War Cry 17 April 2021

Earth Day creates a climate for change

WAR CRY

17 April 2021 20p/25c

Drama that’s guaranteed to deliver Call the Midwife returns to BBC One

A Frank approach to prayer

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 7521

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 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 Helpline: 020 7367 4888 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org 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 Territory with the Republic of Ireland 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

Your local Salvation Army centre

INFO 2 • WAR CRY • 17 April 2021

EDITOR From the editor’s desk

AFTER the sadness of the funeral for the Duke of Edinburgh today (Saturday 17 April), many TV viewers will be looking forward tomorrow to the happiness often depicted in BBC One’s Call the Midwife. It will be the 10th series of the award-winning drama, which has attracted viewers of all ages with its mixture of nostalgia and newborn babies.

The safe delivery of a baby is usually a time of joy. It marks a new beginning and, for the mother, the end of a nine-month wait in which she has taken good care of herself to improve the chances of her baby’s healthy arrival.

Having a good start in life matters – not just when we are born, but throughout our early years. Sadly, not everyone’s childhood experience is a good one. In this week’s War Cry, Tracy Williamson and Marilyn Baker talk about how they have recovered from early trauma. Tracy, who is neurologically deaf, suffered years of abuse at home and school. Marilyn has been blind since she was a baby because she was given too much oxygen after her birth. As a result, she had a negative relationship with her father.

However, both women found their Christian faith helped them to overcome these early setbacks.

‘My dad had told me that I would be a nuisance if I asked for too many favours,’ says Marilyn. But when she became a Christian, she learnt to see herself as God sees her. ‘I’m made in his image,’ she says.

‘He doesn’t make rubbish, and I’m a blessing not a nuisance.’

Whatever start in life we may have had or however our life has turned out, we too are made in God’s image and can know his love and acceptance. If we turn to him, we can experience a new beginning in our own lives.

CONTENTS

What is The Salvation Army?

FEATURES 3

Special delivery

New series of Call the Midwife begins

5

Book of comic prayer

Frank Skinner’s conversations with God

6

Down-to-Earth problem

Earth Day encourages action on climate

change 8

A different kind of healing

Overcoming disabilities and childhood trauma

REGULARS

4

War Cry World

12

Team Talk

13

Puppy Tales

14 Puzzles 15

6

War Cry Kitchen

8

Front-page pictures: BBC/NEAL STREET; ALAMY

15

TELEVISION BBC/NEAL STREET

Sister Monica Joan wrestles with doubt and Trixie dons a fancy new uniform

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Picking up a new habit

OMETIMES in life we get the chance to start again,’ says the narrator at the beginning of the new series of BBC One’s Call the Midwife, scheduled to be broadcast tomorrow (Sunday 18 April). After falling down the stairs and breaking her leg in last year’s Christmas special, Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) is preparing to take her first steps back into the life of Nonnatus House.

Meanwhile, Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) is considering a partnership with a private hospital to earn some income that will go towards the running of the nuns’ home and keep services free for the residents of Poplar.

Trixie (Helen George) relishes the opportunity to wear a fancy uniform and work in a posh clinic for six weeks to test its suitability for her colleagues, but not everyone is as enthusiastic about the potential partnership. Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) is strongly against private healthcare, which causes tension between him and Sister Julienne.

Inspired by Trixie’s stylish uniform, some of the nuns think it’s time their attire was given a new lease of life. To their surprise, Sister Julienne agrees and they get to work on designing and making new habits.

New beginnings are part of the fabric of life for the residents of Nonnatus House. The nurses and nuns hop on their bikes to deliver babies whose

Nuns and nurses are expecting changes at Nonnatus House, writes Sarah Olowofoyeku

parents’ lives will be changed for ever.

They have helped usher new life into the world on countless occasions.

But sometimes change and new circumstances can still be hard for them to grapple with.

Sister Monica Joan, while dealing with her injury and the fresh awareness of her old age, is experiencing a crisis in belief.

‘It is not my body, it is my faith,’ she confides in handyman Fred (Cliff Parisi), adding: ‘In the religious we speak of an extended period of doubts as a dark night of the soul. There is no light anywhere … Only God can help me.’

Such feelings of despair and

New beginnings are part of the fabric of life

Dr Turner and Sister Julienne disagree about private healthcare

doubt are nothing new to Christians.

