09 July 2022 NZFTS War Cry

FAITH IN ACTION 09 JULY 2022 | Issue 6795 | $1.50

Part Three of The Kingdom of Incomparable Worth

About ABBA

Tonga and Ukraine updates Chaplaincy: Blessing of the waters The shame game

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WAR CRY The Salvation Army

New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa Territory TERRITORIAL LEADERS Commissioners Julie & Mark Campbell | GENERAL Brian Peddle | FOUNDERS Catherine

& William Booth

The Salvation Army’s message is based on the Bible. Our ministry is motivated by love for God. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human need in his name without discrimination. War Cry exists to support and advance The Salvation Army’s message, ministry and mission.

EDITOR Vivienne Hill | GRAPHIC DESIGN Sam Coates, Nicole Gesmundo, Lauren Millington | STAFF WRITERS

Hope Burmeister, Holly Morton, David Youngmeyer | PROOF READING Major Colleen Marshall OFFICE Territorial Headquarters, 204 Cuba Street,

PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141, Phone (04) 384 5649, Email warcry@salvationarmy.org.nz, salvationarmy.org.nz/warcry SUBSCRIPTIONS Salvationist Resources Department, Phone

(04) 382 0768, Email mailorder@salvationarmy.org.nz, $75 per year within NZ PRINT MANAGEMENT makeready.nz | PAPER Sumo Offset

is an environmentally responsible paper produced using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) FSC® certified Mixed Source pulp from responsible sources and manufactured under the strict ISO14001 Environmental Management System.

Member of the Australasian Religious Press Association.

Call to Chaplaincy The unthinkable has happened and a 19-year-old athlete has died suddenly while participating in a sport he loved. His family—devastated. His teammates and friends are in shock. Into this situation a sports chaplain enters and brings God … our ‘refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble’. This is the story told in our main feature on page 6.

Our feature article also includes a link to a short documentary. Here you will hear Chaplain Matt Hawkins’s experience at the side of the pool in the aftermath of the tragedy and his work with the team from AUT Millennium. You will also be invited to consider the unique work of chaplains and how you too might consider working in sports chaplaincy.

Chaplains carry the presence of God with them. No matter what situations they find themselves in, they have the ever-present God to lean on, to draw from in order to minister to the broken-hearted and to the lost. No two situations are the same for a chaplain and they are often dealing with people who are experiencing trauma and abuse. Chaplaincy is a calling.

Today, no matter where you are, I hope you will bring the presence and essence of the living God into the situations you are dealing with. We may not all carry the title of ‘chaplain’, but we all have opportunities to come alongside people who are struggling and in pain to bring hope and encouragement, forgiveness and blessing.

Vivienne Hill Editor

SalvationArmyNZFTS

‘God will meet you where you are in order to take you where he wants you to go.’

@SalvationArmyNZ

Tony Evans

All Bible references from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise stated.

Articles are copyrighted to The Salvation Army, except where indicated, and may be reprinted only with permission.

Publishing for 138 years | Issue 6795 ISSN 0043-0242 (print), ISSN 2537-7442 (online) Please pass on or recycle this magazine Read online issuu.com/salvationarmynzftwarcry

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Psalm 46:1–3 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Ngā Waiata 46:1–3 Ko te Atua tō tātou piringa, tō tātou kaha; he kaiāwhina e tino tata ana i ngā wā o te hē. Nā reira kore ake to tātou wehi, ahakoa nekehia te whenua, ahakoa kāhakina ngā maunga ki waenga moana; ahakoa rarā, taupatupatu noa ōna wai, ahakoa wiri ngā maunga i tōna huamo.

Under the Spotlight

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here can be times when you can think you have failed or missed God’s purposes for your life. Maybe you see little evidence of fruitfulness in your walk with Christ and worry that this is proof you are not fulfilling the mission God gave to you.

But God’s calling and his purposes are not measured by the world’s systems or the virtues and values of humankind. God’s kingdom is governed by a system that is often the antithesis of what happens in the culture around us.

God’s kingdom is eternal and so his plans for us, his children, are seen through the lens of immortality. They are plans for us individually but within a generational continuum. The plans God sets in place for his loved ones at a given time are there to shape and strengthen a generation, but also the following generation, including our own offspring.

These are the ones we are called to minister to, disciple and prepare for their own time in history.

Each of us has entered onto the stage, or into

the arena, of earthly existence for ‘such a time as this’. We are given a set number of days and distinct purposes: to bring others to Christ and glorify God. How we do this will be individually unique.

Each person who comes to Christ has crossroads placed on their pathway. Each individual is tested at a heart level to expose motivations and hidden agendas, not as a point of condemnation, but for refining and strengthening. It was a temptation once offered to Christ by Satan in the wilderness, ‘the kingdoms of this world’, and, just like Christ, we each must choose who or what we will serve.

This is your moment in history. Your time. The torch has been passed from a previous generation to you. You are now the carrier and the bearer of light. Run your race. Don’t get distracted by what others are doing, but keep your focus. And make sure you have someone to pass your torch to.

BY VIVIENNE HILL

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QUIKQUIZ 1 Around 75 percent of Jupiter’s mass is made up of what element?

2 If something is described as ‘stellate’, what shape does it have?

3 Chișinău is the capital of which country?

4 What does the Latin phrase tempus fugit translate to in English?

5 In the Bible, which wicked queen was thrown out of a window by her servants?

Answers on page 22

When you forgive, you in no way change the past, but you sure do change the future.

Bernard Meltzer

TOPFIVE

The Bible is set in a very different world than the one we currently live in, and some stories can seem odd to us. Here are some of the most unusual stories.

1. Balaam, a wicked prophet, is riding a donkey, beats it three times and God causes the donkey to speak and say, ‘Why are you beating me?’

(Numbers 22:28–29).

2. A man named Eutychus, sitting on a windowsill, falls asleep while listening to Paul preach (for a long time and late at night) and falls three storeys to his death. Thankfully, Paul brings him back to life (Acts 20:7–9).

3.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus provided four coins for Peter to pay tax from a fish’s mouth which he had just caught while fishing (Matthew 17:24–26).

The Ripple Effect: Self Denial 2022 The Self Denial Appeal is a time when we can come together as a movement and generously support communities around the world who may not have access to a way of life that many of us enjoy.

This year’s appeal features Salvationists who have worked in countries that were recipients of funds from previous appeals. Lt-Colonel Winsome Mason, Majors Brenda and Nigel Luscombe, Majors Bruce and Cheryl Carpenter, along with Captains Bryant and Pauleen Richards will share their stories ‘virtually’ of being on the mission field and God moving in the lives of people in the communities where they served.

The countries that will be aided through this year’s appeal are Myanmar, Pakistan, Fiji, Japan, Jamaica, Haiti, Tonga and Sri Lanka.

WARCRYINHISTORY War Cry started in New Zealand in 1883, as shown by this 50th edition cover from 1 April 1933. Some buildings may not look familiar, but pictured are the former Territorial Headquarters and Wellington City Corps buildings, along with the old training college for officers and various support houses.

