Salvationist + Faith & Friends March 2021

Mother and Midwife Reunited—23 Years Later

Helping Shelter Workers Cope With Trauma

Getting Beyond “Not in My Backyard!”

THE VOICE OF THE ARMY

March 2021

William Booth Special Care Home in Regina is keeping residents safe and happy during COVID-19

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March 2021 • Volume 16, Number 3

8

tive partner , a v o n in n a re a e W re hope mobilized to sha hardship , wherever there is ities building commun know the d n a st ju re a t a th love of Jesus .

DEPARTMENTS 5 Frontlines 14 Not Called?

Intersection

by Ken Ramstead

18 Global Focus Global Citizens Interview with Colonel Wendy Swan

27 Cross Culture 28 People & Places

FEATURES

30 Salvation Stories

8 The Big Picture

Problems, Policies and Politics

by Simon Hopkins

Unpacking The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda’s new territorial vision.

11 A New Song

COLUMNS

The music and gospel arts department launches resource to inspire Salvationist worship.

by Craig Lewis

4 Editorial Sending Out an SOS

by Geoff Moulton

12 Thread of Life

5 Onward The Heart of Worship

by Commissioners Floyd and Tracey Tidd

Through God’s incredible timing, Major Janice Rowe met her midwife—23 years later.

by Leigha Vegh

15 Supporting Seniors in a Pandemic

9 Chief Priorities

William Booth Special Care Home in Regina is keeping residents safe and happy during COVID-19.

by Leigha Vegh

A Perfect Plan

by Colonel Edward Hill

25 Grace Notes Abundant Life With Less

by Captain Laura Van Schaick

26 Positive Reinforcements

20 Equipping, Empowering, Exploring Female empowerment and gender equity are top priority in the Zambia Territory.

by Colonel Wendy Swan

CONNECT ONLINE Visit Salvationist.ca to add your comments and read web-exclusive articles @salvationistmagazine Follow us on Instagram for the latest and best Army photos. Tag your photos #salvationists /salvationistmagazine Like us on Facebook for photos and updates. Interact with our community of 38,000+ fans @Salvationist Follow us on Twitter for the Army’s breaking news. Use hashtag #SalvationArmy for your own updates and photos issuu.com/salvationist Catch up on all the Salvation Army news and features on your tablet, desktop or smartphone.

Cover: Kaye Shropshire, a resident at The Salvation Army William Booth Care Home in Regina, celebrates her 100th birthday with staff members during the COVID-19 pandemic

READ AND SHARE IT! Runaway Bunny

Army’s Safe Refuge

The Band Played On

PETER RABBIT 2 P.5 “DON’T WORRY” P.10 COVID-19 CONCERT P.26

Faith&Friends I N S P I R AT I O N F O R L I V I N G

faithandfriends.ca

Rallying Cry

by Major Deana Zelinsky

26

21 Finding Sanctuary

MARCH 2021

When the COVID-19 crisis is over, will our churches be considered places of safety?

by Captain Laura Hickman

22 My Neighbour, William What do we miss when we say, “Not in my backyard”?

by Dani Shaw

Faith on the Menu THERE’S NO BEEF WITH HOW THE BURGER’S PRIEST RESTAURANT GIVES BACK. P.16

24 Keeping Pace Peer support team helps shelter workers cope after a critical crisis.

by Giselle Randall Salvationist March 2021 3

EDITORIAL

Sending Out an SOS “

J

ust sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.…” Does anyone else remember the Gilligan’s Island theme song? Every day after elementary school, I would hurry home to tune in to a half hour of classic television comedy, featuring the hilarious antics of Gilligan and his band of castaways. Maybe you did, too, since it’s the most syndicated show of all time.

Recently, I heard the term “Gilligan’s Island innovation” applied to the way we do mission today. As we work through the COVID-19 pandemic, in many ways we’ve been stranded, isolated, with few resources. What’s been amazing is the way The Salvation Army has solved its problems in ingenious ways with the resources and people we have at hand.

The mission hasn’t stopped; we’ve just had to reinvent the method and the means.

On Gilligan’s Island, the team also tapped into a lot of creativity. Remember when the Professor built a lie detector out of bamboo and coconuts? Or a hot air balloon out of raincoats sealed with tree sap? Or a bicycle-powered clothes washer?

The longer this pandemic stretches on, the more I see The Salvation Army’s agility and resilience at work. Online worship, physically distanced food disSalvationist

is a monthly publication of The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory Brian Peddle General Commissioner Floyd Tidd Territorial Commander Lt-Colonel John P. Murray Secretary for Communications Geoff Moulton Editor-in-Chief and Literary Secretary Giselle Randall Features Editor (416-467-3185) Pamela Richardson News Editor, Copy Editor and Production Co-ordinator (416-422-6112) Leigha Vegh Associate Editor and Staff Writer 4 March 2021 Salvationist

tribution, virtual pastoral care … these responses are being activated across the territory to keep the Army mission vital.

