The ‘Good News Bible’ I own, (one of several different makes and versions I have), opened at MALACHI 2-7 with the scripture “It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God”.

Simple and obvious really, I suppose!

Against the backdrop of national news today, that only 46.2% of people in England and Wales, describe themselves as being of the Christian religion, then I am compelled to speak out. As instructed by Malachi.

As far back as 2001, there were 71.7% of people in England and Wales, who described themselves as ‘Christian’. So what has happened, to turn our once proud Christian country, into an Island of people who have lost their faith? Either to paganism and any other manner of substitutes, or to a status of complete ‘Non-Religion’.

I don’t know the answer. But I do know that it is NOT ageing, fertility, mortality or even migration. Agnosticism as an excuse, I do understand, but only partially. Whilst it is potentially reasonable, to ‘cop-out’ during the census, on the suggestion that the existence of God is unknowable, this does not mean the supreme being should be denied. You do know him. You know his works in you, and the love he has for you. If anyone denies the existence of God, then they deny their own existence!

As the archeological world, turn up yet more and more evidence to ‘support’ the provenance of biblical scripture, it seems more and more Christians are turning away. My message is that ‘It is time to turn back’!

God is with you. His Son Jesus, died for the sins of everybody, in the greatest show of symbolic forgiveness, that could ever be mustered for the sake of humanity. His Mother Mary  sheds tears for you. His Guardian Angels watch over you. His healing and love, imparted through the Holy Spirit, comforts and heals you.

Embrace and defend your faith.

Amen.

Standing up to global bullies and calling them out unilaterally is also part of this ‘leading by example’. If Putin wants war, then take it to him! Either put -up or shut-up Putin, as the World could do with a reset anyway, so what have we got to lose?

Unfortunately the human life ‘Model’ was wrong from day one, with the gains of the few, put before the welfare of the many! We need to re-map global distribution of people, agri- food crops and the balance of wealth distribution. This of course is a frightening prospect and major disruptor to capitalist markets and communist regimes alike, where ‘people’ fuel power, but re-balanced it can be, and this strikes at the very heart of the change management that is required for the future.

Equally those elected to ‘represent the people’, need to start doing so, without barriers and condescension, secrets and hidden agendas. Unfortunately this is a programme that would span many generations and whilst social media could faciltate a devolved approach to the administration of countries, so called elected representatives would not give up such power easily.

The people of the planet are blamed for the destruction of the planet, but this world of the fast-buck and gross profiteering, came from a corporate base. From convincing the population through marketing that they need the latest and the greatest and  then encouraging individual indebtedness to fund the purchase. The rapid product life cycle ‘churn-for-profit, leading to the disposable hardware society we have now and its consequent waste management problems. It is the past industrialists and high society elites, that have already made mega-profits from raping and pilaging the resources and people of the planet, that should be forced to now relinquish their gains to save it!

Remember that regardless of the outcome, you will always have a home in God.

love and Peace.

Normal Brits as a consequence, claimed that Allah must therefore be evil.

How sad and misguided that people can be misled in such a way. The terrorists acts were not instructed by, or would be condoned in any way, by Allah. This was said by the terrorists in a desperate bid to try and turn fellow peoples against each other!

God whatever his name given by people, will receive prayer and love anytime, but will otherwise abhor transgressions from his words which simply promote love and peace through global unity. The thoughts, words and deeds of such terrorists is the only evil that must be overcome. Such killings, just as those similarly witnessed around the globe, were just for the sake of killing and the perpetrators will be answerable to the very god they are supposed to have served. Their sentence will be harsh with their souls wallowing in the pits of hell!

God bless all peoples of the world that do not rise to the bait of sectarianism and remain united in love and peace.

Love and Peace.

AlanC x

Stabbing in Pentonville Prison… If society set and maintained its spiritual standards from birth, then prison would eventually be unecessary. The fact that prisons exist, is a testament to the failure of human society to support itself as a collective whole from the very beginning.

Trump vs Clinton… Do we really need politicians? When, with todays technology, we can all represent ourselves and have an immediate vote on matters affecting us as a global community!

Mars Probe… Let us put things right on this World first. As a global family we can conquer our planetary famine, diseases, cancer and inequality etc. before turning our attention to overcoming ‘other worldly’ aims much more effectively.

