All the World (October 2012)

VOL 50 NO 4

OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2012

In sharp focus Portraits project captures month of ministry in the UK and Ireland

Prison ministry in AUSTRALIA Bumper FACTFILE – London 2012 Answered prayer in PARAGUAY WILLIAM BOOTH on a wall!

CONTENTS

OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2012

Visit ALL THE WORLD at: www.salvationarmy.org/alltheworld

03

UPFRONT From the Editor

04

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Helping displaced people

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AUSTRALIA Ministry in prison and beyond

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HOME AND AWAY Reflections from here and there

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PHOTOGRAPHY A month in pictures

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PARAGUAY The power of prayer

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FACTFILE Vital statistics

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OLYMPICS A mission team member’s story

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SNAPSHOTS News from around the world

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Everyday beauty Kevin Sims, Editor

EVERYONE who saw the footage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London will have their own highlight.

For me, even among the amazing feats of strength, endurance and speed, one performance stands out. Step forward Bert Le Clos, or – as he became known – ‘Chad’s Dad’.

Chad Le Clos is a young South African swimmer who raced against and beat his idol, record-breaking American Michael Phelps. When the camera turned to Chad’s family the viewer saw a large, bearded, middle-aged man in floods of tears. This man was Chad’s Dad, Bert.

The BBC TV presenters persuaded Bert to go to their studio for an interview.

What followed was TV gold. Instead of a media-trained athlete we were shown the raw emotion of a man who had just seen his child triumph against the odds.

Bert knew about the hours of hard work, the struggles, the will to win. Now he had witnessed everything come together more successfully, more wonderfully than he could have hoped.

‘Look at him,’ said burly, bearded Bert. ‘He’s beautiful!’

As the parent of two young boys, I’m beginning to understand the highs and lows that this responsibility brings – the joy I feel when they succeed seems more powerful than anything I have felt for myself. Similarly, the lows – like a last-ball defeat in a cricket final which left me far more devastated than my 11-year-old, Noah, who was taking part!

– are incredibly hard-hitting.

I’m also beginning to appreciate the joy found in the ordinary; the elation of the everyday. Just as the longest journey is made up of many individual steps, so our lives are made up of ‘ordinary’

moments that we don’t even realise are special. The smile of a child, laughing with a friend, a good meal, a nice cup of coffee – these and more are the little steps that make up our life journey. Just because they are everyday doesn’t mean they are ordinary!

This is what the Portraits book, photos from which are featured in this issue, captures so well. Some of the most powerful images are of ‘ordinary’ Salvation Army ministry – music

‘Now he had witnessed everything come together more successfully, more wonderfully than he could have hoped’

UPFRONT

FRO M T H E E DITOR

practice, sharing a laugh with a woman in a centre for the elderly, marching through the streets of London. On their own, none of these seems extraordinary, yet put together they form a picture of a vibrant, wide-ranging Salvation Army ministry that is demonstrating God’s love in a way that is relevant to the people it serves.

The Olympics and Paralympics showed ordinary people who, through talent, hard work and perseverance, achieved extraordinary things.

All the World shows something similar – ordinary people who, through faith, determination and a reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit working through them are able to do extraordinary things in communities across the world.

As God sees the work done in his name by The Salvation Army I like to think his response is similar to that of Chad’s Dad: ‘Look at them,’ he must be saying. ‘They’re beautiful!’

Editor Kevin Sims

Founder William Booth

design and Artwork Berni Georges

General Linda Bond

Editorial Office The Salvation Army International Headquarters 101 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4EH, United Kingdom

Editor-in-Chief Lieut-Colonel Laurie Robertson

© The General of The Salvation Army 2012

Tel: [44] (0)20 7332 0101; fax: [44] (0)20 7332 8079

Published by Linda Bond, General of The Salvation Army

Email: IHQ-alltheworld@salvationarmy.org

Printed in the UK by Lamport Gilbert Printers Ltd

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EMERGENCY

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC C O U OF N TCONGO RY OR THEME

Doing whatever they can

by Damaris Frick

‘The first time I went home they killed my husband, the second time they kidnapped my children’

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HERESE lives in Mugunga III, a camp for displaced people in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The east of the country has been unstable since 1994, as a result of the genocide in Rwanda, and a war still rages between government soldiers and various rebel groups.

It is possibly the worst place on earth to be a woman, with crushing poverty allowing no escape from a culture of violence and sexual assaults.

In Therese’s home area the situation became particularly bad in 2008. That was the first time she and her family fled to Goma and lived in the camp. In the past four years she returned home twice, only to lose all her family members and become a victim of sexual violence.

When I visited the camp with members of the local Salvation Army she told me:

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‘The first time I went home they killed my husband, the second time they kidnapped my children.’

Now she is alone.

‘I am too tired to go back,’ she said. ‘I will just stay in the camp for the rest of my life.’ She is by no means the only one.

The United Nations estimates that since 1998 more than half a million women have become victims of sexual violence as a result of the ongoing conflict.

Therese’s story isn’t all bad. She may have decided not to go home but she certainly hasn’t given up. She is now the vice president of the camp committee and also in charge of a group of women who, like her, suffered from rape and sexual

Above: 70-year-old Rejina Nyafura, who is caring for four grandchildren, in a field prepared for sowing. Rejina can’t afford to buy beans or maize seeds for planting

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Below left: Bembereza Bahati, a mother of six children between 10 months and 15 years, discusses the difficulties of returning home with project officer Lieutenant Jean-Marc Bakwamisa.

