Priority! Spring 2014

®

Spring 2014

L I FE STO R I E S

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

Miracle Match Fighting Trafficking At Super Bowl

Finding New ‘Pathway of Hope’

Worshiping On the Ivories

ILD SPO CH ORSHIP NS

OVERSEAS

Graham, 5 years old, walks home from school in K ibera, Africa’s largest slum. He is fortunate. Most of the children in his school are AIDS orphans. Graham’s mom is HIV–positive, but she is healthy. She is grateful that The Salvation Army helps with Graham’s school fees. You can help children like Graham all around the world through Overseas Child Sponsorship.

Call Today!

Northeast: (845) 620–7237 | South: (404) 728–1366 | Central U.S.: (847) 294–2065 | West: (562) 491–8301

Our Human Needs Index

A

s leader of one of the Salvation Army’s four U.S. territories, I find it necessary to read extensively to keep up with the incessant flow of information pertaining to The Salvation

Army and our mission. Some of that reading is internal to the organization, but much is from external sources, representing the world that so deeply influences all we do.

Recently I came across a research study, commissioned by The

Salvation Army in 2012, that was designed to highlight the social needs of people across the United States. It is called a “Human Needs Index,” and it compares government statistics on poverty, unemployment, education, and other factors, with annual Salvation Army service statistics. The results were quite revealing.

I tried reading the report in the same way I read my Bible; that is, by asking two classic questions that govern comprehension and application: “What is the text saying?” and “What is it saying to me?”

In the case of this report, the answer to the first question was easy. For example, I could readily see that more people within the boundaries of the Eastern Territory are living below the poverty line today than were 10 years ago. Several other key trends revealed that a large percentage of the population is “falling behind” economically.

The challenge came in personally applying the information I had just read. Evidently, our social ministries have not kept current with the need. In fact, the data suggest we are doing less in some critical areas of service, leaving a widening gap between documented human need and the assistance those individuals require. What, indeed, is this saying to me?

The very name of this magazine challenges us to realize that other people must be our priority because they are God’s priority. No matter our vocation or position, we must care, and in light of what we see around us, we must care more. Let us help who we can, where we can, when we can, with whatever we have to give.

May the featured articles, especially on Pathway of Hope, inspire you to do just that.

Commissioner Barry C. Swanson Territorial Commander USA Eastern Territory

THE SALVATION ARMY

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SPRING 2014

FEATURES

®

COVER STORY

Volume 16 No. 1

20

A Miraculous Match She grew up in the Australian Outback.

He hails from Spokane, Wash. How Nayomia and Austin found one another and a life as Salvation Army officers is nothing short of miraculous.

28

Pathway of Hope: Moving from Serving to Solving The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board challenged officers to come up with a ‘big idea’ to move the Army from providing stopgap emergency aid to people in need to effecting change in their lives. ‘Pathway of Hope’ is that new approach.

36

Piano Keys His Worship

Cover photo by Inset photo by

Bram Rader grew up in Sri Lanka with his missionary parents. His first piano had to be set up on blocks to protect it from floodwaters, and he needed to sit on a stack of books to reach the keys. Today, he brings a depth of devotion to his music that truly sets it apart.

DEPARTMENTS 5 Upfront 10 Who’s News 44 Prayer Power 48 117 Years Ago Photo above courtesy of Austin and Nayomia Anderson Cover photo © Eugene Tanner/AP Images

Filled with Delight

N

ew life. If you don’t see it yet, it’s coming! In my part of the country, the crocuses pop up

first, followed by daffodils, then tulips. I have a dogwood tree just outside my window; it refreshes my soul and fills me with delight.

New life. We welcomed a new grandson, Owen, in January, with great rejoicing. His birth reminded me of another tiny baby boy born so long ago. And of a God who took such delight in His Son. New life. I found it for myself 28 and a half years ago. On a brilliant fall day, at my invitation, Jesus became my living Lord. And God let me know that no matter what I think of myself, He takes delight in me.

New life. On Pentecost, believers who had been waiting for the promised Holy Spirit were gratified in the most amazing ways—a mighty wind swept through the place, tongues of fire rested on each one’s head, and suddenly, everyone was speaking in languages not their own. The Church was born, and God was delighted.

You see, your new life in Christ doesn’t just belong to you. It also belongs to all other believers in Him—and especially those in your own congregation. In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

…promoting prayer, holiness, and evangelism through the life stories of God’s people

THE SALVATION ARMY Territorial Leaders USA Eastern Territory Commissioner Barry C. Swanson Commissioner Sue Swanson

Chief Secretary Colonel William Bamford

Editor Linda D. Johnson

Art Director Keri Johnson

Contributing Editors Warren L. Maye, Robert Mitchell

Contributing Writers Tara Harrington, Mike McKee, David S. Ortiz, JoAnn Shade, Anne Urban

Graphic Designers Lea Greene, Karena Lin, Joseph Marino, Reginald Raines

I have community with others and I shall continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us

Circulation Deloris Hansen

Marketing

recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work

Christine Webb

become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have

SALVATION ARMY MISSION STATEMENT

one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, for eternity.

I might not have much in common with you. In fact, in all the ways the world looks at us, we may be completely different. But because we both have Jesus living in us, we are one in Him. When you put a congregation of Jesus followers together, they have a love that radiates grace and power, just as a bride radiates love for her groom. God, and all of us, delight in that.

New life. Get ready for our wedding day! Jesus is ready to receive his bride, the Church. When He does, we will join Him in a new Heaven and a new Earth, and

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible.

Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

Priority! is published quarterly by The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory. Subscriptions are $8.95 per year; bulk rates available. Write to: Priority!, The Salvation Army, 440 West Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994–1739.

Volume 16, No. 1, Spring 2014. Printed in USA. Postmaster: Send all address changes to: Priority!, 440 West Nyack Road, West Nyack, NY 10994–1739.

Priority! accepts advertising. Copyright ©2014 by The Salvation Army, USA Eastern Territory. Articles may be reprinted only with written permission.

USA National website: www.SalvationArmyUSA.org

we will sing of His love forever.

How delightful is that?

Editor

EVANGELICAL EVANGELICAL

PRESS ASSOCIATION

PRESS ASSOCIATION

Upfront: Typhoon Relief Philippines: Long Road Back from Yolanda

by Mike McKee

I

n more than 126 countries, The Salvation Army is a permanent part of the local

community. We are a full community partner before, during, and after an emergency affects our friends and neighbors. Long after reporters have boarded planes and moved on to the next “story,” The Salvation Army is working to bring help, healing

Salvation Army officers and volunteers distribute relief supplies to hundreds of Tacloban residents.

and HOPE. The recent “super ty- the water was receding, local

ing food and water to people

phoon” Yolanda (the largest ever

Salvation Army officers and

who had nowhere else to go.

recorded as hitting land), which

volunteers went to work. When

Many other distributions quickly

slammed into the Philippines on

large crowds of people became

followed (food, water, hygiene

Nov. 8, 2013, is a case in point.

stranded at the Tacloban airport

kits, etc.) as The Salvation Army

Immediately after the worst

awaiting evacuation flights, The

worked to sustain people who

Salvation Army began distribut-

had no other options.

of the storm had passed, as

Initial relief 273,315 meals In 1–week supply food packs

4K+ patients Medical support &

Major Ronaldo Banlasan

www.armyconnections.org

Photos © The Salvation Army

vaccinations

1K people per day, 10 days Emergency snacks at airport, seaport Manila & Tacloban

5

Upfront: Typhoon Relief new film

farmers) have lost their trees,

the U.N. and other response

gency food distributions were no

and their livelihoods, for many

agencies. They also received

longer required, but The Salva-

years to come. Families who

information gleaned from a

tion Army is still hard at work

gain their income from fishing

series of interviews conducted by

assisting families. Vegetable seeds

were heavily affected, as were

Salvation Army emergency op-

and gardening tools are being

numerous retailers and other

erations personnel with affected

Bayanihan— A Journey of Hope

distributed to 5,000 farming fam-

non–agricultural workers whose

families. Then the Salvation

This documentary

ilies whose crops were destroyed

businesses were destroyed.

