice blared from the school intercom. It was the principal.

‘There’s been an attack on the World Trade Center in Manhattan,’ he began.

‘A plane was flown into one of the twin towers early this morning. Minutes later, another plane crashed into the second tower. Since then, both towers have collapsed.’

My principal said more words, but I couldn’t take in anything else after hearing that the two towers had come down. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I

struggled to keep calm.

What happened next is a blur to me. I walked home from school alone, in shock. There was an awful smell in the air. It smelt like smoke, but also something else – it was a sickening smell. In the distance, I saw a mushroom cloud engulfing part of Manhattan, but I couldn’t understand what it was.

When I got home, I turned on the TV and saw footage of the attack. I saw the planes fly into the twin towers, the towers on fire, then collapsing and people running for their lives away from huge clouds of smoke and debris. It was terrifying.

Then the phone rang. It was my mom.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. She told me that my dad was okay and that she was on her way back, walking home.

She had walked across Queensboro Bridge from Manhattan to Queens, along with huge crowds of other New Yorkers, as the city’s subway trains were shut. But it would likely be a long time before she got home.

After my mom’s phone call, I sat and waited, still in shock at the horror of what I was seeing on TV. It was so traumatic

I just wanted to know my parents were safe

The twin towers of the original World Trade Center 6 • WAR CRY • 11 September 2021

Linda in 2001

Linda McTurk

MONIKA GRAFF

that, after a while, I had to switch it off.

I couldn’t handle seeing any more bad news.

Thankfully, my mom eventually came home safely. But it was 8pm by the time she did. We were okay physically, but mentally and emotionally, it would take years, and as I know now, decades, to process the trauma of that day.

Today, as a 33-year-old woman with a Christian faith, I don’t think that I will ever come to understand truly why the events of September 11 took place. But I do believe that even in the worst catastrophes, hope is still possible.

While some people chose to respond to the fear they felt after the attacks with hatred, others chose to respond by supporting each other with love, kindness and resolve. And in time, the resilience shown by New Yorkers began to bear fruit.

Just over 10 years ago, while I was a university student, I saw Ground Zero – the former site of the World Trade Center – from a bird’s-eye view in a nearby skyscraper while the foundations for the current site were being constructed. I

remember feeling moved by how a place associated with death was being given a new lease of life.

Now Ground Zero has been transformed. New buildings sit next to a memorial museum for the thousands of victims of the 2001 tragedy, and the ‘footprints’ of the twin towers remain prominent at the site.

The new World Trade Center reminds me that there is always room for hope, in any situation, but it sits right next door to our room for empathy and love for one another.

That is one lesson I hope never to forget.

COURTESY OF 9/11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM/JIN LEE

forget’

Victims are remembered at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

The current World Trade Center site 11 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 7

Soul-searching Handpicked for the role, Jennifer Hudson explores some of the highs and lows in the life of Aretha Franklin in a biopic that culminates with the recording of a gospel classic Film preview by Philip Halcrow

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ITH all due r-e-s-p-e-c-t, Aretha Franklin is not telling the whole story in the new biopic of her life when she says, ‘I just want hits’.

After a string of minor successes with jazz numbers, she certainly does want to make a bigger impression on the public. But the film Respect, now on general release in cinemas, suggests that her music-making was about far more.

Aretha – played by Jennifer Hudson – is shown making recordings of jazz and easy listening numbers in New York in the early Sixties. The records are to the taste of her father, the Rev CL Franklin (Forest Whitaker), who helped secure her contract with Columbia Records. But she wants something different.

The film shows how she teams up with producer Jerry Wexler (Marc Maron) and his band of musicians at the homely Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and finds a soul sound that brings her smash hits such as ‘(I Never Loved a Man) The Way I Love You’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’, ‘I Say a Little Prayer’

and the song that gives the film its title.

Chart successes come, but Aretha has spells of battling with what those around her call her demons. Sometimes, the way others treat her is a shame. But she can also be self-destructive, lashing out at friends and family who care for her, spending too much time with people who don’t and hitting the bottle.

In an aside in one exchange with Jerry Wexler, she can be heard hesitating to release her version of ‘Let it Be’, apparently thinking its mentions of Mary make it a Catholic song, whereas she is a Baptist.

