Christian Focus

"This week I was invited to speak at the Scottish Story telling Centre on the royal mile in Edinburgh. Through its partnership with the Scottish Storytelling Forum, the centre supports a national network of storytellers. It is involved in outreach projects with local authorities, environmental agencies, community centres and libaries, engaging with all age groups and diverse cultures of modern Scotland and providing opportunities for the socially and educationally excluded to take part in community-based inclusive cultural experiences.
As the flagship of the network, the centre strives to reinforce Scotland's vigorous contribution to a world-wide revival of interest in storytelling and story-telling traditions.
The centre highlights the fact that 'Storytelling happens when the story is told live without print or technology'. I had none and found myself facing an overflowing crowd from four Edinburgh schools with many of them sitting around my feet on the stage. There is no audience in the world that let's you know how you are doing like an audience of Children. My story was about the freedom fighter himself, William Wilberforce.
I traced Wilberforces life through his childhood to University where he wasted a lot of precious time. I spoke of the influence of the Rev. John Newton upon Wilberforce's life where he approached him for advice as an young MP. I spoke of his desire to trust and follow Jesus Christ and how he became the conscience of the the nation in his formidable and horrendously despised campaign to abolish slavery. The Children listened closely as I told them that the United Nations now tells that there is more slavery in our world than in Wilberforces day. I encouraged them with the fact that maybe one of them could get involved in helping to rid the world of slavery.
The story ended and I went upstairs to engage with the children. They crowded me and one girl stuck her head through the crowd. 'I have two questions' she said 'one: could Wilberforce be a woman? Two: Could one person change the world?'
My, the things children ask! Could Wilberforce be a woman? certainly. Can one person change the world? I would say 'One person cannot change the world but you can change the world for one person.'
The World can then be changed one person at a time!"

Derick Bingham, Was the teaching pastor at Christchurch, Belfast

William Wilberforce, the leader of the campaign for the abolition of the slave trade, was a devoted Evangelical Christian. His spiritual journals between 1785 and 1833 open a window on the inward life of this public man. He was frank, self–critical and conscious of his constant dependence on the God of mercy. Michael McMullen has transcribed all the journals and added helpful explanatory notes so as to make this detailed record of Wilberforce’s Christian journey available for the first time.

David Bebbington, Professor of History, University of Stirling, Stirling