When faced with health difficulties, relationship challenges or financial worries, it can be easy to question whether God exists at all.

But there is good news. God doesn’t turn us away when we doubt. Whether we are new to the faith or have believed for years, we can bring our doubts to him.

After Jesus had been crucified, his followers were filled with despair, because things had not gone the way they had expected.

When one of them, Thomas, was told that Jesus had appeared to some of his fellow disciples, his doubts remained.

He said he would believe only when he had proof, when he could actually put his hand in Jesus’ wounds. When Jesus appeared again to his followers, he said to Thomas: ‘Reach out your hand …

Stop doubting and believe’ (John 20:27 New International Version).

Instead of becoming angry, Jesus met Thomas where he was.

It highlights how God will respond to us today. Whatever is happening in our lives, if we struggle with doubt, God can come and reassure us.

When we are in our most difficult situations, racked with doubt, we get the chance to turn to God and find comfort in his assurance that he is with us.

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 3

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NEWSPHOTO/ALAMY

LEADERS of The Salvation Army have expressed their sadness at the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.

General Brian Peddle, the international leader of the organisation, wrote to the Queen to offer his ‘sincere and heartfelt condolences’, adding that the duke’s lifetime accomplishments were a tribute to his ‘fortitude, generosity of spirit and strength of character’.

The leader of The Salvation Army in the UK and Republic of Ireland, Commissioner Anthony Cotterill, said: ‘Prince Philip has been an inspiration to us all, and we give thanks for his long life and his living out of outstanding service.

‘We especially remember with gratitude and affection the occasions when he demonstrated his support for the frontline work of The Salvation Army. Over the years, the prince visited a number of our services working with the most vulnerable in society, including people battling drug addictions and homelessness. During these visits, Prince Philip would take time to talk with individuals, always showing a great interest in their lives.’ l To read the tributes from Salvation Army leaders, visit salvationarmy.org and salvationarmy.org.uk.

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CARDIFF CITY football players and staff clubbed together to donate a vanload of chocolate eggs for The Salvation Army to distribute in the community.

Players Curtis Nelson and Josh Murphy delivered the chocolate treats.

Defender Curtis said: ‘We’re delighted to present The Salvation Army with an Easter donation from our staff and players. We know all about the great work they do for people in need and hopefully these treats will help to put some smiles on faces.’

Adoration for online exhibition AN immersive exhibition, centred on a painting about the visit of the wise men to Jesus, has been reimagined as an online experience, four months after the original exhibition at the National Gallery had to close because of Covid-19 rules.

When Sensing the Unseen: Step into Gossaert’s ‘Adoration’ opened on 9 December at the gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square, visitors were able to enter socially distanced pods to explore an interactive high-resolution image of the painting, combined with sound, poetry and lighting effects. However, within days the site had to close.

In the exhibition’s mobile guise, six poems by Theresa Lola, former young people’s laureate for London, interpret scenes from the painting – via the perspective of King Balthasar, one of the figures in the work – while an interactive facility guides people towards details in the art that they may have otherwise missed.

Painted in the 16th century, Jan Gossaert’s The Adoration of the Kings depicts a tiny Christ-child being worshipped by the kings in the middle of crumbling ruins, symbolising a moment of transformation for the world.

The mobile exhibition can be accessed through nationalgallery.org.uk, and the gallery plans to reopen its physical immersive exhibition in May. © THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

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THE Salvation Army received a substantial increase in the number of debt advice requests last year as a result of the pandemic.

In 2019, the church and charity’s debt advice centres supported 668 clients. Last year, they helped 852 people, a quarter of whom needed help negotiating with creditors, councils and landlords to pay for basic bills including utilities, council tax and rent.

To meet the rising demand for assistance, teams worked longer hours and expanded their services across east Scotland, the Isle of Man, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Exeter.

The Salvation Army has 22 Financial Conduct Authority-approved debt advice centres across the UK. As well as offering financial advice, they give practical and emotional support to help people cope with the pressure of being in debt.