In many ways, our “army” was created for times of emergency.

All these neat inventions are extremely serviceable, but Gilligan’s Island innovation was really just about getting through the next crisis—in TV time, about 30 minutes. The castaways never managed to innovate their way off the island.

That approach can work for a while in any organization. But if you want to get off the island, you ultimately have to build a new boat. It’s this kind of bigger strategic thinking that is behind the Mobilize 2.0 transformation project, which includes our new territorial vision statement and forthcoming strategic plan. Read more on page 8.

Elsewhere in this issue of Salvationist, we celebrate the amazing care that is happening at the William Booth Special Care Home in Regina (page 15). The staff members are going the extra mile to boost the spirits of long-term care residents through this challenging period. We also look at how The Salvation Army in Peel Region, Ont., is supporting employees who face critical incidents such as opioid overdoses, a growing epidemic in our society (page 24). And we talk with Colonel Wendy Swan, terri-

Brandon Laird Senior Graphic Designer Hannah Saley Digital Media Specialist Ada Leung Circulation Co-ordinator Ken Ramstead Contributor Agreement No. 40064794, ISSN 1718-5769.

Member, The Canadian Christian Communicators Association. All Scripture references from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV) © 2011.

All articles are copyright The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory and can be reprinted only with written permission.

torial president of women’s ministries in the Zambia Territory, about how The Salvation Army is the first church in that African nation to institute gender equity initiatives. These are also programs that are built to last.

As we face these difficult times, we need both short-term innovation and long-term strategies. We may feel stranded at times, but we’re not alone.

God is with us, raising us up as a “vast army” (see page 5) to do his will.

The world is sending out an SOS. How will we respond?

GEOFF MOULTON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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Mission

The Salvation Army exists to share the love of Jesus Christ, meet human needs and be a transforming influence in the communities of our world. Salvationist informs readers about the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda. salvationist.ca facebook.com/salvationistmagazine twitter.com/salvationist youtube.com/salvationistmagazine instagram.com/salvationistmagazine

ONWARD

The Heart of Worship We may not be able to gather in person, but God is still shaping a holy people.

O

BY COMMISSIONERS FLOYD AND TRACEY TIDD

ne of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make in our leadership journey as Salvation Army officers faced us 12 months ago.

With the newly discovered COVID-19 virus spreading across the territory, the decision was made to close our corps doors for gathered worship, at least for a period of time. Our corps would still continue to meet virtually and serve their communities, but physical gathering was not an option.

What would this mean for worship?

Who could have imagined everything this past year and living with COVID-19 would mean? Imagine corps officers and leadership teams discovering again the heart of worship. There is no denying that we would have preferred if it were possible to be together for worship. Yet when stripped of routines and physical locations for gathering, there has been a fresh awakening of worship that helps to build

a holy community. As Commissioner Phil Needham describes in his book, Christ at the Door, worship that helps to shape a holy people has the three key subjects of Scripture: God, his people and the world.

Worship begins with God—he alone is worthy of our worship. Worship calls the people of God to prayer, discipleship, holy living and love for one another.

Finally, Needham points us to the world, reminding us that worship must call us to love the world as Jesus did and to give our lives for the salvation of the world. These dimensions of worship reach beyond the walls of any building in which we gather together.

Some corps have been able to reopen their doors for worship, for a time, following health and safety protocols. Some corps have been able to provide online worship services. We have seen the gathering of people through Zoom meetings

for prayer and Bible study. We have watched with great interest as “worship at home” kits were prepared and delivered when it was not possible to meet in person.

In all these approaches to worship, God has been shaping a holy community.

Through these dimensions of worship, God is standing up a vast army (see Ezekiel 37:10), inspired for mission and positioned for the growth of his kingdom.

Needham succinctly describes our worship as independent of opportunities to gather in buildings when he writes: “We bring our lives into worship and we bring worship into our lives.” In these coming weeks, as we approach Easter and celebrate the risen Lord who is worthy of all praise, may we continue to be shaped as a holy people as we worship.

Commissioners Floyd and Tracey Tidd FRONTLINES

Western Canada Celebrates Two New Thrift Stores

T

he Salvation Army thrift store in Port Coquitlam, B.C., reopened in a new location in October. The opening day celebration followed all health and safety precautions to keep visitors safe during COVID-19, such as limiting the number of people in the store at one time and following physical distancing guidelines. The new 8,500-square-foot space welcomed more than 273 guests over the course of the day.

The Port Coquitlam thrift store provides gently used items such as clothing, household items and more for families. Shopping there contributes to environmental sustainability through retail recycling and helps support other Salvation Army programs, such as food banks, shelter for people experiencing homelessness and rehabilitation for those struggling with addictions. More than 148 vouchers—valued at $15,000—allowed those in need to shop at the store free of charge last year.

