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salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry Est 1879 No 7141

FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS

9 November 2013

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2 The War Cry 9 November 2013 News

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

Becoming aecom

Christian

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

‘How Great Thou Art’ is the greatest, says survey

Salvation Army provides bedding for refugees in Rwanda

Religious people worried by adoption misconceptions

Teams support after damage and deaths

PEOPLE FLEE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

COMMENT – p6 LIFESTYLE – p7 PUZZLES – p12 INNER LIFE – p13 FOOD FOR THOUGHT – p14 RECIPES – p15

‘HOW Great Thou Art’ is the UK’s favourite hymn, according to a survey car-ried out for BBC One’s Songs of Praise. The hymn, based on Swedish words sung to a Swedish folk tune, was the most popular choice in a nationwide vote in which tens of thousands of people selected their favour-ite from a list of 100.

Can-do attitude helps community

THE Salvation Army in Rwanda is to help refugees fleeing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo by providing those at a new refugee camp with clothing and bedding.

People are being moved to the camp in Mugombwa from a transit centre in Nkamira, which was built for 2,000 people but is accommodating more than 9,000.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) asked The Salvation Army to provide assistance for refugees at the camp.

SHOPPERS at the Intu Victoria Centre in Nottingham made donations of tinned food to help The Salvation Army carry out its work among vulnerable people. Phil Johnson, community services manager at the Nottingham William Booth Memorial Community Centre, is pictured with some of the 190 cans which – along with other donations – were collected in the shopping centre during the Can-Can appeal.

RELIGIOUS people are the most likely in England to adopt children, according to research by national adoption informa-tion service First4Adoption.

The research, carried out on behalf of the Department for Education, found that 55 per cent of people who say they are ‘certain’ or ‘very likely’ to adopt a child describe them-selves as ‘actively practising a religion’.

But the organisation and Home for Good – a church-based campaign to promote adopting and fostering – also claim that many religious people don’t come forward because they mistakenly believe they do not fit the adop-

tion criteria. As well as believ-ing common misconceptions about not being able to adopt if they are over 40, single or unmarried or already have chil-dren, many actively religious people also mistakenly believe that their faith may prevent them from being approved.

First4Adoption and Home for Good have joined forces to encourage more people from faith communities to consider adopting. The organisations are providing a telephone infor-mation service for people from all faith communities to speak to advisers who can help them understand the adoption pro-cess. For more information call 0300 222 5950.

A SALVATION Army emergency response team handed out hot drinks and snacks to firefighters and residents evacuated from their homes in Hounslow during a severe storm which swept across the South of England.

The team spent four hours at the scene where a falling tree and gas explosion had destroyed houses. Two people had been killed in the incident.

In Copdock, Suffolk, another Salvation Army team provided hot drinks and temporary lighting to people at a residential home for people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, after the storm left the building without power. Staff used their emergency response vehicle to heat evening meals for the residents.

Days after the storm, The Salvation Army was still serving hot drinks and snacks to people in the villages of Long Melford and Creeting St Peter, Suffolk, where power supplies had not been restored.

9 November 2013 The War Cry 3

A CHILD. A cross.A memory. Loss On global stage.War’s theatres pit Son ’gainst sonIn endless run Of bloodAnd sweatAnd tears.Those dads, young lads, Sleep where they fallAnd mums and daughters,Paying slaughter’s Bitter price,Fight hardTo hold a front.

A cross:A child –So ‘meek and mild’ –Takes centre stageWhen – now a manBorn of God,Earth’s journey trod –He gives,He bleeds,He dies.This Prince of Peace All Hell defeats,A Kingdom place awaits the meek,The pure, the poor: Where greatest is A child.

by NIGEL BOVEY

NIGEL BOVEY

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ALTHOUGH he is sitting in a café in Central London, Krish Kandiah has another city on

his mind. ‘Southampton is one of my favourite places at the moment,’ he says as he grabs a bite to eat in his busy day. The Evangelical Alliance’s executive direc-tor for churches in mission is enthusing about the South Coast city because it’s an example of a place where churches have been working together to make society better.

‘The church leaders got together and realised that, with all the cuts that are going on, social services were struggling. So they sent a del-egation to see the head of social services and ask what the churches could do to make a difference. The head of social services said the crucial thing they could do would be to recruit 40 foster-carers, because the city was desperate for them.