Source: The Heritage Centre & Archives at the Plowman Resource Centre, Booth College of Mission.

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Last year, the appeal raised $900,000; this year, the target is $1million.

Self Denial launches on Sunday 17 July, with the Altar Service on Sunday 21 August. The theme for this year is ‘The Ripple Effect’, taken from Ephesians 3:20: ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’. This shows how a small act of faith can have a great impact in the kingdom of God. It encourages us to consider how to give sacrificially, and how no gift is too small to make a difference in people’s lives.

Weird of the Week: There are so few prison inmates in the Netherlands that, at times, the country has imported convicts to keep the institutions running.

4. Gibeah, in the tribe of Benjamin, had an army with 700 left-handed men. It’s unclear whether this is genetic or whether they were specifically trained this way (Judges 20:16).

5. An unnamed man (suspected to be Mark) is wearing only a linen garment in a crowd before Jesus. When seized, he runs away naked. Nothing else is mentioned of this man (Mark 14:51–52).

Contemporary Fiction French Braid by Anne Tyler, 2022, Chatto & Windus This delightful and heart-warming novel is centred around the life of a Baltimore family as it grows and develops over the decades. At its core are Robin Garrett and Mercy Wellington who met in the late 1930s, when Mercy worked at her parents’ plumbing store and Robin shopped there to catch a glimpse of her. Divided into eight chapters—with each chapter set in a year between 1959 and 2020—we learn about Robin and Mercy’s children Alice, Lily and David, their marriages, and their subsequent children. Like any family, there are ups and downs, conflicting/ quirky personalities, and intergenerational similarities that pop up unexpectedly.

As the title suggests, a family involves a special bond, with its members remaining inextricably linked throughout their lives. Look out for The Salvation Army reference. (Reviewed

by David Youngmeyer)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Raw Slice ½ cup regular dates 2 Tbsp dark cocoa powder 1 cup almonds, roasted 25g coconut oil, melted 30g dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa), chopped 100g peanut butter 4 Tbsp maple syrup Decent pinch of sea salt 1 cup desiccated coconut Sauce topping: 1 Tbsp peanut butter 2 Tbsp maple syrup Cacao nibs to garnish

Put dates into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to soak for 20 minutes, then drain and squeeze out any excess moisture.

Blitz the dates with the cocoa powder and roasted almonds. Press the mixture in a 1 cm layer of a 10cm x 15cm tin. Don’t worry if it doesn’t cover the entire base. Refrigerate.

In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil, then add the chocolate.

Cover with a tea towel and leave for 10 minutes before whisking together.

To a food processor, add the peanut butter, maple syrup and salt. Add the melted chocolate mixture and desiccated coconut. Combine, being careful not to over mix.

Spoon over the firmed base and smooth with the spoon.

For the topping, melt the peanut butter and maple syrup together.

Drizzle over the slice. Sprinkle on the cacao nibs to garnish. Refrigerate.

Slice into small squares and eat up!

Source: countdown.co.nz

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Matt Hawkins, Sports Chaplaincy New Zealand’s operations and training director.

Prayer at the Pool Edge

In 2020, sports chaplain Matt Hawkins was asked to step into an unthinkable situation following the tragic death of a highly respected athlete at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Millennium Pool. The Salvation Army and Sports Chaplaincy New Zealand have collaborated on a documentary to share this story, to show prospective chaplains and sporting communities the benefits of having a chaplain at their side.

BY BETHANY SLAUGHTER

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n the night of 23 January 2020, teenage water polo player Rowan Brown passed away suddenly during a training session at the AUT Millennium Pool in Auckland.

Rowan was a dedicated member of the North Harbour Water Polo Club, who had represented New Zealand at the FINA World Championships the year prior. His hard work and passion for the sport had propelled him to the elite level, throughout which he maintained a reputation as a wonderful sportsman and friend.

He was 19 years old, and as a result of undiagnosed heart problems, his death came out of the blue, shattering his family and community.

Call out to chaplaincy The following morning, Matt Hawkins (Sports Chaplaincy New Zealand’s operations and training director) received a call. There was a meeting scheduled for 10am with the lifeguard team, and they wanted a sports chaplain to be there.

With this limited information, Matt arrived at the sporting complex where he was introduced to the staff. He was then called upon to lead a blessing of the pool that afternoon.

Although he was trained as a critical incident responder, Matt had no prior experience of handling a situation like this, so he began by speaking to the lifeguards. From there, he gathered a picture of Rowan as a ‘polite, thankful’ player who was dearly loved by his community. This added to the significance of blessing the space for the team going forward.

Matt sensed God’s presence throughout the pool blessing, and when he shared the story with The Salvation Army’s Captain Shaun Baker, Shaun was incredibly drawn into the story.

‘I was part of the sports chaplaincy community in the Waikato. Once a term we would get together for a dinner and share stories and testimonies,’ he recalls. ‘One particular barbecue happened about a week after the event. I was blown away by what Matt was saying and how he was asked to be part of that community in what was an extremely difficult time.’

Twelve months later, Shaun was appointed to his current role as Territorial Secretary for Chaplaincy Services. Given his strong desire to tell this story, the 09 JULY 2022 WarCry

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idea to create a short documentary was proposed, which both Sports Chaplaincy NZ and The Salvation Army could share through their channels.

In this documentary, ‘A Sports Chaplain’s Impact’, Matt speaks about how he approached the blessing (see link at the end of the article).

Bringing lightness At the afternoon blessing, the AUT Millennium Pool was encircled with people who were in shocked and disbelieving grief. Matt expressed their shared pain, of how ‘24 hours on, this is now a place where we don’t want to be and this place is now a dark place for us.

‘I tried to express that that’s normal and understandable.’

Harnessing his own experiences as a water polo player, Matt used the metaphor of a training exercise called the ‘eggbeater’, to helpfully explain to them how the grieving process would be agonising—but, with time, they needed to lift this burden from the pool and restore it to a place of competition, friendship and community.

While there was nothing that could fully lift the burden of grief from the community, this act of blessing brought a ‘lightness’ to the pool, a restoration of its place.

Chaplaincy coming alongside Obtaining permission from the Brown family, AUT Millennium and the North Harbour Water Polo Club, Shaun had two main motivations for this project. ‘Number one was to encourage people who might have a passion and a calling to chaplaincy, but haven’t answered that calling,’ he says. ‘And the second reason was that maybe organisations around our territory might see this and say, “Hey, maybe we should consider having a chaplain around”.’

‘It actually shows the Missio Dei—that’s, you know, the mission of God, God being at work in all places, and not just in the Church,’ Matt agrees. ‘The way that they embraced me as a sports chaplain … is a story of how I see church today interacting with our secular communities.

‘On the Sports Chaplaincy NZ side, I mean, we would never have been able to do this project, so to have Shaun champion it and then make the resources available and make it happen is just unbelievable.’

