War Cry 31 August: Selected articles

BBC/Heyday Films/NICK WALL

31 August 2019 • WAR cry • TELEVISION 3 Rachel wonders whether she should trust Shaun

CANDID CAMERA? OLDIER Shaun Emery CCTV footage condemns S is desperate to be seen as innocent. He

has cleared his name after being convicted for a murder in Afghanistan, and returns to life as a free man with his young daughter.

But, in BBC One’s new thriller The Capture, which begins on Tuesday (3 September), his life takes a shocking turn when incriminatory CCTV footage from a night out in London comes to light.

Newly appointed DI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) is drafted in to investigate Shaun (Callum Turner), and she quickly learns that the truth can sometimes be a matter of perspective. What she sees on a CCTV tape suggests that Shaun is guilty of assault and kidnap, but he insists that he is innocent. Rachel is at a loss to know who or what to trust: Shaun or what she has seen?

Viewers may find the drama series unnerving as it hits on questions close to home about whether our reliance on technology is always a good thing.

Executive producer Rosie Alison explains to the War Cry: ‘This series is a real moral maze. It’s about the possibilities of technology – how it is used and whose hands it is in. So the series is definitely not about heroes and

soldier as guilty until proven innocent, writes Linda McTurk

villains. It is full of nuance and shades of grey.’

With the rise of fake news, it can be difficult to know who and what is trustworthy. In our own lives, we can sometimes feel overwhelmed by fear, uncertainty and

It’s about technology and whose hands it is in the grey areas that we encounter. It can be difficult to know the best course of action to take. We may get caught up in the ‘what if’ scenarios and feel paralysed by our concerns about the future.

Such anxieties are nothing new. David, whose story is told in the Bible found solace in God when he felt anxious. In one dramatic episode in his life, when he was fleeing from an enemy who was seeking to kill him, he wrote: ‘I sought the Lord, and he answered

me; he delivered me from all my fears’ (Psalm 34:4 New International Version).

Even in times of trouble David experienced peace, because his sense of security was based on God, not on his circumstances. He saw that no matter how great his fears were, God would always be greater and would never leave him.

We can also find reassurance about whatever worries us if we put our faith in God, who is trustworthy and loves us deeply.

If we go to him for help, he will deliver us from our anxieties. He will be with us in every situation, even when life feels uncertain. And he will give us a peace that can conquer even our greatest fears.

Focusing on God allows us to see life differently.

6 INTERVIEW • WAR cry • 31 August 2019

Giving life Ahead of Organ Donation Week, which begins on Monday (2 September), the Rev CHARLES KWAKU-ODOI tells Emily Bright why he is encouraging churches to talk about the issue

L The Rev Charles Kwaku-Odoi

Religious concerns exist because the subject hasn’t been discussed

OW organ donation rates among Black British communities have become a matter of life and death.

Last year, 31 people died while waiting for a transplant, with hundreds more still on the waiting list.

In a study conducted this year by the London Assembly, 51 per cent of people in black, Asian and minority ethnic groups who were unwilling to donate their organs said that the practice conflicted with their religious belief.

Yet 43 per cent said that encouragement from their faith or community, or being provided with more information would make them more likely to donate.

Now one non-profit organisation, the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN), is taking action. It is visiting churches in Greater Manchester to tackle religious concerns and encourage people to sign up to the organ donor register as part of a project called Precious Lifesavers, which was launched earlier this year.

As part of the project, CAHN offers workshops in health literacy for church leaders in Greater Manchester, and

invites specialist nurses to explain the transplantation process to community members.

The team also visit Sunday church services in Greater Manchester, taking a ten-minute slot to speak to congregations about organ donation and providing people with the opportunity to sign up to the register afterwards.

CAHN’s chief officer, the Rev Charles Kwaku-Odoi, says that utilising links with churches is key in promoting organ donation because of their integral role within communities.

‘Within Manchester there is no umbrella organisation for the black Caribbean and African community. CAHN is the quickest way we can get through to people, through the network of churches,’ he explains.

‘Probably about 84 per cent of black people would have an affiliation to a church, even if they didn’t go to church regularly. So there would be people who no

31 August 2019 • WAR cry • INTERVIEW 7

f r o m d e at h longer attend church but who still respect the minister and the institution.’