‘One of the church people had been a foster-kid him-self, and he said that the time he had felt most at home during those days was when the family gave him the front-door key of their house – it meant that he belonged.

‘So he made a plaque and put on it 40 keys along with a Bible quotation from Psalm 68 – “God sets the lonely in families”. The church leaders presented the plaque to the head of social services and said: “We promise to find you 40 foster-carers.”’

Within months, more than 40 families had started the assessment process to become foster-carers.

‘That is the church doing its job,’ says Krish.Krish works to promote Home for Good. The

campaign, jointly run by the Evangelical Alliance, encourages Christians to consider fostering or adopting children. On Sunday (3 November), churches observed National Adoption Sunday.

‘My wife and I have been foster-parents for the past seven years and we have also adopted. We have found out about the needs of kids in the care system and the scale of the problem. For example, in the UK there are

4,600 children waiting for adoption. And the country needs another 9,000 foster-parents.

‘Through our partnerships, the Evangelical Alliance is in touch with 15,000 churches. So if just one family per church could be encouraged to foster or adopt, the churches could meet the entire need.

‘That is great news for kids in care and great news for the Church, because it would allow churches who are disconnected from poorer people in our communities to make a difference.’

Krish is excited by what churches are doing through projects such as Street Pastors and food banks. He thinks they can do even more, for instance in building bridges in communities where people are separated by ethnicity or class.

‘I used to be a church pastor in Harrow,’ he says. ‘It was a very multicultural area but the church was about the whitest group around. I was the brownest person in our congregation.

‘The church members wondered what we could do to connect with other people. We did a bit of research and found that everyone in the area seemed to like

KRISH KANDIAH tells Philip Halcrow how churches are working together to make a difference in their communities

9 November 2013 The War Cry 5

Church families are being encouraged to adopt or foster children

nly connect

Bollywood music, whether they were from Sri Lanka or East Africa – there were a lot of East African Asians in the area – or Afghanistan. I didn’t know it but Afghans really like Bollywood films.

‘So we put on a Bollywood event with vegetarian food so that it would be OK whether you were a Hindu, Muslim, Christian or atheist. We couldn’t find a Bollywood Christian band but we found an Asian Christian Elvis impersonator, and we booked some bhangra dancers and they brought a DJ.

‘We told the local press that the church would love to play its part in helping to bring a divided community together. And in our church we began to change and to value other cultures a bit more.’

Much of Krish’s work seems to be about bringing things together. He has taught in a theological college

and is interested in the ‘interface between academic and church life’. Through the Evangelical Alliance’s threadsuk.com website he hopes to encourage Christians in their twenties and thirties to relate the teachings of

the gospel to their lives in the mod-ern world. Having been influenced by various churches – he attended The Salvation Army while grow-ing up – he wants to help churches work together.

‘Christians are seeing that denomi-national barriers break down when they come together to transform a village, town or city. I think we have uncovered about 90 such movements in the UK.

‘Some of society’s problems are so big, no church is going to tackle them on its own. Think about the fostering

and adoption challenge – The Salvation Army can’t fix it on its own, the Baptists can’t fix it on their own, the Pentecostals can’t fix it on their own. But together we can.’

The churches promised to find 40 foster-carers

The War Cry 9 November 20136

‘WHAT part will be played by the Commonwealth in this commemoration?’ ‘Will [the minister] … be vigilant that nobody seeks to sidetrack this commemoration into other purposes, such as glorifying militarism?’ ‘Can we make 4 August 2014 a day of national reflection, with all the shops closed and with a proper opportunity for everyone to consider precisely what terrible things happened?’ ‘Should we not … focus … on the role of women?’

Ever since David Cameron announced plans for commemorations of the centenary of the First World War, questions – such as those four in a single Lords debate – have been asked.

The last Armistice Day before the centenary brings such questions into focus.

Question marks still hang around the war. Approaching the century since it began, national publications are still running articles asking ‘What caused the First World War?’

Those who fought in it had their own questions. Wilfred Owen asked in his poetry: ‘What passing-bells for those who die as cattle?’ (Answer: ‘Only the monstrous anger of the guns.’) And the suffering of soldiers made the poet wonder why life on earth had even bothered to begin: ‘What made fatuous sunbeams toil/ To break earth’s sleep at all?’