Bembereza’s husband was kidnapped by rebels a year ago; left: Damaris (with her back to the camera) speaks to Therese in a camp

violence. The group produces soap which its members sell at the local market.

This year the fighting between rebels and government forces flared up again and the camp has seen a huge influx of IDPs (internally displaced persons).

Shelter and food are major issues.

The Salvation Army provided tarpaulins to 2,000 families in this camp and food for 2,750 families in another.

remain, no one knows. The reality is that there is no guarantee that the people will enjoy more than one harvest.

The Salvation Army knows that the future for these people is uncertain.

Projects put in place today to help resettle communities may be wiped out at any time by a fresh outbreak of fighting.

Time, effort and money may go to waste – but this won’t stop the local Salvation Army teams from continuing, in God’s name, to do whatever they can.

Damaris Frick is a member of The Salvation Army’s International Emergency Services team, based at International Headquarters in London, UK

Stuck for present ideas for Christmas? Why not give a friend or loved one a daily dose of inspiration by buying a year’s subscription to Words of Life, The Salvation Army’s daily devotional series?

The January–April 2013 issue takes as its theme ‘Ambassadors of Hope’.

Writer Major Beverly Ivany explains: ‘We see hope for God’s world in creation, Old Testament leaders giving hope for the Israelite nation and beyond, and how hope relates to holiness.

In the New Testament, leaders of the young Church are ambassadors of hope as they encourage others to spread the gospel.’

An annual subscription of three copies per year, delivered to your door, costs £11.95 in the UK, £17.95 within the EU and £20.95 in the rest of the world.

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Adewande, an elderly woman, was one of the first recipients of a tarpaulin. She takes care of her two grandchildren because their parents were killed in this neverending war.

I asked what the people in the camp need most. The answer was simple: ‘Peace’.

Sadly, that is not something The Salvation Army can deliver, but it is doing what it can to improve the lives of people living in the camps.

Assistance is also being provided to those who – often with trepidation – have returned to their homes. In one area that is considered relatively safe The Salvation Army is supporting a group of 500 families through an agricultural project.

How long the peace in this area will

Subscriptions can be ordered online at http://sar.my/wolsubu (UK), http://sar.my/wolsubeu (EU) or http://sar.my/wolsubrow (rest of the world). For anyone preferring not to pay online, a subscription form can be downloaded from sar.my/wolform and sent by post. Orders can also be placed over the phone – [44] (0) 1933 445445.

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PRISON MINISTRY

AUSTRALIA

I

T was late November 2011 and I was sitting in the foyer at territorial headquarters in Blackburn (Melbourne) waiting for the boxes of 2012 diaries to be loaded into my car. These diaries were part of our annual Christmas cheer distribution to the clients of the Victorian justice system [Editor’s note: in this article, ‘Victorian’ refers to the Australian state of Victoria].

by Major Janette Shepherd

My eyes were drawn to the words etched into the glass panels near the than non-indigenous people. Add in reception desk. They were part of higher rates of mental illness and one has Salvation Army Founder William Booth’s a good idea of the ‘average’ prisoner. famous ‘I’ll fight!’ speech. unemployment, substance abuse, lack These statistics should disturb us and ‘While men go to prison, in and out, in of education, mental illness, poor health, challenge us. From our very beginnings and out, as they do now, I’ll fight!’ I read. homelessness, family dysfunction, and in Melbourne in the 1880s, The Salvation It was the phrase ‘as they do now’ that the experience of abuse as young people Army’s court and prison chaplains have hit me for six. He used those words 100 were linked to offending and reoffending. continued to be present in the lives of years ago, yet here we were in late 2011 This is further borne out in the those we are privileged to journey with. and men (and women) were still going to Department of Justice’s Statistical Profile I believe that it is ministry at the very prison in and out, in and out. of the Victorian Prison System 2005- heart of God. Recidivism is the term used to describe 06 to 2009-10, which reports that 50 One of our prison chaplains regularly those who return to prison within two per cent of male prisoners and 38 per accompanies a woman she first met on years of being released. It’s also called cent of female prisoners had been in the ‘inside’ to a community choir. The the ‘revolving door’. In Who Returns jail before but that only 6.5 per cent of young woman discovered a love of to Prison (Corrections Victoria, 2007), males and 18 per cent of females had singing, and the opportunity to be part Holland, Pointon and Ross found that completed secondary schooling. Almost of a choir has helped in her transition prisoners were more likely to be back two-thirds of prisoners of both sexes were back into society. Another young woman inside within months of exiting prison if unemployed and around half were single worships regularly at The Salvation Army. they were indigenous, if they were young, and had never married.

The congregation she became part of if they had had a number of prior terms of Furthermore, indigenous people were assisted her by providing voluntary work imprisonment, and if their offending was 10 times more likely to be imprisoned which allowed her to gain much-needed property-related. skills required in the Many prisoners ‘Indigenous people were 10 times more likely workplace. ticked more than one Many prison chaplains b o x . A d d i t i o n a l l y , to be imprisoned than non-indigenous people’ continue to meet up with 6 | ALL THE WORLD |

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AUSTRALIA

former prisoners for coffee and/or a meal.

One chaplain even attends Australian rules football matches with a man he met in prison! This ongoing support and friendship is crucial to the successful integration of ex-prisoners back into society. It also models pro-social (as opposed to anti-social!) behaviours to those who often have had few positive role models in their lives.

One of our children’s court chaplains spends a day a week helping to link young mums, many of them socially isolated and lacking positive support, to a local corps (church) programme.

Attendance with these young mums at Mainly Music and play group is a positive way of introducing them to a wider social network and – in a non-threatening way – to the local corps.