Filmmakers Ash Patel and Jessica Keane (former Creative Ministries Department staff members) were the creative 8 WarCry 09 JULY 2022

team behind the project. While both have moved on to new opportunities in recent months, Ash was so attached to the story that he generously chose to finish the project on his own time.

Shaun hopes that the documentary will inspire other chaplains to realise their own storytelling capability. ‘I’m hoping that there’ll be people, Salvation Army chaplains, around the territory who will see this and say, “Hey, I’ve got a story like this”.’

…THIS ACT OF BLESSING BROUGHT A ‘LIGHTNESS’ TO THE POOL, A RESTORATION OF ITS PLACE. The sporting spectrum Matt explains how there is a spectrum of involvement in sport, which influences someone’s relationship to it: from spectator, recreational, novice, player, elite, to high profile.

For a spectator, sport is mostly entertainment. A recreational sports person is happy participating. The novice has just been introduced to a sport—they may stay in the recreational category or move further up the spectrum with time.

‘The player actually takes their sport seriously,’ Matt says.

‘A lot of their world will revolve around their sports community.’

Elite athletes play for representative sides, be that regional or national, followed on this spectrum only by high-profile athletes—the likes of Richie McCaw or Serena Williams.

‘Probably at the novice-recreational-spectator end, their identity isn’t wrapped up in sport. The only thing that they might be concerned about is if the space becomes unsafe,’ Matt says. ‘When a death occurs in a pool, in a sense, the place becomes tapu (sacred, forbidden) and we need to lift the tapu off it and to restore it to noa (ordinary).

‘But for the players of the water polo stadium, using that same example, it wasn’t just that the place had become unsafe … it was completely shocking, so there was an emotional, mental [and] relational trauma that they experienced as well.

‘We had to talk about the grieving experience, and we had to talk about the trauma incident and what you could expect going forward, and how to stick together.’

HE WAS 19 YEARS OLD, AND AS A RESULT OF UNDIAGNOSED HEART PROBLEMS, HIS DEATH CAME OUT OF THE BLUE, SHATTERING HIS FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. While Rowan’s death was a rare tragedy, a common example would be a long-term injury. The tighter a person’s sporting pursuits weave into their identity, the more significant an injury’s impact will be—particularly if it is career-ending.

‘There’s a big transition experience that a person has to go through, and if they don’t know how to journey through that, and they don’t have the support around them, they can get lost very quickly,’ Matt explains.

Another trauma which athletes may encounter is abuse (physical, sexual or mental), and potentially with it the world of sporting politics, which can particularly affect athletes in high-performance environments.

‘Sport can become a very unsafe place for people at this end … because their identity is tied up in it,’ Matt says. ‘I think chaplains can play a really huge, redemptive role in the life of the athlete, in the lives of the coaches and actually in the life of that sporting organisation, if they’re allowed.’

In every corner Sports Chaplaincy NZ’s network of chaplains are present at all levels of sport, from junior to club to elite, and they have sports chaplains involved at various schools around the country.

They have a memorandum of understanding to provide pastoral support to Basketball New Zealand, Gymnastics New Zealand, Rugby League New Zealand and Volleyball New Zealand. At the elite level, they have affiliations with teams such as the New Zealand Breakers (basketball), Northern Mystics (netball) and Wellington Phoenix (football).

However, involvement with professional teams is not prioritised. In fact, Matt explains that some chaplains may not feel comfortable working with teams at the elite level, because high-performance sport has a very different culture. ‘What we’re trying to do in sports chaplaincy is say, “Where you are comfortable, where you are best fit, move into that space”.’

Shaun says, ‘There are a lot more sports chaplains who are placed in non-professional teams and environments, and that is because there are so many more people who are playing

sports who are not professional!’

Given that sports chaplains are not usually paid by organisations, they can act as a neutral presence in situations such as a conflict between a coach and player. ‘The chaplain won’t take sides. [They’ll] be the calming presence, almost like a mediator,’ Shaun explains. ‘The chaplain will try their best to work reconciliation, no matter what’s happened.’

Sports chaplains have been involved in cases where players have found themselves on the wrong side of the law. ‘We’ve had rugby league players get into fights on the field and then appear before the tribunal, and the chaplain has actually gone with those players into that tribunal,’ Matt says.

Pastoral support and restoration Throughout Aotearoa New Zealand there are many examples of sports chaplains acting as a support person in restorative justice processes or spot judiciary hearings. They offer grief support for families and communities after suicide, as well as providing pastoral care through blessing a house after a death or break–in.

‘Also, there are lots of smiles, laughs, new friendships, meaningful conversations and a sense of co-journeying together,’ Matt says.

While this documentary illustrates how chaplains can make a difference in traumatic situations, the benefit that chaplains offer most often plays out on a weekly basis, simply by being intentionally present.

‘That presence, as the chaplain, can have an affect that we don’t always see, but I often hear stories about it afterwards,’ Matt says. ‘Someone will say, “Hey, I’m just glad you’re around”, and I’m like, “What have I done?”

‘I think what they’re communicating is it’s really helpful to have a positive, fresh face who’s there for the people, not for the performance.’

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY | Visit The Salvation Army NZFTS YouTube channel at tinyurl.com/SportsChaplain 09 JULY 2022 WarCry

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Saving Ourselves from Shame Regardless of who we are and where we are at in our lives, we all have aspects of ourselves that cause us to feel shame. We feel ashamed because of our actions or inactions, our relationships, our financial status, our mental health or our physical health.

Brené Brown, research professor at the University of Houston, explains that ‘shame is a social emotion. Shame happens between people and it heals between people. Even if I feel it alone, shame is the way I see myself through someone else’s eyes.’

When we feel we have not lived up to our expectations or our perceptions of other people’s expectations, we turn violence inwards. Shame is the fear of disconnection, of losing love and belonging, because of who we are.

The desire to avoid discussing those things that bring us shame is a universal experience. Shame is most powerful in our lives when it exists in secret. When we remain silent about the things that we are ashamed of, they continue to grow and we believe that we are alone and unique in our feelings of unworthiness.

Brené explains that empathy is the antidote to shame; it is other-focussed and draws us out into understanding the experiences of others, whereas shame causes us to be solely concerned with ourselves and other people’s perceptions of us.

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS AND TIPS FROM BRENÉ ON HOW TO SUPPORT OURSELVES THROUGH FEELINGS OF SHAME. • Recognise shame and understand its triggers: If you can pause and notice when you are feeling shame, try to name it and determine what expectations are triggering it. What situation is causing you to respond with shame? What lies are the feelings of shame trying to tell us about ourselves?

• Practise critical awareness: Try to reality-check these messages and expectations. Are they realistic? Are they coming from you or from what you think other people need from you? Are they fair? Would you hold the same expectations over other people?

• Reach out: Share these feelings of shame with someone you trust who cares about you and allow them to speak truth over you. In the moment of feeling shame, practise expressing to the people around you how you are feeling and what you need, remembering that keeping quiet about how we are feeling only enables shame to grow.