Army group met in Manila to

follows two SA

plan a sustainable strategy for

cadets searching

long–term relief efforts.

for their families

As of early February, emer-

by the storm, and materials are

Plans are already underway

being sourced to enable 3,000

to address those needs. In

families to repair roofs.

February, a high–level group of

The Salvation Army is

following the

Salvation Army leaders from

committed to standing by our

typhoon.

after these early recovery needs

the Philippines and emergency

neighbors for the long haul, not

www.savn.tv

are met. One of the most signifi-

and projects experts from In-

just the news cycle.

cant and longest–term legacies

ternational Headquarters and

from Yolanda (or Haiyan) is

other key locations around the

The writer, a Salvation Army major,

To donate to relief

the widespread damage done to

world made a two–day visit to

is the International Emergency

efforts, go to:

large sectors of the economy.

the affected areas, where they

Operations coordinator for Typhoon

https://secure20.

An overwhelming majority of

met with local government of-

Yolanda relief. He is based in Taclo-

salvationarmy.org/

local farmers (especially coconut

ficials and representatives from

ban, the Philippines.

donation.jsp

Destruction in Tacloban, Philippines

Photo © Damaris Frick/The Salvation Army

Challenges will remain even

Upfront: floods, volcano Emergency Help in Indonesia

M

ajors Jim and Marcia Cocker, who previously had

served in Papua New Guinea (Priority! Summer 2009, Spring 2008), recently arrived for three Photo © The Salvation Army

years of service in Indonesia.

Jim, assigned to direct the emergency disaster program, wasn’t sure he was up to the job. But he soon found out he was not alone.

He first traveled to Sulawesi, tion Army soldiers (members)

flight from the capital of Jakarta, and officers themselves were

care was being provided by their own doctors and nurses.

to assess damage and needs fol-

standing in the gap for their

lowing floods and mudslides.

neighbors. In addition to feeding working, they reminded me

What Jim found was that the

people and providing blankets,

Indonesia by the Numbers

“As I watched the soldiers of the stories I had heard of

ministry to flood victims was not sleeping mats, and clothing,

‘slum sisters’ who entered

being delegated to professional

the Army had opened up three

into people’s homes in the

volunteers, but 100–plus Salva-

emergency clinics where trauma

early days of the Army to Population:

221 million

Mount Sinabung’s eruptions become violent, threatening people’s lives.

130 million on island of Java Area:

742,000 square miles Number of islands:

17,000 Photo © AFP/Stringer

an island that is a three–hour

7

Upfront: floods, volcano assist with the menial task of

completely Muslim, yet the

people with temporary housing,

Religion:

cleaning,” Jim writes. “These

Christian Salvationists moved

food, medical aid, and spiritual

86%

brave workers were doing this

in as the hands of Christ and

guidance.

Muslim

and so much more. …

were welcomed and loved for

resilient to the devastation that

their faith.”

Jim’s next stop was the area

Salvation Army officer overseeing the emergency operation,

Languages & dialects:

580+

occurs all too frequently in this

around Mount Sinabung, an

says the current phase of the

land of islands. One old Muslim

active volcano that has been

response is likely to continue for

woman who grasped my hands

erupting since September; in

some time. In the longer term,

Earnings

tightly said ‘terima kasih, terima

late January, the eruptions

The Salvation Army will also

per capita:

kasih’ (thank you, thank you).

became more violent, claiming

look to play a part in rebuilding

$3,100

She then proceeded to tell us

at least 16 lives. More than

homes and relocating people.

how she had to swim through

30,000 people are homeless and

the floodwaters and feared that

living in temporary community

once more the depth and

she would die.

camps run by the government in

breadth of the Salvation Army’s

association with The Salvation

ministry. Writes Marcia Cocker,

impression on me personally was

Army. As of February, the Army

“I know the Founder [William

that the flooding area is nearly

had provided more than 10,000

Booth] would be proud.”

“What made the biggest

Jim Cocker has witnessed

Source: nationalgeographic.com

People forced to evacuate because of a volcanic eruption find temporary shelter with The Salvation Army.

Photo © IHQ/The Salvation Army

“The people here appear so

Major I. Ketut Putrayasa, the

Letters to the editor ‘Perfect blend’

our faith, our mission, and our ®

Winter 2014

L i fe Sto r i e S

of

I know this kind of publica-

Army activities to even a casual

tion does not “just happen,” so I

reader. Today I had the opportu-

wanted to take a moment to let

nity to read through the Winter

you and your team know what

2014 issue.

a blessing this issue has been

G o d’S Peo PL e

Phil Cooke

I don’t know what the formula to me, today. I’m sure I’ll read a

Producer Focuses On Digital ‘Countries’

was—but it was very well put

few of the articles again before

together. What a perfect blend

I share the issue with someone

of uplifting and inspirational

else.

testimony from around the Army Making His Second Chance Count

Max Lucado’s Message of Hope

Unlikely Angel in Florida

world! The stories, the informa-

Captain Marion Platt, III

tion, the photos, the print qual-

Lutz, FL

I always look forward to reading

ity … everything was excellent

Priority! when it arrives in my of-

and God–honoring. Moreover, it

fice. It’s a high–quality magazine

served to reaffirm my calling to

that accurately interprets

ministry in my church.

The writer is youth secretary in the Salvation Army’s Florida Division.

GET CONNECTED

COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

STAY CONNECTED

SACONNECTS.ORG www.armyconnections.org

9

Who’s News

The Super Bowl of Trafficking

by Robert Mitchell

I

n the days leading up to the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., The Salvation Army and other organizations were paying attention to a much more serious “game” than football—sexual trafficking of children.

Nita Belles, a noted author, speaker, and leader of a coalition of nonprofits called “Blitz The Trafficker,” said the Salvation Army’s USA Eastern Territory helped connect her with the community, offered facilities for meetings, and printed 5,000 booklets featuring the photos of missing children believed to be the victims of trafficking.

“At least one child out of the book was recovered who was being trafficked,” Nita told Priority! the day after the Super Bowl.

“I don’t know how many more. We don’t have an exact number of recoveries, but our attitude is that one [child] being trafficked is too many. If we are able to recover one … that is worth all our efforts, but there were many more recovered than that. … We had a successful operation.”

Lt. Colonel Carole Bate, The Salvation Army’s social justice consultant in the USA Eastern Territory, said volunteers from the Southern New England and New Jersey divisions helped pass out the booklets.

“That’s what [workers] use as a 10

starting point to talk to people on the streets,” Carole says.

Booklets were distributed at hotels, convenience stores, restaurants, diners, and other public locations before the Super Bowl. Photos in the brochure were of children who possibly could have been brought to the area to be trafficked.

Nita and her group have used such

tactics at the last five Super Bowls, where sexual exploitation increases tremendously because of high demand for sex workers.

“Every year we are able to recover missing children,” she says. “We don’t go to the game. We have never gone to the game. We just go to the events to get the word out about the missing kids.”

Besides The Salvation Army, Blitz Nita Belles

www.prioritypeople.org

The Trafficker featured such nonprofits as KlaasKids, In Our Backyard, Free International, StopSexExploitation, Global Child Rescue, and Called2Rescue.

Nita says working with The Salvation Army was a “blessing on every front.”

“They were wonderful,” she says.

“Their attitude and their commitment to helping people and being a part of a team was exemplary. I tease them that when we look in the dictionary under the word ‘servant,’ that we find ‘The Salvation Army.’ They’re incredible.”

Carole said the “While Women Weep” quote of Founder William Booth makes fighting human trafficking “at the very core of The Salvation Army message.”

In our Backyard That made it easy to partner with Nita, author of the 2011 book In Our Backyard: A Christian Perspective on Human Trafficking in the United States. She said many consider the book a primer on the subject.

Nita got involved in the cause around the year 2000 while working on her master’s degree in theology. Her emphasis was women’s concerns and she saw that 80 percent of human trafficking victims were women.

