Caring_Summer 2013

CONTENTS

GIVING • SUMMER 2013 • VOL. 19, NO. 02

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An interview with Jamie Tworkowski The soft-spoken founder of the nonprofit TWLOHA discusses a music tour designed to help people dealing with depression and addiction as well as his own means of coping.

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03 My Corner 04 Interact 05 Perspective News Bites_ 06 World 07 Culture 08 Faith 09 Work Interview_ 10 Jamie Tworkowski Ideas_ 12 Inspiration 14 Initiative 16 First person

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Features_ 19 Battle to business 22 This church has virtual doors 24 Compassion will make you happy 28 The danger of charity 30 Future of philanthropy 33 Motivating a donation 34 Povertees 36 Seedlings 40 Boundless evangelistic campaign 43 Review 44 Resources

THE DOUGHNUT SWEETHEARTS The Diary of Alice McAllister during World War I

THE HOLISTIC MINISTRY OF THE SALVATION ARMY SUMMER 2013, VOL. 19, NO. 02 ISSN 2164-5922

Caring is published quarterly by The Salvation Army and seeks to: RECLAIM ‘ACTS OF MERCY’ as imperatives to holiness.

BRING THE ARMY’S MINISTRIES of evangelistic and social outreach into one holistic ministry.

DESCRIBE EXEMPLARY PROGRAMS seeking to integrate the goals of the Army’s holistic ministries.

FOSTER INNOVATION and the development of creative approaches to ministry.

EDIFY, ENLIGHTEN, ENRICH AND STIMULATE DISCUSSION among Salvationists involved in caring ministries.

PROVIDE A FORUM FOR EXAMINATION of critical social issues within the Army.

REPORT ON IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT RESEARCH in areas of holistic ministry.

REVIEW CRITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF SCHOLARS AND WRITERS within relevant fields of ministry.

EXAMINE THE SALVATION ARMY AS AN ORGANIZATION in respect to its history, purpose, mission and future.

STAFF

Editor in Chief/Robert Docter, Ph.D. bob.docter@usw.salvationarmy.org Managing Editor/Christin Davis christin.davis@usw.salvationarmy.org Assistant Editor/Erica Andrews erica.andrews@usw.salvationarmy.org Contributing Editor/Karen Gleason karen.gleason@usw.salvationarmy.org Associate Editor/Buffy Lincoln buffy.lincoln@usw.salvationarmy.org Editorial Assistant/Jared McKiernan jared.mckiernan@usw.salvationarmy.org Intern/Vivian Gatica vivian.gatica@usw.salvationarmy.org Circulation/Arlene DeJesus arlene.dejesus@usw.salvationarmy.org

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Major Darryl Leedom/USA National Headquarters Maribeth Swanson/USA Central Territory Major Claranne Meitrott/USA Eastern Territory Major Howard Bratcher/USA Southern Territory Major Lawrence Shiroma/USA Western Territory

LAYOUT & DESIGN

This engaging booklet is the original journal of one Doughnut Girl, Alice McAllister, who joined the 1st Division of the American Expeditionary Forces and was sworn into the U.S. military as a private—the only way she could volunteer on the front lines of World War I.

$4.99

ISBN: 978-0-9768465-6-7

Get your copy at:

tradewest.com • amazon.com

Art Director/Kevin Dobruck kevin.dobruck@usw.salvationarmy.org Graphic Designer/Adriana Rivera adriana.rivera@usw.salvationarmy.org

ADVERTISING

Inquire to 562/491-8723 or caring@usw.salvationarmy.org.

CIRCULATION

Send address changes to Caring, P.O. Box 22646, Long Beach, CA 90802 or caring@usw.salvationarmy.org.

SALVATION ARMY USA WESTERN TERRITORIAL HEADQUARTERS Territorial Commander/Commissioner James Knaggs Chief Secretary/Colonel Dave Hudson P.O. Box 22646 180 East Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802 562/491-8723 • Fax 562/491-8791 e-mail: caring@usw.salvationarmy.org CaringMagazine @CaringMagazine Unless otherwise indicated, all contents copyright© 2013 by New Frontier Publications, The Salvation Army, USA Western Territory, 180 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802 USA. If requested, permission to reproduce is usually freely granted.

Please contact the publisher before reproducing.

MY CORNER

“ The generous person reveals a life of loving compassion, a passionate life lived with feelings of otherness.”

Generosity of spirit

By Robert Docter

g

enerosity is a spiritual word. It speaks of the type of relationship between a giver and a receiver.

It synthesizes the “fruit of the spirit” listed by Paul for the Galatians—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Each of Paul’s fruit contains generosity of the spirit. It is living with spiritual extravagance, giving self to others without self-centeredness, without judgmentalism, with nothing stingy or petty, nothing mean or small. Instead, a generosity of spirit reveals the dimension of our altruistic love—our willingness to give with no expectation of any kind of return compensation.

The generous person reveals a life of loving compassion, a passionate life lived with feelings of otherness. This person is genuine, caring, open and fully accepting. When approached by someone in need, his persona mirrors the affect of the petitioner and reflects the joy found in helping others. Her body signals gentleness and patience, perseverance and competence. Together, they reveal the ultimate in kindness.

Their empathy establishes a depth and quality of relationship for whatever happiness or sorrow might be felt by the other.

They are fully tuned to that person’s hopes and needs. They feel with the person. There is no condemnation, no criticism, no advice giving—only help is offered. The clock does not dictate the dimensions of their relationship. The generous person shares willingly and does not perceive time as a critical factor.

I believe God implanted a generous spirit in humans.

Human impulses, somehow, bend in the direction of generous goodwill to others—not just in terms defined by money, but with a spirit that brings warm joy, friendship combined with helpful neighborliness.

Of course we also have free will. If we exercise this with a sense of superiority, haughtiness and negativity, the end includes only loneliness and isolation.

Paul listed the fruit of kindness fifth in his list. If

circumstances arise along with your personal motivation to assume a “giver” role in building a relationship, start with a generosity of kindness. When it holds a significant place in a person’s willingness to be generous, the gift becomes much more powerful.

Kindness generates an internal warmth in the giver, a feeling of joy and is offered without judgment or inquisition.

It is a completely positive human act designed to allow one person to be helpful to another. Sometimes, it involves simply listening. On other occasions, it might be more complicated as the helper assists in sorting through the complications.

Once in awhile, the petitioner, acting in pain, may want to bring you into an argument. In this case be understanding and accepting of the person, but do not be drawn into the conflict.

Ask the person to try to reopen lines of communication.

Much is required of us in seeking to be generous as we struggle to maintain a life of faithfulness—faithful to an ethic, a belief system we live; a belief that all humans have worth, that a non-imposing God is available, that his son, Jesus, came to earth to reveal in human form the dimensions of God’s love and to provide us an avenue to redemption. This requires knowledge of the principles of the ethic of Christ as reflected in our behavior. It demands a consistency in revealing the principles of that ethic. They are not simply spoken with words. Let it be transmitted nonverbally from the depth of your soul.

Faithfulness means fidelity, loyalty, being steadfast in our allegiance, conscientious, reliable. It means we keep promises as covenants with God. Robert Docter, Ph. D., is the editor in chief of New Frontier Publications.

Connect with Bob website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter @caringmagazine email: bob.docter@usw.salvationarmy.org

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INTERACT

IN YOUR WORDS “WHAT a wonderful magazine with inspiring stories and news that confirm that our God is in control. Keep it going and may many share this great publication!” ­

—W SCOTT HALE, ROCKFORD, ILL.

Connect with Caring: website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter @caringmagazine email: caring@usw. salvationarmy.org

Subscribe via:

562-491-8723 caring@usw.salvationarmy.org caringmagazine.org Rates per year United States $15 Canada and Mexico, US$18 International, US $20 Contact us for group discounts.

“THANKS so much for covering what we do at ReCreate Cafe Arts!”

—TENIKA DYE, CHATTANOOGA, TENN.

“WE need thinking Salvationists.”

“THE Salvation Army is change for guys like me.

Rising above abuse PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF CHRISTIAN LEGAL AID TELLS A STORY OF STRUGGLE AND STRENGTH.

By Erica Andrews

PATRICIA OLIVER

knows what it’s like to struggle. Her story is one that’s filled with heartbreak, but also an unusual resilience to rise above. Oliver grew up destitute in Compton and Santa Ana, Calif., with her mother and five siblings. Her mother was a complicated, verbally and physically abusive person.

One morning Oliver’s mother told her she had walked around “the night before with a claw hammer trying to decide whether to bash our skulls in.”

It was a hostile occurrence that was not uncommon for the young girl. Oliver explained that in order to get away from the chaos, she would seek refuge at The Salvation Army in Santa Ana, Calif.

“I literally would go next door all the time for safety and it was just a nice refuge to have a place to go and get away from the home I was at,” Oliver said. “All the people I encountered there were so loving and I really believed in them.”

She recalled receiving an unusual gift from The Salvation Army one Christmas, but her excitement turned to disappointment.

“It was this stuffed pillow doll, so it wasn’t a doll and it wasn’t a pillow, and being just 9 years old, I was thinking really, is this it? But every night when I would cry myself to sleep and I was laying in my bed scared, that pillow was right there under my cheek,” she said. “I cried so many times that it smelled horribly and I can

still feel the fabric under my cheek. The love that I got in that moment went beyond anything.”

Through the love and encouragement Oliver received from outside sources, like The Salvation Army and her teachers, she thrived in school.

She continuously made the honor roll in high school and planned to become a professional dancer or lawyer. A car accident her senior year decided for her on the latter.

“I have always had this sense about what was right and what was wrong and I would stand up for anyone that didn’t have a voice and speak for them,” Oliver explained. “I wouldn’t let it happen and I didn’t care what the cost was to me. I’d speak before I’d let anyone be hurt.”

Through a scholarship, Oliver began a law program at UCLA in 1994.

After graduation she began working as a paralegal, and later joined Heller Ehrman, which was considered one of the top firms in Los Angeles at the time, but has since closed. Her new career brought a luxurious lifestyle that she had never experienced, but it also came with the consequence of not having as much time to be with her young son.

“My son, Aaron, was about 18 months old and he was crying all the time because I was working crazy hours,” Oliver said. “My boss said to me, ‘you’ll get used to it,’ and I said, ‘no, I don’t want to get used to this— he’s my son, I want to be his mother.’”

In order to spend more time with him, Oliver decided to take on less at work—but not before helping to start a new organization. In 2005, Oliver and her fellow colleagues created Christian Legal Aid to better serve those in their community who couldn’t afford legal assistance.

“We knew we had to do this as Christians and we knew there was no organization of Christian attorneys in Los Angeles providing services to the poor,” Oliver said. “We decided to organize it and see what we could do. We fully expected it would be hard to keep it going, so the fact that we’re still around after all these years is a testament to God’s grace and mercy. It was solely to bridge that gap of faith and justice.”