Brexit… UK Exit voters in general, were protesting against a European Superstate, with only a political say on a Euro Army, Euro Police, Euro Intelligence etc. etc. The common market is not going anywhere… any businessman would tell you that markets are a simple fact of supply and demand so no change there. To suggest that voters made a racism vote is simply an insult to the British Public.

Copper destroys MRSA… What can I say? The answers are all on mother earth. Nature and Mother Earth can look after all your needs. It’s just a shame that drug companies want you to forget this point, in order that a few chosen shareholders can be allowed to make a fortune from your health misery!

Love and Peace
Astralunity.com

Trump vs Clinton… Do we really need politicians? When, with todays technology, we can all represent ourselves and have an immediate vote on matters affecting us as a global community!

Mars Probe… Let us put things right on this World first. As a global family we can conquer our planetary famine, diseases, cancer and inequality etc. before turning our attention to overcoming ‘other worldly’ aims much more effectively.

Brexit… UK Exit voters in general, were protesting against a European Superstate, with only a political say on a Euro Army, Euro Police, Euro Intelligence etc. etc. The common market is not going anywhere… any businessman would tell you that markets are a simple fact of supply and demand so no change there. To suggest that voters made a racism vote is simply an insult to the British Public.

Copper destroys MRSA… What can I say? The answers are all on mother earth. Nature and Mother Earth can look after all your needs. It’s just a shame that drug companies want you to forget this point, in order that a few chosen shareholders can be allowed to make a fortune from your health misery!

Love and Peace
Astralunity.com

We arrived in Turkey at Dalaman airport, and took the transfer drive to Marmaris of about 2 hours duration. This found us arriving at the ‘Casa de Maris” Hotel in the early hours of the morning, at around 01:00 am local time on Saturday 16th July 2016.

The scene that met us from the balcony of our room was quite confused! People were gathered in small groups, on several street corners, with a larger group of around 200 people (that were within our field of view), about 500 yards away in a square, which was facing our hotel room located at the west side of the hotel. The group were chanting and more were joining the crowd from adjacent streets. This suggested something serious was afoot and it was then we received a message from my son Stephen, that we had landed at the same time as a Military Coup was in progress. Not being sure what the status of this situation could be, we tuned our TV into any News we could find on the subject. This came courtesy of Al Jazeera in English.

Yvonne concentrated upon the news reports, whilst I remained on the balcony. The fact that news reports were focusing upon dramatic events unfolding in the East of the country, made it all the more surprising for us, when a large and very noisy Military Helicopter was heard, circling around our Hotel. Looking on, I wondered if it may be for security purposes, as it seemed to hover in one place at a time, for prolonged periods. Its pattern of movement, then suggested that it may actually be searching for somebody, similar indeed, to the regular and sequential movements of a Police Helicopter.

The noise from the Helicopter was immense and it was very disturbing to see it following people, whilst at the same time kicking up great amounts of soil, dust and debris. This helicopter was then joined by another very large and similar helicopter, which flew in from the East and seemed to hover low, or land on the beachfront. I perceived it to be dropping troops off, as at this point as many as 20 to 30 Soldiers appeared and ran through the streets amongst the fleeing and dispersing crowds. We were later informed by locals that three helicopters in total, had been seen around our hotel.

I returned to the room to study the News reports and Yvonne viewed further activities from the Balcony. Yvonne witnessed a man running into the hotel (the entrance being underneath our glass balcony) and shortly after, two men ran out of the Hotel, looked up at the helicopter and then held their hands up in submission. Yvonne then heard shots from the helicopter and the men scrambled to the floor and crawled away on their stomachs in panic. After this event, a plain black car appeared and parked up to the North West of the Hotel, and four men dressed in dark or black clothing, jumped out and ran separate ways. The men adopted a pistol-gripping approach, however the weapons they held were of a strange design, being long barrelled and almost luminous. Yvonne remarked to me on this, as events unfolded and it was at this moment I shouted her to leave the balcony. I sensed that matters were taking a dramatic turn and after she entered the room, we then heard ‘pops’ of small arms fire.