After the war, the questions kept coming. A postcard was produced to be sold for twopence by ex-servicemen who, returning home, found there was ‘no work to spare’. It contained some verse which ended with a question: ‘To gain an honest living/ I try so very hard;/ I ask you can you help me now/ By buying this small card?’

Over the next few days, it might be useful to ask some questions. What can we learn from the first-hand stories of those who experienced the First World War? What lessons has the world learnt and what has it ignored? And what can we do so that we, in the words of Jesus, ‘will be called children of God’ – that is: What can we do to be peacemakers?

CommentMediaFind The War Cry on Facebook and Twitter at /TheWarCryUK

War centenary raises questions

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‘A COMPANY that manages student halls has been branded “anti-Christian” after banning the

Gideons organisation from leaving Bibles in bedrooms,’ according to the Daily Mail.

The tabloid reported that Digs – which manages the halls of residence for Huddersfield University – established the ban because it wants properties to be ‘ethically neutral’.

The Rev Mike Smith, a former minister at Huddersfield’s Golcar Baptist Church, said: ‘Banning Bibles is not “ethically neutral”. It is a positive anti-Christian step.’

The paper went on to say that Bibles were available in the university’s reception, along with the Koran, ‘so students can access them if they want’.

DAVID SUCHET told The Daily Telegraph that he became a

Christian after discovering that the faith was ‘something I could hang on to’.

The broadsheet explained that ‘at the end of a day’s filming, Suchet picked up the Bible in his hotel room and started to read St Paul’s Letter to the Romans’.

The Poirot actor said: ‘I read it as a letter that had just been sent to me. By the time I got to the end, I found a world view I had been look-ing for all my life.’

On the subject of his faith, he added: ‘I don’t have blind faith. If I were ever to write a book about my journey to faith, the title would be “Dragged Kicking and Screaming”.’

Courts judged not to be ChristianA JUDGE has declared that ‘our courts are no longer Christian’, reported The Times.

According to the paper, Sir James Munby – one of the country’s most senior judges – believes that ‘Christianity no longer holds sway in the legal system’ and urges other judges not to ‘weigh one religion against another’ or pass judgment on beliefs.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Law Society, Sir James said: ‘Although this country is part of the Christian West, and although it has an established church … we sit as secular judges serving a multicultural community of many faiths, sworn to do justice to all manner of people.’

He concluded by saying that people’s faith is not the ‘business of government or of the secular courts … although … the courts will pay every respect to the individual’s or family’s religious principles’.

PEOPLE following The Salvation Army’s New Testament Bible Challenge

are reading the whole New Testament, five chapters a week, over the course of a year. For each day’s reading plan and discussion notes visit salvationarmy.org.uk/biblechallenge

THE BBC has announced that it is to broadcast a three-part documentary series exploring the history and concept of pilgrimage. In Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve the presenter will travel to holy places, look at the practices of medieval pilgrims and meet modern travellers. The series is scheduled for broadcast later in the year.

Meanwhile, a third series of Rev is being filmed. In the new episodes, the Rev Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander) and his wife Alex (Olivia Colman) face the prospect of adding parenthood to the demands of their lives at the centre of their community.

Pilgrimage begins and rev returns

Simon Reeve

No room for Gideons Bibles in halls

79 November 2013 The War CryLifestyle

Network says it’s time to go wild

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‘MOVE away from the TV, you’ll get bad eyes!’ The cry of many parents has been echoed by a new movement concerned not so much about children’s eyesight as about their general wellbeing. The Wild Network, supported by organisations including the National Trust and Play England, aims to reconnect children with nature.

The Wild Network encourages the UK’s parents to swap some of their kids’ screen time for ‘wild time’ – time spent playing outdoors or exploring the natural world.

On average, children spend four and a half hours a day surfing the internet or watching TV.

Setting aside 30 minutes for wild time every day would decrease children’s time in front of screens by 10 per cent, increasing their alertness and ultimately improving their wellbeing.

The Wild Network says that parents can increase the time their children spend outdoors by encouraging them to take part in activities such as collecting conkers, playing leaf snap and counting autumn colours on trees. A Wild Time app aims to give time-pressed families a bucket list of ideas.

The Wild Network is backing its campaigning with a new documentary film, Project Wild Thing, which is being shown at cinemas across the country.

The film shows how, in a bid to get his daughter and son off the

sofa and outdoors, film-maker and father David Bond appoints himself as the marketing director for nature. He wants his brand – ‘nature’ – to stand out from the crowd of brands competing for their attention.