Counselling is another way to share our shame with someone else in a confidential and affirming environment. Often it is people outside of our context that can speak truth to the lies we tell ourselves.

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SHAME IS MOST POWERFUL IN OUR LIVES WHEN IT EXISTS IN SECRET. It can be hard, but the more we practise changing our critical selftalk, the more we can move away from shame being our immediate response to things going wrong. There is a huge difference between I made a mistake, and I am a mistake. We need to notice when we become self-critical, and respond instead with self-compassion: offering gentleness, warmth and understanding to ourselves when we fail, and knowing that it is both inevitable and universal.

REMEMBER: God knows everything about us and still loves us; shame is defeated when it is brought into the light and it is met with love and acceptance, which is freely given to us by God.

WIN!

We have one copy of Atlas of the Heart to give away, if you are interested in receiving the copy, send your favourite Brené Brown quote to warcry@salvationarmy.org.nz.

Entries close 6 August 2022.

Source: Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown, 2021 (Penguin Random House UK).

TESTIFY! Heather Stone is an integral part of the Finance Department for The Salvation Army at Territorial Headquarters in Wellington. She underpins and enables the mission of the Army and she and her husband are soldiers at Hutt City Corps.

I grew up in The Salvation Army. I was born in Papua New Guinea where my officer parents were on missionary service. I have lived in a few different places in New Zealand and spent three years in Fiji when I was 10. I was in Auckland for 13 years before we moved down here. My husband and I met and got married, and he’s also an ‘officer’s kid’.

I was seven when I gave my heart to Jesus, and that was really special.

Beyond this, there’s never really been a wavering from that, but there have been confirmation experiences along the way.

One such experience was when we were living in my husband’s parents’ basement for two years. It was a period of knowing God had something new for us, but there was this waiting time. We were at Auckland City Corps, and God was very definite about that. ‘That’s where I want you’, and he had said to us, ‘You’ll know when it’s time to go’.

We learnt a lot; they were very formative years. They were hard years and they were good years. One Sunday, my husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘Yes, that’s it’. It was almost a physical lifting off. God said, ‘You can go’. Then, that Tuesday night, I got a call from someone who’d been our corps officer but was now at Booth College of Mission. He phoned and said there was a job he wanted me to consider applying for. Six weeks later we moved to Wellington, which was massive.

I’m a very ordered person and things take time, so for that to happen so quickly was just massive. But we knew throughout the waiting period that there was something different coming.

I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME THAT PEOPLE ARE VALIDATED FOR THE GIFTS THAT THEY HAVE… I’m a practical person. I’m reasonably academic about things. So, to have an actual spiritual experience—that stands out. Now when things get hard, and I might think it would be easier to work somewhere else, I’ve got a surety that this is what I’m called to do.

I have the gift of administration, which most people would find boring—but I love numbers. I’m a geek! I love all those kinds of things. I know that some other people don’t, but God’s given me

this gift. If I can explain something that usually makes people’s eyes glaze over in a way that they can understand, then I feel like I’ve done a good job and that’s actually living out my calling, because that’s what God’s called me to do. He’s called me to make life easier for others by using my gift.

I think it’s important to me that people are validated for the gifts that they have; even if your gift is more behind the scenes, it’s a really important part of ministry. So often, the front-facing mission is what people see and what is often validated. But there’s so much that goes into delivering a food parcel, for example, and my team here are a really important part of it, and I want them to know that. It’s like the person on the sound desk on Sunday: no one cares that they’re there until something goes wrong! Nobody notices we’re here, but we are no less vital to ministry.

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Adults: We need you!

Have you ever considered working with young people? Do you have the heart and passion to walk alongside teens as they traverse the landscape of adolescence? Major Mat Badger needs you!

Just prior to the global pandemic, I had the privilege of visiting the heart of downtown London, England. In a moment, I gained an insight into what it must be like to be a young person standing at the noisy and confusing crossroads of adolescence.

It was 6pm, getting dark and the peak of rush hour and my friend Scott and I were walking through Piccadilly Circus. My senses were overwhelmed by the activity happening in all directions: people, cars, buildings, large electronic signs, classic double-decker buses, buskers, street performers, street vendors, car horns, loud music playing from shop fronts—it was all–consuming.

I was on high alert so I didn’t get swept away in the rushing river of people coming towards me. I was glad to have Scott with me as he had been to the area before, and at that time I didn’t know where I was going.

TEENAGERS CAN GET SWEPT AWAY AS THEY TRY TO NAVIGATE THE RUSHING RIVER OF TOXIC VALUES THAT RAGES AGAINST THEM. Author Walt Mueller believes that adolescence is a crossroads. There is constant change, questions and a lot of searching for solutions. Emerging generations are bombarded with conflicting signals and possibilities, 12 firezone.co.nz 09 JULY 2022

unsure of which path to pursue. In response to their silent teenage inner scream of ‘show me the way’, they usually choose the most appealing, loud and convincing signposts to follow, but some may fail to see the consequences of doing so.

Teenagers can get swept away as they try to navigate the rushing river of toxic values that rages against them.

For others, the choice is made easier when they see their peers and friends moving as a group in a certain direction.

Ever since John Watkins Chapman first coined the term ‘postmodern’ in 1914, with each new generation the worldview surrounding it has gotten successively louder and louder. Today, the voice of the postmodern worldview has not only grown exponentially louder, but it’s also become more invasive. It screams in the sphere where teenagers live—at school, at home, online or through the dopamine kick they get as they use their smartphones.

No matter where young people position themselves at the crossroads of adolescence, values of the postmodern world fill their field of vision and tingle their senses, yelling, ‘This is the way!’ But the values from this worldview tend to contradict the narrow way of the gospel.

Teenagers are experiencing things that previous generations did not. Fact. For example, we live in an age of misinformation that bombards people through the internet. Issues such as global warming and overpopulation can be paralysing for teens. Poor mental health amongst young people is currently at a record high.

That’s why we need you! We need good, solid, reliable and authentic adults to journey alongside teenagers, with a holistic, family honouring, Christ-centred, strengths-based approach to assist teens navigating the crossroads of adolescence. We need role models—but not perfect ones! Young people need to know, hear and see that they can recover from mistakes. We need adults who are prepared to share their own learnings and listen.

We need adults who aren’t easily shocked or fazed, who know the message of the gospel and who have a heart for young people. We need adults who are prepared to have some fun! We need adults who will extend the parameters of their families to include young people who are floundering in their adolescence.

If this is something you are interested in, then there are several things you can do. First, take time to pray.

We are looking for people who are called to this task.

This will sustain you in the times that will be challenging.

Second, if you want to volunteer, figure out how many hours a week you have available to give. Third, once you have done this, proactively initiate a discussion with your corps officer, centre manager or key youth worker.