In Calgary, a second thrift store opened in Douglas Square in January. The grand opening celebration looked a little different due to COVID-19, but the store still welcomed more than 200 guests that day. The Douglas Square donor welcome centre accepts donations daily and has an attendant on site to offer donors a coupon for 20 percent off their next purchase.

Overall in Alberta, 3,647 vouchers, valued at a total of more than $350,000, were redeemed in Army thrift stores last year.

The Salvation Army opened a new thrift store in Douglas Square, Calgary, in January

The Port Coquitlam thrift store celebrates its grand opening in a new 8,500-square-foot space

Salvationist March 2021 5

FRONTLINES

Edmonton Centre of Hope Wins Pathway of Hope Award

T

he Edmonton Centre of Hope community support services team is the winner of the first Pathway of Hope (POH) Best Practice Ministry Unit Award.

The award highlights ministry units that demonstrate excellence in the provision of services to POH participants. A special emphasis is placed on the integration of families into the holistic ministry of The Salvation Army.

The journey towards adding POH to the centre’s community support services began as a conversation with staff. Some felt they didn’t have adequate resources to help clients overcome their difficult living circumstances. They offered food assistance and other immediate help, but there was still a missing link. They

asked themselves, “If The Salvation Army exists for transformation, what needs to change to make that happen?” The centre looked into hiring a case worker and identifying a case management model that would enable clients to transform their lives, if they had the desire to. That is when they heard about POH and the successful pilot that had been running in Toronto.

Last summer, the POH team in Edmonton organized a lunch-in-the-park initiative, where they handed out bagged lunches in various parks to connect with community members, offer support and grow an awareness of their new Salvation Army framework. The centre has also partnered with Edmonton’s food bank

From left, Ranford Plummer, Priscilla Hibbert, Leya Caney and Natalie Nugent of the community support services team at the Edmonton Centre of Hope receive the best practice ministry unit award

and has a case worker who connects with new clients to offer food and other emergency resources. Several connections have been made with other agencies and post-secondary schools as referral sources in Edmonton.

Since launching POH in January 2018, the team at Edmonton Centre of Hope has enrolled 70 people. Sixteen clients have successfully completed the program, but they are still supporting many others. While people who enter the POH program come from all walks of life, what unites them is a desire to have stability in hope for themselves and the people around them. “No one is the same person that they were when they walked through those doors for the first time,” says Christina Clapham, the POH co-ordinator for the Alberta and Northern Territories, British Columbia and Quebec divisions.

POH is a framework developed by The Salvation Army in the U.S.A. Central Territory that has been adapted for use in Canada and Bermuda. The program was piloted in the Greater Toronto Area in 2016 and expanded across the territory after its success. The Edmonton Centre of Hope community support services team became the first ministry unit outside of Ontario to launch POH. The centre’s part-time case worker soon became full-time as demand for the program increased. Within nine months of launching, POH saw its first two graduations. Since then, the team has grown to three full-time case workers who provide all levels of service and programming to the community.

After-School Program Boosts Children’s Mental Health

T

he Salvation Army in Spryfield, N.S., has piloted an afterschool program that is boosting children’s spirits by giving them the opportunity to socialize with their friends in a safe way.

“The program lets them unwind and spend time with friends from other classes that they can’t spend time with at school,” explains Krista Riendeau, community ministry co-ordinator.

The program is helping create a sense of stability for children during the uncertainty the COVID-19 pandemic has brought. “It does a world of good to help their mental health, and it creates a sense of normalcy and consistency that many of them have lost over this past year,” says Riendeau.

The program’s quick growth attests to this, as it started with seven children and grew to 14. “Kids want to see their 6 March 2021 Salvationist

friends, and parents know this is a safe way to make sure they can,” Riendeau explains.

The after-school program also offers snacks, which is vital for children who may be experiencing food insecurity at home. “I ask them why they like coming here every week and some say hanging out with friends, some say the food,” says Riendeau. “You don’t really know what their home life is; they may not have enough food at home.”

The Salvation Army is continuing to operate and adapt programs in accordance with public health guidelines across the Maritimes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, knowing the importance it brings to children’s mental health and well-being.

FRONTLINES

Toronto Grace Hospital Extends Care in COVID-19

A

s COVID-19 cases hit an all-time high in Ontario in January, The Salvation Army’s Toronto Grace Health Centre (TGHC), in co-ordination with the Ontario government, temporarily set up a Specialized Care Centre at the Toronto Congress Centre in Etobicoke. The site consisted of 30 beds, which were at capacity, to provide care for long-term care residents in the Greater Toronto Area who had to be temporarily relocated. Expansion was also underway to meet the growing need, with a plan for 90 beds.

Working in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the University Hospital Network and Compass Canada food and environmental services, TGHC transformed the 27,000-square-foot site, securing the necessary medical, clerical and support services staff. The Specialized Care Centre provided surge capacity for long-term care homes that were managing a COVID-19 outbreak or experiencing other challenges in the home. These included crowding, shortage of staff, lack of supplies or other outbreaks, such as influenza.

