2 COMMENT AND CONTENTS • WAR cry • 16 March 2019
From the editor’s desk
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
FOR many people a trip to the cinema provides an escape from the everyday challenges of life and the chance to forget its pressures, if only for a couple of hours. But the latest Julia Roberts film, Ben is Back, is set in the gritty world of a family trying to cope with a child in the grip of a drug addiction. As we report in this week’s War Cry, it is a world that many are familiar with, because people of all ages, classes and backgrounds struggle with addictive behaviour. In our report The Salvation Army’s addiction officer Lee Ball explains how people who are living with an addiction are often in deep distress and experiencing emotional pain. ‘Their addiction is usually a coping strategy,’ he says, before going on to describe how The Salvation Army offers them the loving support that has previously been missing in their lives as the first step to help their recovery. When individuals, especially young people, lack adequate care and support, or struggle to find their identity, they are at risk of making bad decisions. Our media outlets have recently been awash with headlines about the tragic consequences of knife crime, and this week the War Cry includes an interview with actor and writer Marcel White. He is part of a Christian theatre company that has visited schools with a production aimed at preventing further increase in knife crime among young people. He reveals that he knows of children as young as 12 carrying knives as they get caught up in gang culture and find their worth in fighting and having people fear them. What the interviews with Marcel and Lee clearly show is that the root of some of the biggest social and criminal problems in this country is individuals feeling unloved, unsupported and of very little personal worth. Our society urgently needs to find a way to show every member of it how much they matter and how valuable they truly are.
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 7414
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Stephen Pearson 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
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 Grange Ltd, Southwick, on sustainably sourced paper
Your local Salvation Army centre
FEATURES 3
Family faces drug test
New film depicts the conflict addiction can cause
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A woman’s work
Interview with the first woman to be Bishop of London
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Have high expectations
A mum talks about family life when one of her children lives with Down’s syndrome
REGULARS 4
News feature
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Browsing the Bible
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Faces of Faith
14 Puzzles 15
Money-wise meals Front-page picture: STX International
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