Underneath the conversation is a twist: Paul McCartney’s song refers to his mother, Mary, who died when he was a teenager; Aretha too lost her mother when she was young. And it is when thoughts about her mother (Audra McDonald) come to her that she sees a way out of her traumatic experiences.

The early scenes of the film depict Aretha as a little girl (Skye Dakota Turner)

You learn to sing with a purpose

Aretha (Jennifer Hudson) and producer Jerry Wexler (Marc Maron) in ‘Respect’ 8 • WAR CRY • 11 September 2021

singing not only at parties to entertain her father’s friends, but also in church – and her mother reassuring her that she does not need to sing at the orders of anyone if she does not want to. Nobody owns her voice ‘but God’.

The memories of her mother point Aretha to a defining moment in her career. The climax of Respect is the two nights of gospel music she presented at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, which made up the 1972 album Amazing Grace (performances which were captured for posterity in a documentary that would finally be released in cinemas in 2019).

‘That’s why Aretha and I relate,’ says Jennifer Hudson, who was picked by Aretha Franklin to play her in the film and also sang at the Queen of Soul’s funeral in 2018. ‘I get what music represented for her because it represents the same for me. The base of it comes from the church.

I started singing in church. I was a baby on my grandmother’s knee in the choir.

They wanted a note hit, and I hit the note.

‘When you grow up in church, singing the way Aretha and I did, you learn to sing with a purpose with substance to a higher calling, such as God.’ Jennifer suggests that when Aretha sang gospel ‘it was so internal, so personal’ and she says that, during the church scenes, ‘I couldn’t tell the difference if I’m at church singing or on a set shooting. That to me is where we completely connect.

‘The church is everything, which is why it was so crucial in this. It would not be an Aretha Franklin film if it does not begin and end with the church in everything.’

When the documentary film of Amazing Grace was released in 2019, Joe Boyd, who helped originally set it in motion, told the War Cry that making the gospel album was ‘a spiritual project’ for Aretha. He said: ‘You can see that in the final song “Never Grow Old”, when she departs from the book and from the lyrics and says: “I’m so glad I’ve got religion and my soul is satisfied.”’

The new biopic shows Aretha being nervous before the nights at the church,

QUANTRELL D COLBERT

Jennifer Hudson recreates Aretha’s performances in church and on stage about whether – as her long-time mentor the Rev James Cleveland (Tituss Burgess) told her years before – her music can save her. He assures her that she can give her worries to God. So Respect ends with her singing the old hymn about God’s ‘amazing grace’ – the love he gives us that cannot be earned, the love which does not leave us when we go through trials, the love that saves us – and how it will lead her ‘right on home’.

The fact is that Amazing Grace became Aretha’s biggest hit album.

But it seems that to her – and to the millions of people who have heard its message – it has meant much more.

11 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 9

CHAIRS LIFT SHAUN BURROWS explains how refurbished wheelchairs are providing upward mobility to people in developing countries Interview by Emily Bright

Shaun Burrows

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OLUNTEERS in Aldershot are transforming lives thousands of miles away as they refurbish old wheelchairs which are then transported to people with disabilities in developing countries.

Their work is part of a project called Wheels for the World – run by UK Christian disability charity Through the Roof – which distributes mobility aids in 13 countries. The scheme runs four distributions a year, and 80 per cent of its network is based in Africa.

Through the Roof, which was set up

by Paul Dicken in 1997, decided to make Wheels for the World its first project. It formed a partnership with Americanbased Christian disability charity Joni and Friends, which had already trialled a mission trip to send mobility aids to developing countries.

‘Nowadays, with each distribution, we send out about 140 wheelchairs, and lots of other mobility aids such as walkers, Zimmer frames, walking sticks and crutches,’ explains Shaun Burrows, Through the Roof’s international missions manager. ‘The average number of people that would come to a distribution centre is about 250. So we’re helping about 1,000 disabled people a year.’

Through the Roof’s name is derived from a story in the Bible in which four men carry a paralysed man to a house where Jesus is teaching. They cannot reach Jesus through the crowds, so dismantle the roof and lower their friend down into the room, where he is healed by Jesus.

