“Crossbow Cannibal” reminds us of the dangers of prostitution

The recent news that Stephen Griffiths, otherwise known as the "Crossbow Cannibal", has been jailed for life for the murders of three prostitutes in Bradford this month, reminds us of the dangers that face so many women trapped in prostitution.

For most people, prostitution is a murky world of dark streets and furtive assignments. It is a world in which the women, and sometimes men, who are selling their bodies are regarded with a mixture of disgust, prurience and incomprehension.

However, people like Theresa Cumbers (co-founder of the Magdalene Group, see things differently and understand that many of these women enter this murky world and put themselves at risk daily because they see no way out. There are people like Theresa who devote their time to reach out to those trapped in prostitution; giving them hope and helping them out of danger.

Theresa, a successful businesswoman and JP, was both touched and concerned about the number of young women coming before her in court for prostitution offences, so in 1992 she heeded the call to go out onto the streets of Norwich to reach women working as prostitutes.

In her book, Low Cost - High Price, (published by Authentic Media, September 2010) Theresa gives an insight into the lives of those caught up in prostitution and tells the story of the Magdalene Group, the Christian outreach which she and others founded to help these women.

Theresa now works for the S.T.E.P. project, an organisation which provides on-going support to women who have come out of prostitution.

More details about Theresa, her book and the projects can be found here:
Theresa Cumbers
Low Cost - High Price
Magdalene Group
S.T.E.P.

Big Bart, Tommo and Pip are back!

Chapter 3

Food
‘What was that?’ Tommo grunted.
‘What?’ asked Bart.
‘That noise?’
Bart shrugged. ‘I didn’t hear anything.’
‘Well I did,’ said Pip. ‘It sounded like a wolf.
A wolf devouring a sheep.’
‘Or maybe strangling it,’ noted Tommo.
‘Yeah. Definitely. Strangling. A ravenous
wolf and a strangled sheep.’
‘And a duck,’ Pip added. ‘I think I heard a
duck as well. A deranged duck, with one mad eye, as it
smacks into a tree.’
‘Hmm,’ Bart nodded. ‘A ravenous wolf. A strangled sheep.
A deranged duck. That would be my stomach. I’m famished!’
‘Me, too,’ sighed Pip.
‘Well, we’ve been here all day!’ said Tommo.
‘Jesus has taught some good stuff. And he’s healed people.
It takes time. What do you expect?’
‘A lunch break!’ said Bart.
‘But then, I didn’t actually bring any lunch.’
‘I don’t think anybody did,’ observed Pip.
‘Listen, there are plenty more deranged ducks
and strangled sheep out there in the crowd.
We aren’t the only ones who are hungry.’
‘Makes you think about food, though, doesn’t it?’ said Tommo, dreamily.
‘Like a big pot of lamb stew.’
‘Stop it!’ cried Bart, shoving his fingers into his ears.
‘Makes you even hungrier, doesn’t it, big fella?’ grinned Pip.
‘No, it makes me ILL!’ Big Bart choked.
‘The lumpy lamby bits get stuck in your throat and make you gag!
It’s horrible!’
‘So I guess it’s chicken stew for you, then,’ suggested Tommo.
Bart turned green. ‘Chicken stew!’ he cringed.
‘That’s even worse! When she was expecting me, my mum was frightened
by a rabid rooster. I get hives if I even smell achicken.’
‘Wow!’ said Pip. ‘I did not know that.
I have obviously not been paying attention to your diet.
So you’re a vegetarian, then?’
And Bart just howled. ‘Veggies? Nooooo! I can’t stand veggies.
And there’s a broccoli-shaped rash on my bum to prove it!’
‘So what can you eat, big fella?’ Tommo asked.
‘Cakes, mostly,’ Bart smiled. ‘And pies. And sweets. And goat-on-a-stick.’
‘Well, that explains the belly, doesn’t it?’ Tommo sighed.
‘Hey! I’m big-boned,’ Bart protested.
‘And big-bottomed,’ chuckled Pip. ‘Sorry!’
Just then, Jesus walked by.
‘The crowd’s getting hungry, lads,’ he said. ‘You can almost hear
their stomachs grumbling.’
‘Ravenous wolves,’ muttered Tommo.
‘Strangled sheep,’ added Pip.
‘Something about one-eyed ducks,’ Bart concluded.
‘If you say so,’ shrugged Jesus. ‘But the question is,
where are we going to buy food for all of them?’
‘Buy food?’ Pip sniggered. ‘For this lot? It’s just a guess,
but I reckon it would cost something like eight months’ wages!’
‘And that’s on good pay,’ added Tommo, ‘with overtime.’
‘And even then,’ Bart concluded, ‘no one would get more
than an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, bite-sized little bit.
There’s no way we can feed all these people. It’s a joke, right?’
But Jesus wasn’t laughing. ‘Just thought it would be helpful for us to
understand the scale of the problem,’ he grinned.
‘And . . . ?’ asked Pip.
‘And here’s Andrew,’ Jesus announced,
‘with the beginning of a solution!’
Andrew had a boy with him. The boy had a basket.
And in the basket were five small
loaves of barley bread and two little fish.
‘It’s not much of a beginning,’ shrugged Tommo.
‘No,’ Jesus smiled. ‘But then neither was the water in those
jars before I turned it into wine.’
‘Point taken,’ said Tommo. ‘So you’re going to turn the fish
and bread into . . . ?’
‘More fish and bread, I think,’ said Jesus. And he bowed his
head and said, ‘Thank you for this food, Father. Make it enough
to feed this crowd. Teach us to share and help us to see that,
with your help, there is always more than enough to go around.’

Best Mates Too! by Bob Hartman is available NOW from your local Christian bookseller
ISBN: 9781860248054
RRP: £6.99

Also available: Best Mates
ISBN: 9781904637547
RRP: £6.99