One of the key challenges the project faces is combating misconceptions about organ donation. Charles outlines some of the most common erroneous beliefs that he has encountered.

‘Some people thought that, if they signed up to the register, doctors wouldn’t treat them when they were ill,’ he reveals.

‘But the majority of what we’ve come across is religious concerns. And those exist mainly because the subject hasn’t been widely discussed in the church circles that people have grown up in.

We have an opportunity to change people’s lives They’ve never really had to engage with the subject.

‘Some said that they don’t want to be in Heaven with one kidney, or without body parts.

‘But resurrection into eternal life is a spiritual thing. You don’t need your body parts. And that is where we have to challenge those myths and concerns.’

The idea for Precious Lifesavers emerged after CAHN launched a community leadership programme to boost the health literacy of pastors and church leaders. Charles says that the overwhelming feedback was for

more of the same.

‘The 27 pastors that attended said: “We want to be able to better support our congregation members. We would be willing to give up time to learn a bit more about health issues.”’

Since receiving government funding in January this year, the project has sought to create a lasting legacy.

Charles recounts the story of how one individual’s decision to sign up to the organ donor register transformed a family for ever.

‘Someone’s brother was killed, and he’d signed up to the register. One of the brother’s donations benefited a couple who had been waiting and hoping that one day they’d have their own children. Now they have a child. That is the blessing that could come from being generous.’

The issue has never been more relevant.

A new opt-out system for organ donation comes into force in spring next year.

Unless people have deliberately chosen to opt out, or are exempt from the legislation, they will be automatically placed on the organ donor register after their death.

So why should we donate our organs after we die?

Charles says that for him, it’s a matter of faith. As a Christian, he feels called to be compassionate and generous to others, following Jesus’ example.

‘The Bible encourages us to give, and Jesus told us to love our neighbour as ourselves. If I’m in the privileged position where after my life is ended I could benefit between seven and nine people, what better way is there to express grace than that?

‘We have an opportunity to change people’s lives, irrespective of their faith background, by signing up to the organ donor register. If we can help others and extend their lives or improve their quality of life, then let us do so generously.’

l For more information on organ donation visit organdonation.nhs.uk

10 INTERVIEW • WAR cry • 31 August 2019

‘I was not going to have children unless this treatment worked’ JAMES BLOOMFIELD

Award-winning writer and broadcaster COLE MORETON talks to Linda McTurk about the personal experiences of fertility treatment behind his latest book

W

RITER and broadcaster Cole Moreton loves to tell a story. In his journalism career, he has written for many publications, including national broadsheets.

His interviewees have included Boris Johnson, Scarlett Johansson and Tiger Woods. He has also told the extraordinary story of how one teenage boy’s death saved another boy’s life in the award-winning Radio 4 show The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away.

Heart-rending tales are nothing new to Cole. But his latest book, about it in real life,’ he says. ‘There The Light Keeper, strikes a personal were some things that I wanted to chord. Based on his own experience explore that were best done in the of fertility treatment, Cole’s novel area of story and imagination because focuses on a fictional couple, Sarah otherwise it was just too close to and Jack, who are desperate to home. It took me ten years to write have a baby but go through years of the novel.’ heartache unable to conceive.

Today the couple have four almost While The Light Keeper is not grown-up children. But Cole admits autobiographical, the themes of the that even now, decades on, he still novel are intensely personal to Cole, feels wounded by the struggles and his wife. with infertility that he and his wife ‘It is easier for me to explore experienced. infertility in fiction than it is to talk ‘My wife and I both suffered a form

It is easier for me to explore infertility in fiction than it is to talk about it in real life

Cole Moreton

of post-traumatic stress disorder through it. It was that traumatic,’ he says. ‘I know that having a child is not the answer to life’s problems and also that many people choose not to have children, for good and worthwhile reasons. But we really wanted to, and the process of trying happened over five years and became all-consuming.

‘Initially my wife was suffering from polycystic ovaries, but we didn’t know that there would be any difficulty conceiving. Then she went for treatment and we kept trying, but it didn’t work. Years went by as we went through a series of medical investigations.’

After exhausting all the NHS possibilities for fertility treatment, Cole and his wife were faced with a difficult decision. They would have either to give up on receiving medical help, or raise enough funds to pursue private fertility treatment.