Jake Tran, president and CEO of TGHC, says, “The Grace’s physicians, nurses, personal support workers, therapists and staff have much experience and expertise in the care of seniors and are at the ready to provide care to long-term care home residents who may need to be transferred temporarily to the Specialized Care Centre. Our role in helping establish the Specialized Care Centre for long-term care residents comes from The Salvation Army’s experience and deep mission of service to Ontarians in times of need.

“Given that we are looking after a fragile population,” continues Tran, “we’ve added ‘comfort care measures,’ which include deploying The Salvation Army’s TGHC chaplaincy services to the site.”

The climate/HVAC-controlled Specialized Care Centre provided fully furnished spaces for residents, with access to therapy rooms. The length of stay varied for each resident, depending upon individual needs and the situation in the resident’s long-term care home. The facility had 24-hour security in place, with full on-site nursing and personal support workers.

“The Salvation Army was pleased to partner with gov-

Jake Tran with Glenn Gosling-Cannell, a registered nurse with the emergency medical assistance team, province of Ontario

ernment and Ontario health agencies to provide this urgent care for seniors and vulnerable people,” says Lt-Colonel John Murray, chair of the TGHC board of trustees and secretary for communications. “As the pandemic situation worsens, we will continue to be on the front lines of service.”

“We were grateful to the Specialized Care Centre steering committee for its work to quickly establish these new surge capacity spaces for our long-term care residents,” affirms Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, minister of long-term care. “By working closely with all of our partners, we are committed to finding innovative solutions to help protect our loved ones as we continue our fight against the second wave of the virus.”

More than 27,000 square feet of space at the Toronto Congress Centre was devoted to the Specialized Care Centre

Salvationist March 2021 7

The Big Picture Unpacking The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda’s new territorial vision statement.

I

n November 2020, The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory released a vision that will guide the development of a focused strategy in support of our mission over the next decade. Our vision is the sum of many voices; it reflects the aspirations of the more than 3,000 people who provided input into its development.

Each element of our vision statement was tested against the many officers, employees, volunteers and partners who will ultimately carry it out in their local context. Since its release, many in our Army have asked questions around the unified

vision, the steps to achieving our vision and ultimately have pondered the question, What does this vision mean for me?

The role of our vision is to provide direction for our movement, identifying where we are going. It is meant to be aspirational, perhaps even challenging. As our territorial commander, Commissioner Floyd Tidd, said at his 2019 installation ceremony, “If the vision does not intimidate you, it probably insults God.” The territorial vision statement for The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory:

We are an innovative partner , mobilized to share hope wherever there is hardship , building communities that are just and know the love of Jesus .

WE

MOBILIZED

The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory is comprised of thousands of people. We are more than an organization; we are a movement of people, a vast army (see Ezekiel 37:10).

We are everyone who serves through, worships with, works for, supports and identifies with our Army and our mission as part of a unified movement in Canada and Bermuda. Together, we are The Salvation Army.

When Bramwell Booth told his father, William Booth, that people were sleeping under bridges, he was instructed that words were not enough.

This challenged him to “Do something!”

We are called to faith in action. We must be organized, equipped and inspired— ready to live out our mission in the places and streets of our communities.

INNOVATIVE Creativity and innovation in service of mission is a hallmark of William Booth’s vision. Facing more challenge in recent times, we have responded by finding new ways of connecting with people, meeting human needs and sharing the love of Jesus. We will boldly build upon our pioneering tradition to best respond to the needs of the communities in which we serve.

SHARE HOPE Our territorial values remind us that we give hope through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To “share hope” is to promote a spirit of togetherness as we join in solidarity with those we serve.

We will come alongside people and communities with respect, compassion and dignity, knowing we are all children of God. Recognizing God is at work in our world, together we discover hope and take bold new steps.

WHEREVER THERE IS HARDSHIP PARTNER To be relevant and effective in fulfilling our mission, we cannot do it on our own. Fostering strong partnerships with others, both internally and externally, working together, is critical to serving the diverse needs of our communities.

We need hearts open to a fresh wind of God’s spirit, seeking to join him where he is already at work.

8 March 2021 Salvationist

This is our core mission field. We recognize that anyone can experience times of overwhelming challenge and human need, and we will be with them where they are in those moments.

BUILDING COMMUNITIES THAT ARE JUST Each of us is a part of a community— where we live, work, worship and

share life with others. By living our core values—hope, service, dignity and stewardship—in all that we do, we will be equipped and prepared to contribute toward communities where people can flourish.

KNOW THE LOVE OF JESUS We know the transformative power of Christ—life is experienced in full when we journey with Him. Our work and our lives must continually affirm [speak the story of] this truth. Our mission is clear: “The Salvation Army exists to share the love of Jesus Christ.” All that we do supports the fulfillment of this mission.

When our vision is successful, it will invite those connected to our Army to live it out in their communities. We are a people of hope with a strong history on which to build—our vision does just that.