Make sure that you scale your volunteering within the hours that you have available. Remember, quality is better than quantity. If you can’t commit to something on a weekly basis, you might be able to help at your local centre by doing other things, such as being a volunteer

WE ARE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED TO THIS TASK. driver for youth events. We currently have several places around Aotearoa New Zealand where young people miss out on getting to wider youth events or camps simply because there aren’t enough reliable adults to help with transport. I know that this has also been an issue in the past in both Fiji and Tonga.

If you are feeling that God might be calling you to work with young people, it doesn’t matter what age you are. It’s the calling that is important. And we want to set you up to succeed!

Not only will you make a difference in the lives of the next generation, but you will leave a legacy that could make a difference generationally for a whole whānau (family) or community. How cool is that?

If you receive an all-clear to volunteer from your local key leader (and remember, they have the right to say no), the next step is to undergo a Police Check and complete our Keeping Children Safe (KCS) course and subsequent refreshers. You will need to familiarise yourself with our ‘Safe Practice for Youth and Children’s Work’ manual. This protects both you and the young people you will work with.

Youth Work’ certificate, recognised across The Salvation Army. We have 15 places per year on this course and the information comes out in December for the following year. If you are interested, talk to your local officer, leader, or contact your divisional/regional youth officer.

Complementing ‘Foundations of Youth Work’ is the mid-year More Conference which is open to anyone working with youth or children.

It doesn’t matter if you volunteer at a dropin centre, coach a sports team, mentor a young person, help run a youth group or a youth Bible study, training is essential. Make sure that you check out our ‘Foundations of Youth Work’ course. This is a four-part course that is specifically designed to equip local volunteers to grow in their leadership; there is no financial cost to you or your centre, and if you complete it you get a ‘Foundations of

Also, we are always looking for adults to train as professional youth workers. If this is something that you might be interested in, we have a three-year, full-time training programme that you could apply for. It is called the L.A.B. (Living and Breathing) programme, and information about this can be found on the Territorial Youth website: firezone.co.nz.

Applications are due at the end of September for the following year’s intake.

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Photography: Baillie Walsh

Thank You for the Music

BY PHILIP HALCROW

As ABBA’s Voyage concerts begin in London, two witnesses to a lower-profile performance 51 years ago describe how they heard the four future members of the group sing together at a Salvation Army youth event.

Looking for a place to go where they play the right music, ABBA fans are heading for a new venue in east London. Yesterday (Friday 27 May) a different kind of concert series began at the purpose-built ABBA Arena.

The shows are the newly reunited group’s first in four decades and follow on from their album Voyage, which went straight to No 1 when it was released last November.

A lot has changed for the group since they last took to the stage in the UK in 1979—this time Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid will be represented by digital avatars as they perform hits backed live by physical musicians. Even more has changed since one less-fanfared performance in 1971, when they were yet to have won Eurovision or achieved the first of their nine UK No 14 WarCry 09 JULY 2022

1 singles. They still did not even have their name.

The previous year had included the moment when the four future members of ABBA recorded together for the first time.

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson had begun writing and

THE SONG—WHOSE TITLE MEANS ‘HELLO OLD MAN!’­— WAS ABOUT A MAN FROM THE SALVATION ARMY.

recording together as a duo. In the course of making one song, ‘Hej Gamle Man!’, they decided to bring in their partners, Agnetha and Anni-Frid, to supply backing vocals. When it was released—still simply under the names of Björn and Benny—it went to No 1 in Sweden.

The song—whose title means ‘Hello Old Man!’­—was about a man from The Salvation Army.

Bert Åberg, now a Salvation Army major, was aware of the song at the time of its release. He explains that the Swedish lyrics describe a Salvation Army member—‘a friendly old man’ —who in the long tradition of War Cry sellers and collectors stands ‘in the city square every day’.

‘It is said that the role model for the song was a Salvationist in Västervik, Björn’s home town, who was there selling the War Cry and collecting every day, so he became like an icon,’ says Bert. ‘In the song it seems that the singer has an affection for the old man, and that the man had a message that spoke to him.’

“I JUST LOOKED UP THE NUMBER IN THE BOOK AND PHONED HIM. HIS FATHER ANSWERED, AND I SAID: ‘I WANT TO SPEAK TO BJÖRN. I’M FROM THE SALVATION ARMY.’ AND HIS FATHER PUT BJÖRN ON THE PHONE.” Bert not only heard the song played on the radio, but also witnessed the four future members of ABBA performing it at a Salvation Army event in the Gothenburg Concert Hall.

‘It was a national youth event, and I was 20 at the time,’ he says. ‘I was playing in a youth band and there was a string band and a youth choir—a choir of five or six girls who were behind Björn and Benny and Frida and Agnetha. And the future members of ABBA—who had only just been put together and didn’t even have a name yet—were singing “Hej Gamle Man!”, which many of us had heard on the radio, because it was top of the charts.’

Marie Willermark, who went on to become the leader of The Salvation Army in Sweden, was one of the young women providing accompaniment.

‘I was part of the string band group singing along in the chorus,’ she says.

She recalls that there was a great deal of warmth for the special guest performers.

‘Their song was a great hit and everyone could sing along,’ she says. ‘We were rather proud that these four musicians—who were already famous—visited us and sang about a Salvationist.

‘Standing on the stage behind Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida, we were a bit giggly and felt that this was a special moment.’

Forty years later, while working on the editorial team of The Salvation Army in Sweden, Bert looked into how the performance came about.

Photo: Anni-Frid, Benny, Agnetha and Björn on stage at The Salvation Army youth event in Gothenburg in 1971.

Photography: Frälsningsarméns Arkiv

‘The Salvation Army’s national youth secretary in Sweden at the time, Sven Nilsson, had heard the song and he was curious about it. So he decided to phone Björn.

‘He told me: “I just looked up the number in the book and phoned him. His father answered, and I said: ‘I want to speak to Björn. I’m from The Salvation Army.’ And his father put Björn on the phone.”’

Bert reflects: ‘I think just three years later it would have been impossible to do that.

‘I asked Sven if there was any money involved in getting them to play. He said: “I don’t remember any other than that they were eager to have their travel expenses covered.”’

Fifty-one years on, there seem to be only a few slightly hazy digitised archive pictures of the event, with Salvationists in uniform detectable on stage behind Frida, Benny, Agnetha and Björn.

‘When they were on stage, they were so humble and down to earth,’ remembers Bert.

Marie followed their career keenly afterwards. ‘They played and sang good pop music. I was proud to hear their songs everywhere,’ she says.

Three years after standing with them on stage in Gothenburg, she was on a gap year in England when ABBA made headlines by winning the Eurovision Song Contest. They were about to embark on a new stage in their musical voyage.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM WAR CRY, UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND TERRITORY.

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Tonga Update Captain Catherine Walker, regional leader in Tonga, updates the territory on progress made since the devastating volcano eruption and tsunami earlier this year.

Progress in the recovery phase has been slow, hampered by the severe Covid-19 restrictions in Tonga. Churches have been allowed to meet on Sundays from the end of April and beginning of May, but with Covid-19 safety protocols in place. Schools have only started for the year in the last three weeks, so there is a returning sense of rhythm about life in general.