I first met Annie (not her real name) when she was working as a prostitute on the streets of St Kilda. Like the majority of young men and women engaged in the street sex trade she had serious substance abuse issues. Her boyfriend was also her pimp, and theirs was a mutually dependant, destructive relationship. Our Bridge Program workers knew them both

and periodically worked with them to address their substance abuse, notably heroin addiction.

Some years later I met Annie in prison.

She greeted me like a long-lost friend and proudly told the women in her unit how we knew each other. On one occasion, Annie shared her story. It was one of abuse and neglect by her mother, not an uncommon story among women in the prison system.

She told me how from a very early age she was told that she was ugly, that she was rubbish, that she didn’t matter and that she was a burden that her mother did not need. Annie then told me how she prayed and tried to read her Bible.

I asked her to get her Bible and I read to her from Genesis, from the Psalms, and from the Gospels. Annie needed to hear that she was a beautiful person made in the image of God. Annie and I continued to meet up whenever I visited the prison until it was time for her to go home. Some years later I met her in Melbourne. She looked fantastic! She reminded me of the last time we had seen each other – and of the clothing we had provided for her to go home in, something our prison chaplains do on a regular basis.

Annie’s life was completely different.

She had ‘ditched the boyfriend’ (her words) and was now in a long-term stable relationship. She and her partner had

two children, she had a good job, stable accommodation and, best of all, she hadn’t ‘used’ since getting out of prison six years before.

We gave thanks to God there and then for the marvellous change in her life.

Stories like these really encourage us – yet while the most marginalised members of our society continue to end up in prison there is work for us to do. As a movement we cannot stand by and say nothing. General Booth’s promise to keep fighting is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago.

Major Janette Shepherd is The Salvation Army’s State Coordinator for Courts and Prisons in Victoria, Australia Southern Territory

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HO U MN E TARNYDOARWTAHYE M E C

A series looking at the thoughts and experiences of people working for The Salvation Army in their country of birth and others giving service abroad

CAPTAIN Patti Niemand SOUTHERN AFRICA TERRITORY

HOME

What is your role in The Salvation Army?

I am the Social Programme Secretary for the Southern Africa Territory, which requires me to oversee all the social programmes. This includes providing support, encouragement and resource for the development and maintenance of existing programmes and in the implementation of new ones. I am also the Territorial Planned Giving Director, responsible for Salvation Army stewardship development at corps (church) level and I serve on various boards and councils including MASIC (Moral and Social Issues Council) and the Anti-HumanTrafficking Task Team.

What would be your typical day?

It is difficult to describe a ‘typical day’ but many days include internal meetings, networking meetings, admin, email correspondence, phone calls, site visits and drafting policy documents.

Left: Captain Patti Niemand in her office

What do you like most about South Africa?

Definitely the rich diversity – it’s a multicultural country which celebrates and embraces cultural differences.

If you were elected General, what would be the first thing you would change?

I would love to see equality among officers throughout the world. This is probably an idealistic view and practically impossible, but officer care is a concern of mine and I would like to see more done to ensure the care and support of our officers.

How did you meet The Salvation Army?

Through a school friend who invited me to attend youth councils. I was intrigued and fascinated by the uniform, brass bands and timbrels and decided to start attending Sunday services. The rest is history.

If you could choose to work for The Salvation Army anywhere else, where would you choose and why?

I love South Africa, but have been privileged to visit Australia and Germany. If I could choose to serve anywhere in the world other than South Africa it would have to be one of these two countries.

What is your favourite Bible verse?

Romans 8:28: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (New International Version). This verse of Scripture has given me perspective through some difficult times in my life.

What skills do you use most in your work?

I believe God equips me for each task that he gives me.

For each appointment, God has granted me the necessary skill to achieve the required outcomes. For my current appointment, I believe that my leadership skills and interpersonal skills are utilised to fulfil the tasks at hand.

What is your favourite Salvation Army song?

‘Lord, I Pray that I may Know Thee’ (Salvation Army Song Book No 435 by Brigadier Ruth Tracy) – in particular verse three (‘Only as I truly know thee can I make thee truly known’). It reminds me that I can only share Christ with others to the extent that I myself have experienced him.

What skills do you have that you would like the opportunity to use more?

I love the ‘pastor’ role and, although I have opportunity to minister to people in a different way on territorial headquarters, the pastoral care and counsel of a congregation is what I would like to do more.

How do you think that working in South Africa differs from elsewhere?

I suppose every local setting has its own challenges.

South Africa has political, social and economic challenges no different to some other developing countries. However, I would imagine working in a first-world country could be more comfortable in some aspects, but then again the challenges would be different.

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How would you like to be remembered?

As a God-fearing woman.

What’s so special about The Salvation Army?

The Salvation Army is special because of our strong sense of care for the whole person. Other denominations are catching up to us (and perhaps even some overtaking us), but it is that we were raised to ‘save souls, grow saints and serve suffering humanity’ that makes The Salvation Army special to me.

away

Sarah-Jane AlleY Working for The Salvation Army in the UK – originally from Australia

Photo by Shairon Paterson

&

What is your role in The Salvation Army?

I am the More Than Gold Coordinator, responsible for the Army’s involvement on all levels in the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This also involves promoting sports ministry in the UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland.

How did you meet The Salvation Army?

My parents are officers in the Australia Eastern Territory.

Do you have a ‘claim to fame’?

Not really (unless you count my weird dislocated little finger that never quite healed right) but I am always referred to as ‘the sports lady’!

What is your favourite Bible verse?

