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Sandy Medway talks to Liz Walker, leading campaigner in the battle to save the DGH emergency and core maternity services. SM: How did you become a Christian? LW: I was brought up in a Christian family, with two brothers and an identical twin sister, by loving but strict parents. I always knew about God and Jesus and simply took it for granted that I was a Christian. Then on 30 April 1967, when I was six years old, I went to a special children's service where the speaker said that we couldn't get to heaven on our parents' train ticket. Jesus had died for each one of us, and we had to respond to him for ourselves; our parents couldn't do it for us. I realised at that moment that I hadn't actually made this decision for myself and could no longer ride on my parents' faith. So I prayed there and then and went to the front of the meeting with others who were making that commitment. SM: Has your faith helped you in the campaign to retain maternity services? LW: Absolutely. We have a dire situation developing with the reconfiguration of essential emergency health services, and I believe it is God himself who has put this feeling in the pit of my stomach and urged me to do something about it. I believe Christians have to stand up for the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves - the weak, the vulnerable, both young and old. I am absolutely committed to this fight and my faith in God has been central to everything I have done, and has sustained me through the highs and lows of the campaign. SM: How does your faith sustain you when it's tough? LW: It's been absolutely amazing! I have a quiet time every morning when I read the Bible with a daily reading guide - Daily Bread - and sometimes it feels as if God is speaking directly to me. Through the Bible, and through the input of other Christians, in sermons or discussions in a house group, I have been prepared for the disappointments, and encouraged not to give up hope. SM: How would you describe hope? LW: I think hope is when you want something to happen, then you believe it can, and finally you believe it will. SM: Do you pray at all? LW: I don't spend all my time up in the clouds, but I pray quite a bit, especially at those times when I feel out of my depth with this campaign. I do believe that it is essential to pray with others as well, though. When other people pray with me it's like they are standing with me and I often feel it is their prayers that have sustained me. SM: How important is the Bible to you? LW: Crucial! I think the Ten Commandments are still the best standards to live by - even for those who don't claim to be Christian. And I'm always being surprised by the stories in the Old and the New Testament where God uses really ordinary people. They make mistakes, but he still uses them. Some of Jesus' ancestors had pretty colourful lives, and were not at all the sort of people we might have chosen. So even though I'm not the most godly person around - or the best public speaker - I do believe God has called me to this campaign, and can use me. SM: Are there any other ways in which your faith helps? LW: My faith is everything to me, so there isn't anything I do that doesn't include God. Throughout the last two years in particular God has guided me in some amazing ways: information has become available at just the right time or people have contacted me at just the right time. There have been so many "coincidences" that I am convinced God has been right there, working things out. There is no way I could have done what I have without knowing that God was with me. The Christian family of believers has been amazing, sharing the highs and lows of this campaign. I might be the front guy, but dozens of people been behind me all the way. My non-Christian friends have been great, but my Christian friends and supporters are also able to pray, and Wow! - have I seen the difference that makes! Christians whom I have never met have also prayed for me and for the campaign. God has stirred their hearts too and given them a burden to get involved, and that's been a real encouragement.
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