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I was inspired to write this week’s email by an article in the Eternity newspaper by David Furse-Roberts.

The article was headed: Thomas the Tank Engine’s creator: Teaching children to laugh and see God.

Few people realise that the popular children’s stories about Thomas and his friends were created by a Church of England vicar from the south of England – whose three abiding loves were God, children and railways.

That “puff puff pastor” was Wilbert Awdry – named after his uncles William and Hubert – who was born in Hampshire in 1911.

After graduating with a BA, Wilbert trained for the Christian ministry in Oxford’s evangelical Wycliffe Hall. He then spent three years teaching in Jerusalem, where the land of the Bible came vividly alive.

He was ordained in the Winchester Cathedral 1936 and married Margaret, whom he had met in Jerusalem, in 1938. They went on to have three children – Christopher, Veronica and Hilary.

As a boy, Wilbert had lived near a railway line, beginning his lifelong fascination with steam trains. So when two-year-old Christopher was ill in bed with the measles, his father soothed him by telling stories about humanised steam engines.

Young Christopher loved the stories but was a stickler for detail. He complained that the tales were a little different each time Wilbert told them. So Wilbert wrote them down. His wife, noting the scarcity of children’s books at the time, urged him to seek a publisher.

“Despite several rejections the doughty clergyman persevered and his book was eventually accepted,” said David Furse-Roberts.   

The moral themes of the Bible came to life on “Sodor“– the fictional island created by Wilbert off the English coast.

“Life there was not all rosy… The engines often exhibited the familiar human traits of pride, envy and contempt for ‘outsiders’ such as Bertie the Bus and Terrance the Tractor,” David said.

It was not long before the vicar’s stories about Thomas and his friends, along with the Fat Controller, became a runaway success. They sold more than 50 million copies in Britain and abroad, before enjoying a new lease of life on TV from the early 1980s.

“Awdry envisioned a universe that remained fashioned by a good and loving creator,” David said. “While the ‘Fat Controller’ was often a figure of fun, the portly gentleman of Sodor represented a firm yet kindly father-figure that had the power to reward and punish his engines.

“In the world of Sodor, there was always redemption and forgiveness. Offending engines were disciplined for wrongdoing but never scrapped. With the Bible replete with stories of God always giving his people another chance – from Yahweh’s forgiveness of King David to Jesus’ restoration of the Apostle Peter – the grace of the gospel was never lost on Awdry and his railway tales."

Like Phil Vischer’s Vegie Tales and C.S. Lewis’s Narnia classics, the Thomas stories communicate Christian moral themes while captivating children of all backgrounds.

Towards the end of Awdry’s life, his biographer asked how he hoped to be remembered.

The old vicar replied that he “helped people to see God in the ordinary things of life, and made children laugh”.

Amen!

And please pray that Thomas and his friends will escape today’s “cancel culture” that has even targeted the delightful Dr Seuss…

Peter Downie - National Director

FamilyVoice Australia

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As WA endures increased COVID-related restrictions, two meetings this week on:

LGBTQ Ideology and WA Anti-Conversion Law

Are now happening online via Zoom webinar, tonight or Thursday night,

Meet James Parker, former gay activist and others young West Australians who have left behind their LGBT identity and found new life in Jesus Christ.  Hear their stories of Hope, Vision and Dignity.   LGBTI activists want the WA Labor Government to enact legislation that denies these people’s very existence, and criminalises those who helped them on their journey.

Such laws have been passed in Queensland, ACT and Victoria.  The freedom destroying provisions of the Victorian Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021 will be explained.   This will help you understand why even the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Alliance strongly opposed this legislation.   

Be informed!  Don’t let this happen in WA!  Have your say!

We will email a Fact Sheet after the meeting to all who attend.

Two times are available: – pre-registration is essential:

Tuesday 27th April   7pm, finish by 9 pm

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/3316194181567/WN_O3nftQiASLmdrq7E9QyfVQ

Thursday 29th April   7pm, finish by 9 pm

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9016194199904/WN_pH7umRihQZiQq26Y47teqQ

Upon registration you will be sent a reminder email with the Zoom webinar link, directly from me, Darryl Budge.

This event is organised as a cooperative effort by the Family Voice Australia, Australian Christian Lobby, National Civic Council,  Australian Christians and True Identity.

I hope you can join us!

Warm regards,

Darryl Budge

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A few years ago, a survey asked about the biggest influence on Australian National Identity.

“Many people throughout Australia’s history have influenced the way Australians see themselves in terms of their identity as Australians,” the question began. “If you had to choose among [a list of groups], which would be your first choice as the most influential?”