The commitments made in our vision statement, aligned with our territorial mission and values, should inspire our Army for mission and position us for growth. Through it all, we place trust in God’s promise to breathe new life into our Army (see Ezekiel 37:5), knowing that he will guide us in the days ahead.

For more background on our territorial vision statement, visit Mobilize2.ca or email mobilize@salvationarmy.ca.

A Perfect Plan God is at work bringing good out of bad, even in the middle of a pandemic.

BY COLONEL EDWARD HILL

W

e are all hopeful that after a brutal year, the onset of wide-spread vaccination against the COVID-19 virus will bring this pandemic to an end. Millions have suffered around the world and within the borders of our own territory. And yet, the faithful service of officers, soldiers, employees and friends of The Salvation Army has continued without fail. As a result, much good has come from this worldwide disaster.

My own family’s connection with The Salvation Army has its roots in a pandemic. In 1919, the United States and the world was in the middle of an influenza pandemic that took the lives of 50 million people. A Salvation Army officer was walking through a sawmill in the small town of Centralia, Wash., making pastoral visits. The officer came to Al Irish, the man destined to become my great-grandfather.

In response to his questions, Al told the officer that two of his children were dead from the flu and his wife was deathly ill.

The officer promised prayer—which was appreciated—but he did more than that.

The officer showed up a couple of days later to the Irish family home with practical

expressions of help to a family in crisis.

Al Irish was so touched by the officer’s dedication to compassionate service that he determined to take his family to The Salvation Army and make it their spiritual home. As a result of that decision, the Irish family became attendees and eventually soldiers of The Salvation Army Centralia Corps. A few years later, Al Irish’s daughter, Dorothy, was participating in an openair service. An unsaved logger named Edward Hill took notice of her and the Army contingent on the street corner.

He followed the faithful band back to the corps, got saved and eventually headed with Dorothy to the School for Officer Training in San Francisco.

Lieutenants Edward and Dorothy Hill were commissioned as Salvation Army officers in 1926. Two of their sons, including my father, Gerald, and his brother, Dale, became officers, and I was commissioned as an officer just a year before my parents retired in 1994. When I retire in 2026, a Hill will have continuously served as an officer from the U.S.A. Western Territory for exactly 100 years. When my son, Sam, was about 12 years old, I told him it was up to him to keep the “Hill

officer thing” going into a second century, but not to feel “any pressure.”

Whatever good has happened on account of three generations of Hills serving as Salvation Army officers has its roots in a terrible pandemic not unlike what we are enduring today. Let’s always remember that even in the bleakest of circumstances, light overcomes darkness.

Good can emerge from bad. Victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Consider the story of Joseph found in the Book of Genesis. Joseph’s brothers were jealous because of the favouritism their father, Jacob, showed him, including the bestowal of a coat of many colours. In the grip of anger and jealousy, the brothers threw Joseph in an empty pit and then sold him into slavery. After a series of incredible events, Joseph ended up in a position of great prominence and power in the service of the Pharaoh of Egypt. It was then that Joseph, during a time of crisis no less dreadful than a pandemic, had an opportunity to reveal himself to his brothers. While Joseph could have used the occasion to lambast or punish his brothers, he grasped the perfection of God’s plan. He declared to his brothSalvationist March 2021 9

Photo: Balazs/stock.Adobe.com

CHIEF PRIORITIES

CHIEF PRIORITIES

ers in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Friends, even as we journey through a pandemic, we can celebrate the overwhelming good taking place in the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

“

Even in the bleakest of circumstances, light overcomes darkness.

Good can emerge from bad. Victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat.

”

Consider that in 2020, The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory received not only increased requests for

10 March 2021 Salvationist

assistance, but also record-breaking Red Shield Appeal donations, government support and virtually unlimited opportunities to tell our story through the press, radio, TV, social media and the internet.

Christmas With The Salvation Army, an event usually held at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, was held virtually in December 2020 and has been viewed more than 80,000 times, the most ever for a Salvation Army event in our territory.

During the past year, most of our congregations have been unable to meet, and yet people are still being saved by the Army’s ministry and making new commitments to deeper service. The Richmond Corps in the British Columbia Division, for example, recently conducted an online enrolment of 17 soldiers and nine adherents. That’s great news in a pandemic!

I continue to celebrate the clear blessing of God at the College for Officer Training and our shared efforts to build our officer and leadership capacity.

Just two years ago, the territory had 31 cadets and others in training to become Salvation Army officers. Today, we can

rejoice that there are now 57 in training programs, the most in decades.

I am also grateful for the efforts of the territory to chart its future. The Mobilize 2.0 program has unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic. Equipped with a new vision statement and a near-ready-tolaunch strategic plan, the territory is being “Inspired for Mission and Positioned for Growth” in 2021 and beyond.

What does God have in store for us and our Salvation Army? I believe God will continue to bless us, as he always does, with rich opportunities for worship and service. As we continue to journey through this pandemic and look forward, let’s be confident that God will fulfil his plan for us and The Salvation Army. That is a promise worth embracing now, and always!