4 • WAR CRY • 17 April 2021

‘Sensing the Unseen: Step into Gossaert’s “Adoration”’, mobile edition, with a detail from Jan Gossaert, ‘The Adoration of the Kings’, 1510-15

FEATURE

Jest praying

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

Comedian Frank Skinner sets out some of his chats with God, reports Philip Halcrow

@TheWarCryUK TheWarCryUK

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B salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

T could sound like a joke to some people, but it’s a true story. Frank Skinner has written a book about prayer. In A Comedian’s Prayer Book, the stand-up comic writes up some of his prayers – or versions of them.

He admits in his introduction that they are not word-for-word transcriptions, because it is impossible to give such an account of something that has no words, prayer being ‘like a telepathic dip into a long, ongoing conversation with thousands of tabs left open’.

Frank describes what he has put in print as ‘one side of the conversation’.

And, believing that ‘there’s a place for comedy in prayer’ – because there is a place for it in life – he has left the jokes in. Not that the humour stops him covering serious material such as money, atheism and dying (in the literal, not the getting-no-laughs-at-a-gig, sense).

His observations take in the ‘masterstroke’ of Jesus’ choice of words for the opening of the prayer he taught his disciples: ‘Our Father’.

Frank confesses: ‘Even when I pray it in a locked room I feel like I’m part of a communal voice. Once you say “our Father” you make everyone else your brother or your sister.’

And he notes the thinking that, however much ‘ingratitude, irresponsibility and sneering indifference’ we give this fatherly God, ‘what we consistently get back is love and forgiveness’.

Frank says that God can be ‘a tough audience as far as audible response is concerned’. He never hears God’s voice. But that does not mean prayer is one-way.

‘I have sensed you in the silence,’ he writes – which is an experience that many Christians will have had.

They know that they can tell God about their hopes, anxieties and regrets and be assured of his love and forgiveness. They recognise the truth of one line of Jesus’ – quoted

by Frank – that God cares for everyone so much that he ‘already knows what you need before you ask’ (Matthew 6:8 Good News Bible).

It’s why – whether spoken or silent, at set times or spontaneously – they make prayer part of their everyday routine.

IMAGE PRESS AGENCY/ALAMY

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JUSTIN BIEBER released a surprise project, entitled Freedom, on Easter Day. The gospel-infused EP featured worship artist Chandler Moore, pastor Judah Smith and singer Tori Kelly, who is vocal about her Christian faith.

On one of the six tracks, ‘Where You Go I Follow’, the 27-year-old sings about the resurrection of Jesus: ‘On the third day, yeah you rose up/ And you beat death, once and for all.’

Other songs include themes of forgiveness, cancel culture and growing up.

MTV reports that the EP ‘sees Bieber embark on a soul-searching journey to better understand himself and his past through the lens of his religious beliefs’.

WENN RIGHTS LTD/ALAMY

God can be ‘a tough audience’

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 5

A DEVELOPMENT THAT DOESN’T COST THE EARTH

Hayley Still

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LOBAL leaders will gather in Glasgow in November for a landmark United Nations climate change conference to shape future environmental policy. Consequently, for its 75,000 partners, Earth Day on Thursday (22 April) is more relevant than ever as the organisers look to build momentum ahead of the conference and put pressure on government leaders to stem the tide of global warming.

Hayley Still, engagement co-ordinator in the UK Salvation Army’s international projects office, says that mobilising people ahead of the conference is important, especially as the global spotlight is on the UK as host.

‘The government claim that they want to be a world leader on climate change, but they need to back that up with action on reaching zero emissions by 2030,’ she says.

‘If they’re going to achieve that pledge, they need to encourage UK businesses to reject fossil fuels and engage with more renewable energy sources.’

The Salvation Army is a member of the Climate Coalition, which urges decisionmakers to take action on climate change.

Hayley explains why it’s important that

In the run-up to Earth Day, which aims to equip people to protect the environment, HAYLEY STILL tells Emily Bright how Salvation Army projects are helping farmers in developing countries deal with the effects of climate change the church and charity takes a stand on environmental issues.

‘In truth, pretty much all the people that we are working with around the world will be experiencing the adverse effects of climate change. It’s the world’s poorest that are inevitably most vulnerable.

‘As climate change makes weather patterns unpredictable, it affects the ability of subsistence farmers in developing countries to grow crops. Those crops are families’ meals, with surplus sold for income for school fees or unexpected medical costs. If the rains don’t arrive, the whole crop yield for the year has gone.’

Recognising the increasing pressures on farmers in the developing world, The Salvation Army is working to improve food security in Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe.