The State Bar of California estimates that there are 8,361 potential clients for every one attorney willing to provide free legal aid. With over 1.5 million people below the poverty line in Los Angeles County, the need is overwhelming.

Oliver felt a calling to be more involved with the organization, and in 2011 quit her job to become the president and director for Christian Legal Aid. The organization currently holds one to four free clinics a month, which Oliver says are like a “legal emergency room.”

“The idea is that if we can do legal urgent care, we can avoid certain kinds of litigation and we can help them on the spot,” Oliver said.

Erica Christian Legal Aid deals with a variety of clients who Andrews is the assistant need help in everything from domestic abuse issues to immigration to care for veterans. One client who had suffered editor of Caring. domestic abuse from an ex-husband and was trying to

restart her life particularly resonated with Oliver.

The woman had found a pet to help her not feel so alone and then it went missing. When the woman went to search for her lost cat in a close-by apartment complex, the owner called the police saying she had trespassed.

With this arrest now on her record, she could not go to nursing school.

“She wanted the arrest and badge of shame gone,” Oliver said. “She wanted to be declared factually innocent.”

Oliver and her staff of volunteers helped her to file the necessary paperwork and spoke on her behalf in court. The judge heard both sides and declared the woman innocent.

“When we left the courtroom she started crying down the hallway, on the elevator and outside because she was overwrought with emotion,” Oliver said. “Each time we have seen her now, she has gotten stronger and stronger. Now that she has this weight lifted off her shoulders, she has so much more strength than she even realizes.”

Oliver knows one act of kindness can truly change someone’s life.

“When I’m in the office, some of my favorite moments are watching the volunteers,” Oliver said. “Sometimes I just start crying because I feel like the little girl at Salvation Army who now gets to say thank you—that I can say to the people who gave me the pillow thank you—for taking care of me. And I get to tell the volunteers what they may not hear from their clients, which is thank you for showing that kind of love.” w

I never knew God as a child, only abuse. The Pasadena Salvation Army has changed my life but I still fight my old ways. Thanks to the vision of William Booth and The Salvation Army mission statement I am alive today. Thank you Jesus for the Patricias in the world today. Amen.”

Connect with Erica website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter: @caringmagazine email: erica.andrews@usw.salvationarmy.org Photo by Erica Andrews

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SPRING 2013/CARING

SPRING 2013/CARING

—DANIEL SMITH, GRANADA HILLS, CALIF.

“GREAT Story. Great outcome. Paying it forward!!!”

—ROB REARDON, ALEXANDRIA, VA.

­—PAUL CRANFORD, MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.

Caring recognized for excellence in writing The Evangelical Press Association honored Caring with a first place 2013 Higher Goals Award in the long general article category for “The Equality Paradox,” by Christin Davis, Caring, vol. 18 no. 3 (caringmagazine. org/the-equality-paradox). See the full list of winners at evangelicalpress.com.

New 4-CD Collection Available to Support World Services Project In celebration of their 125th Anniversary, the Pasadena Tabernacle Corps has produced this one-ofa-kind CD compilation set, which takes a few tracks from every album produced by the Pasadena & Hollywood Tabernacle Corps from 1964–2012. In addition, there is one bonus track, “Let There Be Joy,” a massed number recorded in January 2013 by current Tab musicians featuring the Band, Songsters, Youth Chorus, Singing Company and Children’s Chorus.

This 73 track collection is available for only $20.00 (includes shipping).

All proceeds from the CD go to support Pasadena Tabernacle’s 2013 World Services project to help rebuild The Salvation Army Girls’ Home in Panama.

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To obtain your copy, send check to:

The Salvation Army, 960 E. Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91106 Call 626.773.4400 for information or to pay by credit card.

PERSPECTIVE

“While giving is intrinsic to us as people, it’s also inherent to The Salvation Army.

Yet, it’s not about charity in the common sense. ”

Survival of the kindest

By Christin Davis

a

re we wired with a propensity to altruism?

In an experiment with 24 children and 10 different situations, scientists Felix Warneken and Michael Tomasello tested the ability of an 18-month-old to help a non-family adult who was having trouble achieving a goal: an out-of-reach object, access thwarted by a physical obstacle, achieving a wrong but correctable result, and using wrong but correctable means.

The experimenter did not ask for help, rarely made eye contact, and the infants did not receive any benefit—reward or praise—for helping. Analyzed individually, 22 of the 24 infants helped in at least one of the tasks with an average response time of just 5.2 seconds.

Giving is within us.

It appears in various forms—altruism, reciprocity, nurturing, compassion, empathy—and calls for recognition, a desire to alleviate suffering, and then the action of caring for another at a personal cost with no expectation of return benefit.

While giving is intrinsic to us as people, it’s also inherent to The Salvation Army. Yet, it’s not about charity in the common sense. Dr. Erin Dulfault-Hunter, assistant

professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, examines the concept of charity on page 28 and how we, as Christians, join our lives to the poor. She determines the root of charity, and what it should remind us of.

Studies of generosity have shown that such action creates positive physical responses within us, including improved immune function and increased stress resilience. Dr. Emma Seppala, associate director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, details much of this research on page 24, asserting that the secret to lasting happiness does not lie in any goods, relationships or achievements, but rather in what we can give.

In this issue, Caring explores giving—its traditions, motivations and expressions—for as Seppala writes, it’s compassion that makes you happy, healthy and wise.

Christin Davis is the managing editor of New Frontier Publications.

Connect with Christin website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter @caringmagazine email: christin.davis@usw.salvationarmy.org

The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

(Prov. 11:25)

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NEWSBITES

WORLD

EDIBLE TOWN Kony bounty The Obama administration offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the capture of Lord’s Resistance Army Chief Joseph Kony, wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Caffeinated karma The “suspended coffee” movement is gaining popularity in Europe and around the world, modeled after the Italian “caffe sospeso” tradition—a modern goodwill initiative that allows paying customers to put warm drinks in the hands of those who can’t afford them.

At participating cafes, customers can purchase a “suspended coffee” along with their order. Later, if someone comes in and asks for a suspended coffee, he or she is given a free beverage—no questions asked— thanks to the kindness of an anonymous stranger.

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The Incredible Edible Todmorden project turned a small, English town “food independent” by growing and raising all of the food it needs itself.

Now, virtually every free piece of land in the town is filled with food, from yards in front of the police and railway stations to parks, and everything grown on public land is free for anyone in town to take.

The nonprofit running the project also offers classes from baking bread to pickling.

EGYPT UNITES For the first time since the dawn of Catholic and Protestant missions in the 17th and 18th centuries, Egypt’s Christians formally stand united. Heads of the five largest denominations—Coptic Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, and Anglican—united to create Egypt’s first Council of Churches.

“I believe history will record this day as we celebrate the establishment of a council for all churches of Egypt,” said Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which boasts approximately 90 percent of all Egyptian Christians. “I think such a step was delayed for years.”

Templeton Prize Archbishop Desmond Tutu was named the winner of the 2012 Templeton Prize for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa. The Templeton Prize “honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works,” according to the John Templeton Foundation.

CULTURE

NEWSBITES

Bell on small screen Popular Christian author and speaker Rob Bell announced his new TV project, “The Rob Bell Show.” According to the Christian News Network, Bell said the talk show will focus on stories of redemption.

“We want to talk about the things that matter most,” Bell said. “We want to talk about our brokenness and our struggle. We want to be inspired.”

TV RECORD The History Channel’s premiere of “The Bible” garnered 13.1 million viewers. The twohour episode, which portrayed Genesis and Exodus, was the most-watched and highestrated show on TV that night and the most popular cable telecast of the year, beating out “The Walking Dead” on AMC, according to Nielsen.

PLAN B U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman ruled that Plan B must be available to all without prescription. The ruling overturned a 2011 decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requiring that girls under age 17 obtain a prescription for the Plan B One-Step contraceptive or its equivalents.

Decline in email fundraising Fundraising continues its upward climb online but email as an engagement tool is starting to cool off, according to the 2013 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study. The study analyzed the results of 1.6 billion email messages, 7.3 million advocacy actions and $438 million in online donations.

Citizenship holdout Nearly two-thirds of the legal immigrants from Mexico who are eligible to become citizens haven’t taken that step, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Expanded protection President Barack Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which will expand protection for victims of domestic violence and renew a measure credited with curbing violence against women.

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NEWSBITES

FAITH

RECESSION PROOF

Citizenship support A majority of all major religious groups in the United States support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently living in the country, according to a recent Public Religion Research Institute survey.

Read the report at publicreligion.org.

According to a report by The Economic Outlook of Very Large Churches, the recession did not slow the growth of most large U.S. churches: “Growing churches felt [the recession] less than churches that were plateaued or in decline. Larger-attendance churches likewise felt it less than smaller churches.”

BIBLE APP RELAUNCHES Around 83 million unique devices have downloaded the newly relaunched Bible app and 4 million new users are installing it each month. The app allows users to place the entire Bible on their tablets and smartphones, take notes, follow study plans and hear it read aloud.

“The long-term im-

plications of the app—if we can see what we hope we can see—are a generation of the most biblically literate people in history,” said Bobby Gruenewald, Bible app creator, to The Daily Beast. “We don’t just want to stop the decline in biblical literacy; we want to reverse it.”

Church connection A new survey reports that Americans feel more connected to their local church than to any other institution in society. According to Rasmussen Reports, “nothing else comes close” to the bond between Americans and their local religious institutions.

TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP Christians, Muslims, and civil authorities in one area of Jerusalem signed a local treaty of friendship that, if successful and replicated, could ease religious tensions in the Holy City and other Middle East communities.

This treaty is the latest peace effort between Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land, where attacks on Christian buildings—known as “price-tag attacks”—have become more common. Churches have also created affordable housing to help Christians remain in the Middle East.

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Varied religion America remains a religious nation—with about seven in 10 Americans classified as very or moderately religious—but these patterns of religion are varied across regions of the country. View Gallup’s map at http://ow.ly/i7abV

WORK

NEWSBITES

Boston bombings After two explosions injured more than 170 people and left three dead at the Boston Marathon finish line April 15 in Boston, Mass., Salvation Army first responders provided support for survivors. Canteens supplied food and Army staff offered emotional and spiritual care.

“We thank God for the meaningful conversations that occurred during this difficult time,” said Major David E. Kelly, divisional commander for The Salvation Army Massachusetts Division. “I am deeply grateful for the quick response, compassionate spirits, and heart for ministry with which our officers, staff, and volunteers responded.”

Salvation Factory Envoys Steven and Sharon Bussey launched the Salvation Factory, an “imaginarium” focused on generating evangelistic, digitally accessible resources for corps officers, particularly in soldier training. Based out of the School for Officer Training in Suffern, N.Y., Salvation Factory has generated numerous projects, including Genesis of Salvationism, in which they revive historic speeches and writings by influential Salvation Army leaders and present them in digital format through social media.