“I had done a lot of domestic violence work in the past and I had seen www.prioritypeople.org

some pretty horrific cases,” she says, “but when I saw what happens to human trafficking victims—the deliberate torture for the gain of money—it was the most horrific thing I had ever seen. I said, ‘I have to do something.’ ” She asked God what He wanted her to do and His answer was to write a book. Despite her aversion to writing, she complied.

“The research had to be ‘boots on the ground’ and I began talking to people doing the work around the nation,” she says.

From a small town in central Oregon, Nita discovered human trafficking even there, thus the name of her book: In Our Backyard. Today, she is a regional director of Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans and oversees the Central Oregon Human Trafficking Task Force.

Unshackled Nita has brought together many nonprofits and witnessed many people freed from the shackles of human slavery and trafficking.

“It’s humbling,” she says. “For me, I think about how this life is so short, and we’re going to spend eternity together. If

I can meet somebody on the other side [who was trafficked], we’re going to be skipping and jumping in heaven together for the rest of eternity; that’s our goal. We want to set them free so that they can be free to be all that God created them to be.”

However, Belles is not one to be satisfied that some are free when so many others are still enslaved.

“There are so many more out there,” she says. “We don’t have time to sit and dwell on it. We might have a little happy party, but you know, the phone is ringing, the emails are coming, and we’ve got to get going because there is more to be done.”

Editor’s note: The Salvation Army mounted a similar anti–trafficking campaign at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

11

Who’s News

Students Find Church Home At Puerto Rico Kroc Center

by Linda D. Johnson

A group of college students from Universidad Interamericana became soldiers (members) of The Salvation Army on dedication day, last October, for the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Another student, Grace de Armas, was enrolled in February. This article is based on interviews with five of the young adults.

A

lexis Colón recently graduated from college. But he counts joining The Salvation Army as “the most important achievement in my life” because it has given him the opportunity to help others and to serve.

In Guayama, Puerto Rico, The Salvation Army has attracted a number of university students who have become soldiers. Alexis first visited because he had heard that the Army in Guyama had church services. But the rest of the students had no idea that the Army was a place of worship. What they did know about was the Army’s red kettles at Christmas, its thrift stores, and its reputation for helping people.

Several students came to the Army for the first time at the invitation of friends.

Alexis invited Luis Ortiz, and he brought Mykaella Morales. David Mendrell received invitations from two friends.

Grace de Armas first came to the Army because her boyfriend was going to church there and kept inviting her.

“I kept saying no because my family is Catholic, and I thought they would get mad at me,” she says.

12

‘Arms Wide Open’ What made the students come back after their first visit was a sense of welcome—and love.

“The kindness of the people of the church appealed to me,” says Luis.

“I was attracted by the people of the church because of the way they treated me,” Alexis says. “I felt as if I was part of a family.”

Grace agrees. “They received me with arms wide open. I wasn’t judged, and I was impressed with how many people they help.”

Majors Juan and Lydia Mercado, the Kroc Center administrators, were important factors in why David and Mykaella came back.

“Since I entered the door of The Salvation Army, [they] treated me as if they had always known me,” says David.

“What first attracted me … was the loving and caring that the Mercados showed me,” says Mykaella. “They trusted me and they wanted to help me, and I was hungry for the love of Christ.”

Ways to the Lord The students come from very different faith backgrounds.

David, who grew up as part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, remembers the day his life changed.

“On Sept. 17, 2007, I met the Lord,” he says. A girl he was interested in had invited him to a Pentecostal church, where he gave his life to Jesus.

Luis first met the Lord at age 6 but became “lost in the world with the wrong people.”

Mykaella was “raised in the Gospel” by her grandmother and found the Lord for herself early, at age 11. As a teen, she strayed when “the enemy tempted me to get into wrong things.”

But at 18, she says, “I had an encounter with the Lord when my heart needed forgiveness and the love of Christ. Christ www.prioritypeople.org

Commissioner Barry C. Swanson, the Salvation Army’s USA Eastern territorial commander, prays with newly enrolled soldiers (l–r) Luis Ortiz, Mykaella Morales, Alexis Colón, and David Mendrell.

forgave me and saved me with His love.”

Grace didn’t have any experience with church as a kid aside from going to a youth group, where she received no teaching and didn’t feel comfortable.

Now she’s involved in youth ministries and drama at the Kroc Center.

“I want to know Him more, do things the right way, and serve Him,” she says.

Alexis says, “I had an experience with the Lord after I turned 17, and I was healed by His glory.”

Staying in God’s Army He plans to continue being involved with The Salvation Army, as does Luis.

“I will never part from The Salvation Army,” he says. “My family is very proud www.prioritypeople.org

[that I am a soldier]. My mother is now visiting the Army with me and is hoping to become a soldier too.”

Grace, who plans to become a pharmacist and continue with her “hobby” of acting after she graduates, enjoys the community center side of the Kroc as well as the church.

“The Kroc Center enriches my life in various ways,” she says. “I can come here with my family and friends and have fun in an active and healthy way. I have the option to get in shape, be part of activities, and be a volunteer, among other things.”

The $20–million, 85,000–square–foot facility, which opened in the fall, has a full schedule of activities, a gym, a pool,

and a café, plus a theater that also serves as the chapel.

David is part of the choir at the Kroc Center and works with kids and in the red kettle campaign and thrift store.

After graduation, he hopes to become a Salvation Army officer/pastor.

“I know there are big things coming,” he says.

Mykaella hopes to be a psychologist.

She says the love of the people at the Kroc Center has changed her.

“They are my family; they see in me a lot of potential that I’ve never seen before. It has become the base for me to get closer to the Lord.”

About her new church family, she says, “They are my other half.”

13

Who’s News

Elders in Residence ‘Pay It Forward’

by JoAnn Shade

“I

f in doubt … ” the speaker called.

“Rip it out!” the people answered.

This traditional call–and– response echoed throughout the night as octogenarian knitter and crocheter June Metcalf was honored as the first Elder in Residence at the Ashland, Ohio, Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center.

June’s love of her craft had been a foundation of the center since its doors opened in April 2009. The “knit one, purl two” rhythm and her patient instruction drew a wide range of people to the knitting circle in the center’s lobby.

Knitter Shirley Blankenship said a second oft–repeated statement of June’s was: “You can do it!”

When June died on Christmas Day 2012, staff members agreed that the Elder in Residence award should become the June Metcalf Elder in Residence award.

ing of his family and interests outside the White House.

Stonemason Pete Twitchell, the third honoree, has hauled topsoil and compost to the Kroc Center gardens; toys and coats, blankets and beans to poverty–stricken Cranks Creek, Ky.; and medical supplies upriver in a canoe to the most remote reaches of Honduras’ Mosquito Coast.

As a stonemason, Pete has created handsome patios and walls across Ohio and coordinated the artistic development of a mosaic–like stone wall along the exit drive of the Kroc Center that depicts the wide–reaching ministry of The Salvation Army in Ashland. Pete

also serves as the corps sergeant–major (lay leader) of the Ashland congregation.

Said former Kroc Center leader Major Larry Shade, “Pete Twitchell’s the real deal. What he talks, he walks. Up close and personal—to know him is to love him.”

WW2 Resistance Fighter The most recent honoree is Josianne Stone, who was part of the resistance to the Nazis in Belgium during World War 2. Like many survivors, Josianne had seldom talked about her experiences, saying, “When the war was over, it was over.” Yet when her grandson Lucas asked her to tell his class about her experiences, she recounted the depriva-

Lincoln aficianado The second recipient was Bernice Wachtel, an Abraham Lincoln aficionado. A sampling from her collection of memorabilia—including cookie cutters, scrapbooks, and a Lincoln penny collection—was displayed at her reception. As Bernice, affectionately known as “Grandma Bunny,” shared her vast knowledge with the Kroc Center community, she especially helped young audiences connect with Lincoln by tell14

June Metcalf (left)

www.prioritypeople.org

tion and fear of the people of Belgium.