Colonel Edward Hill is the chief secretary in the Canada and Bermuda Territory. He will take up a new appointment at International Headquarters as the international secretary for the Americas and Caribbean Zone, with the rank of commissioner, on May 1.

A New Song The music and gospel arts department launches resource to inspire Salvationist worship.

BY CRAIG LEWIS

D

avid, the Bible’s premier songwriter, exhorts us to “Sing to the Lord a new song” in the opening verse of three different Psalms (96, 98 and 149). We have been taught that if something is repeated in Scripture, then we need to pay attention. So here it is again: sing to the Lord a new song!

The Salvation Army is fortunate to have a long history of singing new songs.

We have had several editions of a denominational song book that are full of this rich heritage. It is how many of us learned our faith: we sang what we believe. There is something unique and special about singing our theology. Nick Aufenkamp, a pastor at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minn., puts it this way: “Sure, we could speak the lyrics, and the truth in them should still move us to worship. But the elements of rhythm and melody arrest our affections in transformative ways not typical of speech alone.”

Modern technology has allowed new songs to spread widely at a pace not seen since Gutenberg invented the printing press. We can learn a new song at an online concert a hemisphere away and introduce it in our worship services the next week.

The printed hymnal can’t keep up! This has given us a broad range of styles and genres to choose from but has occasionally also led to songs that don’t necessarily match our Salvationist doctrine working their way into our worship.

Sing to the Lord a new song! How do we do that, in a way that is new and fresh, while still honouring sound Salvationist doctrine, theology and religious practice?

The music and gospel arts department (MAGA) has launched a new worship publication called Salvation Worship.

The purpose of this new resource is to get new Salvation Army songs into our worship services. Songs that are contemporary, fresh and doctrinally sound, and, importantly, that are created for congregational use. Songs that you don’t have to be a professional vocalist to sing,

but that are written in a normal vocal range, with learnable melodies, that can be sung by young and old alike.

The first edition of Salvation Worship has just been published and includes worship songs that have been written

by Salvationists from Canada, Australia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. An international call for song submissions was sent throughout the Salvation Army world, and the submissions received were reviewed and selected by an international panel of contemporary music specialists.

The chosen songs were then vetted to

fully notated piano score, full brass band chord parts, or “punch” brass parts. One side benefit of these new songs is that they can be freely used and shared in corps videos and services without any worry of copyright infringement. Whether you only have one musician with a guitar, or want to blend a full worship team, brass band and congregation, you will be able to do it with these resources.

Sing to the Lord a new song. Salvation Worship has been designed just for that purpose: to help Salvation Army members, soldiers, officers and congregations

Salvation Worship will include a lead sheet, chord chart and lyric video for each song

ensure they did match our theology and doctrine. The songs have also been translated into French, for use in those areas of the Canada and Bermuda Territory where French is the first language.

To make these new songs accessible for wide distribution, they are available for free from the MAGA website (salvationist.ca/maga), where you can download a lead sheet and chord chart. A lyric video, which can be used to help your congregation learn the song or be shown as part of your in-person or online service, will also be available, as well as devotional material for each song, Scripture references and rehearsal tips and techniques.

Lastly, you will be able to purchase a

declare their faith and affirm their beliefs as a united body. While it is a new song, it returns to the heart of the matter, as espoused by William Booth in 1877: “However, come it whence it may, let us have a real tune, that is, a melody with some distinct air in it, that one can take hold of, which people can learn, nay, which makes them learn it, which takes hold of them and goes on humming in the mind until they have mastered it. That is the sort of a tune to help you; it will preach to you, and bring you believers and converts.”

Craig Lewis is the territorial secretary for music and gospel arts.

Salvationist March 2021 11

Thread of Life Through God’s incredible timing, Major Janice Rowe met her midwife—23 years later.

BY LEIGHA VEGH

From left, Mjr Janice Rowe, Allan Rowe and Sylvia Patey

T

he last baby Sylvia Patey, a midwife by trade, helped deliver in England was Louis Tomlinson of the famous pop band One Direction.

But it’s her first delivery in Canada that she will never forget.

She was at a Salvation Army women’s camp in central Newfoundland and Labrador in June 2017 when Major Darlene Masters came into her cabin and said, “Sylvia, I’d like to use this song in our vocal group tomorrow morning.

Would you sing it for me?” Having never heard the song before, Sylvia remarked, “I don’t have time to learn how to sing that. I don’t even know the music.”

“You can do it!” Darlene persisted. “I’ll find somebody to play it if you will try.”

Sylvia could tell she wasn’t going to get out of singing, so she handed her phone to Darlene so she could track someone down to record the tune. Ten minutes later, Darlene returned with the audio, 12 March 2021 Salvationist

“It’s remarkable how God has intertwined our lives.”

—Major Janice Rowe compliments of another camper who had played it on the piano. “She thinks she knows you,” Darlene said upon returning the phone.