2 Timothy 1:7: ‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline’ (New International Version 1984).

What is your favourite Salvation Army song?

Very typically ‘O Boundless Salvation!’ I want all seven verses at my funeral!

&AWAY

How does working in the UK differ from your experience elsewhere?

It has been very interesting to see how two cultures which are relatively similar (and one colonised by the other) are so completely different! The British are typically reserved and will not give themselves praise where it is due. Even with the Games looming and the organisers having done a great job, people were still sceptical and didn’t believe that as a nation they could pull it off (which they did VERY well!). Being in a country with such a reserved and polite nature has shown me also just how bold (and loud!) us Aussies can be!

What do you miss most about your home country?

Sun! The ocean! My family!

What do you like most about the UK? The entrepreneurial approach. The UK was built off people trying new things and making their living. This is still the case today and there are lots of pop-up businesses or street traders, each with its own special unique brand. This makes the UK – and London in particular – a very exciting and creative place to live.

&AWAY

What would be your typical day?

This is extremely varied! Usually it involves liaising with people from other churches and Christian organisations about how we can work together under the banner of More Than Gold, speaking to officers and centre managers about the role that their corps (church) or centre can play in their community and passing on as much information as I can to Salvationists about how they can be involved in this great event. There is also a lot of meetings, emails and networking!

If you were elected General, what would be the first thing you would change?

Oh wow – that is a big question! I think maybe a few structural things so that more corps and centres could have officers.

If you could choose to work for The Salvation Army anywhere else, where would you choose?

Having recently met so many Salvationists from across the world, I find this tough to answer as the Army is diverse and there are so many places I would love to serve. Being a physical education teacher it would be very special to teach in a Salvation Army school somewhere – maybe Africa or South America?

What skills do you use most in your work?

Flexibility, creativity, communication and networking.

What skills do you have that you would like the opportunity to use more?

I am a very practical person and miss being ‘in the field’ so to speak. I would like to use my teaching skills again in a ministry context. I would also like to develop my Bible teaching as well as my leadership skills

How would you like to be remembered?

As ‘that little Aussie girl who helped us reach our community in the name of Jesus’.

What’s so special about The Salvation Army?

Our international family! We have so many opportunities to meet people from around the world and it doesn’t matter where you are or what language is spoken, we connect and belong. I have had such a rich upbringing because of the opportunities I’ve had to share with and visit others from around the world! We are a great mission-sending organisation and this too has provided so many of us with unforgettable experiences which have deeply impacted our spiritual lives.

&AWAY

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Portraits: the visual story

by Major Leanne Ruthven

I

T’S been a momentous year for the United Kingdom. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee followed by the Olympics and Paralympics have given the British public much to celebrate.

This year has also been a significant one for The Salvation Army, with August 2012 being the 100th anniversary of the death of its Founder, William Booth.

It may also be the centenary of what is arguably the Army’s most famous speech, claimed to have been given by General Booth at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which begins, ‘While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight!’ and concludes 10 | ALL THE WORLD |

with: ‘While there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight – I’ll fight to the very end!’

To mark these events The Salvation Army’s UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland has produced a pictorial record that demonstrates how Booth’s legacy lives on in the 21st century. Portraits: A Month in the Life of The Salvation Army is a series of photographs of Army mission and ministry through the eyes of those at the grass roots of the movement: members, employees, volunteers and service users. They took the photos, they supplied the information and many of them are now using the book to further

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their ministry. Here’s how the project took shape:

Task 1: Invite

Invitations to participate in the project were sent to every corps (church), centre and headquarters department in the territory. Articles were placed in Salvationist magazine and information disseminated via the web. The Project Manager, Cathy Le Feuvre, a journalist who worked for the BBC and former

‘All the images had to be taken – October 2011 – and submitted

Photo by Paul Ha

rmer

PHOTOGRAPHY

of a record-making month Head of Media in the territory, also wrote directly to many places, inviting contributions.

All the images had to be taken during one calendar month – October 2011 – and submitted by the following month.

We also asked contributors to tell us where their pictures were taken, what the event was and who it involved.

Signed forms granting permission for photos to be published were also required.

during one calendar month – – by the following month’

Task 2: Wait

One of the dilemmas we faced was not knowing how many photos we would receive, what the quality would be like and whether we would have a good geographical spread. We knew we couldn’t run out in November and grab a few shots to fill in any gaps. Our plan was to produce a 120-page coffee table-style book, but for a while I had visions of only having enough contributions to publish a 20-page pamphlet!

So, to ensure we had something to begin with, we commissioned professional photographer Paul Harmer

Main photo: two new soldiers are welcomed by the whole corps at Hythe; above left: a 28-foot Bermudian sloop being restored by service users at Devonport House Lifehouse; above: Sandra Sneddon, manager of the Eva Burrows Day Centre in Cambuslang, Scotland, shares a special moment with one of the service users; below: concentrating hard at singing company practice in Kettering

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R YT H E M E PCHOOUTNOTGRRYAO PH

Taking part in a men’s training day held by the East Midlands Division

Photo by Paul Harmer

Regent Hall Salvation Army Band is a familiar sight on the streets of central London.

The corps is the only church on Oxford Street, which is probably the UK’s busiest shopping street. The unusual fisheye lens photo shows the band heading out to lead a weekly open-air meeting.

The name Tŷ Gobaith means ‘Hope House’ in Welsh, and hope is exactly what service users receive when they come to this centre in Cardiff. Gwyneth Maycock has rekindled a passion for the cornet through a music therapy programme run from the centre’s music room.

Residents are given the opportunity to express their creativity and to realise their potential by attaining National Open College Network (NOCN) qualifications.