‘We are training small-scale farmers to use different farming technologies and methods, to make the best use of their land in order to offset the impact of climate change,’ Hayley says.

‘One method is called mulching, in which the farmer plants seeds and then adds a layer of mulch – some composting-type materials – to the top layer of soil to keep the moisture retained.

Then, if there’s unexpected extended dry

spells, there’s still moisture in the soil, which enables the crops to grow.

‘In Burkina Faso, they’ve switched chemical fertiliser for a liquid one that is cheaper and good for the environment.

Farmers learn how to make the fertilisers themselves using naturally and locally

Without rain, the whole crop yield is gone

Farmers in Burkina Faso learn to make compost 6 • WAR CRY • 17 April 2021

INTERVIEW

Salvation Army projects have improved harvests in Zimbabwe

available materials such as compost. With our farming methods, they’re seeing their crop yields go up.’

One beneficiary of The Salvation Army’s food security projects was Janet, a widowed mother of five children in Zimbabwe. She worked tirelessly to produce enough food to feed her family, while selling the surplus to pay school fees. However, after poor crop yields, she struggled to keep up with payments.

Worse still, she feared her children were becoming malnourished and so went without food to make sure they had enough to eat.

Then she heard about agricultural training hosted by a local Salvation Army church leader. The leader had grown maize on the church land using new farming techniques that had yielded a bigger harvest.

Keen to discover more, Janet attended the sessions, which were led by an agriculturalist from a university. She learnt about mulching her crops to protect her topsoil from erosion, about timing when to plant to coincide with changing weather patterns, and about rotating a diverse range of crops to maximise food production and nutrition. To her delight, she saw the fruits of her hard work when she doubled her yield from the previous year.

While The Salvation Army is working hard to combat the effects of environmental damage caused by climate change, Hayley underlines the urgency for global action to prevent the situation getting worse in all parts of the world.

‘Climate change is leading to the degradation of the planet and its resources,’ she says. ‘We’re already

Climate change is leading to the degradation of resources seeing its impact in the UK with droughts and flooding.’

For Hayley, it’s also a matter of faith.

‘I believe we are part of God’s creation, along with everything else that lives and breathes on this planet. As God’s children, we have a responsibility to care for and nurture the planet, as well as to look out for the world’s poorest.

‘When Jesus saw injustice taking place, he didn’t just stand back, he spoke up for

people who were marginalised in society.

He fought social and political injustice, challenging corrupt systems in a peaceful way.

‘That’s the example I want to follow. If Jesus were here now, I believe he would be responding to the issue of climate injustice and its impact on the world’s most vulnerable and poorest. He would see that as a great injustice that needed to be addressed.’

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 7

Weaving love in

TRACY WILLIAMSON and MARILYN BAKER talk with Sarah Olowofoyeku about healing from childhood trauma, living with disabilities and working together to spread a message of love

T

HE early years of Tracy Williamson’s life were filled with pain. She was verbally abused by her teachers at school and by her stepfather at home.

She was neurologically deaf, but this was not discovered until she was 12 years old.

Her condition meant that, while she could hear sounds, she could not always understand their meanings.

With hard work and determination, Tracy left school with some A-levels and gained admission to a college. She thought she could leave her past behind and have a fresh start. But she found that she was depressed. One day as she stood by a lake, she had thoughts of ending her life. She started to walk into the water.

‘Somehow it just didn’t happen,’ she tells me over Zoom. ‘I was completely wet, but I came out of the water. I was in a desperate place in my heart.

But later some students at the college, who I knew by name but not much else, invited me in for a coffee in their room. One of them said she was a Christian. The reason she invited me was because God had spoken to her about me when she was praying, and told her to tell me that he loved me as a Father. The timing was amazing. God must have known I was so despairing, and

Marilyn as a young girl 8 • WAR CRY • 17 April 2021

nto a painful past INTERVIEW

he gave that student the heart to reach out to me.’

Six weeks later, Tracy became a Christian.

‘God told me about his love and how he wanted me to know him,’ she says.

‘One of the first things God began to speak to me about was the need to let

go of the anger I had for my stepfather and for the teachers and kids who had bullied me, and to allow him to give me the power to forgive. It wasn’t easy, because I couldn’t just work up feelings of forgiveness.’