The pianist was Major Janice Rowe, who had been in her cabin when Darlene entered and asked her to play the tune.

While Janice was playing the piano, Darlene told her, “You’ll just love the vocalist’s voice; she’s an English lady and her voice is so sweet.” When the recording was complete, Darlene commented, “I’ve got to get Sylvia’s phone back to her.”

Upon hearing “English lady” and

“Sylvia,” Janice’s mind immediately made a connection.

“Sylvia, the midwife?” she asked.

“Well, she was—she’s retired now,” Darlene replied.

“Sylvia’s here?” Janice said in shock.

“Yes!” exclaimed Darlene.

In the Beginning, God Sylvia’s calling to be a midwife started when she was nine years old. In a hospital one day, she found herself watching the nurses intently. “I went home after and said to my mother, ‘I’m going to be a nurse.’ ” She kept that promise to herself.

As a nurse, she began shadowing community midwives, who helped mothers deliver their babies in the comfort of their own homes, for three weeks.

“I absolutely adored it,” she recalls. “In nursing you’re involved in the abnormality of people’s health, whereas with midwifery you’re involved in the normality of people’s lives.” When the opportunity arose to become a midwife, she took the chance. “Maybe it was God’s calling—I don’t know—I didn’t even know God then,” she says. “When I look back over my life now as a Christian, I believe there were times in my life when this was chosen for me by him.”

Sylvia’s father was a Canadian soldier and her mother an English war bride.

Mother and daughter went to live in Canada when she was just a baby, and then returned to England six years later.

“I never knew my father, but it was almost like I needed to come to Canada,” she says. “It’s a part of me, it’s my heritage.”

As needs for midwifery increased in Canada, Sylvia seized the opportunity.

She saw an advertisement for a position, applied and got the job.

In 1994, she moved from England to St. Anthony, N.L., to take the position of a registered midwife and nurse. That’s where she met then Lieutenants Janice and Peter Rowe, who were stationed in Roddickton, N.L., as corps officers. They were expecting a baby boy, and Sylvia was called into the delivery room.

“It was my first independent delivery in Newfoundland,” she remembers. That day, Sylvia assisted Janice in her delivery, not knowing that in God’s divine timing he would have them meet again at a Salvation Army women’s camp.

An Emotional Reunion That day when Darlene returned Sylvia’s

phone and said, “I found someone to play the song. She thinks she knows you,” she was unphased because she knew many Salvationists from other corps.

Nevertheless, the two walked to another cabin down the hill where a few women sat around on their bunks. There, in the middle, was Janice. When Sylvia looked at her, she saw a familiar face, but could not quite place where she had seen her before.

divisional congress that was on the Canada Day weekend in 2017. She was.

“Allan will be there, too,” Janice explained, so they arranged to meet and took a picture together in their Salvation Army uniforms. When the two women had first met in 1994, Sylvia wasn’t a churchgoer. It wasn’t until 1997 that she accepted Christ into her life and became a Salvation Army soldier one year later.

“We believe this reunion was a spiritual connection,” Sylvia says. “It was definitely God leading us together for some reason—we still can’t get over it!”

from attending in person.

One week later, Sylvia received another message from Allan asking if he and his new wife could stop by to visit, since they were driving past her home en route to Nova Scotia for their honeymoon.

“It’s been surreal for me, and such a blessing,” says Sylvia. “It’s not too many midwives that I know who can actually say that they’ve got this kind of connection with a family 27 years later!”

As an officer, trusting in God has been central to Janice’s life. “A theme in my life

“ Not too many midwives can say they’ve got this kind of connection with a family.”

—Sylvia Patey

“It is you!” Janice cried out. “I’ve been looking for you for 23 years.”

That’s when she took out her phone to show some pictures. One was a headshot of Sylvia that had been used in a book on nurses who had come from abroad to work in Canada. Janice had seen the book and recognized Sylvia as her midwife.

Another photo was of Sylvia holding Janice’s son, Allan, in the delivery room when he was first born. “I can’t even remember you taking that picture!”

Sylvia remarked. Having seen thousands of babies and mothers over her career as a midwife, it took her a minute to remember Janice’s delivery, but she did, and they both cried tears of joy. “Delivering a baby to a family is a very intimate and moving time,” says Sylvia.

“It was an emotional reunion,” recalls Janice. “It’s remarkable how God has intertwined our lives. If you look at the back of a blanket, you just see a mess of stitching—and then there’s a beautiful design on the other side.”

Sylvia was delighted. “I wish I could meet Allan,” she said. By this time, she knew that the Rowes were serving as the corps officers at St. John’s Temple, so she asked if they would be attending the

The Fruit of Labour Three years after that special reunion at congress, Sylvia received a message from Allan that he was getting married.

“Oh, how I would like to be a fly on the wall at that wedding,” she vocalized.