The answer was overwhelming: 47% said The Anzacs.  The second most chosen group was Free Settlers at 17%, and third came Postwar Immigrants 14%.

Crowds clapped for old and modern-day soldiers at the Anzac Day march in Albury in 2013

Billy Hughes, Australia’s Prime Minister during the First World War, said in 1918: “We are fighting a life-and-death struggle. We are fighting for our country, for our liberty, and for economic independence.”  After the war, when unveiling The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, he said: “They died that we might live as free men. They left us the legacy of liberty and a united Empire.”

Dr Bella d'Abrera, Director, Foundations of Western Civilisation Program at the Institute of Public Affairs, reflected on this fight for freedom after Anzac Day 2018:

The thousands of Australians who enlisted to fight in the First World War did so because they believed that their liberties were under threat. They fought for freedom and democracy...

The Australians who fought in World War I knew what was at stake and they knew that it was worth fighting for.

They knew that the defeat of Great Britain and France by Imperial Germany could carry serious consequences for Australia.

They knew that the values of liberty, inquiry, toleration, religious plurality and economic freedom were under threat. They were fighting to keep the rule of law, that broad set of principles vital to the order and stability of society and which is one of the most effective guards against the wielding of arbitrary power.

They were fighting for the notion of a liberal democracy and the right to vote. Prime Minister Hughes was unequivocal in his contrast of German militarism and Australian democracy. “We fight not for material wealth, not for aggrandisement of Empire, but for the right of every nation, small as well as large, to live its own life in its own way. We fight for those free institutions upon which democratic government rests."

Schoolchildren lay a wreath during Warnambool's Anzac Day parade in 2013

Today, in Australia and much of the Western World, we find ourselves in the midst of a different kind of war – a cultural war.

Woke activists are trying to divide us in every conceivable way – by race, sex, gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity…  People are being vilified and sacked for exercising what should be their right of freedom of speech.  Think of Margaret Court, Israel Folau, Peter Ridd and others.

We need to remember the words of Jesus: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” FamilyVoice is committed to uphold the fundamental freedoms for which our forebears fought.

Peter Downie - National Director

FamilyVoice Australia

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The sad news came last Friday. Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband for 73 years, had died peacefully at Windsor Castle, aged 99.

Like many marriages, theirs “had its moments”. But overwhelmingly, the good outweighed the bad.

The Queen gave a speech on their golden wedding anniversary in 2007. She said Philip was her “strength and stay all these years”. She added: “I, and his whole family and this and many other countries owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”

Aged nearly 95, Her Majesty is still healthy and active. But the loss of her helpmate, guide and sounding board will be a body blow. She and her family are very much in our prayers.

For Philip’s passing is the beginning of the end of an era. The next tragedy to strike the royal family could be the death of the Queen herself.

Her long reign, noted for her quiet diplomacy and the fostering of peace and unity between a diverse and numerous Commonwealth of Nations, has been exceptional. Her faith in God has been a constant throughout her life. In her messages each Christmas, she often mentions her faith in Jesus who inspires her and keeps her going.

But some Australians are almost eager for the Queen to die so they can push for another republic referendum. It is therefore worth pondering why our current system of government – our constitutional monarchy – has been so successful.

Her Majesty is Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and many other smaller nations. But she does not tell the governments of those countries what to do.

For Australia, she appoints a respected, experienced person as Governor-General to act as her representative. By convention, this appointment is on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day.  Once appointed, the Governor-General (not the Queen) exercises all the responsibilities of a Head of State, including representing our country on official visits to other countries.

UK constitutional authority Walter Bagehot has noted that the Queen and her representatives are far more than ceremonial figureheads who cut ribbons, promote charities, review troops and open parliaments. They have three limited but very important rights: “to be consulted, to encourage, and  to warn”.

The regular meetings of the Prime Minister with the Governor-General are private and confidential.  The value of these meetings is enormous, as sometimes the Governor-General is the only person the elected leader can trust to provide confidential, independent advice.

Governor-General David Hurley has the right to be consulted by PM Scott Morrison, and to encourage or warn him.

The Governor-General presides over meetings of the Federal Executive Council – comprising current ministers and assistant ministers. The Executive Council provides formal advice on matters requiring action by the Governor-General.

All this is very different from the various republican systems operating around the world. And as some commentators have noted, constitutional monarchies tend to be significantly more peaceful and stable as a result.

Long live the Queen!

Peter Downie - National Director

FamilyVoice Australia