In the documentary, David works with branding and outdoor experts to develop and launch a campaign to get children outdoors and into nature, the ultimate, free, wonder product.

David says: ‘I wanted to understand why my children’s childhood is so different from mine, whether this matters and, if it does, what I can do about it.

‘Project Wild Thing isn’t some misty-eyed nostalgia for the past,’ he adds. ‘We need to make more space for wild time in children’s daily routine, freeing this generation of kids to have the sort of experiences that many of us took for granted. It’s all about finding wildness on your doorstep and discovering the sights, sounds and smells of nature, whether in a back garden, park or green space at the end of the road.

‘Spending time outdoors is hugely beneficial to children and young people. Research clearly shows that it improves their health, reduces stress and boosts wellbeing.’

Andy Simpson, chair of the Wild Network, says: ‘The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation. Roaming ranges have fallen drastically, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost.

‘With more parents becoming concerned about the dominance of screen time in their children’s lives, and growing scientific evidence that a decline in active time is bad news for the health and happiness of our children, we all need to become marketing directors for nature.’

David Bond has made a film about discovering nature

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8 Remembrance

A testament of youth

I THOUGHT I was doing something very clever in 1915, volunteering for the Army. All my pals had gone – no conscription, everybody volunteered – so I thought: ‘I’m not going to be left behind; I want to have my share before they finish the war.’

So on Monday 15 November, I joined up at the recruitment office in Gandy Street, Exeter. I went home with all the kit – boots and everything – expecting my mother to be excited and happy. But she just flung herself around me and wept tears, buckets of them.

I thought: ‘Oh, my Lord, now what have I done wrong?’ I wanted to go back and tell them I wouldn’t go through with it, but there’s nothing like that about the Army.

My mother broke her heart when I left. She wrote to me every day I was in the Army and I got every one of her letters.

We sailed from Southampton to Le Havre. It was a choppy crossing and we had to dodge the mines. We were all as sick as dogs.

In October 1917, we were sent up to the Passchendaele Sector in Belgium, to Tyne Cot. Four of us had to bring down some wounded. We got this poor old chappie on the stretcher, had the

BORN 28 December 1896, John Bovey, known as ‘Jack’, volunteered for the Great War in

1915, aged 18. He joined the Wessex Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps, as a stretcher-bearer. The Field Ambulance was a mobile frontline medical unit.

Initially assigned to 21st Field Ambulance, which was attached to the 7th Division, in 1917, he was transferred to the 25th Field Ambulance and the 8th Division.

Over Easter 1969, the lifelong member of The Salvation Army returned to the Western Front for the first time. Accompanied by his youngest son, Franklyn, he toured some of the battlefields of his youth. These are his words:

Against the backdrop of a First World War pillbox, one of Jack’s great-granddaughters remembers a fallen RAMC soldier in Tyne Cot Cemetery

ACTION STATIONS21 Field Ambulance 1916 Somme Albert Bazentin Ridge High Wood Delville Wood Guiollemant 1917 Hindenburg Line Arras Offensive Ypres (3rd Battle) Polygon Wood Broodseinde Poecapelle Passchendaele25 Field Ambulance 1918 Somme St Quentin Villers-Bretonneux Aisne

9 November 2013 The War Cry 9

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stretcher on our shoulders and had eight or nine walking cases. Then, along came a shell right underneath the stretcher and blew it to pieces. We never saw the chap on the stretcher or the walking patients again.

There we were, four stretcher-bearers, just standing and looking at each other. How on earth we escaped, I will never know. I couldn’t believe that I was still alive.

Although we’d done our best for our patients, we felt we’d failed in our duty. We felt responsible for their safety and we’d lost them. It’s one of those things that you cannot control in any way during wartime.

Two of the other stretcher-bearers were my pals – two boys from Torquay, Andrews and Coombes. Then, within a few days, they were killed. We had to re-form the stretcher squad, but it was not the same without Fred and Ern.

We used to use one of the pillboxes that still stand in the Tyne Cot cemetery as an advanced dressing station. We were shelled every time we went in or out of the pillbox. We were so relieved to make it there.

One Sunday morning, straight back from leave, I was sent up there. One of the chaps in there on this day was a Salvation Army bandsman from Plymouth. Stupidly, I never thought to ask his name, probably because we never thought we’d make it home.