We’ve undertaken a significant food response to assist families during the months of lockdown. Access to supplies has been limited, with shops opening only once or twice a week. Our team has been taking part in visitations and keeping in touch with community leaders to identify families who are facing food scarcity. Many families rely on selling crops at roadside markets or selling Tongan handicrafts for funds to purchase food supplies to supplement the staple root crops they may grow. Lockdowns have curtailed these normal practices.

Also, the regular supply of fish has not been an option due to contamination post-eruption and the absence of the inshore fishery supply. Food provision is a daily concern for many Tongans who lack the resources to stock up on supplies. On top of the trauma of the recent eruption and tsunami, the lockdown has increased

the stresses on families in the most basic areas of life.

Post-eruption and tsunami relief work has provided new connections with affected communities. In Patangata—a very low-lying impoverished settlement at the eastern end of Nuku’alofa—we sat with the town officer to ascertain where he saw the greatest area of need. The initial response was to supply and distribute water to the devastated community.

In the process of doing this we sensed the need to offer children a programme to help distract them from the constancy of the post-tsunami trauma and also to provide the parents with a break from parenting duties while the children were in our care. We discussed this idea with the town officer who was very keen to have us come.

On the first day of the programme, we met in the house of a local resident, with 22 children present. On day two, we met under a church hall veranda, with about 90 children present. By the third day, we had to meet in the church hall, with over 100 children present! The programme included space for the children to talk about what was going on for them or draw pictures about their experience of the tsunami.

It was a helpful time and has opened the

door for further ministry options and community development projects.

Having lost nearly all of their possessions in the tsunami, many large families had little to provide for their children. The Salvation Army provided back-to-school assistance in the form of stationery packs, uniforms, school bags and sandals. Nearly 300 children in Patangata and Siesia were provided for.

Going forward, the Nuku’alofa Corps is beginning to engage with this community through outreach and recovery assistance activities.

The Salvation Army is in discussions with communities to ascertain how to best support livelihood recovery and community wellbeing. Plans being formulated will see us partnering with an outlying island settlement to develop a playground/park space for the community to meet informally and to enjoy, as well as supporting the fishermen from the village of Patangata, in Nuku’alofa East to re-establish their fishing livelihoods by supplying equipment.

We are also undertaking a significant disaster preparedness programme which will increase the Army’s capacity to respond quickly and efficiently into the future.

Ukraine Update The Salvation Army in Slovakia has been supporting Ukrainian families seeking asylum in the Slovak Republic, primarily operating in Pezinok, Galanta and Bratislava. One hostel in Galanta currently hosts 18 families.

In Pezinok there is a two-storey hostel, currently being used to house 14 Ukrainian families, which held its first spiritual service with prayer and Bible readings. Capuchin monks in this area also provided asylum to 10 adults and nine children in their monastery.

A Salvation Army kindergarten is also housing some Ukrainian children.

The Slovakian Salvation Army in cooperation with the Archdiocese of 16 WarCry 09 JULY 2022

Bratislava are supporting about 40 families and are hoping to help an additional 80 families with food support.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, 408,359 refugees have entered Slovakia.

In Lviv, The Salvation Army has been providing internally displaced people with both food and non-food items. In May, The Salvation Army in Kropyvnytskyi gave clothing to 284 people and food kits to 900 families. They also distributed seven strollers, a feeding table, four packs of diapers and 200 loaves of bread.

The Salvation Army in Kharkiv is continuing to offer both practical

actions and spiritual support to ‘people who are going through the darkest times in their lives’.

COMPILATION OF REPORTS FROM INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS

Photography: Lt-Colonel Sheryl Jarvis

Kāpiti Corps Matariki Service Summer Luscombe from Kāpiti Corps reflects on the Matariki worship service that was held on Sunday 19 June, and considers the presence of God in the whenua (land) and among them during this celebration.

‘Almighty, Almighty Ihu Karaiti (Jesus Christ) Almighty, Almighty Wairua Tapu (Holy Spirit) Almighty, Almighty Io Matua Kore (Supreme God).’

These beautiful lyrics, from Changepoint Music, have been on repeat in my mind since our Matariki-themed worship service at Kāpiti Salvation Army. The service was centred around the truth that God is in the whenua, and during this season of Matariki we are reminded of his faithfulness to provide.

The service began with the congregation singing a waiata to welcome Auxiliary-Captain Amiria Te Whiu and two of her mokopuna (grandchildren). During our time of worship, we were introduced to this new song, ‘God is in the Whenua’, worshipping both in English and te reo

Māori. We continued in our worship by bringing a koha (gift) of pantry items to share with those in need in our community.

As Amiria shared about what Matariki is, why it is significant for Māori and how we as followers of Jesus can engage in the celebration of Matariki, I gained a new understanding of how near God is to us—he’s in the whenua, in the harvest, in the times spent with whānau, in our grieving, and in our gladness. God is near and he is faithful in the good times and the hard times. He is sovereign over all—Almighty—yet he comes near to us. Wow! After the service we shared in kai (food), a delicious feast, including rēwena bread, the perfect way to end our Matariki celebration service.

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A rousing finale to the commissioning weekend in the USA Central Territory.

Photography: Andrew Grey.

The Chief of the Staff Celebrates New Beginnings in USA Central More than 1,100 Salvationists and friends from the USA Central Territory gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the first in-person commissioning weekend in three years. The fellowship was sweet, the blessings abundant and there was no doubt that God is still using The Salvation Army to accomplish his mission in America’s Midwest.

Each exhilarating meeting of the event, which took the theme Advance, focused on Jesus, his work in the world and the privilege of every Christian to join him in this mission. Delegates lifted the Lord’s name in praise and knelt at the mercy seat, transforming the Miller High Life Theater into a sacred space time and again.

Those who gathered—and thousands more who watched the online streaming of the event—were encouraged in their faith and service by the Chief of the Staff (Commissioner Lyndon Buckingham) and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham (World Secretary for Spiritual Life Development). The Buckinghams’ engaging style and authenticity connected with delegates, who were inspired by their uplifting Bible messages to remain in Christ and express our love to God by serving others and sharing our own salvation stories.

‘It’s still absolutely true,’ proclaimed the Chief, ‘that the most powerful tool we have in the Church for bringing 18 WarCry 09 JULY 2022

people into an encounter and experience with Christ is our own story, our own testimony, our own reality of the living presence of Christ dwelling deeply within our hearts.’

His point was driven home by powerful personal testimonies and a video which revealed that since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, 56,406 people have sought Christ across the USA Central Territory.

The theme of sacrificial living continued through the commissioning and ordination of new Salvation Army officers from the Messengers of Reconciliation Session of cadets. When they received their first appointments, those who were parents were joined onstage by their children, with the news bringing reactions of joy and celebration.

Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham offered words of encouragement and advice to the new officers. ‘Guard your hearts’, she told them, followed by a reminder that Jesus, in his public ministry, ‘always made time to be in the presence of his heavenly Father’.