In its own way, Through the Roof aims to team up people who are able-bodied and

10 • WAR CRY • 11 September 2021

those who are disabled so that all can access the gospel.

‘We view this as a foundational passage to what we do as a charity,’ remarks Shaun. ‘We don’t know what happened to the man once Jesus healed him, but he and his friends were given the opportunity to do great things together.’

While the Bible does feature stories about the divine physical healing of disabilities, Through the Roof provides prayer, Bibles and counselling only when they are specifically requested.

Given the strong Christian undercurrent in its work, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the programme primarily seeks out faithbased organisations to partner.

Shaun says: ‘We always work through the Christian Church, or through Christian organisations such as charities or mission hospitals, because the nature of our work is gospel-centred. However, we like to encourage non-Christians to volunteer as well.’

Each team consists of about 10 volunteers, among which are 4 therapists – including physiotherapists and occupational therapists – 2 or 3 wheelchair technicians and someone to perform a pastoral role. Although 90 per cent of Wheels for the World volunteers are from the UK, others come from farther afield, including countries such as Australia and China.

During the pandemic, Through the Roof had to re-evaluate the way in which it carried out overseas distributions of wheelchairs.

‘Because we couldn’t send teams from the UK out to our partners, we offered a UK-based support system,’ says Shaun. ‘So our volunteers worked with their occupational therapist, physiotherapist and technician

counterparts through Zoom or videos.’

A team of volunteers are currently overseeing a six-week supported distribution programme in Kenya, with therapists and technicians advising the team in the east African country remotely.

By next spring or summer, the charity hopes to send out volunteers to India.

The mobility aids that Through the Roof provides are life-transforming.

For instance, Stella, a South Sudanese refugee living in Uganda’s Bidibidi camp, previously struggled to move around.

Now, with mobility aids, she is able to access the hospital, go to church and collect her food rations.

People in developing countries aren’t the only beneficiaries of the project.

Some of the wheelchairs are restored by prisoners, which Shaun sees as an

We send out about 140 wheelchairs and other mobility aids

In Ghana, Abigail receives her first wheelchair

THROUGH THE ROOF

LIVES Emmanuel was disabled when a medical procedure went wrong

opportunity for them to contribute to society.

‘After an offender repurposes a wheelchair and spray-paints it – sometimes they go to town and do patterns on it – we send them a photograph of somebody at the destination, sitting in it.

‘They can then get excited about the particular wheelchair that they have refurbished.’

Also benefiting are the warehouse volunteers. They enjoy going to the warehouse each Wednesday, and friendships blossom among them as they work together.

Throughout the whole process of restoring and delivering mobility aids, the ethos at the heart of the project continues to be faith. Shaun explains more about the biblical basis of the initiative.

‘Genesis, the first book of the Bible, tells us we’re all made in God’s image,’ he says.

‘God values each and every person. He doesn’t view the disability as something that makes one person less than anybody else. Able-bodied people can work together with disabled people to bring glory to God.’ Ultimately, Shaun summarises, Wheels for the World is ‘a means to provide life-changing opportunities for disabled people so that we can see their lives transformed’.

Fitting a wheelchair for mother-of-three Rose

11 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 11

Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Michaela, who suffers from restless legs syndrome.

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.

talk ‘ ’ Team talk TEAM TALK In times of crisis, people are drawn to prayer

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

TWENTY years ago, when the devastating news reached the president of the United States that the country was under attack from al-Qaeda terrorists, one of the first things he did was pray.

In the BBC One documentary 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room, George W Bush recalled that he was visiting a school in Florida when he learnt that hijackers had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York. Shortly afterwards, as he boarded Air Force One to fly to a place of safety, he turned to God. ‘I thought it was very important to pray for everyone who was suffering,’ he said. ‘Prayer can be very comforting. It can be comforting to those who pray and comforting to whom the prayers are directed.’

President Bush wasn’t the only one who turned to prayer that day. Across the world, millions of people cried out to God as they took in the horrors that unfolded before them. Regular churchgoers or not, they took their shock, disbelief, grief, pain and confusion and threw it in God’s direction.

I can understand why they did. When the world appears out of control, calling out to God in desperation seems the only thing we can do. Some, like the former president, say that prayer brings comfort. But I think it does far more than that.