Her powerful words now have been recorded on a YouTube video, “The Josianne Stone Story.”

Dr. Judy McLaughlin mentioned to Josianne that her own father had lost his life during World War 2. Josianne expressed her personal thanks for the sacrifices that Americans like her father had made to defeat the Nazis.

Telling of this conversation at the award reception, Judy told Josianne that it had been a watershed moment for her: “Your expressed gratitude moved me from a lifelong sadness to an understanding of what my loss meant to you.”

A gifted artist, Josianne didn’t take her first art class until 1984. But her instructor’s challenge to “be prolific” stuck, and she describes her art as “humbly reproducing God’s creation.”

As a young girl, Josianne had a chance meeting with Salvation Army members in Belgium. “The seed was planted then, and over time, the roots started to form,” she said. In July 1972, she found the Lord for herself. “Now,” she says, “I owe it all to Him (Jesus).”

Ashland’s consummate knitter, its Lincoln expert, a mission–hearted stone mason, and a Belgian–born artist have much in common: love for family, commitment to community, and a desire to “pay it forward.” Their joy of living life to the full has been contagious as they freely offer their influence and experience to enrich the Ashland community—and the world beyond.

www.prioritypeople.org

Bernice Wachtel

Pete Twitchell

15

Who’s News

‘Along for the Ride’

by Anne Urban

Craig and Karen Johnson are flanked by their sons, daughters–in–law, and three of their four granddaughters.

H

aving grown up in church and accepting Jesus into his life at age 5, Craig Johnson of Elgin, Ill., doesn’t remember a time in his life when he didn’t know the Lord. But things haven’t always gone smoothly for him.

“Like most Christians, [I had] ups and downs,” says Craig. His relationship with God became particularly intense and intimate after Connie, his wife of 10 years, died in childbirth, along with their third child.

“I was thrust into a position of depending on Him for all my needs, all the time. With His special provision and help from others, God got the most important things done; I was just along for the ride,” Craig said. “I received the comfort, strength, and wisdom to raise two boys, teach school, direct a church

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choir, and manage an apartment building.”

Two years after Connie’s death, God brought a special woman, Karen Dorsey, into the lives of Craig and his two sons, Matthew and Cameron.

As new teachers at the same school years earlier, Karen and Craig, both Christians, had become good friends.

But they lost touch after Craig transferred to another school five years later. More than a decade after that, they met again at an education event.

Craig considers that reconnection with Karen part of God’s miraculous provision for him and his sons.

“Common interests in athletics, music, and church activities helped overcome the unique courtship complexities of four people discovering if they have a future

together as a healthy, loving family,” said Craig. Karen’s even temperament, love of children, common sense, and desire to guide her new sons toward Christ helped her climb the steep learning curve of being an instant parent.

The Johnsons have been a happy family for almost 30 years. “Most importantly, our two sons and five granddaughters follow Jesus, which is an incalculable blessing!” Craig says.

For many years, Craig has been involved with the Salvation Army’s red kettle effort during the holiday season. See sidebar on next page.

www.prioritypeople.org

F

or 22 years, Craig Johnson has had a strong association with The Salvation Army in his hometown of Elgin, Ill. In 1992, at the suggestion of LaVerne Weber, a musician friend at his church who wanted to help the Army increase red–kettle contributions, Craig assembled a brass quartet consisting of Craig, LaVerne, and his children.

‘Later in that initial season, we added other young players to make two more quartets, each playing three–hour sessions,’ Craig says.

‘The next year we added more players and called the teams, “Gold,

Frankincense, and Myrrh.” ‘ Since then, the crew has grown to include more than two dozen adult and student brass players.

Some adult band members have played together now for more than a decade. During kettle season, the Elgin Brass Band plays every Saturday. Craig describes their efforts as ‘win–win–win.’

‘Store customers hear beautiful music pointing to Jesus and honor Him with generous contributions.

The players enjoy the camaraderie, and people in need receive the blessing.’

Photo by Janelle Walker, Sun–Times Media

Elgin Brass Band

For more than two decades, Craig Johnson has been intrinsic to the Salvation Army’s red kettle efforts in Elgin, Ill.

THIS END UP F U R N I T U R E

C O M P A N Y

Proudly serving the Salvation Army for over 20 years (800) 979-4579

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thisendup.com

17

MyTake

Never Too Late

by David S. Ortiz

O

dysseus is my home boy. That Homeric hero and I have a few things in common: He was a husband and the father of one son. Me too. He was resourceful, crafty, even outright cunning as a serpent at times. I’ll plead the fifth on that one, but we also share a proclivity to take the long way home.

Odysseus spent 10 years away from his family fighting in the Trojan War, and then the journey home took him an additional 10 years.

I know the feeling, having gotten home late for dinner myself many times (though never by a decade). Those were the years I was working by day and studying by night to complete my undergraduate degree, a “journey” I began at 21, abandoned at 23, resumed at 34, and finally completed at 39.

Clearly, I have a gift for lateness. I did not learn to tie my shoes until I was 6 or 7. At 11, I was still struggling to learn to read an analog clock. I could not ride a bike until I was 12. I did not learn to drive until I was 23, and then didn’t get a license until age 30. While many Christians enter marriage and parenthood by their mid– to late 20s, I married at 31 and became a father at 32.

I also got my high school equivalency diploma when I was 32 (I started college that first time without one—please

18

don’t ask). I took up martial arts at 46 and recently earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do—at 54.

Even today, in late middle age, I still wonder what I want to be when I grow up. And I cling to a dream of one day owning a home. What on earth or in heaven could be the meaning of such a lifetime of lagging? What value could

there possibly be in a career of fumblings and stumblings, of fits and starts?

When I came to faith in Christ at 24, I barely understood what I was doing.

Then I spent years struggling to grasp anything the Lord and His ministers ever taught me. Now, after some 30 years as a Christian, the past few in a Salvation Army church, I finally begin

• who wander, not knowing where they are going, but seeking the promise of a family and city of their own.

• who lie and cheat to gain advantage and then have to flee the consequences.

• who stutter when they speak.

• who are afraid to lead, to fight, to answer the call, and who keep asking for signs.

• who give way to terror, sink into depression and then sit brooding under a tree.

• who boast that they will stand by the Savior and then do not.

• who drown in doubt, refusing to believe unless they can see and touch.

• who are dead sure they do God’s work, only to be belted off their high horse to discover that they were dead wrong the whole time.

Photo © istock

• who fail to keep a simple commandment, thereby blowing it for themselves and their posterity.

Can you identify these “losers and weaklings” from the Bible? (See their names in order, upside–down, at the end of this article.)

The Lord has never rejected me just because I take so very long to “get it”—to learn and do the simplest things.

I’ve discovered that He is willing to call

me friend and son. And the Lord Jesus has taught me that though I am not so swift and not so impressive; though I may choke up and buckle under the pressure; though I am sometimes hasty and at other times vacillating; though I procrastinate; though I often miss my train and fail to get home until far, far into the night, my heavenly Father is up, watching and waiting until I finally do arrive.

And that He has left the Light on for me.

David Ortiz is a Salvation Army soldier (church member) of the Brooklyn Bay Ridge Corps.

Bible “losers” and “weaklings”: King Saul, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Elijah, and the Apostles Peter, Thomas, and Paul

to understand that God is the loving Champion of laggards and underdogs.

He is the Savior and Redeemer of losers and weaklings, of those

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Photo Š Eugene Tanner/AP Images

Serving Together

20

a Miraculous Match

by Linda D.Johnson

N

ayomia is from the Australian Outback. Austin is from Spokane, Wash. Their first date was in Bali, Indonesia. Five months later, after a whirlwind Internet courtship, they married.

But the match had almost been scuttled a year earlier, when they first met. Nayomia had been backpacking around the world with her sister, Myrtle.

Always living on next to nothing, to save money, Nayomia and her sister, who attended a Salvation Army church in Brisbane, Australia, decided to work at the Army’s Camp Gifford in Loon Lake, Wash., just north of Spokane.