At Hadleigh Farm and Training Centre, students with special needs receive specialist education in a variety of practical skills. The farm, which has been used by The Salvation Army to provide training for more than a century, is also home to a popular tea rooms and a rare breeds centre.

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C O U N TPRHYO O TO R GTRHAE PMHEY

Right: Regent Hall Band provokes great interest from the thousands of tourists and local people who throng the streets of central London Below: a football programme at Staines encourages the church and local community to come together

‘Just as other events Britain celebrated in 2012 will leave a legacy, so too will The Salvation Army’s activities, as recorded in this special book’ A team of UK fundraisers treks the Himalayas, raising more than £36,000 for Salvation Army projects. They reached Everest Base Camp on 13 October 2011 – pretty much halfway through the month set aside for Portraits.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Task 5: Legacy

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

to take pictures in selected corps and centres. He travelled around the territory gathering the first of our ‘portraits’, and these we decided to use to commence various sections of the book. The problem was, we wouldn’t know what each of these sections would consist of or what we would call them until we knew what else would come in.

Task 3: Choose

As October 2011 morphed into November, the photos started coming in – and kept coming. We received hundreds and hundreds of images. Some centres sent one or two photos, some sent a handful, some sent dozens. Many were excellent and most were good – although a few were unusable.

We eventually decided on seven sections: Praise, People, Places, Public, Practical, Partnerships and Possibilities.

Fitting as many photos as possible into these sections – while giving the designer enough variety to work with and making sure the breadth of the territory was represented – was a challenge.

make sure all the permission forms were received, and check with managers and other relevant personnel regarding any sensitive issues. Then there was liaising with the designer, confirming details with contributors, checking designed pages, proofreading and final sign-off from territorial leaders. Added to this was the day-to-day workload of a busy publishing department, a Christmas break and lots of small decisions to be made along the way. If five months sounds like ample time to turn around such a project, it wasn’t!

In the end we had so many contributions that Portraits grew into a 160-page volume with more than 500 photos, 80 per cent of which were taken by those involved in the day-to-day mission and ministry of The Salvation Army. We also received an endorsement from General Linda Bond, as well as one from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II which, according to a letter from Buckingham Palace, was an ‘exceptional’ thing to happen.

Portraits is now selling well and corps and centres are being encouraged to use it in their ministry. Some have sent copies to their local MPs or radio stations, while one has held its own ‘Month in the Life’ exhibition. It has been taken into schools and displayed at a military base.

As well as this, the hundreds of images that weren’t published in the book were incorporated into a digital exhibition that was displayed on iPads at the May congress. This may become available at a later date.

Just as other events Britain celebrated in 2012 will leave a legacy, so too will The Salvation Army’s activities, as recorded in this special book. While women continue to weep and there are still people who need the Lord, William Booth’s mandate to fight against sin and injustice will remain.

Portraits demonstrates that The Salvation Army in the UK and Republic of Ireland is keeping that legacy alive.

Major Leanne Ruthven is Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Secretary for The Salvation Army’s United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland An exhibition of some of the photos from Portraits is being held in Gallery 101 (next to the cafe) at International Headquarters in London throughout October 2012.

Task 4: Launch

The arena for the Founder’s final public appearance – the Royal Albert Hall – was the ideal place to launch Portraits.

The territory was to hold its ‘I’ll Fight!’

Congress at this venue in May 2012, so we had to move fast – really fast! We didn’t know what we would have to work with until the beginning of December 2011 and the book had to be at the printers by the beginning of May 2012.

During this time we had to sort through the From images, place themhere into sections and top: photo captions get them to the designer. We also had to 14 | ALL THE WORLD |

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Portraits: A Month in the Life of The Salvation Army is produced by the Publishing Department, UK Territorial Headquarters, under the Shield Books imprint. Price: £14.95 (plus p&p).

It can be bought from the SP&S shop in Tiverton St, London SE1 6BN (behind THQ); mail order hotline [+44] (0)1933 445 445; email: mail_order@sp-s.co.uk or visit the website: www.sps-shop.com (also available on www.amazon.co.uk) For further information email publishing@salvationarmy.org.uk

COMMUNIITY

COUNTRY P AO RR A GTU HAE Y ME

The power of prayer

by Major Ruth Bente Paulsen

T

HE San Felipe/San Vicente/ San Pedro districts of Asunción, Paraguay, are well known as a slum area where the country’s poorest people live. The area is registered as a ‘red zone’ because of very high rates of crime, drugs and violence.

The people who live in the slum originally come mostly from the countryside. They come to the city in search of a better life and put up temporary housing made out of cardboard, plastic and sometimes concrete. Officially, no one is allowed to live in this area, but the reality is that some people have little choice but to make their home there.

There are no proper sanitary facilities – the sewer, for example, is an open river.

The area is so notorious that even the

police and ambulance crews stay away.

The Salvation Army has been working in this red zone since 1999.

One of the programmes is an after school centre called ‘Ray of Light’, which serves around 90 children and teenagers.

The young people go to Ray of Light to receive help with their homework.

They are also given a daily meal, as malnutrition is a major problem.

In recent years the work has begun to expand into an outpost, with home league women’s meetings, Sunday school and young people’s meetings.

The teenagers in the centre needed a

Above: children from the Ray of Light centre

computer for their schoolwork so they asked if they could have one in the centre. My husband and I were not sure.

No one lives in the centre, so we donn’t keep anything valuable there. We were afraid someone would be tempted to break in.