However, Tracy had a powerful experience when she went home from college one day.

‘My stepfather flew into a rage as usual because I was there,’ she recalls. ‘He slammed the back door and caught his hand. It cut badly, there was a lot of blood, and he was screaming and swearing.

Initially I was gloating, thinking: “Oh good, you’re hurting, you deserve it.” But suddenly I felt as if God was next to me, whispering

to me: “This is your chance. Love him with my love, forgive him with my forgiveness.”

So I brought my stepfather in, sat him down, bandaged his hand and made him a cup of tea.

‘He was so shocked that he stopped swearing.

After that he didn’t change, but I changed. It was as if God enabled me to reach out in love, and I realised the power of forgiveness. It was so much better and more powerful than hate.’

For 35 years now, Tracy has been on the road, delivering a message of love and healing. And she has been doing it alongside her friend Marilyn Baker, a gospel singer who was already a touring musician when they met. Marilyn had discovered her musical talent at a young age and, after teaching music for some years, had been given the opportunity to share songs about God all over the world.

But she had had her struggles too. She has been blind since she was a baby, having been put in an incubator and given too much oxygen after birth. She faced challenges in her childhood because of her blindness and because of her father.

‘He didn’t believe I would achieve anything,’ Marilyn explains. ‘My parents hadn’t expected me to become blind.

They wanted the perfect child. Every time I tried to do things, I would hear my dad

I realised the power of forgiveness

Turn to page 10

➥

Tracy (right) with her sister Lorraine

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 9

Marilyn released her first album in 1979 and has been singing all over the world since 1982

From page 9 saying: “She won’t understand that. She won’t know what to do.”

‘I felt angry because it was my blindness that seemed to cause the barrier between me and my dad. I was frustrated and didn’t feel I would be able to do much in life myself.

‘But once I became a Christian, I heard the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11. It quotes God saying to his people that he knows the plans he has for them and that he plans for their good, for their well-being, to give them hope and a future. I thought: “Lord, you have got plans for me too.”’

She also had other problems to deal with.

‘My dad had told me that I would be a nuisance if I asked for too many favours, and that had gone deep into my heart. I always felt I was going to be a burden. And because my father had been disapproving, when I became a Christian I thought God would be disapproving. But I learnt that I had to align myself with what God thinks of me, which is that I’m made in his image, he doesn’t make rubbish, and I’m a blessing not a nuisance.’

It’s a truth that Marilyn had to keep in mind even after she had become a gospel singer and later got to know Tracy.

Marilyn recalls a significant moment

when, in a shop on her own, she needed help but thought she’d be a nuisance if she asked. She felt God reminding her that she had been working on trying to overcome such anxieties. So she asked for help.

‘I went round with the lady and we had a great laugh,’ she says. ‘When I came out of the shop, Trace turned up. She had seen me in the shop, and she said: “You and that lady were having a great time. I can tell you were such a blessing to her.” It was great to know that I wasn’t a nuisance. God was going to make me a blessing to others.’

Though she still struggles with blindness, she discovered God’s help with that too.

‘I can’t find things on the floor, I can’t always find my way, but I found God being close to me. He helps me so often in difficult circumstances. I know he cares. Some of my songs are about God’s care and the detail of how he loves us, because I feel that his love is affirming and it changed my attitude about myself. That’s what the process of really being loved can do for you.’

Marilyn and Tracy have written a book, A Beautiful Tapestry, about their lives and ministry together.

‘We weren’t just telling our story,’ says Tracy. ‘It’s lots of other people’s story as well, those who have come alongside us –

God’s love is affirming and it changed my attitude about myself

10 • WAR CRY • 17 April 2021

it’s different strands weaving together.’

The two share a home in Kent, and as we conduct the interview over Zoom, I can see the way that they interact with and support each other – Marilyn sometimes typing out my questions to Tracy – but most of all I can see the sense of fun in their partnership. They tell me how their lives became intertwined in 1985.

‘Marilyn’s housemate, Penny, came to the Christian fellowship at a school where I was getting some work experience,’ says Tracy. ‘Penny invited me for a meal.

Because I’m partially sighted as well as deaf, I got lost and was really late. Marilyn was away, but we had a lovely time.’

Tracy was invited back to meet Marilyn.

She agreed, but was nervous.