The last week of camp, three new staffers arrived. One of them, Austin, came to relieve her on paddleboat duty.

Feeling sorry for him, she began explaining the camp rules, including those for working on the waterfront.

“I stopped her in mid– sentence,” Austin remembers.

“I said, ‘I was a lifeguard here— I wrote the rules!’ ” “I felt sorry for the guy, and he was rude to me!” Nayomia says.

She wrote Austin off; at 21, she www.prioritypeople.org

wasn’t looking for a man anyway. Then, the last day of camp, she heard a very loud laugh, and it was him.

“God said to me, ‘If you knew him, you would love him.’ I thought, Good thing I won’t get to know him!”

When camp ended, Nayomia and Myrtle resumed their travels and, after a few months in Europe, returned to Canada. Nayomia planned to go back to Camp Gifford. It was around Thanksgiving, and she needed a ride from Seattle to Spokane. She remembered that Austin, who lived in Seattle, might be visiting his family in Spokane for the holiday and contacted him. Not wanting to look like the free ride was the only

Nayomia backpacking in Wales

reason to get back in touch, Nayomia began chatting with him electronically after that. They kept communicating via the Internet and Skype until Austin invited Nayomia to be his date at a wedding in Bali.

First date in Bali

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Serving Together

Nayomia in the Australian Outback, where she grew up

An Outback girl The two come from very different backgrounds. Nayomia grew up in the Outback, “miles from anywhere.” Her dad was a crop sprayer, and her mom a former teacher from the Philippines who met her dad through a classified newspaper ad.

“We grew up in drought,” Nayomia remembers. The family caught any rainwater that fell, and used it sparingly. Her parents would take a shower and leave the water in the tub for the kids’ baths.

Then the water would be used again for flushing the toilet.

“It was different from the way most kids grew up, but we didn’t think it was different,” Nayomia says.

Her mom couldn’t drive, and her dad would be gone for weeks on end for his job.

“We would just go play outside, and I read a lot of books,” Nayomia says.

The town of 1,500 provided far from an idyllic childhood for Nayomia.

“I grew up with a lot of racism,” she says. Because her mom is Filipino, 22

Nayomia was called “Blackie” at school—even though her skin is very light. Other kids considered her ugly, and teachers treated her differently, downplaying her accomplishments.

“I still have trouble accepting compliments today,” she says.

Nayomia’s home life was complicated too. She grew up with her only full sibling, Myrtle, and a sister from her mother’s previous marriage, but she also has eight other half–siblings from her parents’ previous marriages.

“When I was 5, I remember wondering how long my dad was going to stay with us,” Nayomia says.

The only known photo of Austin and Nayomia at The marriage to her mother Camp Gifford, where they met. They had no idea lasted 18 years; the couple sepathis picture was being taken. rated when Nayomia was 16.

But three years earlier, the her mom went back to college to get a family had moved from the outback degree in social work. to the “Big Smoke,” Brisbane. Her dad In the big city, Nayomia didn’t exhad gotten sick and couldn’t work, so perience the same prejudice she had in www.prioritypeople.org

‘I turned from knowledge about God to a relationship with Him.’ —Austin Anderson Austin in his hometown of Spokane

Then one Sunday when someone was reading Scripture, something happened.

“I suddenly realized that what the Bible said was true. I don’t have a dramatic testimony—just that. It started me on a path that God wanted for me.”

A Spokane guy

the country. Teachers praised her for her work, and she flourished in school.

Her dad was a member of The Salvation Army, so the family began attending an Army church there, the Inala Corps.

Nayomia had done “postal” Sunday school lessons in the Outback and had gone to a Presbyterian church in town, but she had developed an independent streak. Her mother had to drag Nayomia to church.

Austin came from a nuclear family.

When he was young, his grandparents would pile Austin, his two brothers, and his four cousins into the back of a VW Beetle to go to a Presbyterian church.

Austin started going to The Salvation Army in Spokane when his mother was hired as the nursery attendant.

“One Sunday, my mom volunteered me to work at Camp Gifford. It was better than what I had been doing—cleaning horse stalls.”

Austin was 14. By the next summer, he was paid staff at the camp.

“It was through the ministry of the camp director and the other staff that I saw God’s love,” Austin says. “I turned from knowledge about God to a relationship with Him.” 23

Serving Together

From that point on, Austin developed as a youth leader. For a profession, he saw two choices: graphic design or full–time ministry.

He chose graphic design and went to work in Seattle developing interactive product demos and websites. At the Renton, Wash., Corps, he played guitar with the worship team and helped with youth programs as well as working on a corps website and brochures.

Then he got a message.

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“Now I want you to go down this other path you saw,” Austin heard God say.

Stubborn about listening If God was speaking to Nayomia, she wasn’t listening. At the Inala Corps, she became the bandmaster and led the teen group and Corps Cadets. But she was determined to pursue a career to become a foreign diplomat, something a friend had done.

In the midst of her studies, she heard God say, “You might help people, but how will you show them Jesus?” Now a committed Salvationist, Nayomia had an answer. “I thought, Well, there’s an economic development department at International Headquarters. I could work there.”

But, she admits, “I was still not listening; I was just deciding on my own.”

For a time, Nayomia did very well at school. Then suddenly, her grades plummeted, and her choices were cut off.

“Education was everything,” she says.

“It was a big blow. It was huge.”

She turned to God. “ ‘So what do you want me to do?’ I asked God. He answered, ‘I want you to be a corps officer [pastor].’ ” “It was the first time I asked and just listened,” Nayomia says. This time, she responded with obedience.

“I said to myself, I believe in God; His will is perfect. If I’m serious about my relationship with Him, I have to do it. I said to God, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea, but I’ll do what you say.’ ” She filled out the preliminary application.

The word came back that she would have to wait a year to go into officer training school. She kept being drawn to a passage in the Bible—she can’t remember now what it was—that spoke about moving and going. She couldn’t imagine what that meant.

“I didn’t like traveling; I hated even an hour’s car trip,” Nayomia says.

Just about that time, Myrtle, who had just finished discipleship school, www.prioritypeople.org

Photo © Eugene Tanner/AP Images

As a girl, Nayomia joked that her dream guy would be a ‘cello player named Bob.’ After she got to know Austin Anderson, she found out he plays the cello, and his middle name is Robert.

Serving Together

said to her sister, “Nayomia, God is telling me to travel around the world.” She cited the same passage Nayomia had found.

“Wow!” Nayomia said. “That’s amazing!” That’s how the two ended up traveling, with Nayomia finding her way to Camp Gifford.

After Bali After her first date with Austin on Bali, Nayomia asked God, “Is this the guy you want me to marry?”

When Nayomia was 16, she had described her ideal man as a cello player named Bob. Her friends even wrote a novel about her quest to find him.

But now, Nayomia had a more mature concern: God had called her to be a Salvation Army officer, and she knew she couldn’t marry a man who wasn’t also called.

One day as she and Austin were chatting over the Internet, he said casually, “By the way, I haven’t told you this.

I want to be a Salvation Army officer.”

In that same conversation, Austin revealed that his middle name was Robert—and he played the cello.

“To my friends,” she says, “that was the funniest thing ever!”

She says it was also an “awesome testimony” to those friends, who are all atheists.

“It’s hard to argue with it because it’s something that really happened,” Nayomia says. “Your testimony is something no one can deny.”

While her friends saw the marriage

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as a good match, Nayomia’s mom didn’t.

She told Austin: “You seem like a really nice young man. You shouldn’t marry Nayomia. She’s really hard to live with; she’s very stubborn. She says, ‘I always do what I want.’ ” But Austin’s parents thought their son had found a great partner in Nayomia. His mom was so sold on the match that she booked the wedding chapel just a month after the two started dating.

Nayomia and Austin joked about getting married on a significant “triple” date, like 9/9/09 or 8/8/08. But it happened even sooner than that, on 7/7/07.

They entered training to become officers in 2009.

Serving in far–flung places The Andersons, now lieutenants, spent their fifth anniversary, 7/7/12, in Hanapepe, on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, where they are still serving.