Unsure what to do next we laid on the bed and, with the news playing in the background and saying the Coup had failed and normal order was restored, we considered what to do next. As we discussed the contradictions of the news reports versus our own witnessing of events, I heard a loud bang and crack and instinctively knew some heavier fire, had been deployed against the glass frontage of our hotel room. I quickly rolled Yvonne to the floor, at the bedside, furthest from the window and jumped on top of her, covering both of us with the mattress and pillows as best I could. It was only afterwards that we realised, how fortunate our quick reactions had been, as the glass balcony was ripped apart and the patio doors were riddled with bullet holes at body level. This and the ensuing hail of heavy fire over what seemed like an eternity, was the scariest moment of the whole eight-hours, to which we were under siege. It was also the point when Yvonne called her daughter to say her goodbyes and I sent a simple message to my son, to look after his sisters.

There was a lull in the fighting, after that awful and poignant moment. Sobs and cries filled the corridor and Yvonne’s Daughter relayed the news from her boyfriend, who had phoned the Foreign Office whilst she was talking with her mother, with the FO advising us to keep ourselves hidden and not to make a sound. During this lull, I sneaked a peak through the spy hole in the hotel door and saw people laying in the corridor, women and children, frightened and confused. This was one of the most heart rending and desperate scenes I have probably ever witnessed.

As we considered what to do, and debated whether to join the refugees camped outside our door, the whole place erupted again. The machine gun fire recommenced outside of our apartment balcony, but this time it was accompanied by small arms fire from within the hotel corridor itself. Rekindling the horror of the situation, myself and Yvonne automatically fell into our makeshift hiding place again, beside the bed. This was when we both expected our door to be blasted open and we either be shot or taken as hostage. That was also when I decided to record the sounds of gunfire, thinking, If we are going to die, then I am going to catalogue the event such that others should know how we met our end. Whilst on reflection, the recording did not capture the ferocity of the original onslaught. It did at least provide a testimony to the firing of weapons both inside and outside our hotel, with the sounds of panic from innocent victims, as a backdrop throughout. We later learned that Soldiers had entered our hotel through the rear of the property, allegedly in order to storm an adjacent hotel to the West of ours, with an intention to kill the Turkish President. Whilst this may be a possible explanation, the results of the firefight, was more suggestive of the President being in our hotel, if not an occupant of our room even, given the damage inflicted upon it!

After that second major incursion, all went quiet again. The anticipated storming of our room did not happen. A period of some hours elapsed, throughout which there were several bangs and random cries. Shouting, as heavy footsteps fell upon the corridor and dragging sounds Above and around us. We again, debated our position and the time then was about 07:30 am. Creeping stealthily to look through the spy hole in our door, we both saw a man resting with his back upon it. A rough looking man dressed in black talking to others that we could not see! This spooked us badly, as this man fitted the description of one of those seen by Yvonne earlier, with the strange firearms. In the absence of any apparent help or rescue, or any reassurances or support from hotel staff, we decided to return to the floor and maintain our position of silence. Visiting the spy hole a couple of times more, during the ensuing hour and a half, it was around 08:45am when I finally noticed there were children and parents daring to venture out, taking photographs of the hotel damage with their mobile phones. I did not see any westerners, but we decided if children had surfaced, then perhaps it would be safe to leave the room. As one last ‘test’ I decided to call reception. Both myself and Yvonne took time out to discuss and collectively agree to this option, fully aware that if the reception phone was manned by anyone, other than a member of the hotel staff, then we were potentially giving away our position to the hostile force. What happened next surprised us. A male receptionist announced calmly, that ‘breakfast would be served as usual, in the hotel restaurant’!

Leaving our room, we were encouraged by the restaurant manager (Who was apparently lodged next door to us) to take some tea, with the same line that ‘breakfast was being served as usual, in the hotel restaurant’! Bemused but shaken, we acceded to the request, but oh my goodness, we could not for the life of us understand how anyone could eat after such a traumatic night! What met us in the restaurant, did little to restore our faith in human nature, as an English couple, when approached by us on the night’s drama, announced that they had “heard something but just turned their ipad up louder”. This was surreal!

This apathetic mood was reflected throughout the staff of the hotel. They neither admitted to, nor showed, any acknowledgement of the fact, that the hotel resembled a building in a war zone. Merely reinforcing a statement, applied as a mantra collectively by all Turkish people thereafter (Staff and Public), that “everything would be OK now”. It was quite clear as time went on, that the Turkish people relied so heavily upon tourism for their respective livelihoods, that they would have to perpetuate such rhetoric if their future in tourism was to be maintained. Whilst it seemed on the surface, that the public supported a coup, the reality of the situation was that they were clearly and simply ‘relying’ upon tourism, and feared that ‘rocking any political boat’ would be enough to finish many of them. It also emerged from discussions with locals, that there was a disparity between the interests of the Police Force, the Armed Forces and the Government. This underlying instability, being enough to convince us at least, that we needed to vacate the Country as quickly as possible, before the fragile infrastructure crumbled further. Until such situation was resolved, we would certainly not even consider a return to Turkey.