Marilyn says: ‘On the night of the second dinner, I thought this lady was going to be late, because she’d been very late the last time. I thought I had more time, so I decided to dye my hair with henna.’

But Tracy was on time and so when the

INTERVIEW

Tracy and her hearing dog, Goldie

Marilyn sings and Tracy dances at a concert in India

doorbell rang, Marilyn was still covered in dye. She decided she’d go downstairs anyway, to keep Tracy company while Penny cooked.

What ensued was a hilarious first encounter, in which Tracy initially thought Marilyn was covered in blood. The pair spent the evening laughing, and the rest, as they say, is history.

‘What amazed me,’ says Tracy, ‘is the way God wove seemingly inconsequential things together, like me having been late the first time and Marilyn thinking I’d be late the second. If we hadn’t met and become friends in that immediate way, I think we would have had a formal evening together and that would have been it.’

At the time, Marilyn was looking for a new assistant to travel with her on the road. She hadn’t found anyone by the time of her next concert, and asked Tracy

to go along with her just to help her practically.

‘I asked Trace to do some speaking,’ says Marilyn. ‘She was very nervous but once she started, you could’ve heard a pin drop. She spoke about her life and her struggles, and some of the audience were nearly crying. After that, I sang my song about how God gives peace to the weary and binds up the broken-hearted. I knew from then that Trace had been given an ability by God to speak. And we began to explore whether she could come with me on the road.’

Over the years, Marilyn and Tracy have helped others to hear about and experience God’s love. They have prayed for people and seen healings happen.

People have also prayed at various times that both of them would be healed from blindness and deafness, but it hasn’t happened. I ask whether that has been difficult for them.

‘I’ve always thought I might be healed,’ says Marilyn. ‘There’s lots of things I’d like to do. I’d love to drive a car. But I know if God doesn’t heal me physically in this life, I want to make the most of my life as it is now. It’s the present that thrills me with him. I love that he is alongside us as our friend, our helper, our advocate.’

Tracy recalls a difficult experience in which she was told she had failed in her

faith when she wasn’t healed, and that God couldn’t use her.

‘I was devastated at the time, but I think God has got a sense of humour. I’m even more deaf now than I was then, but God has done amazing things and has definitely used me to speak to people and to bring people to know him.’

Marilyn points out that they have both experienced emotional and mental healing.

‘I’m a very different person from when I started that process of healing, and so is Trace. God accompanied us along that journey. We have his peace in our lives, which we never had before. We have a wholeness that his love brings to us.’

l A Beautiful Tapestry is published by Authentic Media

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 11

EXPLORE

Prayerlink 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’.

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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

talk ‘ ’ Team talk TEAM TALK Faith sustains in times of sadness and loss

Andrew Stone gives his take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

THE Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral today (Saturday 17 April) will be a much smaller event than might normally have been expected. As with so many funerals over the past 13 months, Covid-19 restrictions have affected what can be done and who can attend the service. Just 30 people will be present in St George’s Chapel to mourn the loss of a much-loved family member.

Speaking last weekend, the Prince of Wales told reporters: ‘My family and I miss my father enormously.’ He added: ‘My dear papa was a very special person.’ Meanwhile, the Duke of York said that the Queen had described the death of her husband as creating ‘a huge void in her life’.

Sadly, many people will be able to relate to the Queen’s situation. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, more people than would usually be the case have lost loved ones, and restrictions have meant that their experience of grief has been very different from what it would have been in pre-pandemic times.

Christians Also in these difficult days, however, many people believe that have found strength and comfort from their faith. Since duke’s death was announced last week, a number death is not the of people – including the Archbishop of Canterbury – the end have spoken of the personal Christian faith that he and the Queen shared.

Prince Philip’s biographer, Gyles Brandreth, said on BBC One’s Songs of Praise: ‘The Queen, fortunately for her, is sustained by faith. That is basically what has kept her going all these years. Her faith is everything to her.

‘There will be a terrible sense of loss and grief, but, at the same time, because of her sustaining faith, she knows that they will be reunited one day.’

Christians believe that death is not the end. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus – which they commemorate each year at Easter – they believe that they are promised an eternal life where there is no more death, mourning, crying or pain and in which God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

At a time when so many have experienced so much grief, many have also taken great comfort in that belief.