We weren’t morbid, but there was so much machinegunning that each time you went in and

out of the pillbox you thought that at any moment you would be hit.

The Belgian town of Poperinge was a popular place for leave. It was heavily shelled and very muddy, but the trams still ran. Whenever I went into the town, I’d always go back to the line with what they called ‘medical

comforts’ – extra food to share with my pals. I was always very popular.

I spent my 21st birthday at Vlamertinge Manor. We used it as a hospital – rows of huts for the men, the chateau itself for the officers. Trouble was, I was a patient and not an orderly.

I never thought to ask his name, probably because we never thought we’d make it home

Poperinghe New Military Cemetery, Poperinge

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10 Remembrance

We had two or three stretcher cases, and we were not going to desert them

From page 9

out to go through the trenches to the advanced post with some message or other. It was all deadly quiet. Not a rifle shot. Nothing. If anybody had told me it was the front, I wouldn’t have believed them.

My steel helmet was slung around my shoulder, I had my hat at the back of my head and was having a jolly good time whistling. Suddenly, I met a group of officers, and in the middle was the General [possibly Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hamilton Gordon].

‘Young man,’ he said to me, ‘what are you doing up here?’

So I made it my business to tell him what was my business.

‘That’s very good,’ he said, ‘but where’s your steel helmet?’

Seeing that he could see it was on my shoulder, I thought it a daft question.

‘Don’t you think it would be better if it was on your head?’ he continued. ‘The Germans are only three or four feet away. If you put your head only two inches above the top of the trench, they’ll knock your tin helmet off. If you haven’t got the

I was in bed with trench fever [an infection transmitted by body lice].

The following spring saw the German March Offensive. We were somewhere in the Arras region. We’d been inspected by an officer and were told to stay by the roadside for the night.

After everybody had settled down, I drifted off into a field and found a dugout. I fetched my three pals and we decided we’d spend the night there.

We woke up rather late the next morning – about 9 o’clock. We went to look for Paddy the cook to see about something to eat. When we found him, I asked: ‘Are we too late for breakfast?’

He looked up at me all surprised and said: ‘Breakfast? I haven’t had time to make breakfast.’

‘Why not?’ I asked.‘Where’ve you been all night?’‘Just over there in the field under the

hedge in a little dugout. A jolly nice little dugout it was, too. We were nice and comfortable.’

‘Good Lord on earth, man, do you know what’s happened?’

‘No,’ I said, thinking to myself ‘and I couldn’t care less.’

‘During the night, Jerry surrounded us and we had to withdraw about 20 kilometres. We’ve driven them back since. But you’ve been behind the German lines all night!’ Fortunately, Paddy was a good sport and didn’t report us. If he had, we might have had little headstones out there as well. [Being in the wrong place was often interpreted as desertion, resulting in execution by firing squad.]

I nearly got into trouble once. A few days later, a group of us were

standing around watching planes having a dogfight. We didn’t see many planes, so it was quite a spectacle. Then our sergeant came along and threatened to put us on report if we didn’t shift ourselves. I think he was afraid of getting machinegunned or something.

Next morning, we were supposed to go in front of the Commanding Officer. But just before that, they called for volunteers for the front line and up we went quick.

Because my surname begins with B, I belonged to A Company, so our squad was always the first into action. So off we went to find this chap who’d been injured.

In May 1918, I came face to face with the General.

We were in Berry-au-Bac, a few days before the Battle of Aisne. I was sent

tin helmet, they’ll knock your head off.’I didn’t believe him then really, but I put

my hat on, did what I was sent to do and got back, without a whisper of a shot.

A few days later, on 27 May 1918, the Germans attacked. It was a brilliant sunny day, really hot. Early in the morning, we could smell gas. They’d launched a gas attack. We got a message to say that the Germans had broken through and that we were to make our own arrangements for getting out of there.

But we were running the first-aid post. We had two or three stretcher cases, and we were not going to desert them.

So we stayed at our post until Jerry arrived. That was that. We were taken prisoner.

I thought the world had come to an end. No connection with home. Nobody would know what had happened. I worried about them at home. But it was a lucky escape. During that period, hundreds of fellows from our division were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Eventually, the Germans gave us a

A trench in Sanctuary Wood, Ypres

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9 November 2013 The War Cry 11

Buglers sound the Last Post at the Menin Gate, Ypres, Armistice Day 2011

reading, would write it in a book. When we got back to camp, I

asked: ‘Sergeant-Major, is this right? The Armistice has been signed?’