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM

by Jonathan Hibbert-Hingston Photos by Brian Swartz “So if you are married why do you not wear nose rings and have a mark on your forehead?”

In some cultures it is particularly obvious when someone is not following the predominant religion and few are as obvious as the Hinduism of the tribal communities in Northern India. The field organizer for The Salvation Army’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) had been waiting for this moment: “Well I am a Christian and we do not follow that practice.”

This answer caused a stir and another woman

of the Self Help Group (SHG) asked, “So what is a Christian? Do you have a sacred text we can look at?” The field organizer said there certainly was a book, and on her next visit brought a Bible for the women to see. Sitting under a large tree in the middle of the collection of grass huts, she talked through biblical stories. Two women became Christians.

The India Northern Territory, seeing the advantages of this way of working, launched the CEP and today has roughly 488 groups reaching more than 5,800 women. Many soldiers are trained and employed as group facilitators.

ARMY ATTENDS UN CONFERENCE Thousands gathered for the 2013 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York City, including 16 Salvation Army representatives from the four U.S. territories and the International Social Justice Commission.

This year’s topic, “Ending Violence Against Women and Girls,” brought the CSW’s largest-ever crowd of 6,000 delegates to nearly 400 workshops held inside the UN. “Although I have read a great deal, seen films and previously attended conferences upon the subject of human trafficking and violence against women, this experience was more powerful,” said Major Nila Fankhauser, community care secretary for the Alaska Division. “As I listened to women from all over the world, in different languages, from many cultures, the evil of trafficking and violence became much more vivid and real. The importance of doing whatever possible to continue this fight became most evident.”

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AN INTERVIEW WITH

JAMIE TWORKOWSKI

To Write Love On Her Arms has responded to nearly 200,000 people in crisis.

BY ERICA ANDREWS

JAMIE TWORKOWSKI

wrote a story, “To Write Love On Her Arms” about Renee, a friend struggling with a cocaine addiction and self-mutilation.

After she was denied entry into a treatment center in Orlando, Fla., Tworkowski posted the story online hoping to provide a support system for her and others in a similar situation.

Tworkowski had exposed the need for an online community where people could talk about issues like depres10

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sion, addiction, self-mutilation and suicide. In 2006, he turned To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) into a nonprofit, which has since responded to almost 200,000 messages from people in crisis in more than 100 different countries. TWLOHA has more than 1.3 million likes on Facebook and almost 250,000 followers on Twitter.

Caring met up with Tworkowski at the House of Blues in Anaheim, Calif., to discuss TWLOHA, its recent $1 million grant and the resulting Heavy and Light tour—nights of “songs, conversation and hope.”

What were you hoping to accomplish with the Heavy and Light tour and what was the inspiration behind it?

The dream is people choosing to stay alive and people getting whatever help they need, especially for people struggling with depression, addiction,

INTERVIEW beginning to process that and move through it.

self-injury or even people thinking about suicide. So in a really simple way that’s the dream and beyond the music all of the artists have been invited into this concept of the night, which is just ‘hey don’t just get up and play five songs, but what songs would you play and what would you say to someone who’s here and really struggling—who maybe isn’t sure they can keep going.’

One of the unique elements is every person who came to the show left with a list of local resources and so hopefully that’s for them or for someone they care about. The night opened with a video that said this is not a benefit show, this is not come out for a good cause, this is really an attempt to move people.

Wow, that’s powerful. Have you ever dealt with depression or addiction yourself?

Yeah, I’m on medicine for depression and I go to counseling right now. I haven’t struggled with drug addiction, but people close to me have.

Your nonprofit TWLOHA has moved a lot of people. What was it like when you won $1 million from the American Giving Awards in 2011 and how are you implementing that huge donation?

It was hard to imagine even dreaming up something like that, let alone it was real. The platform itself was unbelievable to have a few minutes on NBC primetime, but then to also walk away with a check of $1 million and a lot of freedom to do what we wanted.

We wanted to do something that lined up with our mission, but we knew this was the most ambitious and creative part of what we hoped to accomplish. The biggest part is the tour...17 cities...funded through the money we won.

We also recently launched a high school program because I heard from so many high school folks who wanted to help and wanted to bring this message to their school or to their classmates.

How exactly does the TWLOHA website function in terms of helping people?

We consider it a source of encouragement for so many people. We’ve learned that most people who need help never get it. We’re in a unique position to try to move people to get whatever help they need. We’re constantly pointing to articles, posting blogs, a hopeful quote every morning—throughout all our sites. People send notes and messages that show up at our office, so we have a part of our team that just works on responding to those.

I’m sure you’ve encountered a lot of people who have really been touched by your site. Is there one person who particularly stands out?

We hear from people who say that they’re still alive because of the work that we’re doing. People who literally say, ‘I wouldn’t be here if not for your organization or your website.’ The idea is that we do everything we can to communicate a message that tells someone that they matter and their life matters.

There was a young guy that I met in London a few years ago. He had on one of our shirts and I asked him about it. He opened up and shared that he had lost his best friend to suicide and went on to tell me that at the time of her death she was pregnant with his child. He talked about the experience of going and getting counseling and the process of sitting with someone and

The number of people worldwide who suffer from depression

350 Million

Is that something you’ve dealt with for a long time?

Yeah, for the last few years. In a way I guess the silver lining is that I’m thankful that it makes it personal for me. Not that any issue is random, but it does make it more personal. It’s not just something that happens to other people in some other place, but this is something that I’m still wrestling through, just the feeling that I need this too—for myself. I need some of this stuff to be true. I need permission to ask some of these questions or to be honest at times.

Many of our readers are Salvation Army volunteers and personnel. What would you like to tell them or for them to know?

I think in a way that our hope is relative to your readers and that we would just want to say that you don’t have to fake it, you’re not alone in whatever it is that you’re in the middle of—whatever pain, whatever heartache, whatever question, whatever loss. We really believe that people need other people and that people need help sometimes.

We hope for everyone a support system, but then we’ve also come to believe that there’s times when we need more than that and we need someone with a unique degree of wisdom or perspective.

We believe that for a lot of people the scariest, hardest step, is that first one. We’re not pretending it’s easy, but we believe that it’s worth it and we really want to invite people into that possibility.

Erica Andrews is the assistant editor of Caring.

Connect with Erica website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter: @caringmagazine email: erica.andrews@usw.salvationarmy.org Photos by: Nikole Lim

The number of adults in the U.S. who had issues with alcohol or drug abuse in 2012

23.5 Million

*From World Health Organization and Substance Abuse and Partnership at Drugfree.org

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IDEAS INSPIRATION

SALVONISTA POP-UP STORE A new mobile boutique brings fashionable finds to the community

BY FREDDY CHOO

at

first glance, the Salvonista Mobile Boutique appears to be an ordinary van, but a closer inspection reveals otherwise. This one-of-a-kind ecofriendly vehicle is powered by sustainable energy and fully geared as a “popup” fashion store.

Salvos Stores in Australia’s Eastern Territory launched the first fashion-focused Salvonista campaign in September 2012 to encourage fashion-savvy, budget-conscious consumers to shop at their local Salvos Stores. There, customers can discover affordable fashion while benefiting the community and environment.

“Salvos Stores desires to bring to local communities this initiative, which enables those that are unable to reach a Salvos Store the opportunity to select modern and vintage fashion items at fantastic prices,” said Neville Barrett, general manager of Salvos Stores. “Being a Salvonista is about not only how you look on the outside, but also how you feel on the inside.”

At the launch event, Salvation Army officers welcomed guests, including media, celebrities and Salvation Army staff, blessing the store before the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Guests were then invited inside to shop.

The Salvonista Mobile Boutique poppedup in key locations throughout its opening

month—in New South Wales, Queensland and Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory.

These sites included shopping malls, universities and marketplaces.

One student at the University of Queensland exclaimed, “I knew it was going to be a great day when I saw you set up this morning! I couldn’t wait to come down.”

Salvonista stylists are also on hand at each pop-up event, offering styling tips and further information on the Salvonista campaign and Salvos Stores. To help spread the word, there’s also a mobile phone charging station and a computer kiosk for customers to log-in to Facebook and like “My Salvos Stores,” which entitles the shopper to a 50 percent discount.

At the end of the launch event, a 21-yearold man stopped by and donated every cent in his pockets. He said he “thanked God for the Salvos,” who were there for him when he had no one—an inspiring reminder to the campaign objective.

Freddy Choo is the Salvos Stores manager, retail and marketing director in the Australia Eastern Territory.

Connect with Freddy website: salvonista.com.au facebook.com/mysalvosstores twitter @mysalvosstores email: freddy.choo@aue.salvationarmy.org Photos by: Freddy Choo and Tito Media SUMMER 2013/CARING

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WORTH teaches budgeting and business skills to women in Kenya.

BY ELISE BELCHER

a

single mother of six living in western Kenya, Rose is no stranger to adversity.

“When my husband died I remember thinking that everything was hopeless,” she said. “I couldn’t afford to send the children to school and it would soon be the end of my life as well.”

Confronted with economic hardship, social exclusion and daily struggle, Rose felt great despair–– especially knowing that her children and even grandchildren would likely inherit affliction.

However, Rose’s life took a turn when her friend invited her to a women’s group that is part of The Salvation Army’s ministry in western Kenya. Known as WORTH, the women’s group provides encouragement and community friendship to the women, who all face similar challenges. This is the starting point of an incredible empowerment process.

WORTH is a concept developed by Pact—a nonprofit, mission-driven organization that last year assisted more than 12,000 organizations in 62 countries around the world (pactworld.org), to combine adult literacy, income generation and community banking projects. As the women learn about bud-

IDEAS INITIATIVE

geting and business skills, they go on to form savings groups of their own.

This program is unique in that the money put into the group’s account is entirely their own contribution. Targeted at women who are working but unable to fully provide for their families, each member brings what they can to the weekly meeting. The selected chairwoman and treasurer carefully record each contribution, while other members are responsible for keeping the locked box of money and passbooks.

“Initially, I just wanted to go along to meet with the other women, not more than that,” Rose said. “It was really hard for me to pay a share each week. Money never reaches far enough but I tried my best to contribute to the savings each week.”

Slowly, groups of around 20 women collect enough money to begin to invest, either individually or as a group, into income generation projects. These projects are normally small scale, but begin to build the business skills of the women.

They don’t rely on handouts or loans to start their business, and are quickly empowered to know their own strengths.

“After one training course, I realized how important it was to create my own income generation,” Rose said. “I decided to take a loan to buy ripe bananas to sell. It took a long time for me to make a profit, but now I buy and sell lots of different types of fruit and vegetables as well.

“My WORTH group has given me such a great opportunity and I continue to keep my savings with them to manage my money,” Rose said. “I can afford to pay for three of my children to go to school! I’m so happy because I have a hope that my future is going to be better. In time, all my children will go to school and hunger will no longer be a problem.”