I think people pray in times of terror and trauma because, in that very moment, they dare to hope or believe there is a God to hear them. Somewhere deep in their soul, they believe that praying to that God may make a difference. Even people who do not believe have been known to pray because, in their deepest pain, they can’t bear not to.

One of the things I love about the Christian faith is that God understands our approach to prayer – and our doubts about it. He understands why sometimes we don’t pray and why sometimes we do. I love that he listens to an earnest, heartfelt prayer, even if the person making it has never declared themselves a follower. I’m comforted by his promise that in every situation, anyone can find him when they seek him.

Amen to that.

God understands our approach to prayer

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

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War Cry 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN

Basic reading about Christianity Information about The Salvation Army

Looking for help?

Contact details of a Salvation Army minister Name Address Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

Or email your details and request to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk 12 • WAR CRY • 11 September 2021

NOW, THERE’S A THOUGHT!

1

Which UK marathon was

2

Which classic musical film

established in 1981?

starred Julie Andrews as the governess Maria?

A 3

Palaeontology is the study of

4

Which sci-fi TV franchise opens

what?

each episode with the phrase, ‘Space: the final frontier’?

5

Who is the author of the novel

6

Indigo appears between which

The Castaways?

two of the other six colours of the rainbow?

ANSWERS

LIBRARY PICTURE POSED BY MODEL

Q

QUICK QUIZ

by Barbara Lang

Musical variations help us find a sound basis for life ‘M

USIC is the universal language of mankind,’ wrote poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I would agree. There is a genre for all types of moods – happy, excited, sad, lonely, relaxed.

I am a fan of listening to music, preferably through headphones as I walk or run or do jobs round the house. I remember the day I bought my first compact disc. I hurried to put the disc into my new CD player and waited breathlessly for the opening notes of Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits. I was captivated. The sound quality was like nothing I had experienced at home before.

Of course, there have been many new audio developments since the CD. And interestingly, while downloads and streaming have increased in popularity, the time has come when vinyl records are sought after again.

However we choose to listen to music, what remains the same is its beauty. There is so much variety – rock, pop and electronica, folk, rap, ceremonial, classical and orchestral.

Whatever someone’s preferred type of music, there will always be a new song to hear.

I believe that music is a gift from God, and that he is the one who put an appreciation of musical talent deep within us. The Bible even has a songbook in it called Psalms, and some of those songs encourage people to use music to praise God and to thank him for his goodness.

Music can be used for many purposes, whether we are consumers or creators – it can uplift us, help us process difficult feelings or soothe us.

One Bible passage tells believers that even God uses music to express his feelings about the people who put their trust in him. It says: ‘With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs’ (Zephaniah 3:17 New Living Translation).

It means that God is happy when we tune into the joy and love that he wants to share with us.

Music can be used for many purposes

11 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 13

1. The London Marathon. 2. The Sound of Music.

3. Fossils. 4. Star Trek. 5. Lucy Clarke. 6. Blue and violet.

PUZZLES Quick CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

ACROSS 1. Plaintive cry (4) 3. Obtain (3) 5. Couple (4) 7. Instantaneous (9) 9. Walk lamely (4) 10. Lease (4) 11. Odour (5) 14. Respond (5) 15. Knock down (5) 17. Declare (5) 18. Deep sorrow (5) 19. Terminated (5) 20. Criminal deception (5) 23. Discover (4) 25. One of a like pair (4) 27. Police baton (9) 28. Lengthy (4) 29. Make mistakes (3) 30. Bird of peace (4) DOWN 1. Fleece (4) 2. Lantern (4) 3. Glow (5) 4. Test (5) 5. Track (4) 6. Rant (4) 7. Intolerant (9) 8. Bed cover (9) 11. Pack tightly (5) 12. Additional (5)

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

4

1 6

2 1 9 8 3

7 5 1 9 4 6 3 2 1 6 5

9 2 7 1 4 5 7 4 2 13. Enticed (5) 14. Tattered cloth (3) 16. Performed (3) 21. Scope (5) 22. Cinema attendant (5) 23. Dupe (4) 24. Narcotic (4) 25. Narrated (4) 26. Naked (4)