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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 • 17 April 2021

EXPRESSIONS

puppy tales Life with a young dog leads Barbara Lang to look at the world from a new perspective

Quick to catch on O

Q -

QUICK QUIZ 1

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3

Which country has the largest number of rollercoasters?

What is Elvis Costello’s birth name?

What is the name of the private company that launched astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into orbit last year?

A

5

6

Actor Sean Bean played a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars in which 1990s TV series, based on novels by Bernard Cornwell?

The Olympic Stadium in Rome is the home ground for Roma and which other football club?

How many different types of ships are used in the board game Battleship?

ANSWERS

1. China. 2. Declan MacManus. 3. SpaceX. 4. Sharpe. 5. Lazio. 6. Five.

4

UR lively little border collie puppy, Jak, grows bigger every day and there’s always something new for him to learn. Recently, he has learnt how to play with plastic hoops.

When a hoop is thrown towards him, he catches it in his mouth. We have six hoops, so once Jak has caught the first one and dropped it, the next comes whizzing through the air.

Jak can catch the hoops only one at a time and sometimes they come too fast for him. Other times, a hoop is thrown just a bit too high and he has to learn to time his jump to catch it.

Just like Jak, we can learn something new every day, whether from having conversations, reading a book or newspaper or watching a documentary on television.

God created us with the ability to learn throughout our lives. It’s good for us continually to develop our understanding of life and the world around us. I think it’s particularly good to find out more about God and his love for us.

We can do that through reading the Bible, which is God’s word. If we take notice of what the Bible says, we can learn the best way to live our lives and experience all of God’s goodness.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.

2 Timothy 3:16 (New Century Version )

BOOK REVIEW No Filter: The Inside Story of How Instagram Transformed Business, Celebrity and our Culture Sarah Frier Random House Business INSTAGRAM has radically changed the way many people see the world, especially through the lens of their mobile phone camera.

Today, the photo-sharing app, launched in 2010, has roughly one billion users each month, who use it to post photos online, often through filters.

In No Filter journalist Sarah Frier writes of how Instagram has influenced people’s lives, whether they use it or not. Businesses now ‘cater to the new visual way we communicate, to be worthy of photographing for Instagram’. People are more aware of how they present themselves to others.

Sarah also addresses the way in which the company deals with problems that can occur when people want to share only the best, most ‘Instagram-worthy’ snapshots of their lives and edit out ‘imperfections’.

No Filter is a modern tale of how technology has shaped and continues to shape the way we interact with the world and each other.

Linda McTurk

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 13

CROSSWORD CROSSWORD

PUZZLES

QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Pinkish violet (5) 4. American folk music (5) 8. Previously (3) 9. Vegetation (5) 10. Picture (5) 11. Type (3) 12. Wan (5) 13. Worldly (7) 16. St _________ , winter resort (6) 19. Arid (6) 23. Welsh castle (7) 26. Ancient Peruvians (5) 28. Tall vase (3) 29. Reluctant (5) 30. Indicate (5)

by Chris Horne

31. Express derision (3) 9. Tic (5) 14. Sailor (3) 32. Late (5) 15. Garland (3) 33. Courage (5) 17. Eggs (3) DOWN 18. Poorly (3) 2. Conifer (5) 20. Viewpoint (7) 3. Group of senior 21. Alluring (slang) (5) politicians (7) 22. Plump (6) 4. Reserved (6) 23. Gustav _____ , 5. Higher (5) composer of 6. Hanging The Planets (5) mammal (5) 24. Respond (5) 7. Harry Corbett’s 25. Anaesthetic (5) puppet (5) 27. Gambol (5)

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

HONEYCOMB HONEYCOMB

1 5 7

Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number

ANSWERS QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1. Lilac. 4. Blues. 8. Ago. 9. Scrub. 10. Photo. 11. Ilk. 12. Ashen.

13. Earthly. 16. Moritz. 19. Torrid.

23. Harlech. 26. Incas. 28. Urn. 29. Loath.

30. Imply. 31. Boo. 32. Tardy. 33. Nerve.

DOWN: 2. Larch. 3. Cabinet. 4. Booked.