After giving it some thought and prayer, however, we began to see the benefits of providing a computer for the young people to use. So my husband fixed an old machine and gave it to the Ray of Light centre. The young ‘The area is so notorious people were so happy! They were also very proud, because it was that even the police and the only computer in the whole ambulance crews stay away’ community.

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PARAGUAY

The joy lasted for several months, but one Saturday morning I was woken up very early by the phone ringing. It was a teacher who lives next to the centre. She was screaming and asking us to come at once.

My first thought was that someone was dead!

The teacher explained that someone had broken the window to the centre and stolen the computer, the printer and the cables. We drove there straight away and discovered that it was just as she had reported.

All the neighbours that live around the centre were outside watching the commotion, but no one would admit to having heard or seen anything. We decided to go to the police station, even though we thought they would not do anything about it.

We were wrong!

They took down all the details and then, to our astonishment, they decided

‘The young people looked at me like I was crazy. One of them shook his head but they all said nothing’ to come into the red zone – where we had almost never seen police – with two police cars and five policemen!

They told us that this was a case for prosecution and that the people who had taken the computer could face time in jail. Then they went from door to door, taking statements from neighbours.

A few days later I went to see the young people studying in the centre.

They looked so depressed. I asked them how they felt and they told me: ‘What do you think? They stole our computer! We feel very sad.’

That’s when I said something – something that, just a second after having said the words, I wished I had never said.

I told the young people: ‘We can pray that God will speak to whom ever stole the computer and let them feel so

Below: General Linda Bond (centre, front row) with Salvation Army leaders and children from the Ray of Light centre

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bad that they will bring it back again!’

Straight away I regretted saying it. I really didn’t think there was anything that would bring our computer back. Today I understand that God was putting the words in my mouth.

The young people looked at me like I was crazy. One of them shook his head but they all said nothing, looking at each other and then at me.

How ridiculous, they seemed to be thinking, to believe that someone from this neighbourhood could have his or her conscience touched by God. ‘Let’s pray,’ I said. I asked God, if it was his will, to speak to the people who stole the computer. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would lead them to bring back the computer.

There was a strange silence in the room as 25 young people looked at me.

Inside I screamed to God, asking him to show his true power in this situation.

The next Saturday morning the phone

PARAGUAY

again rang very early in the morning. The same teacher from the week before was screaming again, almost crying, asking us to go at once to the Ray of Light centre.

The computer was back, she told me – it was outside her door, on the steps of her house! When we arrived, there it all was – the computer, the printer, even the cables! And when we tried the machine, everything was working.

After a while a woman arrived. She was the mother of a young boy who was addicted to drugs. It seemed that he had been involved in the robbery. She is a Roman Catholic, and when she learned that her son had played a part in our break-in she began to pray.

The three young boys who had stolen the computer could not sell it to anyone in the red zone. No one wanted to buy The Salvation Army’s machine! When the boys tried to take the computer to an open market to sell it, no one would rent them a car or a motorcycle!

We began to understand more clearly than ever that in this place, even where life is so very hard, the people respect The Salvation Army. The love given to the community over more than a decade has yielded results!

When I met the teenagers at the Ray of Light centre two days later, they were overwhelmed. They told me that they never thought God could answer prayers in this way. That evening we had a round of thank-you prayers!

At that point we had just started young people’s meetings in the outpost on Saturdays. After this answer to prayer,

Right: children from the Ray of Light centre form a guard of honour for General Linda Bond; below: community members from the red zone gather for a meeting

many young people began attending the meetings.

Today we have five soldiers and two recruits, only one of whom is an adult.

All the others come from the same group that was there when we prayed for the computer to be returned.

These young people now lead our Sunday school and help us to provide breakfast for up to 50 children. They give their testimonies, lead meetings and they bravely wear their Salvation Army uniform in a place where everybody

knows them and what they say they stand for.

God is so great! He knows exactly how to act and what to do so people can believe in him.

In my home country, Norway, he has to do other things so people can believe, but for my people in Paraguay this answer to prayer was the best way to let his children witness for themselves God’s care, love and true power.

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 love for God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination.

Now working in 125 countries, The Salvation Army has been offering help, hope and God’s love to people in need since 1865.

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FACTFILE

N

S C I P

M Y L O & PICS M Y L A R A P The symbol of the Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings, coloured blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white field. The symbol was originally designed in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. The colours (including the white background) were chosen to form a link with every national flag, in what Baron de Coubertin desribed as ‘truly an international symbol’.

The symbol of the Paralympic Games is made up of of three ‘agitos’, coloured red, blue and green, encircling a single point on a white field. The agito – meaning ‘I move’ in Latin – is a symbol of movement in the shape of an asymmetrical crescent. It was created in 2003 and first used at the Paralympic Games held in Athens, Greece, in 2004.

The ancient Olympic Games are believed to have begun in Olympia, Greece, in 796 BC. They continued to be held regularly (usually every four years) until 394 AD.

The Salvation Army’s first involvement with the Olympic Games came in 1948 – the last time they were held in the UK before 2012 – when Aldershot Barracks Red Shield Defence Services served refreshments to equestrian athletes.

Although some attempts were made to revive the ideal of the Olympic Games, the first Olympic Games as it is recognised today was held in Athens in 1896.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France is acknowledged as the founding father of the modern Olympic movement.

The closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games contained a strong Salvationist influence. Clarence Adoo (Newcastle City Temple Corps) was part of the Paraorchestra and Lissa Hermans, from Enfield Corps, sang the British National Anthem, ‘God Save the Queen’.

The first Paralympic Games were held in Stoke Mandeville, UK, in 1948.