Rose’s name was changed in this article.

Elise Belcher is the community development coordinator for The Salvation Army’s Africa Zone at International Headquarters.

Above: The treasurer shows how much money has been paid in, saying the amount aloud so the savings process is as transparent as possible. Left: The committee, appointed from within the group, register contributions and manage records.

Connect with Elise website: salvationarmy.org/ihq/community facebook.com/salvationarmyihq twitter @salvarmyprojects email: elise.belcher@salvationarmy.org Photos by: Brian Swartz SUMMER 2013/CARING

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IDEAS FIRST PERSON

A life of privilege, to prison, now promoting public safety BYJEFF TAYLOR

i

did not attend the repeat drug offender booth at my high school’s career day.

No one could have convinced me that I would be incarcerated on six different occasions for committing drug-related crimes.

Growing up my babysitters were the Pacific Ocean and the Phoenix Country Club in Arizona.

My only concerns were to enjoy a childhood of privilege, play golf and hope for decent surf conditions. My parents divorced early. My father lived in Phoenix and my mother in the beach community of San Diego, Calif, so my time was split between the two.

A good student and an Arizona all-state football player, I landed at the University of Arizona.

An early knee injury ended my football career and I was prescribed narcotic pain medication—my first experience with a mind-altering substance. Around the same time, my mother took her life and I was left confused. I kept myself busy not dealing with her death, but within a year I began self medicating with alcohol and later an array of drugs.

In the world of addiction, I was a late bloomer.

My first job after college was a great opportunity, a highly respected Wall Street brokerage firm where I enjoyed varied professional and financial success over the next nine years. I took advantage of an unusual trading opportunity and was able to leave the business at the age of 29. During those years I developed an increasing dependence on cocaine.

By 34, I was living in a bush, homeless in south Phoenix.

Most cities across America have criminalized homelessness, and I was no exception. Arrests began as minor offenses like criminal trespassing and other survival crimes, yet my criminal behavior soon escalated to felonies. I began to take things that weren’t mine to feed my growing addiction. My last violent crime was robbing a drug house. As I left I could feel God speaking to me saying, “My protection ends today.”

I went to the meetup location where I left all the drugs and money and walked to a convenience store telling the clerk to call a cab. Drug dealers get

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a little upset if you rob them of all their inventory and cash, so I had to get out of that area fast. When the cab arrived, I informed the driver I had zero money and needed a ride out of the neighborhood. With a Bible on his dashboard, he turned and said, “the good Lord puts people in my cab who need help.”

I ended up in Sedona, Ariz., working a construction job when a bill collector kidnapped me at gunpoint and took me to a hotel with a strong recommendation to raise the money I owed his employer. I did so by borrowing money from a dear former client of mine and he let me go.

Soon my criminal past caught up with me and I was arrested again. While serving time at a jail in Flagstaff, Ariz., I became very ill and was tested. The county sheriff, a great Christian man, told me I was HIV positive. At that point in the legal process, I was looking at spending at least four years in prison. I knew I would die in prison as back then, HIV/AIDS was a quick death sentence.

While in an isolation cell for the next 30 days, God decided to reveal himself to me. Filled with his love and grace, I knew that everything was going to be okay, regardless of prison or illness.

That’s when God’s miracles started to occur. After further tests, the same sheriff told me, “Well you don’t have AIDS. Actually, we don’t know what you have.” Then, my judge, touched by the Holy Spirit, sentenced me to The Salvation Army’s Harbor Light drug treatment program diverting me from a prison sentence.

Six months later, I graduated this marvelous life-saving program and The Salvation Army sent me back to college to acquire a teaching certification to become the head teacher of The Salvation Army’s Herberger Day Care Center––the first licensed nursery of its type caring for children of homeless parents. Twentyeight drug-free babies were born there during my tenure.

Soon I began educating our state lawmakers to fund prevention and treatment programs and not to finance bigger prisons.

To date, I have been key to designing new laws that have released over 8,000 inmates early into transitional programs designed to reduce recidivism, save money and increase public safety.

None of this could have occurred without the servant heart of The Salvation Army, which took me in with the clothes on my back, a felony, and an addiction, and introduced me to a whole new way of life managed by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you, God, for The Salvation Army.

Jeff Taylor is an Arizona Registered Lobbyist representing the homeless, impoverished families, child safety, the addicted, and prison issues.

Connect with Jeff email: TaylorJ@sagecounseling.net Photo by: John Docter

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BATTLE TO BUSINESS Veteran, homeless entrepreneurs start small businesses with the help of The Salvation Army and Pepperdine University.

BY DAWN WRIGHT

Paul Crowley

is not your average Pepperdine University student. He’s 61, part of an exclusive 20-student population attending Pepperdine’s Palmer Center Micro-Enterprise Program and he commutes to school from The Salvation Army Haven homeless shelter. Like all of his peers, he’s homeless, and like many of them, he’s also a veteran.

He’s the embodiment of The Salvation Army’s dedication to veterans, a commitment that has fostered a collaboration with Pepperdine to teach homeless veterans how to restart their lives via entrepreneurism. The Palmer Center Micro-Enterprise Program—in its first official year—teaches “Entrepreneurs-in-Training” how to evolve from SUMMER 2013/CARING

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dependence to independence to interdependence.

“It’s helped me learn to take baby steps, but it’s challenging. They’re always evaluating you,” said Crowley, proudly adding, “I haven’t missed a single day of class.”

Crowley applies the same dedication and perseverance to his current studies that he demonstrated in his three years of service as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne in the 70s. After completing 12 weeks of class focusing on personal skills he had to prove himself once again during the second round of cuts, as only those who can demonstrate couragement, assisting with the application process and giving mock interviews, he their proposed business model are viable move on said he regained self-esteem. to the second session.

“I had lost all faith in myself,” Crowley said. “But I started to hold my head up Crowley’s distinct point of view allowed him to higher. I started to think, you know what? I can do this.” see the need among veterans for certain supportAs Crowley now fine-tunes Suit Up Vets to be virtual and mobile his future is hopeive services, and led to his idea for a nonprofit orful—he understands his future is now. ganization—“Suit Up Vets”—that provides homeless veterans with suits or other appropriate work clothes to help them gain the confidence to jump back into the job market.

Like Crowley, Mike Slaughter—a 55-year-old veteran who served 11 years in the U.S. “These guys are running around with holes in Marines—is well on the road to self-sufficiency as a resident of The Salvation Army’s their pants, dirty shirts...filthy. If they come in tatHaven homeless shelter and Entrepreneur-in-Training in the Pepperdine Palmer Center tered and torn, they’re not going to get the job,” Micro-Enterprise Program.

Crowley said. “But once they start getting some Not many entrepreneurs can say their small business has grown 1,000 percent since new stuff, it makes them feel better about themmoving into a homeless shelter, but that’s exactly what Slaughter’s ledger shows. What selves. It’s all about self-esteem. They come in so started out as a $600 investment for a buffer, cleaning supplies and an extension cord, low and it’s about trying to bring them back up.” has turned into a thriving mobile car wash business boasting 40 accounts. His business Of course a fresh haircut and a new suit are just is a high-end operation, only dealing with well-maintained vehicles with accounts in one piece of the puzzle. Crowley credits The SalBel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Malibu, including a freshly inked vation Army’s comprehensive program and shelter contract with Latitude 33, a high-end condo in Marina del Rey. with rebuilding his life. “This is the best put toBut just one year ago, from behind prison bars serving 12 months for drug possesgether program I’ve seen,” he said.

“It’s not high pressure. There’s accountability and structure, but it’s anchored by a sense of respect and Micro-enterprise at Pepperdine dignity.”

Pepperdine University’s Palmer Center Micro-Enterprise Program is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization Crowley lost everything to alcothat helps underprivileged members of the Los Angeles community—including clients of The Salvation holism and had destroyed his famArmy—find gainful employment and start their own business. ily relationships, business relationDedicated Pepperdine graduate students, called “champions,” mentor participants through a rigorships, everything. “I was a mess,” ous 24-week curriculum focused on self-discovery, resumes, cover letters, networking, mock interview he said. “And felt that way—comworkshops and lectures on business planning, feasibility analysis, financial accounting, marketing and pletely felt torn down.” fundraising. The lectures are given by esteemed Pepperdine faculty and alumni, successful entrepreneurs But then he moved into The Saland members of the Los Angeles business and legal community. vation Army’s Haven and with the help of the Haven staff offering en-

Washing from inside out

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sion, Slaughter’s future seemed bleak. “I knew how hard it would be to get a job; especially guys with felony criminal records like me,” Slaughter said. “But that felony criminal background propelled me forward in my business…I’ve had to humble myself, and learn how to take direction.”

At The Salvation Army Haven, funded by government grants and generous individual and corporate donors, the program is designed especially for veterans and the myriad struggles they face. It helps veterans tackle obstacles to self-sufficiency—whether that’s through substance abuse treatment, emergency short-term housing, mental illness, or needs particular to senior citizens or women.

“I have a strong network here; they’re totally supportive,” Slaughter said. “They took me in and they help me all the way.”

One-on-one sessions with his mentor and group therapy have not only helped him professionally, but personally too. “I’ve discovered what’s easy to do—to not fight,” he said. “Ego...imposing your will on others...tends to separate you from others.”

This humility and willingness to do the hard work led to Slaughter’s admittance to the Pepperdine program. When he first entered, he already had the basic business model for his mobile car wash mapped out. But his Pepperdine mentors have been instrumental in tweaking it, like suggesting a name change for the business from “This is It” to a more marketable “Platinum Shine Mobile Auto Wash & Detail.”

But it’s not all smooth sailing. Just six months into his residency at The Salvation Army, Slaughter discovered he had prostate cancer. It was treatable, but he’d undergo radiation Monday through Friday for seven weeks. He was only halfway through his program at The Salva-

tion Army, and had just submitted his application to Pepperdine.

He had every excuse to quit, or at least, delay his plans. But instead, it pushed him to work harder.

Slaughter makes it clear his success is because of perseverance and dedication, the kind of commitment that requires a 55-year-old homeless man to wash dozens of cars in triple-digit heat, after spending the morning undergoing radiation treatment.

“You do what you’ve got to do,” Slaughter said.

Between the support Paul Crowley and Mike Slaughter receive at The Salvation Army’s Haven shelter for veterans, and all of the open doors Pepperdine’s Palmer Center Micro-Enterprise Program provides, their futures could be summed up in the motto of the 82nd Airborne…

“All the Way!” But they’re not the only ones with bright futures. Their new lease on life is contagious and both men are determined to infuse their peers with the confidence and tools to follow their own passions and find better tomorrows.

Dawn Wright is the director of marketing and communications in the Southern California Division.