3 1

WORDSEARCH

9 4 8 1 6 3 7 5 2 6 3 8 7 5 1 9 Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find1these 7 percussion 5 2 9instruments 4 6 3 7 5 1 9 2 8 3 4 L E I O Z G W E L N E P L X A S B X 8 3 6 4 5 7 9 2 A U V I I S D L H E J Q U W B J C C Z D U W S C R C U G 4 2 9 I N G H M N A O 3 1 6 5 8 D U K X Y E U K Y U F N I C I Z S W 5 8 2 7I A E R M T B 3 1 4 6 T K G F Q A M B S E O G H O Z K E S 6 I Q G L C H P A E A E 1 4 5 8 9 2 7 P G C B E W G O H A Z G I K M Q N L 3 9 7 6 4 2 I 8E L 1 N T Q Q L B G L O C K E N S P

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

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

1. Small notebook 2. Christian building 3. Racket sport 4. Face 5. Medical centre 6. Silver-white element found in salt

ANSWERS 9 2 1 7 8 4 5 6 3

4 6 7 5 3 2 8 1 9

8 3 5 1 6 9 2 4 7

1 8 2 9 4 3 7 5 6

6 7 9 2 5 1 3 8 4

3 5 4 8 7 6 1 9 2

2 7 1 4 5 7 4 2

7 1 6 3 9 5 4 2 8

5 9 3 4 2 8 6 7 1

2 4 8 6 1 7 9 3 5

HONEYCOMB 1. Jotter. 2. Church. 3. Squash. 4. Visage. 5. Clinic. 6. Sodium.

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Wail. 3. Get. 5. Pair. 7. Immediate. 9. Limp. 10. Hire.

11. Smell. 14. React. 15. Upend. 17. Utter. 18. Grief. 19. Ended.

20. Fraud. 23. Find. 25. Twin. 27. Truncheon. 28. Long. 29. Err. 30. Dove.

DOWN: 1. Wool. 2. Lamp. 3. Gleam. 4. Trial. 5. Path. 6. Rave.

7. Impatient. 8. Eiderdown. 11. Stuff. 12. Extra. 13. Lured. 14. Rag. 16. Did. 21. Range. 22. Usher. 23. Fool. 24. Drug. 25. Told. 26. Nude.

14 • WAR CRY • 11 September 2021

BELLS

MARIMBA

CASTANETS

RATCHET

CHIMES

TAMBOURINE

COWBELL

TIMPANI

CYMBALS

TRIANGLE

DRUMS

VIBRAPHONE

GLOCKENSPIEL

WOODBLOCK

GONG

XYLOPHONE

2 4 8 6 1 7 9 3 5

1 3

Black bean soup with poached egg Ingredients 1 onion, finely chopped 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped 2 celery sticks, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, crushed 400g can chopped tomatoes 2 x 400g cans black beans 400ml vegetable stock Salt and ground black pepper

Method Heat a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 10 minutes, to soften, then add the garlic and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, black beans and vegetable stock and simmer for 20 minutes, until slightly thickened.

Season to taste.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl, one at a time, then lower into the soup. Poach for 5 minutes.

Season the eggs and scatter over the parsley. Serve with crusty bread.

SERVES

4 large British Lion eggs

4

Fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Egg, sweetcorn and bacon jackets Ingredients

Method

½ tbsp sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5.

1 onion, chopped

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and bacon, and cook over a medium heat for 6-8 minutes, until cooked through. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the sweetcorn.

3 rashers smoked bacon, thinly sliced 400g can chopped tomatoes 150g sweetcorn 3 large cooked jacket potatoes 50g mature cheese, finely grated 6 British Lion eggs 1tsp chives, to garnish

Meanwhile, cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the middle, leaving a ½ cm thick skin. Freeze the potato flesh in a suitable container to use as mash in another meal.

Place the potato skins on a baking tray. Add the tomato, bacon and sweetcorn filling to each potato half, and scatter with some cheese. Break an egg into each half and scatter over a little more cheese. Bake for 20 minutes until just cooked through.

Garnish with the chives, to serve.

SERVES

6

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the British Egg Information Service website eggrecipes.co.uk

11 September 2021 • WAR CRY • 15

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