They were told the corps there would be a difficult one in a remote location.

The couple had just come from their first appointment in Haines, Alaska.

Austin just laughed.

“I said, ‘This isn’t remote! We just came from a corps in Alaska, where we had to make a four–and–a–half hour boat ride to Juneau for meetings. This isn’t roughing it!”

The Andersons have found that they can’t rely on technology to communi-

Photos © Eugene Tanner/AP Images

cate with their congregation.

“One corps member has email but only checks it every two weeks,” Austin says. But he and Nayomia enjoy their work here.

“We are blessed with Hanapepe. It’s a welcoming place,” he says. They’ve found help and camaraderie in a local ministerial association. And they run a soup kitchen, supported by local vendors, that serves 120 people every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They have services on Sunday, first in Koloa, an outpost about 15 miles away (See 117 Years Ago, p. 48), then in Hanapepe.

For the future, the Andersons have a passion to serve overseas. Both Austin

Preparing for worship in Hanapepe, on the Hawaiian island of Kauai

and Nayomia have studied Korean and made trips to South Korea, so they would love to minister there.

But they know it’s not up to them.

One of Austin’s favorite Bible passages is 1 Samuel 15:22, which says, “To obey is better than sacrifice … ” “Seeking what God wants you to do is better

than just working for God on your own,” Austin says.

Nayomia learned that lesson the hard way. As a couple, the Andersons will keep listening to the God who brought a girl from the Outback and a guy from Spokane together—to serve Him.

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Mission First

Pathway of Hope:

Moving from Serving to Solving

by Linda D. Johnson

Photos courtesy USA Central Territory

Vanessa and her son, Zacariah, meet with Julie Poertner, social services director at The Salvation Army in Elkhart, Ind.

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T

he electricity is about to be shut off.

A vital prescription will soon run out. The refrigerator is empty, and payday is five days away.

In crisis situations like these, families often turn to The Salvation Army for emergency assistance. And the Army is there to provide it. But what is being done to help families avoid such crises in the future?

In 2010, the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board and the nonprofit Bridgespan Group issued this challenge to Army leaders: Find a “big idea” that will move us from “serving” to “solving.”

That caught the attention of the leaders of the USA Central Territory, Commissioners Paul and Carol Seiler.

Carol, heading up strategic mission planning for the territory, led a steering committee’s efforts. She had been social services secretary in three divisions and had seen firsthand the need for stronger impact for the Salvation Army’s work.

“Without change happening, our busy work was just allowing us to pat ourselves on the back and remain somewhat removed from the real pain of social, family, and individual poverty.

What began to develop was a concept of holistic transformational work that could re–engage corps [church] congregations while changing the future of the lives of children as we increased the ‘dose and intensity’ of our work with the family.”

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Mission First

Commissioner Carol Seiler

A survey bore out leaders’ perceptions sufficiency while building hope along that even though the Army was serving the way. (See graphic.) The new apa lot of people, it didn’t have the capacproach would be called Pathway of Hope ity to solve real issues. Ninety percent of (POH). the Central Territory’s corps and service “The [POH] program has given our units (which operate in areas where staff the opportunity to make deep there is no Salvation Army church), connections with people,” says Nan the survey found, were providing only Pahl, social services director at the emergency assistance.

Green Bay Corps.

“In only 10 percent of those units … were we able Liz Pryes to do anything that was close to case management or problem–solving for the families,” says Carol.

That was about to change. A pilot program for a new approach began in 2011 in three corps: Elkhart and Gary–Merrillville in Indiana and Green Bay, Wisc.

Staff members were trained with a goal of helping clients to move beyond survival (crisis and vulnerability) to increased stability and 30

Liz’s story Liz Pryes was a client who came to Pathway of Hope in Green Bay through a referral from a social worker.

“I was in a lot of trouble; I didn’t know where to look, and she called and told me about Pathway of Hope,” said Liz during a video interview (go to http://vimeo.com/59173714).

www.prioritypeople.org

Gina Leonardelli, lead case manager, says that Liz, a mother of two young children, had been relying on her parents to help her survive because she didn’t have enough education or knowledge about resources to help herself.

Through POH, Liz was able to get food and diapers from the Salvation Army food program, and she was connected to the Wisconsin Works (W–2) program, which helped her find a good job. And she received weekly support from the staff at the Green Bay Corps.

“We were there for her to call anytime.

It was very helpful because [Liz] thrives on that encouragement,” Leonardelli says.

“If it wasn’t for the [POH], I don’t know if I ever would have been able to move on with my life,” Liz says through tears. “I was stuck in a hole, and the hope that you guys—the program—gave me; it gave me more security to myself and helped me let myself know that I can do it.” For another touching story of a family helped by POH, go to http://po.st/ qiFMz8. www.prioritypeople.org

Building on strengths When clients come to POH, they complete a “strengths assessment.” Many clients have told staff that it’s the first time anyone has really listened to them and helped them to see their own strengths and those of their families.

Julie Poertner, social services director at the Elkhart, Ind., Corps, says that staff members take on the role of “personal cheerleaders.”

“This program offers the chance to look the client in the eye and say, ‘You are worth the effort it will take to move beyond where you are, and I believe in you,’” says Poertner.

In 2012, 27 additional corps implemented Pathway of Hope; by the end of 2013, 100 corps were participating, with more than 260 families enrolled.

Carol Seiler says that Maribeth Swanson, territorial social services secretary, has been a “champion” of this approach and has worked on the details of its implementation.

Linda Brinker, project manager for

Maribeth Swanson, social services director in the Salvation Army’s Central Territory.

Pathway of Hope in the territory, calls comprehensive training for staff a critical component for the success of POH. Staff members, corps officers (pastors), and key members of the corps congregation receive 16 hours of intense training when Pathway is introduced.

Hope for clients—and staff A result of this training is a team approach at the local level that has resulted in increasing hope for staff as well as clients.

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Header Here Mission First

Shatha (left) and case manager Marlene Thomas

“I think that by working together as a team, not only were we able to move forward and create successes for our clients; we also created successes for our team,” says Nan Pahl of the Green Bay Corps. “For that worker in particular who was a little more hesitant, as she saw a client have success, and herself having success with the client, she realized, ‘Hey, this just makes sense.

This is a great way to provide service and to work with families, to step along with them and not just give them that band–aid.’ ”

they expend,” says Carol Seiler.

In Pekin, Ill., Michael Swanson writes in a recent article in the territory’s newspaper, Central Connection, this “fresh approach” to service has made a difference as staff members report increasing satisfaction and as the congregation prayerfully supports clients, case managers, and the corps officers, Captains Martin and Shannon Thies.

Shatha was the first POH client in Pekin. An Iraqi, she first met the man who would be her husband, a U.S. serviceman, at the gates of one

‘I’m very grateful because I wouldn’t be … the mother that I am now if it weren’t for POH.’ —Liz Pryes

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Pahl says clients also see corps members and social service staff working together and supporting them along their path to success.

“I have read stories about the staff coming together with a bigger, common goal, which has changed the energy

www.prioritypeople.org

of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. Shatha overcame many obstacles to get to the United States and marry. Then the family fell on lean times when her husband’s hours were cut back at a manufacturing plant.

Now, not only is Shatha building a new life through POH, but she has also developed relationships with people at the corps. Grateful, she has given back by cooking Iraqi dishes for the advisory board and inviting Captain Shannon and the case manager to her home for a meal.

Holistic community The team–building of POH doesn’t stop at the corps level. In the past, says Nan Pahl, clients would go to several different agencies and get different advice and direction at each one. Now, she says, “I think the greatest things we can achieve [are] avoiding duplication and really working together to help this client in not only a holistic way within our agency but a holistic way within our community.”

This new approach also interests cash–strapped funders of the Army’s

work. Major Charles Smith, the divisional commander of the Kansas and Western Missouri Division, tells of going to the Hall Family Foundation to ask for support of the Christmas campaign. Officials of the foundation said that while they would like to help, they were finding it difficult to keep up at the same pace.