Connect with Dawn website: salvationarmysocal.org facebook.com/salvationarmysoutherncalifornia twitter @salarmysocal email: dawn.wright@usw.salvationarmy.org

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THIS CHURCH HAS VIRTUAL DOORS

OnlineCorps features: GospelStories Through a live weekly Bible discussion video series called GospelStories, people share questions and comments in a text chat room while panelists give different thoughts and perspectives on a specific Bible story about Jesus Christ from the four Gospel books— Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

LifeStories

New OnlineCorps attracts thousands In September 2012 The Salvation Army Western Territory’s OnlineCorps opened its virtual doors at facebook.com/ onlinecorps and onlinecorps.net, bringing together an online community of people exploring and wrestling with issues of faith in Jesus Christ.

From countries all over the world, differing time zones, and from a wide sweep of age groups the appeal is simpler than one might think. People desire connection: to one another, and to one who made them in his image. In this safe environment there is an honesty and authenticity that many are looking for—a safe place to explore Christianity. Questions are asked openly, prayer requests made, and joys and burdens are shared.

Each Wednesday at 7 p.m., Online Corps hosts “GospelStories” an online live Bible study discussion. Helen joined the discussion one Wednesday, and shared her story. She had been on hiatus from church for 20 years and then on Sept.

14, 2012, two of her daughters, Annette, 18, and Amber, 12, were walking across the road when a drunk driver drove toward them. Annette pushed her sister to safety, but was critically injured; her rehabilitation continues today.

Helen stayed throughout the Bible study discussion that

night, and has since become a regular. She rededicated her life to Christ and is now looking to regularly attend a local corps.

OnlineCorps interacted with Helen’s family, including sending her a Bible, requesting prayer through the OnlineCorps community, and visiting on Annette's 19th birthday. Regular hosts of GospelStories—Grant, Brian and Jason—celebrated with the family, sang “Amazing Grace,” and prayed with them.

Helen is one of several people encountered through OnlineCorps that had slipped away from church, but are fitting in online.

A recently-added feature allows a participant to click a button, anonymously stating that he or she made a commitment or recommitment to Christ. As of February, 34 individuals had responded in this way.

Grant Whitehead is the social media chaplain in the USA Western Territory.

Connect with Grant website: onlinecorps.net facebook.com/onlinecorps email: grant.whitehead@usw.salvationarmy.org

FAST Created: Sept. 1, 2012 _Facebook likes: 13,706 _Friends of people who like OnlineCorps: 4,265,195 _Top five countries: FACTS USA, Australia, UK, India, Canada _OnlineCorps.net members: 609 from 34 countries _Unique visitors: 3,957 _Page views: 26,925_Countries: 85 22

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We all love to hear different people’s journey through life. LifeStories is a weekly video series of one-on-one interviews exploring the guest’s upbringing, church experience, love life, career and ultimately how they came to faith in Jesus Christ, most often—but not always— through The Salvation Army.

OnlineCorps HangOut Being a technology-based community, we harness the latest online social tools to meet together. Video chat sessions are used to deepen relationships between people across the globe. Google Hangouts via Google Plus allow for up to 10 simultaneous participants to video chat.

People come from the OnlineCorps community but also find us through the “live now” public listings. The parallel to this, not having a church building, is having the doors open and inviting people in to talk.

Special Events From time to time OnlineCorps livestreams special events from around The Salvation Army USA Western Territory. These have included some visiting bands, Christmas events, and will include several conferences later this year.

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COMPASSION WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY Research data suggests that the secret to lasting happiness does not lie in any goods, relationships or achievements, but rather in what we can give.

BY EMMA SEPPALA

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Marketing executives want us to believe that happiness lies in a product that will taste delicious, magically fill our bank accounts, or transform us into a supermodel that looks not a day past 20.

Our social norms promise that happiness will lie in status, accomplishments, relationships and possessions. We are always on the lookout for the next thing: once we have the perfect mate, we look for the perfect home; once we've found the perfect home, we look for a bigger one, or a new car or a bigger bank account; once the perfect job is attained, we look for the next promotion or look forward to retirement or a new job. We seem to be on a constant and futile chase after the promised land of lasting happiness.

Dan Gilbert of Harvard University has shown that we are, in fact, terrible at predicting what will lead to happiness. Our norms, for example, would suggest that a winning lottery ticket would make our happiness scores skyrocket while paralysis would make them plummet. Research shows, however, that winning the lottery ticket, though it creates an initial rise in well-being, does not lead to lasting happiness over time nor does becoming paraplegic lead to lasting unhappiness.

A closer look at our own experiences as well as research data suggests that the secret to lasting happiness does not lie in any goods, relationships or achievements, but rather in what we can give: not just material gifts, but gifts of time, gifts of love, gifts of ourselves. Compassion and service don't just make us happy but they also have a host of other associated benefits and may even contribute to a longer life. Here's how:

Compassion makes you happy A brain-imaging study headed by neuroscientist Jordan Grafman from the National Institute of Health showed that the “pleasure centers” in the brain, i.e. the parts of our brains that are active when we experience pleasure (like dessert, money, sex) are equally active when we observe someone giving money to charity as when we receive money ourselves! Giving to others even increases well-being above and beyond spending money on ourselves.

In a revealing experiment published in Science by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton, participants received a sum of money. Half of the participants were instructed to spend the money on themselves and the other half were told to spend the money on others. At the end of the study, participants that had spent money on others felt significantly happier than those that had spent money on themselves. This is true even for infants! A recent study by Elizabeth Dunn and colleagues at the University of British Columbia shows that, even in children as young as 2, giving treats to others increases their happiness more than receiving treats themselves.

Compassion makes you wise One reason compassion makes us happy is by broadening our perspective beyond ourselves. We know from research on anxiety and depression that these tense and unhappy states are highly self-focused. During stress or sadness, we are usually focused on the things that are going wrong in our lives. Research shows that depression and anxiety are linked to a state of self-focus, a preoccupation with “me, myself, and I.” When you do something for someone else, however, that state of self-focus immediately dissolves. Now think of a time you were feeling blue and suddenly a close friend or relative called you for urgent help with a problem. All of a sudden your attention was 26

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on helping them. Rather than feeling blue, you began to feel energized and before you knew it, you may even have felt better and had gained some perspective on your own situation as well.

Compassion makes you attractive Just like we want time and money, above all, most of us want to be loved. We seek love at work in the form of recognition, in our families in the form of respect and kindness, in our romantic relationships in the form of intimacy and social support. Ideally, we want to have good relationships and we want people to like us.

In seeking this love, we can go to all sorts of lengths including focusing on our appearance (think anti-wrinkle chemical peels or muscle-inflating protein powders) and putting on a show or facade to impress others and to conceal our weaknesses and vulnerability. These efforts often fail and even have the opposite effect we intended. A study examining the trait most highly valued in potential romantic partners suggests a different story: both men and women rate kindness as one of their most desired traits.

Compassion gives you money and time In addition to happiness and love, we all want more time and money. However intriguing new studies by Zoe Chance of Harvard Business School shows that, when we do compassion, our sense of time expands; and when we give money away, our sense of abundance and wealth also increases. Anyone who has ever engaged in helping someone knows that the sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that ensues is a happiness far beyond that of any material good or success. It is on another level of well-being altogether just how satisfying and fulfilling that experience can be.

Compassion boosts your health Research by Ed Diener and Martin Seligman suggests that connecting with others in a meaningful way helps us enjoy better mental and physical health, speeds up recovery from disease, and research by Stephanie Brown at Stony Brook University has shown that it may even lengthen our life. Why does compassion lead to health benefits? A clue to this question rests in a fascinating new study by Steve Cole and Barbara Fredrickson that evaluated levels of inflammation at the cellular level in people that describe themselves as “very happy.”

Inflammation is at the root of cancer and other diseases and is generally high in people who live under a lot of stress. We might expect that inflammation would be lower for people with higher levels of happiness. Cole and Fredrickson found that this was only the case for certain “very happy” people. They found that people who were happy because they lived the “good life” (sometimes also known as “hedonic happiness”) had high inflammation levels but that, on the other hand, people who were happy because they lived a life of purpose or meaning (sometimes also known as “eudaimonic happiness”) had low inflammation levels.

A life of meaning and purpose is one focused less on satisfying oneself and more on others. It is a life rich in compassion, altruism and greater meaning.

READ IT

Find links to the research Dr. Seppala references at caringmagazine.org.

Compassion uplifts and spreads Why are the lives of people like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and Desmond Tutu so inspiring? Research by Jonathan Haidt, formerly at the University of Virginia and now at New York University, suggests that seeing someone helping another person creates a state of “elevation.” Have you ever been moved to tears by seeing someone’s loving and compassionate behavior? Haidt’s data suggests that it may be this elevation that then inspires us to help others—and it may just be the force behind a chain reaction of giving.

Social scientists James Fowler of UC San Diego and Nicolas Christakis of Harvard demonstrated that helping is contagious— acts of generosity and kindness beget more generosity in a chain reaction of goodness. You may have seen one of the news reports about chain reactions that occur when someone pays for the coffee of the driver behind them at a drive-through restaurant or at a highway toll booth. People keep the generous behavior going for hours. Your act of compassion therefore uplifts others and makes them happy. You may not know it but by uplifting others you are also helping yourself: research by Fowler and Christakis has shown that happiness spreads and that if the people around us are happy, we, in turn become happier as well.

Compassion is 100 percent natural One reason why compassion might feel so good is that it's natural to us. Though economists and grumps may ba-humbug,

research suggests that, at our core, both animals and human beings are loving, generous, and kind. Ground-breaking research by John Decety at the University of Chicago showed that even rats are driven to empathize and help out another suffering rat.

Research with infants backs up these claims. Michael Tomasello and other scientists at the Max Planck Institute have found that infants automatically engage in helpful behavior. Recent research by David Rand at Harvard shows that the first impulse of adults, too, is to help others. Research by Dale Miller at Stanford suggests that the difference between children and adults is that adults will often stop themselves because they worry that others think they are selfinterested.

What can we take away from this research? Material goods may give us fun short-term pleasure but long-term happiness and fulfillment lies less in what we can take than what we can give. Compassion may just be the best kept secret to being not just happy but also healthy, wealthy and wise.

Emma Seppala, Ph.D, is associate director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University.

Connect with Emma website: emmaseppala.com facebook.com/emma.seppala twitter @emmaseppala

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The danger of charity

BY ERIN DUFAULT-HUNTER

“That is so good of you” or “How wonderful that you spend your time with those people.” Such comments reveal an underlying sentiment about investing in the poor, disadvantaged, or otherwise marginalized: Only the really devout or extraordinary person does this and to do so means giving up something, offering them “charity.” We—the able-bodied, wealthy, educated, resourced, or whatever—are helping them. It is a one-way street, with us as the source of aid to the unfortunate.

And it would seem that charity is a good idea for Christians.