On presenting ourselves to reception, we were advised that no taxi would come near the hotel, due to the fighting of the early hours. We were also advised that there were road blocks throughout the route, between the hotel and Dalaman Airport, which was around two hours drive away. On discussing options with a package tour representative, we were further advised that Marmaris Airport was in ‘Lockdown’ and therefore, there would be no flights leaving that day. In between enquiring with locals about the Ferry and possible boat trips to Rhodes, (to reach the relative security of Europe) and exploring other travel options, it became clear that the staff of the hotel were distancing themselves from us. The reason for this became evident, when a Brit explained that our room had been shot up the worst and the hotel staff had seemingly thought, that we should not have survived such an onslaught. That explained why the staff of the hotel looked at us as if we were ghosts, when we emerged from our room, but it does not explain why they offered no courtesy or assistance to us thereafter. In fact when challenged on this, more than one hotel representative said they thought we had checked out. This was a strange thing to suggest, when we had only just checked in, during the early hours of that morning? We think they expected us to have perished when our room was so badly shot out and it also seemed that, for all they cared, our bodies should just be left for the police to deal with.

On the basis of the general apathy of the hotel staff and Turkish people, towards us, we would advise anybody thinking of going to Turkey or who has a holiday planned, to think again. If such a trip were to be undertaken and problems encountered locally, then they would be on their own. Nobody would give them assistance and certainly, nobody would help them escape any trouble. We were only able to flee Turkey ourselves, by arranging the booking of any available flights from Marmaris via the UK through my friend and business partner, and then only after convincing a taxi driver to take us to the airport, using his skills as such, to negotiate the various Police checkpoints and roadblocks, on the way. Arriving back in the UK to London Stansted Airport and the adjacent Radisson Blu Hotel, was a liberating experience and only then could we relax and unburden ourselves of the trauma we had encountered from the trip.

What surprises us, having been through this ordeal, is that the Foreign Office, and travel companies, still maintain that Turkey is safe enough for Holidays. It horrifies us that families are still being encouraged to enter this Country given its present instabilities. Even now, news reports suggest the troubles are not over, with more protests to come, yet in the same sentence, those reporters also irresponsibly specify that it is ‘business as usual’ For holidays. It is unimaginable to think that one should have to entertain, the added responsibility of Children, if attempting to protect them during a fire-fight and then later flee the Country. We made this point, through our attendance on ‘This Morning’ as guests of Eamon Holmes and Ruth Langsford but with little Immediate effect. Whilst we understand that it is difficult, under the impartiality rules of media coverage, to negotiate an unbiased line of enquiry with such matters. I think Eamon and Ruth and their support team managed to find and maintain the balance rather well. However, the foreign travel representative who appeared on the show via satellite, whom incidentally was notably safe in Canada many miles away, did not do himself any favours with his easy comments, that played down the seriousness of the situation in turkey. The point I guess is that we (myself and Yvonne) can speak freely and honestly on a matter of experience, whereas such a representative must bow to his masters and is forced to toe a political line, thereby misleading others and not being true to himself! People considering travel to Turkey, must be made aware of the hazards that could face them and make an appropriate risk assessment for themselves, as those that are responsible for convincing them to go to Turkey, clearly only have their own interests at heart.

UPDATE:

We have heard that there are other facebook accounts from a man, who witnessed shootings at our hotel, from a hotel opposite. Apparently he was also under gunfire in his room, terrified and stuck with a family that included children. We pray for his safe return home and encourage him to publicise his plight, as we have, in order to raise awareness and protect others.

The efforts of the “This Morning” show on ITV, has raised awareness of the public to such an extent, that Marmaris is now also mentioned in news reports. Well done to them.

OTHER LINKS (proven at date of publication):

Telegraph

Gazette Live

The Sun

Copyright 2016. Alan Carter and Yvonne Wickes. All rights reserved.

Tickets at the door of Elite Christian Spiritualist Church, Middlesbrough for a 7.00pm start!

See you there. All welcome.

Blessings from AlanC