‘No, boy,’ he replied.Then he had a look at the paper.‘Hey, you’re right,’ he said. ‘It is

signed.’ It was early December before I got

back to England. We landed at Hull. We had all our clothes taken off us, were deloused and given a brand new outfit of everything.

I arrived home on 18 December 1918.

My mother set out to meet me at Exeter St David’s station, but we missed each other. I took a tram to the city centre. I got out at Richmond Road and the first thing I heard was the Salvation Army band playing carols near Silver Terrace.

Carrying my kitbag and big pack, I headed towards the sound of the music. When I got there, I dumped my bags on the ground. One of the bandsmen handed me his cornet and – even though I hadn’t played in three years – I joined in.

The bandmaster, after telling me he was very pleased to see me, said: ‘Well, John, you’ll come out tomorrow night, won’t you? I’ll bring a cornet for you.’

So the next night, I was out playing Christmas carols in my Salvation Army band.

What strikes me is the thousands upon thousands of boys – many of them without graves – who never made it home. The propaganda spoke about ‘very slight casualties’. We had no idea.

card so we could write home. It would go via the Red Cross office in Switzerland and the War Office would notify our next of kin. One of my Salvation Army pals, Sid, was in the infantry and was captured that March. He was sent to work in a salt mine. But I was treated OK.

I got all my mother’s letters. I felt sorry for some of the lads who never got a letter. When the postman came, I sometimes got three or four letters at a time. Prisoners couldn’t receive parcels from home, but my mother arranged for me to receive a £1 note via the Red Cross.

When the money came through, I’d exchange it for

Deutschmarks – 20 to the pound. There were four of us in our little gang and we’d share the contents of the wonderful Red Cross parcels.

I remember Armistice Day very clearly. I was part of the group that used to go to the railway station to collect the Red Cross parcels and get bread from the village.

On the morning of 11 November 1918, I saw a boy with German newspapers. I was the only one of the group with German money, so I bought a paper.

I couldn’t read German, but I had enough intelligence to recognise that the Armistice had been signed. I told the lads who were with me but they wouldn’t believe it.

The Sergeant-Major at the camp was our interpreter. He would read the news to us and, for those who weren’t at the

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Jack’s letter from King George V to commemorate his release from captivity

Jack with Salvation Army pals

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War Cry Editor, Major Nigel Bovey, is Jack’s grandson

12 The War Cry 9 November 2013 Puzzlebreak

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

Solution on page 15

SUDOKUU

HHONEYCOMB

QUICK CROSSWORRDD

ANSWERS

ACROSS1. Fundamental

(5)5. Humorist (5)8. Haul (5)9. Stage play (5)10. Extemporise

(2, 3)11. Opponent (5)12. One of a

pair (4)15. Hug (6)17. Infection (5)18. Supplicated (6)20. Yell (4)25. Suffer (5)26. Apply force (5)27. Presses (5)28. Animal

organs (5)29. Mature (5)30. Not now (5)

QUICK CROSSWORDACROSS: 1 Basic. 5 Joker. 8 Heave. 9 Drama. 10 Ad-lib.

11 Rival. 12 Twin. 15 Cuddle. 17 Virus. 18 Prayed. 20 Bawl. 25 Incur. 26 Press. 27 Irons. 28 Offal. 29 Ripen. 30 Later.

DOWN: 1 Budget. 2 Scampi. 3 Charm. 4 Carve. 5 Jealous. 6 Killed. 7 Rebate. 13 War. 14 Bid. 15 Cue. 16 Low. 17 Venison. 18 Pamper. 19 Asleep. 21 Adroit. 22 Lesser. 23 Scoff. 24 Grill.