After all, the word itself comes from the Latin caritas or love; this remains one of the great Christian virtues along with hope and faith. Yet the word now captures not only the caring for neighbor but the more “pagan” sentiment of altruism—doing good without seeking anything in return, a sort of disinterested love of another.

But the Christian story narrates a very different disposition when engaging with others across socially-established boundaries such as race and class or mental and physical ability. We join our lives to the weak because it is in doing so that Christ both exposes the vulnerability from which we often hide and shapes us into who we are meant to be. Paul’s oft-quoted but seldom appreciated text of 1 Corinthians 12:12-17 offers one entry point into his revolutionary vision for why we join our lives to one 28

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another and how we do so in a peculiar way.

Paul re-defines reality The church at Corinth was cosmopolitan; they were aware of social class and status. So Paul’s first move is to remind them of what has happened to them as Christians. They have been baptized; they have died to an old way of life and risen to a new one. Now taken into Christ, his Spirit has made them members of Christ’s body alongside “those people” from whom they were otherwise separated by ethnicity (Jew/Greek) or by economic and social status (slave/free; vv. 12-14). The Spirit distributes gifts to each person and such gifts must be shared with one another out of necessity in order to function as an organic whole.

It is difficult to overstate how radical such a vision is, how for Paul this deep reality made possible by Christ’s astonishing work reorganizes reality. Now there is no “me” but rather a “we” that has become Christ’s body in the world; here is new creation!

We might be tempted to read this text as a mere celebration of equality, similar to what we hear in the political realm. But for Paul, this new creation is not merely democratic ideals enacted.

He immediately turns to how this reality necessarily disrupts perceptions of ourselves and others. In verses 14-21, Paul riffs on the sinful ways we refuse the offer of such community and

instead merely reenact the political and social sensibilities of this world, especially as it understands the concepts of sharing resources.

First, he calls out those who think too little of themselves (e.g., the foot and ear; vv. 15-16). Some relief and development workers dub this a “marred identity,” prominent particularly among the poor.

That is, they internalize the lie that they have nothing to offer and that their lives are worthless. They may well decide to sit on the sidelines of our communal life, refusing to exercise their gifts or offer their lives for others. Scorned by society or even by the church because they do not have the right resources or the talents currently held in high regard, these feet and ears waste away in sorrow, listlessness, or self-loathing. But particularly galling to Paul is that by enacting this lie, they refuse to share what they have with dire consequences; the body of Christ is crippled for its service (“If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?”)

What astonishing news for the poor and despised! Here is the first major disruption of our social, political, and economic views. Nobody gets off the hook for participation; every member is charged with engaging in our shared witness, even you who misperceive yourself as a receiver.

Paul then moves to a perhaps more treacherous lie: the myth that some are better than others, that by virtue of their gifts, some are independent from the unfortunates (the eye, head; see v. 21).

Here Paul makes a shocking claim. Not only are you to share resources for the good of all. You who believe yourself to be deigning to stoop to help others are actually dependent on them. You who are higher need those whom you are tempted to pity; if you could but see clearly, you would perceive that they are indispensable to you!

But Paul continues to shock us. He is well aware of our spiritualizing tendencies to tell ourselves we have made an important internal shift in attitude. So Paul institutes a concrete practice in the body of Christ: actively honor those who are dishonored or shamed by the world. Display dignity and distinction to the weak and disrespected (1. Cor. 12: 23-24).

In his wisdom, Paul insists that the body of Christ actively resist the politics and social order of our culture. In ways that are equally unsettling to those who have power and to those who do not, the apostle presses us into a new order that reflects the upside down nature of the reign of Christ, in which the first are last and the last first, and in which all find joy in finding their place.

equal but rather that shows deep esteem for those thought not worthy of it. How are the people with whom you work or to whom you give disrespected in their school, neighborhood, political, social, or family life? How might you be devaluing them, even in the ways you seek to “help” them by doing so in a way that allows you to hold all the cards, or allows them to play fast and loose with rules? We need others, so we recieve from them; we do so not to placate them but rather to embody Christ, practicing the politics and economics of the reign of our generous God. We show “the same care for one another” and thus reveal the possibility of peaceful living across our differences (1 Cor. 12: 24-25).

We learn that we are capable of “being one,” so that not only are resources shared, gifts exchanged, but our lives become so intertwined that we share in one another’s goods and bads, joys and sorrows. This is the biblical vision of the fully alive human, one united with Christ and thus joined with all others who are in Christ despite our differences. From early in our history, the living out of this reality deeply bothered Roman understandings of how people should behave.

Christians greeted one another (sometimes in the arena) across gender, ethnicity, and social class.

Many found this dangerously disruptive of social and cultural norms and values.

Thus engaging with others as essential for us might, if taken seriously, put us at odds with others who enter into charity work. As Christians, we join our lives to the poor (if we ourselves are not so perceived) because we know that God will right the world on their behalf; to be with them and for them is to be in a position to enter the kingdom when it fully arrives. How do we rightly need others, depend on them? This can be wrongly done, manipulative of those who depend on us for certain kinds of gifts or service, so we must distinguish between using others and being truly with/for/in others.

By attending to Paul’s vision and embodying this alternative, we have circled back around to the root of charity as love. But it is a love that is far from disinterested altruism. Instead our charity reminds us that we are needy and fragile beings, dependent on God and others.

This is a caritas chastened and informed by the Spirit who by miracle unites us across differences so that we might become wholly, holy human.

” We are commanded to act, speak in a way that is not merely equal but rather that shows deep esteem for those thought not worthy of it.”

Reshaping your area of service, mission, or ministry Far from being arrogant and “coming down” to help others, we see that we are actually in need of those commonly viewed as “needy.” We are commanded to act, speak in a way that is not merely

Dr. Erin Dufault-Hunter is an assistant professor of Christian Ethics in the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Connect with Erin website: fuller.edu email: erindh@fuller.edu SUMMER 2013/CARING

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FUTURE OF PHILANTHROPY THE NEXT GENERATION OF MAGNANIMITY HAS ARRIVED.

BY JARED MC KIERNAN

Facebook power couple Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s announcement late last year to give away half of their wealth during their lifetime may have come as a surprise to many, considering the 28 and 27-year-old, respectively, don’t fall into the demographic typically occupied by high capacity philanthropists. Some saw the gesture as the onset of a philanthropic power shift, but it underscores a phenomenon already underway.

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Scholars calculate that the U.S. is currently experiencing a historic “wealth transfer,” as a staggering sum of accrued assets shift from one generation to the next.

Approximately 122 million Generation Xers and Millennials are inheriting over $40 trillion in wealth throughout the first half of the 21st century––much of that earmarked for charitable giving. Philanthropic consulting firm 21/64 and researchers at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University recently compiled a study entitled #nextgendonors, profiling

these generational cohorts and, perhaps, providing a clue for how organizations can make a lasting impression on them.

True value Much like their predecessors, “next-gen” are likely to get involved with causes and issues that align closely with their values.

Less than one in three respondents claimed to give to different organizations than their parents and grandparents. Molly Stranahan, psychologist and heiress to the Champion Spark Plug fortune who writes and lectures

“ N E X T- G E N ” DONORS said. “Or your $10,000 achieved this or that, I think often a lot of nonprofits, not just The Salvation Army, forget to communicate that back.”

How organizations show gratitude can dictate the longevity of an infant nonprofit-donor relationship, Watson said. Without the proper thank you, these donors can feel a disconnect––as if the only time they hear back from the organization is to ask for another gift. Western Territorial Commissioner Jim Knaggs personally calls high capacity donors in the territory to thank them for their support.

“It conveys to the donor that the person themselves, their company, their foundation, are appreciated and they hear that from the top leader of The Salvation Army, which is great, but that can be done at all levels,” Watson said.

Social stratagem

extensively on philanthropy, says it’s up to nonprofits to be transparent about their values, concerns and aspirations to allow younger donors to easily determine if they want to get involved.

“Good development work is really about matchmaking where the interests of the donor connect with the work that the organization is doing,” Stranahan said. “The more your donors are connected to your mission, the tighter that connection is going to be.”

Connections, however, can be lost just as easily as they’re formed. That’s why organizations need to ensure that every donor is valued regardless of the value of their gifts, according to Chaz Watson, executive director of development for The Salvation Army’s Western Territory.

He says a good starting point is relaying the tangible impact of the gift back to the donor.

“Whether that’s, ‘Your contribution of $25 provides one night of shelter and comprehensive services to someone,’” Watson

Unsurprisingly, next-gen donors are more web-savvy than their predecessors. Perhaps even less surprisingly, more and more donor engagement is taking place online. Whether or not organizations keep up with the torrid pace of social media can be the difference between total online-offline engagement and falling off a donor’s radar entirely.

Ladders, funnels and pyramids can only sketch so detailed a blueprint for nonprofits to build constituency with donors.

Due to the inherently one-way vehicles of communication like e-newsletters and direct mail, nonprofits struggled to maintain frequent contact with donors before the explosion of social media. Considering how young philanthropists communicate with one another, it’s impossible to understate its impact as a force multiplier.

As Stranahan says, social media also offers organizations an

77.7 % gave to an organization online in the past year

91% consult an organization’s website to conduct due diligence

32.9% give to different causes than parents, grandparents

78% began volunteering at the age of 15 or younger

7.7 % personally donate $50,000 or more per year to charity

51% started charitable giving with their own resources before the age of 21.

63.8% female 36.2% male 98.7% have bachelor’s degree

54.2% have graduate degrees

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opportunity to seek out donors, as opposed to vice-versa. Though for now, many young donors still do find organizations and it almost always starts on the web. According to the study, over 90 percent of respondents go online when researching an organization.

Giving online directly to an organization is also the single most common philanthropic activity among next-gen donors, practiced by 77.7 percent in the past year.

Danielle Oristian, director of 21/64, says that it’s often how an organization makes social media more visceral that determines the success of online engagement.

“The question is how do we make the experience go just beyond the moment?” Orisitian said. “If you look at charity: water, part of what they do is engage social media in a way that creates a very intimate experience for donors who are very far away from where those wells are being drilled.”

Whether social media is revolutionizing or merely expanding upon the conventional engagement models, it’s still important to implement both online and offline connection strategies to maximize impact. Watson notes the potential within The Salvation Army to cultivate more specific projects and peer-topeer online fundraising like the Online Red Kettle.

“We have to keep doing everything we possibly can to maintain and grow income through the traditional avenues,” Watson said, “but also be working really hard to create inroads for the younger donors.”

Making room This generation is thick with well-rounded philanthropists. The “check writers” are being phased out by donors interested in being at the heart of deeper social impact.

“How do you accept all they want to offer you?” Oristian said. “We have to make room for others at the table because they want to come and participate. Even if they don’t have as much to give now, it ensures your ability to build that constituency if they do age into high capacity donors. The opportunity to connect and form their identities is now.”