Dr Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital arranged a series of events for Second World War veterans with spinal cord injuries, to run concurrently with that summer’s Olympic Games.

Salvation Army emergency vans served tea and coffee throughout the City of London during the Olympic and Paralympic marathons.

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30,000 Traidcraft teas or coffees were served during the torch relay.

Salvation Army teams gave out half a million bottles of water during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

FACTFILE

Special sport-themed issues of UK publications The War Cry and Kids Alive! were produced and provided for free.

They were given out during the Olympic Torch Relay – which went right round the UK and Ireland – and during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In total, 90,000 copies of The War Cry and 85,000 copies of Kids Alive! were distributed.

Twenty-three Salvation Army mission teams from all over the world, hosted by 15 British corps, took

IHQ made the most of its central London site with a mountain bike installation on the ground floor which was assembled by staff and trainees from Hadleigh Farm. The public gallery on the building also hosted an exhibition featuring artwork created by service users from Salvation Army centres, based on the Olympic and Paralympic values.

part in practical and evangelistic Hadleigh Salvation Army Farm hosted the men’s and women’s Olympic mountain bike events. This is the first time that a church denomination has hosted an Olympic event.

At least six Salvationists carried the Olympic Torch during its relay around the country.

ministry while the Olympic Games were taking place. One team fulfilled the same role during the Paralympics.

Philip Cobb, a Salvationist from Hendon Corps (church) featured as trumpet soloist in the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Philip is principal trumpet in the London Symphony Orchestra, which played for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, including another Salvationist, Dudley Bright (Regent Hall Corps), on trombone.

The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters (IHQ), in central London, was on the route of the Olympic men’s and women’s marathons as well as the two Paralympic marathons. It was one of the few places on the course to be passed six times in each race. IHQ officers and staff painted faces, distributed Salvation Army papers and gave out a total of 9,100 cups of water.

St Helier Corps, Jersey, challenged islanders to help it knit the 26 miles of the marathon! Squares and rectangles 20cm wide were requested, with the challenge well publicised across the island. Knitting evenings were held once a month to encourage people to meet together and provide opportunity to learn how to knit. One church group even held its own sessions in-between!

After a picture was put in the Jersey Evening Post, 103 phone enquiries were taken from people wanting to be involved. Contributions have been received from all ages – from seven years old up to 93.

On Saturday 15 September, the hall was opened for a day of celebration, with completed blankets and knitted squares on display. So far, more than 5.5 miles of knitting (20cms wide), has been completed but more is still arriving. The squares will be sewn together to make blankets which will be given to two Jersey charities and taken to Romania for distribution.

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TESTIMONY

OLYMPICS

Living the dream Thirty-seven young Salvationists from various parts of Brazil travelled to the London 2012 Olympic Games to participate in mission teams organised by The Salvation Army and More Than Gold (a Christian organisation that is involved in sport events).

The teams gathered useful information and experiences ahead of their own country’s turn to host the Games in 2016, when they will be held in Rio de Janeiro.

One of the participants was Alzenir Eudália dos Santos of Rio Comprido Corps (Salvation Army church) in Rio de Janeiro.

She was born in Bahia, in a poor region of Brazil where there is no Salvation Army.

She shared with All the World the story of the hardship and struggle she faced until she met God and The Salvation Army, leading to her life being completely transformed.

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I

spent my childhood in Campo Formoso, Bahia. This is in the Caatinga Region, a semiarid, dry area of north-east Brazil. Even from an early age I had to work hard just to get by.

I used to spend all my time in the plantations, where we had to carry drinking water in buckets on our heads. My dream was to be able to study, but there were no schools in my area.

When I was 13 I moved to a small village called Jatobá, also in Bahia, and it was there Above: Alzenir (front row, third from left) with mission team members and (in white shirt) Major Sara Chagas (Divisional Secretary for Women’s Ministries, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais and Centre West Division, Brazil) outside the General’s office in International Headquarters, London

OLYMPICS

Above (left and right) Alzenir and mission team members at The Salvation Army in Stepney, east London; below: dancing in the cafe at International Headquarters

that I was able to go to school for the first time. In this village I also heard about God and the Bible through a Christian lady who was conducting an evangelistic campaign. I felt so inferior because I could not read or write, but I began to think about the things that she read to me like Luke 1:37: ‘Nothing is impossible with God’ (New International Version 1984).

It was through these words that I met the Lord. I cried out to him and said: ‘Lord, if you really exist, make my dream come true! Take me to a place, anywhere, where I can study and graduate!’

When I was 15 I took on my first job as a domestic servant, and went to live in a small town where I worked and went to school. It was a difficult period in my life.

The family I worked for and lived with moved to Rio de Janeiro and decided to take me with them. This was a difficult decision to make as I had to leave my mother and brothers to try this new life.

I was 17 at the time and was in the fifth grade at school.

The family offered me work and the opportunity to study, but they deceived me. I suffered immensely because they took advantage of the fact that I had no family close by and I was treated like a slave, working seven days a week and holidays with none of the social benefits I was entitled to. I felt lonely and missed my family.

I went to various churches at that time, but it was through a young Salvationist,

Tiago Camargos, who was a friend of my employer’s son, that I met The Salvation Army. He invited me to a youth praise meeting, and on that day the Lord confirmed in my heart that this was the place where I should be.

Other people in the corps helped me to get into school, got me a new place to live and a new job. Today, at the age of 28 I am still working in this same place they arranged for me and I am in the fifth term at university, studying pedagogy.

I continue to grow in the Lord and to be an active Salvationist, participating in the songsters, the dance group and timbrels.