QUICK QUIZ1 Ron Howard. 2 Poisons. 3 York. 4 Green. 5 A leveret. 6 ‘Tis

neither good for man nor beast.HONEYCOMB

1 Impair. 2 Propel. 3 Hurley. 4 Russet. 5 Siesta. 6 Hammer.

3. Allure (5)4. Slice (5)5. Envious (7)6. Slaughtered (6)7. Discount (6)13. Armed

conflict (3)14. Offer (3)15. Hint (3)16. Depressed (3)17. Deer meat (7)18. Mollycoddle (6)19. Dormant (6)21. Skilful (6)22. Not as great (6)23. Deride (5)24. Broil (5)

1. Damage

2. Push forward

3. Stick used in the game of hurling

4. Reddish brown colour

5. Afternoon nap

6. Auctioneer’s mallet

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

WORDSEARCH

QUICK QUIZ

1. Who directed the film The Da Vinci Code?

2. Toxicology is the study of what?

3. Eboracum was the Roman name for which English city?

4. Spring, forest and bottle are shades of which colour?

5. What is a young hare called?

6. Complete the saying: When the wind is in the east…

DOWN1. Spending

plan (6)2. Fried

prawns (6)

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

Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these words that begin with ‘night’

NIGHTBIRDNIGHT BLINDNESSNIGHTCAPNIGHTCLOTHESNIGHTCLUBNIGHT CRAWLERNIGHTDRESSNIGHTFALLNIGHTGOWNNIGHTHAWK

NIGHT SCHOOLNIGHTSHADENIGHTSHIRTNIGHTSIDENIGHTSPOTNIGHTSTICKNIGHT TABLENIGHT-TIMENIGHTWATCHMANNIGHTWEAR

NIGHT HERONNIGHTIENIGHTINGALENIGHTJARNIGHTLIFENIGHT LIGHTNIGHTLYNIGHTMARENIGHT OWLNIGHT SAFE

NEXT time you see a tin of golden syrup on the supermarket shelf, take a look at it. The logo of one brand is related to the biblical story of strongman Samson, who killed a young lion with his bare hands and saw a swarm of bees making honey inside the carcass. The motto on the syrup tin, ‘Out of the strong came forth sweetness’, comes straight from the Bible (see Judges 14:14).

At God’s command, Samson was brought up as a Nazarite – a Jew who vowed not to cut his hair or drink alcohol. God chose Samson to begin the deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression. So his parents weren’t best pleased when he later announced that he was to marry a Philistine bride.

Samson was en route for the big event when he killed the lion, turning the experience into a riddle for the wedding guests. Frustrated, they threatened the bride with drastic consequences if she didn’t get the answer from Samson.

Eventually, he gave in but afterwards vented his anger at the guests by killing 30 people.

During 20 years of leading Israel, Samson’s strength became legendary. The Philistines cunningly used a woman named Delilah to find out the secret of his strength.

Seduced, Samson revealed that his strength would leave him if his hair were cut. The deed was done while he slept. Samson was captured and his eyes gouged out.

During a sacrificial ritual, the Philistines – who hadn’t noticed that Samson’s hair had begun to grow – paraded their prize prisoner into their temple. Praying to God for strength, Samson braced himself between two central support pillars and pushed with all his might. Down came the temple, killing him and everyone in it.

The story of Samson shows that God can use people of faith, no matter how imperfect they are or how many mistakes they make.

It is never too late to turn to God, whatever our past failures. He is always ready to respond to the call of faith and help turn mistakes into victorious new beginnings.

Inner life 139 November 2013 The War Cry

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Roar strength on view

Samson’s strength became legendary

In this series ROSEMARY DAWSON looks at the lives of characters from the Old Testament

Next week: David

Samson (Judges chapters 13 to 17)

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hutterstock.com

Samson’s fight with a lion is depicted in a fountain at Peterhof, St Petersburg

I CALLED in at a barber’s shop. It was my first visit, so the barber asked: ‘How would you like it?’

‘Please don’t give me a crop,’ I said. ‘Not too short on the sides.’

I thought I had given the right information, but he replied: ‘Tell me what you do want, not what you don’t.’

He wanted the do’s rather than the don’ts.I’ve noticed that humans have a tendency to dwell on the

negatives. Some think that God is also like that. They reckon that the Christian faith is a catalogue of restrictions and thou-

shalt-nots. In their eyes, God is out to cramp their style.

God is better than that. He is not a spoilsport, a killjoy or a party-pooper.

We do sometimes need to be told what not to do. Swimming pools have rules that include several negatives, including ‘no jumping’ and ‘no running’. These don’ts create an environment in which everyone can swim safely – a positive result.

But the truth is that the more we accentuate the positives, the less we need to think about the negatives anyway. The Ten Commandments and the other commands of the Jewish Law

14 The War Cry 9 November 2013

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Food for thought

contained their fair share of don’ts. But when Jesus picked out two commandments as being the basis of all the others, they were both positive.