Three in four respondents have volunteered since their freshman year in high school or younger. They want to do more than observe from afar the work that an organization does.

Established nonprofits like The Salvation Army are oftentimes less prone to engage supporters for their other resources, Watson says. He believes it is going to take a “change of culture” for The Salvation Army to be able to incorporate the ideas, talents, and volunteerism with which the next generation is equipped.

“If I’m contributing a million dollars a year to the Army, I think I’ve demonstrated that I have a stake in our success and maybe I’ve earned the right to have some more time investment from the leadership of the organization to get to know my passions and my convictions,” he said. “Then, maybe I can have an impact beyond just my dollars.”

Jared McKiernan is an editorial assistant for New Frontier Publications.

Connect with Jared website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter @caringmagazine email: jared.mckiernan@usw.salvationarmy.org

“How do you accept all they want to offer you? We have to make room for others at the table because they want to come and participate.”

Financial gift helps most in disaster

By Kathy Lovin When news headlines point to disasters here and abroad, remember that financial gifts are the best way to support The Salvation Army’s relief and response work.

Buying in or near the disaster zone also allows us to do two important things: support the local economy with dollars they desperately need to survive and rebuild, and avoid the high cost of shipping and import tariffs (especially for overseas disasters).

Gift-in-kind donations like clothing, appliances and household goods, are always needed by Salvation Army Family Stores to serve the community and raise the funding to provide no-fee, residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation to people in need.

But giving unsolicited gift-in-kind during a disaster response effort can be counterproductive. Significant logistical challenges exist in sorting, packing and distributing supplies in a disaster zone where roads and infrastructure are damaged, and the time and money spent organizing un-solicited donations would be better directed to the primary disaster relief effort.

That’s why giving a financial gift is the best way to help The Salvation Army care for the needs of disaster survivors. In such times, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or visit us online at donate.salvationarmy.usa.org

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So, our motives and our inspiration should be clear. As Christ modeled a life of sacrifice and caring for us, so we must act out in our lives that same commitment to sharing, giving and modeling for others.

A woman recently died in our hometown—she was single, lived a frugal life and left The Salvation Army nearly $2 million. Friends had asked her why she did not have a dishwasher in her kitchen. “I can do the dishes by hand, and saving that money just leaves more for the work of The Salvation Army when I die,” she replied.

I remember my father sitting at his desk on the first day of the month, making out checks for household expenses and a lengthy list of church and charities. In later years, I prepared my father’s tax return and was always amazed at the number of charities he supported and the significant portion of his income that went to support the poor.

Giving is a significant part of service on any charitable board. For those who serve, it is our duty to set the example, to spread the word and to use our own influence

Do you know who serves on The Salvation Army National Advisory Board?

Visit the leadership section of salvationarmyannualreport.org for the full list.

MOTIVATING A DONATION

BY DICK HAGERTY

T

his morning as we stood in church and sang “Amazing Grace,” I deeply felt that awesome gift from God—that he sent his son to minister to a hurting world, and to die for our sins. It is that sense of awe that overcomes me every time I sit down to consider my monthly contributions to my church, to The Salvation Army and other serving ministries that I support.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17a) the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians. Jesus had already told us, “...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matt. 25:45).

among friends and associates.

When a major campaign is initiated, board members are often asked to personally contact donors. In my own experience, these conversations have led to donations totaling well over a million dollars.

Did the donor give because of me? No. The donor gave because someone he trusted asked him to give to a trusted organization, clearly stated the need, and articulated the way the lead gift would enable the success of the campaign. In some cases, relationships can even eliminate the need to ask.

Several years ago a long-time valued business associate and owner of a major agribusiness company called me to say the company would like to donate a building to The Salvation Army to house the homeless in our city. Following negotiations and technical meetings at the highest levels of the Western Territory, the Army received a deed to a full city block and a giant industrial building, all with an appraised value of $2.4 million.

New advisory board members are drilled early and often on the need to support the Army’s work, both financially and with their time.

We expect all to give, though it may not be equally, because giving of time, treasure and self is the highest calling we can ask of those in our local community.

Dick Hagerty is a long-time advisory board member, currently serving on the board for the Modesto (Calif.) Corps and the National Advisory Board.

Connect with Dick email: rghagerty@aol.com SUMMER 2013/CARING

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“We would love to see people escape the cycle of poverty...”

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Povertees Life sewn together

BY VIVIAN GATICA

It

started with a vibrant pocket on a simple shirt. A pocket with a purpose.

“We worked into the hours of the early morning to create a single pocket,” Povertees founder Tyler Patterson said. “After hours of trial and error, we finally sewed the pocket onto a shirt and it looked terrible—but the shirt’s humble imperfections made it beautiful, and we have been building upon that foundation ever since.”

The first Povertees shirt was made in November 2007, with the intention of providing the local homeless community with basic needs like food and clothing, but it became more than that. Hughie Hughes joined the team in 2009, and has since led the team with Patterson.

Patterson and Hughes found that social and emotional support was undervalued in society, and realized that their mission was not just about helping the homeless with material things, but with the support.

“We’re not just passing out food, clothing, and blankets, but also keeping up with these people and making an impact on their lives,” Patterson said. “We are trying to make memories and share their lives with them.”

The money raised from the shirts directly benefits those in need. Patterson, Hughes and the rest of the Povertees team make trips to Downtown Los Angeles once a week to distribute food, clothing, blankets, hygiene kits, and other necessities. A partnership is also in the works that would allow Povertees to sponsor homeless individuals, as they go through rehabilitation programs.

“We would love to see people escape the cycle of poverty and we would like to walk alongside them as they do so,” Hughes said.

“We realize that the people that want to get

off the streets have to be willing to help themselves, but we want to aid them in that process.”

Two years into Povertees, Patterson and Hughes met Freddy. He was determined to get off the streets, but he needed help. Freddy had been offered a job at a car detailing shop but didn’t have a cell phone for his employer to contact him when he needed to work. Povertees provided him with provisions and a cell phone. Freddy has since been hired as a fulltime car detailer and makes enough money to rent an apartment.

“The ironic thing is that we were obviously incredibly happy to see Freddy moving on with his life, but we were also really sad that we weren't going to be seeing him anymore,” Patterson said.

Patterson hopes Povertees will demonstrate the meaning of kindness and amplify social awareness of homelessness, ideally leading to similar projects in other cities..

“It is important to be aware of anything that’s going on in the community and the world,” Patterson said. “Everyone has it pretty tough in their own way and I think it’s valuable to reach out to everybody, whether they’re homeless or not.”

Vivian Gatica is an intern with New Frontier Publications.

Connect with Vivian website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter @caringmagazine email: vivian.gatica@usw.salvationarmy.org visit: povertees.com SUMMER 2013/CARING

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SEEDLINGS SEEDLINGS SEEDLINGS 36

SUMMER 2013/CARING

A HOLISTIC MIDDLE GROUND APPROACH TO EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION MINISTRIES

BY KEVIN JACKSON

SUMMER 2013/CARING

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L

“Let’s sing hello to Leo, to Leo, to Leo. Let’s sing hello to Leo, sing hello. Let’s wave hello to Henry, to Henry, to Henry. Let’s wave hello to Henry, wave hello. Let’s clap hello to Kylie, to Kylie, to Kylie. Let’s clap hello to Kylie, clap hello.

Let’s hop hello to...”

Just a few simple words.

Transformational words.

These are the words of the “Hello Song” used to open each session of the Seedlings program at The Salvation Army Billings, Mont., corps. An active song, where accompanying motions along with these few, simple words make each child feel welcome, special and loved.

Studies produced from educators, psychologists and neurologists boast of the advantages that an education in the fine arts can provide to children.

Results ranging from increased performance on academic test to higher IQ scores to overall contentment and happiness in life have been attributed to the inclusion of an arts curriculum in all levels of the educational system. But how soon is too soon to expose children to the arts? Can exposure to the arts provide a bridge out of poverty for children in the margins in our communities? The Salvation Army shouts a resounding, “Yes!” Dance, music, art, sound, movement, creativity, health, growth, faith—essential tenets of The Salvation Army’s Seedlings program for children ages 3-5. These principles explored by the preschool children, children who historically come from the most vulnerable segment of our society—children in the margins. The Billings Corps sought to go back to its Army roots and begin to reach out to the youngest “clients” in its social services system—to provide opportunities to become healthy, happy and accomplished children in their own right.

In the early decades of the work of The Salvation Army, intentional ministries reached out to young people to provide experiences they wouldn’t have in urban-poor areas. The Middle Ground, generally, and Seedlings, specifically recapture the early ministry to children within The Salvation Army, while putting it in a 21st century context.

This program refutes the notion of waiting to provide social services until a young person reaches adulthood—an adult burdened with multiple children, limited or no education, and complex issues

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controlling life. Seedlings provides an opportunity to take an individual and come alongside him or her in infancy as opposed to waiting for a life of dysfunction, enmeshed in mistakes and misfortunes. To care for the child with a life-long commitment through the corps ministry reduces gateways to antithetical behavior usually encountered in life, such as drugs, alcohol, learned dysfunctional patterns from an unstable home life, sex and inappropriate exposures to what a healthy sexual relationship should be.

The Seedlings curriculum is child-centered. The child is not merely taking instructions from the adults facilitating the program, but is in control of the learning experiences and the adults and parents involved in the classes are

The Middle Ground ministries of the Billings, Mont., corps were designed to develop a cutting edge program resource for this region. The name is derived by the agreement between the Native American Algonquin Indian tribe in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and the French, English and American settlers of the 18th century; the “middle ground” was a place where business could be conducted and all were safe, despite their vast differences.

The Salvation Army Middle Ground seeks to incorporate this same spirit into its work with programs beginning for those as young as 2 in the Seedlings creative arts program. Middle Ground envelops philosophies and programs including urban agriculture, fine arts and music ministry for school age children, rehabilitation for the homeless addict, and mobile community meals. All programs seek to bring individuals of diverse backgrounds together to find the healing and change that we need to live healthy, productive and peaceful lives.

merely co-learners alongside the child. Relationships with other children, parents, adults and God are explored through experiential exercises including touch, movement, seeing, hearing and creating.

The children experience the endless ways and opportunities available to express themselves and understand that the life of faith equals a good life for both them and their families.

Seedlings provides preschoolers with a safe, common clean space to participate in the visual and performing arts while gaining an introduction to sustainable agriculture. All children are regarded as capable, imaginative and gifted. Instructors support these qualities and guide each child individually and as a community in age appropriate artistic activities to stimulate the preschooler’s cognitive development. Gardening, nutrition, and healthy eating activities engage children into the world of healthy living. Learning to be in community and providing positive activities guiding children in relationship building among each other rounds out the program as children learn to respect and love their neighbor through lessons specifically designed for that purpose.