5. Upper. 6. Sloth. 7. Sooty. 9. Spasm.

14. Tar. 15. Lei. 17. Ova. 18. Ill. 20. Opinion. 21. Dishy. 22. Chubby.

23. Holst. 24. React. 25. Ether. 27. Caper.

HONEYCOMB 1. Mumble. 2. Embark. 3. Kitkat.

4. Fiddle. 5. Shaver. 6. Cancel.

1 5 2 9 4 8 7 6 3

3 7 8 6 2 5 1 4 9

9 4 6 7 3 1 5 8 2

6 9 1 8 5 4 2 3 7

8 3 7 1 9 2 6 5 4

5 2 4 3 6 7 8 9 1

4 8 5 2 7 9 3 1 6

2 6 9 5 1 3 4 7 8

7 1 3 4 8 6 9 2 5

SUDOKU SOLUTION

1 5 4 9

7 6 8 5 1

7 2 5

14 • WAR CRY • 17 April 2021

4 8

3 1 7 8

3

1 5 4 9

2 6 5 9 7

7 6 8 5 1

4 8

7 2 5

ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH ORDSEARCH

1. Say something indistinctly and quietly 2. Get on board a ship 3. Chocolate wafer biscuit 4. Violin 5. Electric razor 6. Stop

6

WORDSEARCH ALL BY MYSELF BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY BOOGIE NIGHTS BRIGHT EYES CARS DESTINY FOOL TO CRY I WILL SURVIVE LONG LIVE LOVE MAMMA MIA NEW YORK CITY PUMP IT UP PUPPY LOVE RING MY BELL RIVERS OF BABYLON RUN FOR HOME SHOOTING STAR

Look up, down, forwards, backwards

1 and 3 diagonally 9 6 8on the 5 grid 4 to 2 find 7 these hits of the 1970s 5 7 4 9 3 2 8 6 1 2 8I A N R H A P 6 1 7 4 S O D Y P 5 9 3 M B O H E M R A E M H K J R H R C K P E 9 6 7 8 1 3 2 F 5X U E 4 N Q M P Z N A Z O A Q I Y J A M M V 4 2 3 5 9 6 7 1 8 T F Y M P Q J K Z T Y Y P K P S Y O O C Q R A S A 8 5 I 1P 4S H G E 2 7 I 9 V 3P S 6 L V F L N C M O O P G J Y T X U R P E 7 1 5 2 6 8 3 4 9 X S Q E S O I O M N N U J P A Q M V 6 4 A 8Z 3I P M P C 5 9 1 L 7Z G 2 I K N W W T Q T E M V Y H L O L T T V Y B J L S J 3 9 2 7 4 1 6 8 5 L

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

8

D Falafels in pitta bread Ingredients

Method

1 small onion, peeled

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ Gas Mark 6.

1 garlic clove, peeled 400g can chickpeas in water, rinsed and drained 60g wholemeal breadcrumbs 1tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground coriander 2tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 1tbsp olive oil 4 large wholemeal pittas Lettuce leaves 2 medium tomatoes, sliced

SERVES

4

¼ cucumber, sliced

Place the onion and garlic in a blender or food processor and finely chop. Add the chickpeas, breadcrumbs, cumin, coriander, parsley and olive oil and mix.

Shape the mixture into 16 balls and place on a greased or lined baking tray. Put in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes, then bake in the oven for 25 minutes, occasionally turning to prevent the balls from sticking.

Heat the pittas briefly in a toaster or warm them under a grill. Open and fill each pitta with a few lettuce leaves, tomato and cucumber slices, and 4 falafel balls. Garnish with the yoghurt and serve warm.

4tbsp 0 per cent fat Greek-style yoghurt

Coconut rice side salad Ingredients

Method

100g easy-cook brown rice

Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold water. Cook according to the packet instructions.

1 pepper, finely chopped 1 medium carrot, grated Bunch of spring onions, finely sliced 1 lime, juice and grated zest

Return the rice to the sieve and rinse under cold water again, to cool it.

Spoon the rice into a bowl and stir in the vegetables, lime juice and zest and coriander.

Place in a serving dish and sprinkle with the desiccated coconut. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

1tbsp fresh coriander, chopped 1tbsp desiccated coconut

SERVES

4

Recipes reprinted, with permission, from the Public Health England website nhs.uk/change4life

17 April 2021 • WAR CRY • 15

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He careS for those who trust in him Nahum 1:7 (New International Version)

WAR CRY