He said ‘the greatest commandment’ was ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’; and the second most important commandment was connected with it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself’ (Matthew 22:37, 38 Good News Bible).

The top two commands are do’s rather than don’ts. And if we follow them, we’re living in the right style.

by CLIFF KENT

Library picture posed by model

Being negative doesn’t cut it

Tell me what you do want, not what you don’t

Method:Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Knead

the fats into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water, then use a food mixer or knead by hand to form a dough. Place the dough in the fridge for 1–2 hours.

Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into 4 equal balls. Roll out each dough ball into a circle the size of a tea plate.

Mix together the beef and vegetables in a bowl, then add the curry powder. Divide the mixture into 4 and place in the centre of the 4 pastry circles. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and top each portion with 1tsp butter. Fold the pastry over the beef filling and use a little water to crimp the sides together.

Whisk the egg, then glaze each pasty. Place them on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake for 30

I’M Michael Darracott. I have been an executive chef in several large establishments in charge of cooking for 200-plus people. I have also written a number of books. It gives me great pleasure to offer my recipes in The War Cry.

I invite readers to send in recipe ideas, to be considered for publication here. I would also like to offer help with any cooking-related problems you have. So send in your question and, if it is selected, an answer will be published on this page.

Email your recipes and questions to [email protected]

Ingredients:

For the pastry

500g plain flour

125g white shortening

30g margarine

180ml cold water

For the filling

470g beef, cut into bite-sized pieces

260g swede, finely chopped

460g potatoes, finely chopped

200g onion, finely chopped

3tsp curry powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

4tsp butter

1 egg

159 November 2013 The War CryWhat’s cooking?

SUDOKU SOLUTION

Curried beef pasty

Ingredients:125g unsalted butter160g caster sugar 65ml milk 2 very ripe bananas, mashed 2 drops of vanilla essence195g self-raising flour 10g sultanas3tbsp desiccated coconut1 egg, beaten

Sultana, coconut and banana cake

Method:Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas

Mark 3. Grease and lightly flour a 2lb loaf tin.

Place the butter, milk and sugar in a saucepan over a medium heat. Allow the butter to melt.

Stir in the banana and vanilla essence. Mix in the flour, sultanas, desiccated

coconut and egg, then pour into the loaf tin.

Bake for 30–35 minutes and serve.

Serves 6–8

chefmikedarracott.com

Cook with chef MICHAEL DARRACOTT

minutes.Remove the pasties

from the oven and discard the foil. Bake for a further 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 4

THE writing’s on the wall. Our days are numbered. So what will we do with the rest of our lives? Anyone who is lost for ideas may well find a piece of community art in a South London backstreet an inspiration.

Under the heading ‘Before I die…’, passers-by have completed the sentence ‘Before I die I want to…’ The chalk-boarded wall is full of personal hopes, dreams and aspirations.

American artist Candy Chang hit on the idea after someone she loved died. In the grieving process, she found that contemplating her own death ‘helped clarify my life, the people I want to be with, and the things I want to do, but I struggled to maintain perspective. I wondered if other people felt the same way.’

To find out, Candy stencilled the wall of an abandoned house in New Orleans and left some sticks of chalk. She got her answer. Two years later, there are some 300 walls in 50 countries. The longing to make something of life is universal.

Some of the London responses – ‘win at poker’, ‘fire Alan Sugar’ – are trivial. Some – ‘make my dreams come true’, ‘feel fulfilled’ – are vague. Some – ‘travel the world’, ‘make a billion’ – are self-centred.

Others, though – as in ‘make my dad proud of me’ – betray a sadness about the past, as well as a determination about the future.

Whatever the statements, the message is the same – there is unfinished business. And, as the Bible reminds us, life itself is not the end.

Described by one Gospel writer as ‘the Word’, Jesus is God expressing himself – his hopes, his aspirations, his intention for humankind. Jesus is God in

The Salvation Army (United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland) on behalf of the General of The Salvation Army. Printed by Wyndeham Grange, Southwick. © André Cox, General of The Salvation Army, 2013

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The message is the same – there is unfinished business

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Hopes need not go to the wall

A ‘Before I die…’ wall in Southwark

human form. If we want to know what God is like, Jesus shows us.

Jesus came to give a full and meaningful life to all who would follow him. More than that, those who trust him share in the benefit of his death and resurrection. They receive eternal life.

Who wouldn’t want to sign up for that?