Recognition was given to the 10th anniversary of ‘Pathway of Hope’, an initiative developed in the USA Central Territory to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. The programme has changed the lives of more than 10,000 families across the territory and its success has seen it taken on by other

territories. There are now Pathway of Hope projects in more than 1,000 locations worldwide, including in the three other USA territories, Canada, Bermuda, Spain, Portugal, Norway and Argentina.

Other causes for jubilation included a World Services Ingathering of more than US$10.2 million, the dedication to God of three Summer Mission Teams and the introduction of a new territorial soldiers’ forum.

Music from the Chicago Staff Band, a territorial worship collective and USA Central Territorial Staff Songsters brought people into a closer sense of God’s presence, as did thoughtprovoking dramas by the Bill Booth Theater Company.

A ceremony honouring the ministry of the Eastern Michigan, Heartland, Metropolitan and Western Michigan/ Northern Indiana Divisions moved on to the inauguration of the North and Central Illinois Division and Great Lakes Division. These changes are part of a wider territorial reorganisation.

Together, the two new divisions will incorporate 85 corps (churches), 5,300 soldiers and 190 officers.

Calling for a commitment of support through prayer and service, Territorial Commander Commissioner Brad Bailey said: ‘We have been intentional to look at what changes might be needed to position our territory to advance with

DURING TIMES OF STRESS OR CHANGE WE OFTEN FEEL THE ABSENCE OF GOD. Recently The Salvation announced some key changes that will be piloted in the north of New Zealand over the next year.

This announcement will have been met with a variety of responses—from anticipation to anxiety, from apathy perhaps even to angst. It is natural for each of us to respond differently to such announcements, and it is important that we allow ourselves the time to express any hopes or enthusiasm, as well as doubt and confusion. This is a key part of transitioning through any change, corporate or personal. greater effectiveness and more targeted deployment of all the resources that God has entrusted to us. That process has brought us to this important day and this important milestone as we honour our tradition and celebrate new beginnings.’

Commissioner Heidi Bailey (Territorial Leader for Leader Development) dedicated the divisions to God in prayer, asking him for continued guidance and help as the territory moves forward.

BULLETIN ISSUED BY INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE SALVATION ARMY BASED ON A REPORT BY ELIZABETH KINZIE GAZETTE Bereavements: Captain Seru Napolioni, of his mother Siliva Tinai on 17 June, aged 67 years. We ask you to uphold in prayer Captains Ruci and Seru, and their extended family at this time of grief and loss.

Major Litiana Cola, of her brother, Ratu Luke Vidredre Vuidreketi on 18 June, aged 63 years. We ask you to uphold in prayer Majors Iliesa and Litiana, and their extended family at this time of grief and loss.

Lieutenant Grace Duxfield, of her grandmother Mary Becker on 24 June from Wellington, aged 96 years. We ask you to uphold in prayer Lieutenants Grace and Stu Duxfield, and their extended family at this time of grief and loss.

In the Bible, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (and prior to Pentecost), we read that the disciples were also filled with many differing emotions.

Jesus was alive! They had seen him—excitement, hope! But where was he?

Everything had changed, and yet he kept disappearing—doubt, confusion, anxiety.

It is within this context that we read of the risen Jesus standing on the side of the lake calling to the disciples (John 21:4–5).

During times of stress or change we often feel the absence of God and any negativity we might have can be magnified and linger longer than it needs to. It is reassuring that in this account, Jesus shows us the pursuing heart of God. God’s grace is not passive. He does not wait for us to find him; he continues to seek us out and is calling to us, especially in the fog. There on the side of the lake Jesus saw the disciples’ frustration, their lack (of fish), their disappointment and tiredness and he called them into his provision, his miracle (remember this is the story of the miraculous catch of fish).

Like the disciples, however, we can also easily miss Jesus, or simply not recognise him or his voice. This happens to me more than I would like to admit. I miss him in the fog, and in the noise of life. I too often don’t recognise him in that person or moment and miss out on his encouragement, his peace, his power, his leading, his miracle.

As we walk through life and any season of change, let us do it with a sense that even when things seem foggy and we can’t see God, that Jesus the risen Lord—the one who speaks things into life—sees us and is calling to us to lead us together into his provision, his life—perhaps even into his miracle.

Assistant Secretary for Personnel Captain Bryant Richards

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THE K I NGDOM OF I NCOM PA R A BL E WORT H A RADICAL RESPONSE

The final of Major Mat Badger’s three-part series based on Matthew 13:44–46.

Genuine joy can make people act crazy.

It can cause them to do things that are completely illogical by the standards of wider society. Once someone experiences the true joy of discovering the kingdom of God, they won’t want to keep it to themselves. They will want to share it with those who don’t have it and will often go to great lengths to do so.

Life-changing ministries David Wilkerson, the famous American evangelist from a previous generation, sold everything and left his comfortable lifestyle in Pennsylvania, because he felt God called him to evangelise and minister to one of the worst gangs and gang-infested neighbourhoods in New York. Not only were people’s lives transformed, but as the years went by, so was the neighbourhood.

George Müller, a famous evangelist from the 1800s, was so distressed 20 WarCry 09 JULY 2022

by the way orphans were treated in Victorian England that he decided to start an orphanage solely established and functional through his joy of prayer.

He would pray and God would provide.

So effective was this method that by the time Müller died, he had provided care for over 10,000 orphans and had established 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000 young people from poor families.

In his autobiographical entry for 12 February 1842, Müller wrote: A brother in the Lord came to me this morning and, after a few minutes of conversation gave me two thousand pounds for furnishing the new Orphan House ... Now I am able to meet all of the expenses. In all probability, I will even have several hundred pounds more than I need. The Lord not only gives as much as is absolutely necessary for his work, but he gives abundantly. This blessing filled me with inexplicable delight and abounding joy! He had given me the full answer to my thousands of prayers during the [past] 1195 days.

In the New Testament, we meet Saul, a Pharisee who hated Christians. Yet after discovering the kingdom for himself, he not only realigned his identity to Christ by changing his name to Paul, but he also became one of the greatest champions for Christ. He founded most of the early churches and wrote many of the books of the New Testament. His circumstances throughout his ministry were some of the worst, particularly his ongoing imprisonment. Yet, despite it all, and while he was in prison, he wrote the Book of Philippians which is often referred to as the ‘Book of Joy’.

Kingdom of joy In Matthew 13:44, the man who found the hidden treasure was filled with joy.

And in his joy, he radically changed the way he lived his life. He responded radically to this profound discovery.

TRUE JOY LEAVES ITS MARK.

THE DANGER IS THAT IF WE ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE STATUS QUO AND BENEFIT FROM IT, ULTIMATELY WE WILL CEASE TO BE AGENTS OF CHANGE. after encouraging his disciples to sell everything they have, Jesus then says to them, ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’. Again, in Luke 14:33, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples’. As we read these words, let’s be honest, we tend to overlook or water down this often-repeated theme in Jesus’ teaching.