Though the worldview of these children’s parents or grandparents often projects hopelessness, Seedlings provides real, tangible experiences of hopefulness. It enables children to experience this

alternative to the crushing sense of a life wasted, opportunities missed and dreams dashed. Seedlings is transformational—exhuming unshakable devotion to God’s good creation, creativity and the development of appreciation of the arts, localism and community, commitment to place, healthy communities, good food and good work, miracle of life, sustainable agriculture, reverence, interconnectedness of life, and holy living. Yes, all of this on a preschool level.

In God and the Welfare State Lew Daly shares how he witnessed an individual saved into the Christian faith by reading just one line from a Psalm. He suggests if a few words from Scripture can provide such a transformational experience for one person, imagine the results if we applied the total of Scripture into a plan for service and redemption of the poor. The Seedlings model is the beginning of such a plan.

We need an unshakable devotion to our children in the margins of society, and Seedlings demonstrates this commitment to the silent, often overlooked, the most vulnerable members—our youngest.

How will you make a difference in child’s life today?

Let’s wave goodbye to Leo, to Leo, to Leo. Let’s wave goodbye to Leo, wave goodbye…

Kevin Jackson is the pro-tem New Frontier Publications associate editor for book publishing.

Connect withKevin website: caringmagazine.org facebook.com/caringmagazine twitter @caringmagazine email: kevin.jackson@usw.salvationarmy.org

SUMMER 2013/CARING

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Boundless Evangelistic Campaign An excerpt from Boundless: Living life in overflow

BY DANIELLE STRICKLAND

It took me about eight different tattoo parlours before I found the guy who would be willing to come with me to a large youth conference and give me a tattoo on stage. Actually, even that guy I had to coax to come. I was speaking, together with Stephen, to a crowd of teenagers about living life in a way we were meant to. On this day we were getting to covenant… this is living in promise—living with a purpose—living for something and someone larger than ourselves…and we were trying to communicate it to a generation that had been labeled selfish, fickle, and loose.

Tattoos can be a big deal. They are forever.

They are painful. They are obvious—and did I mention painful? So, in front of all these young people and many surprised older leaders I sat in the middle of the stage as my new tattooist friend started up his gun and began the work. My husband broke down the scriptural significance of living for something bigger than your own life and I endured the pain, publicly and embraced being forever marked with a song. The tattoo I chose was a song—it is the musical theme of our evangelistic campaign, with words that a man named William Booth penned over a century ago. It was about an idea that has completely changed the world. It wasn’t Booth’s idea—he just wrote about it and lived it out. It was God’s idea from the very beginning.

The world was meant to be good. Actually, when God created it He said it was beautiful.

But something happened…With our power

Monarch Books, LinHudson Publisher, 2013

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SUMMER 2013/CARING

See more Salvation Army tattoos in this Facebook group: tinyurl.com/SAtattoos

Watch an Online Corps “Life Stories” interview with Major Danielle Strickland: tinyurl.com/ LifeStoriesStrickland

came great responsibility (think ‘Spiderman’) and we blew it. We gave over the power to destruction. And we started to get smaller. So did the world.

Marred, broken… is there any more accurate way to view our world today?

But God had a plan for even that inevitability.

Salvation.

This is a fancy way of saying that you and I need fixing. But that’s not hard to see—we all need fixing. Individually and collectively. If we are going to be fixed it’s going to take an idea that is larger than our problems. And that brings me back to the tattoo.

See, the tattoo is a song all about this—a boundless salvation—because Boundless is bigger than our curse. God’s plan to save us is more than a personal path to happiness or success or even peace. It’s so much bigger than that. God’s plan is to put right everything that’s been broken in the world.

Everyone of his children. God’s plan of salvation is a plan for the entire world—it’s, well, boundless.

I remember hearing Bono asked about becoming a politician. He said he had thought about it but then remembered that when a politician gives a speech, he gives it once—maybe if it’s really good people listen to it twice.

But when you write a song, it becomes part of you. You feel the song. You live the song. You sing the song.

And I got Boundless tattooed on my arm because I want to live the song.

I want my life to be immersed in the message of this salvation— that is larger than me. I want it visible. I want to embrace the pain. I want to live the promise. You know what I mean? I want to believe with everything that I am and everything that I’ve got that there is a better way to live—that my

life matters more than the small drama of my own feelings, family, and gifts.

The Boundless Evangelistic Campaign isn’t about ‘steps’ or ‘doctrine’; it’s not even trying to convince you of something that will make your life happy. It’s about a song: A song big enough to tattoo on your body. But even more than that, it’s a song that can get inside of you and become a new way to live. That melody is beautiful. I pray that you’ll hear it, and embrace it as you live.

Our campaign is fairly simple. If you don’t experience this boundless salvation, then read and pray through the book Boundless: Living life in overflow. If you do, then think of some friends who don’t. Pray for them daily for a month. Present them with a copy of the book. And then follow up with them later. Simple. Easy. But the effects could be boundless.

The campaign and the book are based on William Booth’s famous song from 1893, called “O Boundless Salvation.” In seven verses, he develops a story of a person who grows from a limited, stunted existence into a boundless life. It’s captivating! Here are the words. We’re crafting the Boundless Evangelistic Campaign around his story.

Major Danielle Strickland is corps officer of the Edmonton Crossroads Community Church in Canada with her husband, Major Stephen Court.

Connect with Danielle website: sacrossroads.com twitter @djstrickland

SUMMER 2013/CARING

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BOOK REVIEW

Doing Right While Doing Good An exploration of ministerial ethics

BY DAVE HUDSON Doing Right while Doing Good (BMH Books, 2012), co-authored

by Dr. Kenneth Bickel, a former banker, pastor and seminary professor, and Kevin Vanderground, a practicing attorney and professor, certainly resonates with the Army’s brand promise “Doing the Most Good.”

Today, more than any time in history, ethical practices of ministry leaders are under scrutiny. It seems every day there is a new article of a moral or ethical failure of a religious leader. Not only at issue is the leader’s own behavior, but how he or she deals, or fails to deal, with bad behavior of others.

Doing Right while Doing Good is a practical and biblically-based guide on real issues that face people in ministry. It delves into matters that are Caring_Furniture_Concepts:Layout 8:52 Training AM Page 1 not always covered in seminary or, in 1the4/16/13 Army’s case, College,

and obliges the reader to examine his or her own personal life.

When ministry leaders fail, it emphasizes, the ripple effects and consequences often extend well beyond what any one person could have comprehended. The authors underscore the importance of Paul’s mandate to spiritual leaders (Col. 1:10) to not walk in a manner not worthy of their calling, which brings displeasure and shame.

Bickel and Vanderground walk the reader through various, real life scenarios that all leaders face in the course of doing ministry, and the importance of authenticity. They provide a useful guide in creating a code of ethics that includes building in accountability, safeguards, and boundaries to ministry objectives, and encourage leaders to write and share it with others.

The book leaves few areas untouched, and its authors directly, yet tactfully, address the more obvious areas such as finance, use of power, relationship with those of the opposite sex, and the drive for success. However, they also cover the importance of more subtle areas like sense of entitlement, dealing with successors and predecessors in ministry appointments, and nurturing people to have an unhealthy dependence upon them, rather than on God. This text can, and perhaps should, be used as a springboard for the pastor leader to examine his or her life and ministry.

Colonel Dave Hudson is chief secretary in the USA Western Territory.

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RESOURCES TO VIEW

IN PRINT DIRTY GOD: JESUS IN THE TRENCHES by Johnnie Moore (Thomas Nelson, 2013) draws on both Scripture and extensive experience with other cultures and religions to show how the God of the Bible is unique in his willingness to be near us in all of our messiness. Moore outlines the central importance of the doctrine of grace while introducing readers to a humble and human Jesus who reaches out to us at our worst and pulls us up to our best.

ALTAR EGO: BECOMING WHO GOD SAYS YOU ARE by Craig Groeschel (Zondervan, 2013) explores how to trade in your broken ego and unleash your altar ego to become a living sacrifice. Once we know our true identity and are growing in our Christ-like character, then we can behave accordingly, with bold behavior, bold prayers, bold words, and bold obedience.

“Altar Ego” reveals who God says you are, and then calls you to live up to it.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT GOD by Rob Bell (HarperOne, 2013) shows how traditional ideas have grown stale and dysfunctional and how to return vitality and vibrancy to lives of faith today. Bell tackles the misconcep-

tions about God and reveals how God is with us, for us, ahead of us, and how understanding this could change the entire course of our lives.

PURSUING JUSTICE: THE CALL TO LIVE & DIE FOR BIGGER THINGS by Ken Wytsma (Thomas Nelson, 2013) looks at why, if God designed us to experience true happiness and abundant life, so many Christians feel dissatisfied and purposeless. Wytsma asserts the path to a just life that’s satisfying and permeated with meaning leads us alongside the orphan, the widow, and the powerless. He calls us back to a proper understanding of biblical justice, a redeeming glimpse into the true meaning of righteousness and the remarkable connection between our own joy, the joy of others, and the wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ.

BREAKING OLD RHYTHMS: ANSWERING THE CALL OF A CREATIVE GOD by spoken word artist Amena Brown (InterVarsity Press, 2013) explores how experiences such as deejaying, learning to dance, having a broken heart and practicing the rules of improv can teach us about our life’s rhythm and how we can better tune our ears and lives to the rhythm of God. Listen to Brown read “Key of G” at soundcloud. com/amena-brown/key-of-g.

NOT TODAY puts a human face on the worldwide problem of human trafficking. In the film, a spoiled young American college student personally encounters trafficking of children among India’s “untouchables” and is forever changed. Watch the trailer at nottodaythemovie.com.

ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE is about saving the health of a nation. Award-winning filmmakers Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke follow dramatic human stories as well as leaders fighting to transform healthcare at the highest levels of medicine, industry, government, and even the U.S. military. Watch the trailer at escapefiremovie.com.

TEDTALKS is a product of TED, a nonprofit devoted to ideas worth spreading. The annual TED Conference brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). This spring, Bono—lead singer of U2—spoke about “The good news on poverty” with inspiring data that “shows the end of poverty is in sight.” Watch at ted.com/talks.

ON THE WEB tothisdayproject.com— Based on a spoken word poem by Shane Koyczan that explores the profound and lasting impact bullying can have on an individual, animators and motion artists brought unique styles to 20-second segments threaded into one fluid voice with a far reaching and long lasting message in confronting bullying. Watch the video at tothisdayproject. com, and Koyczan’s 2013 TED talk at youtu.be/sa1iS1MqUy4. helponenow.org—A collective group of churches, businesses, communities and individuals from around the world, Help One Now is dedicat-

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ed to ending extreme poverty, caring for orphans, rescuing slaves and seeing communities transformed. Watch the story of Naiderson, a 10-year-old Haitian orphan whose life was changed by simple, generous acts. opengovpartnership.org—is a global effort to make governments better. This multilateral initiative aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. Since it launched in 2011, 50 governments have joined the partnership.