Despite there being no guarantees that it would be successful, the couple decided to pursue costly

31 August 2019 • WAR cry • INTERVIEW 11

God is always there, like a beautiful song playing in the background private treatment. For Cole, making that decision brought home to him the reality of the situation he and his wife faced – and it was almost too much to bear.

‘I saw that this wasn’t about me helping my wife to get over her problem, but that this was both of us in it up to our necks,’ he says.

‘I realised that I was not going to have children unless this worked.

The full force of the sadness hit me like a sledgehammer. I went outside and collapsed on the pavement. I couldn’t stop crying.’

In his darkest moments, Cole found it challenging to reconcile his faith with his circumstances.

‘After years and years of trying to hold my Christian faith together in the midst of infertility, it all just fell apart,’ he remembers. ‘My heart felt strangely chilled. For a time I thought, I’m just going to let my faith go.

‘That lasted for a while, until my son was born.

Then at an Ash

Wednesday church service, as I held my infant son in my arms, I wrestled with the question, “Is this baby a miracle of science or a miracle of faith?” And the answer came back, “Yes”. That was the beginning of a renegotiation of my relationship with faith, of being able to explore the mysteries of it and to be more at ease with what I don’t know.’

Cole returned to his faith after his son was born. But would he have stayed away if he and his wife were not able ever to have children?

‘Absolutely not,’ Cole answers.

‘Because once I had been touched by God, I couldn’t then be untouched.

God is there whether I choose to engage or not, but obviously it would be much better if I do engage. And God doesn’t owe me anything. Grief and suffering exist and we have no automatic right and protection because we have faith.

‘God is always there, like a beautiful song playing in the background to everything that we do. And once someone hears it, they can’t unhear it. It is a relationship. Sometimes God and I really don’t get on. Other times, we have sweet moments together.

‘Whether or not our struggles have meaning is a mystery that’s beyond me. But I do know that, as well as the struggles, there is such joy in life.

Being alive and being in the presence of God feels like the greatest gift that anyone could possibly have.’

l The Light Keeper is published

by Marylebone House

12 INNER LIFE • War Cry • 31 August 2019

Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Zena, who is unwell; and for Matthew, who is in prison and feeling depressed.

The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their ­circumstances. Send your requests to Prayerlink, War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, Lon­don SE1 6BN. Mark your envelope ‘Confidential’.

Becoming a Christian There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

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

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

Micah contemporary of the prophets A Isaiah and Hosea, Micah is prophesying to Judah and Samaria (the northern

kingdom of Israel) before the fall of Jerusalem, Judah’s capital, in 587BC. Micah warns that God is angry with his people for breaking their covenant with him through the worship of idols.

God warns that he will break all of the idols: ‘All her Temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images’ (1:7).

His anger will also be directed at the wealthy who misuse the privilege and power that money brings – those who seize houses and land; those who cheat people out of their possessions (2:2); and those who reduce men to poverty and drive women from their homes (2:8 and 9).

There are leaders who, although they know what justice is, ‘tear the skin from my people, and the flesh from their bones’ (3:1 and 2).

God admonishes them and says he will also bring disgrace on the prophets and diviners who have made false prophecies and readings (3:5–7).

As a result of his people’s sins, God will reduce the city of Samaria to rubble (1:6). He will bring disaster upon the wicked (2:3), and Jerusalem will be destroyed (3:12).

But all is not lost. God also promises restoration. From his weak-but-righteous people, God will make a remnant. The Lord

himself will rule in Jerusalem and dominion will be restored (4:7 and 8).

Bethlehem will be the birthplace of a ruler who will ‘shepherd his flock’. Under him, the nation will live securely and he will bring

But all is not lost.

God also promises restoration peace (5:2–5). (Christians see this prophecy as being fulfilled by Jesus Christ.)

Israel knows what God requires of them – ‘to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (6:8).

Israel, fallen because of her wilful breaking of the Ten Commandments, may be reduced to dust, but one day, says Micah, she will rise (7:8–20).

Key verse hrathah, ‘But you, Bethlehem Ep ong the though you are small am you will clans of Judah, out of ll come for me one who wi h 5:2 ica (M be ruler over Israel ) on New International Versi

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