This isn’t the place to go into detail, but I’d like to propose here that Jesus’ principal concern was that his disciples divest themselves from the world’s existing system and reinvest themselves entirely in the service of God’s kingdom.

Marshall says that the kingdom of God portrayed in the gospels,

The proof that we have recognised the awe-inspiring reality and the significance of Christ’s kingdom is not only joy, but the way this joy is expressed practically in our daily lives and outworked for the good of the world around us. True joy leaves its mark.

In both stories, those that find the hidden wealth respond in two ways: they sell all they possess, and they buy the treasure they have found. As Doctor Chris Marshall writes in his book Kingdom Come, the repetition of the verbs sell and buy in both stories underscores the significance of these actions.

Divesting and reinvesting Frequently in the teachings of Jesus, we see that the commitment to discipleship involves leaving one’s possessions behind to identify fully with him. An example of this is when Jesus says to the rich young ruler in Luke 18:22, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ In Luke 12:32–34,

‘It is all about exerting kingly power through Jesus, to put right what is wrong in the world; to initiate a process of redemption that will climax in the renewal and renovation of the world.

What the Jews expected to happen in one fell swoop at the end of history, Jesus claimed was already beginning to happen in a secret hidden way, in advance of the end, in and through his own ministry.’

In other words, God was not waiting until the end of time to renew the world.

God had already begun. The future was invading the present.

Strategic agents of change So what is God’s redemptive strategy?

It is not to replace the existing order with a new order—yet. It is to begin a new creation amidst fallen creation and invite his people, the people of the kingdom, to partner with him.

For this strategy to be effective, the people of God must be wholeheartedly committed to God’s new order. Christfollowers must allow their lives—their values and priorities, their relationships and commitments, their possessions and their careers—to be shaped by the demands of God’s kingdom, not by the

standards of wider society. Marshall puts it this way: ‘We are meant to be different from the world around us. We are meant to be a visible demonstration that God has made a new way of life possible. We are meant to be the showcase of God’s future.’

The sad thing is, of course, that we Christians often blend into the society we live in much more than we reflect God’s new order. We preach the gospel and proclaim the kingdom, but we often invest ourselves, our time, our energy and our money to maintain the existing order.

The danger is that if we are comfortable with the status quo and benefit from it, ultimately we will cease to be agents of change. This compromise will cause us to cease to prayerfully work towards the transformation of society in the name of the one we are meant to represent.

GOD WAS NOT WAITING UNTIL THE END OF TIME TO RENEW THE WORLD. GOD HAD ALREADY BEGUN. Realignment In my view, this is what the idea of buying and selling means in these two little parables. We are to surrender our personal and material investment in the world as it is, and commit ourselves and all our resources to the work of God’s kingdom in the world. While I am no David Wilkerson, George Müller or Apostle Paul, I need to continually wrestle with what my life might look like given my time and place in history.

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OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS Commissioners Mark (Territorial Commander) and Julie Campbell (Territorial President of Women’s Ministries) 8–18 July: Fiji Division visit 19–21 July: Territorial Appointments Consultation Conference, Booth College of Mission (BCM) 22 July: Territorial Executive Council, BCM Colonel Gerry Walker (Chief Secretary) 19–21 July: Territorial Appointments Consultation Conference, BCM 22 July: Territorial Executive Council, BCM Major Liz Gainsford (Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development) 19–21 July: Territorial Appointments Consultation Conference, BCM 22 July: Territorial Executive Council, BCM

PRAY We continue

to pray for the people affected by war in Ukraine; for the Kingdom of Tonga rebuilding after the eruption; Palmerston North Corps, Papakura Corps, Territorial Personnel Section, Petone Corps Plant, police chaplains and The Salvation Army in the Congo (Brazzaville).

'A NEW DAY' Isaiah 43:19

15–17 JULY 2022 TAWA CORPS, WELLINGTON

Kingdom Kids programme available

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tawa.corps@salvationarmy.org.nz

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Find SALVATION ARMY JOB OPPORTUNITIES:

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salvationarmy.org.nz/employment

Email Address Phone Send to: warcry@salvationarmy.org.nz or War Cry, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141

INTERESTED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE?

Reports, regular newsletters, TSA government submissions: salvationarmy.org.nz/socialpolicy

Quiz Answers: 1 Hydrogen, 2 Star-like shape, 3 Moldova, 4 Time flies, 5 Jezebel (2 Kings 9:30–37).

22 WarCry 09 JULY 2022

400–600 words with one or two captioned photos.

Promotion to Glory tributes are approx 300 words. Email reports and large, high-quality jpeg images to: warcry@ salvationarmy.org.nz

Colour numbers that equal the number in the middle.

Example 1+2+5=8

A

Amazing!

1 Samuel 3:10

B

Using only ladders and stairs, can you get from A to B? Don't jump or climb!

WHY DO DRAGONS SLEEP IN THE DAYTIME? SO THEY CAN FIGHT KNIGHTS! WHERE DO BOOKS SLEEP? UNDER THEIR COVERS!

Make a Tin Can Telephone

bottom of the can. You just need a hole big enough to poke your string through.

YOU'LL NEED

• Repeat for both cans. You’ll need two!

• 2 clean cans

• Push the string from the outside of the can—be careful, metal cans could have sharp edges.

• String (at least 7 metres) • Hammer • Nail METHOD

• If using a recycled can, work on a sturdy surface, like a thick plastic cutting board. (Don’t hammer on your nice kitchen table!)

• Get an adult to help you lightly hammer a nail into the centre of the

‘The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening”.’

• Pull the string through the can. Tie a large knot in the string inside the can.

It needs to be big enough to prevent the string from coming out.

• Repeat for the other can.

• Once you’ve made your telephone, have each person take an end and walk apart until the string is tight. One person then holds the can to their ear while the other talks into their can.

When Samuel was growing up, it was unusual for God to speak to anyone, or for anybody to hear his voice. But one night, while he was going to sleep, Samuel heard someone calling his name.

He thought it was Eli, the temple priest, but when he asked him, Eli said he hadn’t called Samuel.

God was speaking to him.

It can be easy to think that God doesn’t talk to us. In Samuel’s time, God’s people believed they didn’t hear from him much.

We might think God only has things to say to people who are older, or who have more experience, but Samuel’s story tells us that God wants to talk to us now!

We are fortunate that we don’t live in the time that Samuel did, and that we can know that God does speak to us! Samuel shows us that even though he was young, God had things to share with him. Samuel learnt to listen for God’s voice, and he became a prophet who told people what God had to say to them.

Like Samuel, we can practise listening to God. If you pray with your family before you go to bed, spend a minute just being quiet and listening, like Samuel did.

I WONDER...

Close your eyes and imagine what God’s voice sounds like. Is it loud or quiet? Does it sound like your parents or a family member, or a friend?

What might he want to say to you or talk to you about?

09 JULY 2022 WarCry

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