It was at The Salvation Army that I met the family I really needed and I can certainly say that ‘I can do everything through him who gives me strength’ (Philippians 4:13).

Being able to go to London at my own expense is a great achievement and I feel proud of myself. This was the first time I

travelled abroad and it was a marvellous experience.

Before I left Brazil I asked God what it was going to be like living in a place I didn’t know, trying to communicate with people who spoke a language I couldn’t speak. I thought I would be limited and would not be able to tell people of the love of God. I should have known better. God used me in an amazing way – it was certainly very worthwhile!

God showed me once again how much he cares for me. My lack of English was not a barrier and everything that happened was gratifying and unforgettable, not only for me but also for those I came into contact with and to whom I tried to reflect the love of God.

‘Lord, if you really exist, make my dream come true! Take me to a place, anywhere, where I can study and graduate!’

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COUNTRY OR THEME

SNAPSHOTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

The Netherlands Around the world The Salvation Army has more than 100,000 employees. Many of these are Salvationists but some are not, yet all help the Army to fulfil its mission.

The Netherlands and Czech Republic Territory has published a book for new employees, Met Liefde Werken [Work with Love] which simply and elegantly explains what The Salvation Army is, its roots and its mission. It even includes a prayer entitled ‘Gezegend’ [Blessed]. Employees are assured that they play a vital role in enabling God to work through The Salvation Army.

‘It is often thought,’ explains the book, ‘that working as a professional and working from inspiration are opposites. It is assumed that spiritual is not professional. That assumption is not correct.

‘In The Salvation Army we believe, on the contrary, that these two belong together.

‘Obviously you will do your work with all the knowledge you have acquired and all the skills you have made your own ... At the same time inspiration will influence the way in which you work and the choices you make ...

‘Inspiration is not like the little seeds that decorate bread. Inspiration is like the yeast that works through the bread. Without yeast the bread is no longer bread.’

It continues: ‘When you work in The Salvation Army you are part of a community of people who know themselves to have been touched by Jesus – people who want to pass on to others the love of God that Jesus has revealed to us. It is a Christian organisation ...

‘This is evident in the way we speak and the things we do. It shows in the way you approach your clients, the way you treat your colleagues and the way you contact people outside the organisation ... The love you have received yourself and the hope that faith brings you will be passed on to those around you.’

Switzerland The Salvation Army’s Switzerland, Austria and Hungary Territory has come up with a novel way to raise its profile in Switzerland and beyond – it is entering a song in the first stages of the Eurovision Song Contest!

The final of the annual competition attracts a TV audience of more than 100 million viewers across Europe and beyond, making household names of winners and other participants.

The Swiss Salvation Army song will first be entered – along with about 200 other songs – into the preliminary stage of the national competition. From there, the top nine most-voted-for songs will take part in a nationally televised final on 15 December, the winner of which will represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, in May 2013.

Switzerland won the first-ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 but, since then, success has been rare, with the only other first-place finish coming in 1988 when the country was represented by Céline Dion. Only time will tell if The Salvation Army can take the title back to Switzerland!

The Desert Road to Glory

Bumper Bargain Bundle!

by Clarence D. Wiseman

The Common People’s Gospel

by Gunpei Yamamuro

from Salvation Books Servants Together What and Why We Believe

by Harry Dean 22 | ALL THE WORLD |

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‑ Salvationist Perspectives on Ministry

SNAPSHOTS

United Kingdom Salvation Army Founder William Booth has returned to Mile End Road in east London, along with some other famous (and even infamous) faces who are featured in a huge new mural painted by Canadian artist Mychael Barratt. Among the other people to feature in the painting are Victorian author (and often friend of The Salvation Army) George Bernard Shaw, Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi, Captain James Cook and Queen Elizabeth II – all of whom have links (some stronger than others!) to the Mile End area of east London.

It’s impossible to know what General Booth would make of sharing a wall with famous East End gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray but it’s likely that a man who vowed to ‘go for souls, and go for the worst’ would enjoy the challenge!

For a complete key to the mural, go to http://sar.my/muralkey

Indonesia Salvation Army ‘Compassion in Action’ teams have been providing material and spiritual support to communities affected by an earthquake in the Central Sulawesi Province. Trauma counselling is being offered to people trying to restart lives after losing homes, friends and family members.

One of the worst-hit areas was the Lindu District, where five Salvationists lost their lives. Salvation Army corps (churches) and

a school were among many buildings to suffer significant damage.

Colonel Mike Parker (Chief Secretary, Indonesia Territory) visited Lindu District to give support and encouragement, and to pray with people who had lost loved ones, homes and possessions.

He reports: ‘Salvationists are in good spirits, have a strong faith and are coping

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PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO ‘THE SALVATION ARMY’, ADDRESSED TO: Communications Section, The Salvation Army International Headquarters, 101 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4EH, United Kingdom Please include your name and address

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From a Middle Aged Dad to a Teenage Daughter by Grant Sandercock-Brown

well with this situation. Our “Compassion in Action” team is working well, and the logistics are in place to provide immediate support and goods. The bigger challenge will be the rebuilding of homes and halls.’

Salvation Books publications are also available from territorial trade/ supplies departments and on www.amazon.co.uk, although prices may vary.

Dear Paul

by Wesley Harris

Email IHQ-Editorial@salvationarmy.org further information | ALL OC TOBE R– DE C E M BE Rfor 2012 THE WORLD | 23

Figures in colour show when The Salvation Army officially commenced work in a country (years in brackets denote when work recommenced after a time out) You can download this artwork from sar.my/atw125list