Then Smith began to tell them about Pathway of Hope. He said that the goal was “to impact a significant portion of those who come to us on a regular basis and find a way of helping

God at Center of Pathway

A

t the heart of the Pathway of Hope (POH) approach is Army leaders’ deep desire to make a difference in people’s lives, and that desire is motivated by their love of God. Commissioner Paul Seiler, commander of the Army’s USA Central Territory, says that William Booth, the Army’s co–founder, ‘cared deeply for the poor in society at a time when it wasn’t particularly fashionable; it wasn’t politically correct … I think that William Booth’s DNA is a part of Salvationists [church members], and it’s a part of our motivation for this POH program.’

The commissioner quotes Jesus, who said that when we serve

www.prioritypeople.org

‘the least of these,’ we are serving Him. ‘Why is The Salvation Army present in the communities we serve?’ asks Colonel Dennis Strissel, commander of the Army’s Eastern Michigan Division. ‘Is it really to meet a social need? It’s first and foremost to meet a spiritual need, and to really respond within the contract that we have with God in partnership, to do what he asks us to do. This is an opportunity, this Pathway of Hope, to say a quiet ‘yes’ to God … ‘ ‘We have to approach all of this with great hope, with faith in God, who we need to have at the center of this initiative,’ says Major Evie Diaz, commander of the

Army’s Heartland Division.

For the complete video of interviews about the theological basis for POH, go to http://vimeo. com/59166493.

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Header Here Mission First

them get over their barriers so they could begin to break this cycle.”

The response was immediate, as Smith recalls.

“That’s exactly what we would be willing to support,” a Hall official said.

They provided $3 million over three years to fund implementation of POH in the division.

Smith says that the Hall Foundation board could see that POH would not just impact the family now but in future generations.

Liz Pryes, the young mother who

found a new Pathway of Hope in Green Bay, is already seeing such an impact on her own children. Before POH, Liz had no income of her own to support her kids. Now, she’s working and able to take her kids out to eat at McDonald’s or Chuck E. Cheese, something she had not ever been able to do.

“My kids have changed drastically [in] their outlook … toward their mother,” she says. “I’m very grateful because I wouldn’t be able to be the mother that I am now if it weren’t for POH.” Commissioner Carol Seiler says she

hopes this approach becomes “second nature,” putting “the Army in every town at the table as a solid responder to addressing poverty in a manner that ‘sticks.’ And most importantly, that as hope and change spread, people give glory to God, children have a different future, and this movement truly ‘moves’ the needle in this country.”

Some material for this article comes from articles in Central Connection and from a series of videos about Pathway of Hope made by the USA Central Territory.

www.womensministries-tsa.org

The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory Commissioners Barry C. & Sue Swanson Territorial Leaders

Music Makers

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Piano Keys B His Worship

ram Rader grew up in a famous Salvation Army family, the Rader clan. So it’s no surprise that his first music memories involve listening to Salvation Army LPs on his parents’ old phonograph.

The 1965 International Centenary Congress album and other brass band records from the late 1960s and early 1970s provided background music around the house when Bram was young.

Now an accomplished pianist, he says Salvation Army music has always been a part of him.

“Singing Gospel and Salvation Army choruses and songs at the corps [church] growing up is a vivid musical memory,” Bram says. “I still sing and accompany many of these old [songs], as well as many new ones, at the corps each Sunday.”

Bram was only 4 when his missionary parents, Lt. Colonels Lyell and Elaine Rader, were appointed to the island nation of Sri Lanka. They served there from 1973 to 1986 in the capital city of Colombo, where Bram attended an international school.

Photos © AP/Kenneth Gabrielsen unless otherwise noted

by Robert Mitchell

Piano on blocks He played in the Colombo Central Corps Band under his father, who was the bandmaster and a former student of renowned Salvationist musician Erik Leidzen. Bram wanted to play the cornet like his father, but his life changed the day his parents inherited a beat–up old piano from a children’s home.

“They asked me if I wanted to take piano lessons,” Bram recalls. “They said, 37

‘If you take piano lessons, you can’t give up. You have to keep going.’ ” Lyell says the piano had to be put up on blocks because their Sri Lanka home was prone to flooding.

“He had to have books on the seat to reach the keys,” his father says of Bram. “It was quite a sight. He took to it naturally and just became absorbed.”

At age 7, Bram started once–a–week piano lessons from another American missionary, Dawn Remtema.

“One of her demands at this early stage was that I do some practice every day, and I’ve kept up this discipline for most of my life,” Bram says. “I developed my skill for sight–reading through many hours, days, and years poring over music scores, which has been my abiding and consuming passion, apart from technical and theoretical training. This skill has served me well in my career as a piano accompanist.”

Bram taking piano lessons in Sri Lanka

Back to the States Bram began that career when he was a teenager. Today, he also plays cornet, euphonium, baritone, and tuba.

In 1981, Bram began studies at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music in Illinois, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music. Dr. William Phemister, head of the piano department, taught him for four years.

“During this time he instilled in me a sense of Christian stewardship and duty within the performing arts,” Bram says. “I was exposed to many recordings and music scores. The repertoire for the piano is, no doubt, the largest of any in38

Photo courtesy Bram Rader

Music Makers

strument of the Western world. It is vast and diverse. It treats the piano [from] a human singing voice all the way to the grand effectiveness of a full orchestra.”

From 1986 to 1989, Bram studied with Bella Shumiatcher, who taught at The Julliard School in New York for many years.

Bram says his two favorite composers for the piano are Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt. He says he wishes classical music were used more in The Salvation Army.

“I think that’s the best music that can be offered to the Lord,” Bram says.

Sharing God’s gift “Music is a very emotional art. Most composers I play have emotions I’ve never felt. They help me to feel as they felt when I play their music. I think emotion that is reached in music making is of a very high sort, and classical music especially. I think there is a spiritual aspect in the great composers.”

Bram says Salvation Army music has www.prioritypeople.org

‘As a Christ–centered Salvationist musician, I find it a great responsibility and privilege to share my musical gifts whenever and wherever I can.’ always played a “vital role” in its message but has evolved from a “raucous beginning” into the “higher levels of concert artistry.”

“The great attraction for me, of Army music, besides its diversity and winsomeness, is the spiritual integrity of its godly message,” Bram says. “Our soul–saving music has not lost touch with the Gospel or with the people it attempts to reach.

“As a Christ–centered Salvationist musician, I find it a great responsibility and privilege to share my musical gifts whenever and wherever I can.”

Whether he is playing a brass instrument, accompanying at his corps, or performing a piano solo in concert, Bram says he has but one goal.

geline Booth, George Marshall, Ernest Rance, Sidney Cox, Norman Bearcroft, Joy Webb, William Himes, and Richard Phillips. Other influences have come from Catherine Booth, Brian Bowen, Harold Burgmayer, Gordon Ward, and Ron Waiksnoris.

“When I think of Bram Rader, I think power and joy,” says Waiksnoris, who leads the New York Staff Band.

Burgmayer, music director in the Army’s Eastern Pennsylvania and Dela-

ware (Pendel) Division, calls Bram “a gift to The Salvation Army.”

“Whether improvising on a hymn tune as an offertory, accompanying a soloist, or stirring our hearts with a rhapsodic classic, Bram Rader brings a depth of devotion to every note he renders at the keyboard,” Burgmayer says.

Over the years, Bram has played with the Greater New York Youth Band under Ward; the New York Staff Band under Bowen and Waiksnoris; and the

Bram (center back) with his family during their years in Sri Lanka

“I pray always that God will be glorified, not only through my musical excellence but also through my public demeanor and the attitudes of my mind and heart with others,” he says. “Jesus Christ came to share His love and I pray that with the active presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, I will do the same.”

Bram says he believes “the soul of music is melody” and the Salvation Army composers who have influenced him by producing lasting melodies are John Larsson, Bramwell Coles, Evanwww.prioritypeople.org

Photo courtesy Bram Rader

Army influences

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HeaderMakers Music Here

SUNY Purchase, and the Wheaton Conservatory.

Photo courtesy Bram Rader

More than music

Wheaton Men’s Glee Club European Tour, Copenhagan, Denmark, 1991

Chicago Staff Band under Himes.

First solo album “I’ve been under the best of the best in terms of the experience that I’ve received in these fine leaders,” he says.

Bram says he enjoyed his years with the New York Staff Band, which included a tour of the Far East.

“It’s great fellowship,” he says. “Some incredible leaders have emerged from [the band], and some wonderful musicians. They’re outstanding technically and always spiritually sound. I’ve always admired the spirituality of the leaders of these bands.”

His only solo album, “Aspiration: To Be Like Jesus,” released in 2010, includes 18 diverse selections from Chopin and Liszt, Lois Rader, Eric 40

Ball, Erik Leidzen, and Bill and Gloria Gaither.

Bram has been featured on four other albums as a soloist and is recording an album this year with the Pendel Singers. He has performed as a soloist all over the world, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Pacific Rim nations.

Today, he can be found playing at his home Salvation Army corps in Bethlehem, Pa., and as a collaborative pianist at Northampton Community College and Moravian College in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

Bram is also an accompanist for auditions, senior recitals, and competitions at various venues, including The Julliard School, Rutgers University,

In Bram’s spare time, his favorite music to listen to is still Gospel and Salvation Army brass band recordings. His parents have a collection that includes choral music and the Gaithers, but he does occasionally sneak in pop albums from Billy Joel or ABBA. Bram would like to record more albums in the future, but he is writing more than music these days. He has put together a series of devotional essays that he plans to send to publishers.

“I love reading and I’ve always been encouraged as a writer,” he says. “My writing reveals my best thinking and my best spirit in Christ. I find that writing helps me to … think out internally what I’m really going through.

“I find that I articulate my deepest thoughts and feelings better through writing than through extemporaneous speaking. … the same is true in my music making. I am more thoughtful and original in my composing and arranging than in any impromptu improvising that I attempt to do.”

Bram also would like to someday write a book outlining his thoughts on music and another one sharing his daily prayers, which he writes out longhand.

Legendary family “Writing devotional thoughts and prayers during my morning devotions helps me to become centered in Christ,” he says. “I am more apt to truly praise www.prioritypeople.org

Bram with his dad, Lt. Colonel Lyell Rader

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HeaderMakers Music Here

Him and to love Him when I am careful in what I say or write.”

Bram says his favorite books are daily devotionals by such authors as Philip Yancey, C.S. Lewis, and Oswald Chambers.

If Bram needs any help writing his devotionals, he won’t have to look far.

His uncle is retired Salvation Army

General Paul Rader. His father is the former ambassador for holiness in the USA Eastern Territory.

Bram says his parents are his heroes.

“They support me in every way, and it’s just an honor to be under the same roof as saints,” Bram says. “I consider my parents saints.

“It’s a joy to share in their ministry.

They often ask me to accompany them when they speak. My dad is my main inspiration. He’s the closest [to a] Jesus–like person that I know. My mom is a counterpart to that. She’s the second half.”

Let Nothing Supplant Love of Jesus

P

ianist Bram Rader writes more than music; he has written a series of devotional essays that he hopes to have published. Here is an excerpt from one of his latest, ‘Christian Artistry.’

‘Never lose your personal identity in Christ to the muse of music.

Never allow your love for music to get in the way of your love for Jesus. No matter how winsome or authoritative or beautiful music (or anything else) is, if it usurps Christ’s own ruling in our lives or in any way detracts from following the divine and perfectly loving will of God, it becomes an idol and causes one to break the commandment of God.’

42

www.prioritypeople.org

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Servant Corps is a team of missioners living in Christian Community in the Cramer Hill neighborhood of Camden, New Jersey, working together to carry out The Salvation Army’s mission of evangelism, discipleship and meeting human need as servants of Jesus.

Short Term, summer, and one year internships available.

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Prayer Power

A Cry and email Answer

by Tara Harrington

I

n February 2013 I found myself questioning if what I was gifts and life experiences You have given me. I pray that You guide doing with my life was truly serving God. I was working me always in serving the youth in Sturgis, and I seek Your will and for a grassroots nonprofit organization in Colorado that not my own in all that I do there. was changing people’s lives internationally. It was the career Since I became the GSI youth development coordinator opportunity of a lifetime, but something was missing. Deep last April, that unexplainable emptiness has been filled. Every inside, I felt an unexplainable emptiness. day brings endless possibilities. I am pioneering creative proThe void grew. grams and community relationships to offer more to Sturgis I began praying wholeheartedly for God to guide me to youth. God has used my efforts to dramatically increase atthe place where I could best serve Him. With tears streaming tendance at youth activities and participation in community down my face, I cried out, “Please God, you know my heart. outreach.

You know me! Where can I best serve you? Please make your What I love most is seeing children’s faces light up when I answer clear so that I know it is from You.” introduce them to a relationship with Jesus and watch them Within two hours, God responded in the form of an email gain a new understanding and confidence about themselves. from Envoy DeWayne Duskin, the Salvation Army corps ofBecause of my powerful experience with prayer, I hope that ficer (pastor) in Sturgis, Mich. He said he had a new position each child will also learn that God is listening and prayer is he’d like me to consider. His corps had just received funding to powerful. After all, it is what brought me here. hire a Good Soil Initiative (GSI) youth development coordinator.

(See Priority!, Spring 2013.)

It was not the first time God had opened doors for me in the Army. In 2005, He brought me to the Sioux Falls, S.D., Corps Community Center, where I served as an emergency shelter aide, shelter manager, and development associate. In 2007, He opened the door at Metro Denver Social Services in Colorado, where I was administrative assistant and contract/ project manager.

It was clear God wanted me to serve in the Army again. My heart sang out with joy, Thank you, Lord! You have blessed me with Tara (second from right) with her husband, Lee, and son, Cody, and her daughter, Savanna Wilkinson the perfect opportunity to use the www.prioritypeople.org

47

117 Years Ago

Sugar: Hawaii–Puerto Rico Connection

by Linda D. Johnson

T

oday, the tiny red wooden chapel with the Salvation Army sign is part of Koloa Town’s version of a strip mall, a stretch of quaint shops linked by a plank sidewalk.

The church was re–opened in 2012, when Captains Austin and Nayomia Anderson arrived on the island of Kauai, the farthest north of the Hawaiian islands. (See feature on page 20.)

But it has a long history.

In 1897, when the chapel was first built, it was during the sugar cane era on the islands. When the sugar industry collapsed on Puerto Rico, plantation owners in Hawaii looked to that faraway island for workers. They came to “paradise” but lived in far from idyllic conditions. They were housed in work camps, poorly paid, and ill–treated by “Anglos” who ran the

48

plantations. The Salvation Army saw a need and stepped in.

In some cases, officers lived and worked on the plantations and did worship services in the camps. One such camp was at Makaweli, on the southwestern part of the island. There, the Army found resistance to its ministry until one man named Carasquilla was converted. Captain George Clark wrote of a changed atmosphere: “The comrades march around the camp singing songs of victory and beating the drum.”

Juanito Candelario Feliciano was one sugar cane worker who found the Lord at the Koloa Corps. That was in 1907.

Three years later, he applied to become an officer and entered training in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. He became an officer in 1911 and served on Maui,

the Big Island (Hawaii), and Oahu.

The Koloa Corps continued to serve the area for many years, and is now an “outpost” of the Hanapepe Corps. Some congregation members at Koloa can remember attending Sunday School there back in the 60s. Though the number of regulars here is small, tourists often drift in as they hear the sweet praise songs, played on guitar and ukelele, floating on the breeze.

When they walk through the wooden doors, most have no idea that they are stepping into history.

An upcoming book, Triunfarán: The Hispanic Ministry of The Salvation Army by Colonel Frank Payton will have more on the history of Puerto Ricans on the islands. Material for this article was taken from a draft chapter of that book.

www.prioritypeople.org

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