Soon after, she was given an invitation to attend the wedding via Zoom, since COVID-19 restrictions prohibited her

has been waiting, listening and watching what God does in my life,” she says. “It is so important to keep trusting and being hopeful in him.”

And for Sylvia, God’s plan is wonderfully poetic. “Janice and I were brought together; Allan and I were brought together—just like a thread that God weaves through your life.”

(above) Sylvia holds baby Allan the day he was born (left) Mjr Janice Rowe and Sylvia Patey are all smiles on the day of their reunion at a Salvation Army women’s camp

Salvationist March 2021 13

NOT CALLED?

Intersection “I didn’t choose officership,” says Major Jim Mercer. “God chose me.”

BY KEN RAMSTEAD “ Officership consumed my thoughts,” says Mjr Jim Mercer

J

im Mercer’s life was in turmoil. The 30-year-old teacher had two university degrees, was employed, and things were going well. But there was something missing.

That missing something? Officership.

“I Need to Make Some Changes” Jim’s father was Anglican and his mother was Catholic. As a child, he was encouraged to attend church, and he did so until he was about 11 or 12, even though neither of his parents were regular churchgoers.

Though Jim stayed connected to his faith, he stopped attending church when he became a teenager, finished his schooling in his hometown of Grand FallsWindsor, N.L., and went off to university.

He got his first teaching position in La Scie, N.L., a little community of 1,200.

“Interestingly enough, I was renting a downstairs apartment from a Salvationist family,” Jim says.

As he watched how that family lived their lives, and through a few moments of crisis in his own life, the thought of going to church occasionally crossed his mind.

14 March 2021 Salvationist

Then one Saturday afternoon at his favourite social gathering spot in his hometown, the thought came to him: I need to make some changes in my life.

Growing Conviction Jim left the social gathering that day and, for the next six months, his story was a journey of God doing work in his life.

“I had no idea what was happening other than the fact that I started going to church at The Salvation Army. That was the talk of the town because they hadn’t had a teacher go to church for some time.”

A conviction started to grow in him. “I can’t explain it other than the fact that it consumed me, both in and out of school.”

On February 12, 1995, Jim called his landlord and said he wanted to go to church again. That morning, he walked to the mercy seat and gave his life to God. Imaginings of an Officer Six weeks after he came to Christ, Jim was laid off.

“That didn’t make sense to me. Now that I was a Christian, things were sup-

posed to work out, right?” he smiles.

Soon, however, an overwhelming sense of peace came to him, a feeling that, whatever happened, “It was going to be OK. “A few weeks later, I interviewed for a job on the east coast of Newfoundland, in Bonavista, and I got it. After a few months, I felt I needed to take that next step to be a soldier. I took my soldiership courses at Bonavista Corps and soon became involved in every element of ministry that I could at the church.”

Now 34 and a soldier, Jim felt a deeper calling.

“Officership consumed my thoughts.

There were days in the classroom where I would turn my back as I wrote on the board, tears running down my face because I didn’t want to be there. I’d imagine what it would be like to be an officer.”

Two for CFOT Up to now, Jim had resigned himself to entering the College for Officer Training (CFOT) as a singleton but after his candidate’s interview in January 1999, a youth pastor who worked with him in his capacity as a youth leader, contacted him.

“I just called to see how your interview went,” Michelle Jacobs told him.

The conversation, which lasted four hours, led Jim and Michelle to a journey of sharing life, ministry and officership together.

Jim was accepted for the 1999 Ambassadors of Grace session, but encouraged by his officers, he decided to wait another year. In that time, he resigned his teaching position, he and Michelle became engaged and were married, and the couple went in to CFOT together in 2000.

Full Circle At first, Jim worried that his years as a teacher would be wasted when he became an officer.

“But all I learned in those teaching days came full circle,” he explains. “My appointments often led me to minister to families who were broken and, as a teacher, I now saw how God had worked everything together for good.

“I didn’t choose officership,” he explains. “God chose me, and I had to respond to his calling. God intersected my life and I had to surrender, which I did. It’s all about what God can do through you.”

Read Major Michelle Mercer’s story in the April Salvationist.

Supporting Seniors in a Pandemic William Booth Special Care Home in Regina is keeping residents safe and happy during COVID-19.

Photos: Ivy Scobie

BY LEIGHA VEGH

A n outdoor wheelchair dance takes advantage of a warm day.

W

hat is the secret to a long life?

“Choose a good husband, be good to your family and be kind,” says Kay Shropshire, a resident at The Salvation Army William Booth Special Care Home (WBSCH) in Regina who celebrated her 100th birthday last May. If one positive can be taken from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that the oftenoverlooked long-term care facilities that house one of the country’s most valuable and yet vulnerable populations—seniors such as Shropshire—have finally taken centre stage.

“Sadly, long-term care has been neglected in health care right across Canada,” says Ivy Scobie, executive director at WBSCH. “COVID-19 has raised the profile. Finally, people are saying, ‘What’s happening with these vulnerable people?

Who’s caring for them? What can we do better?’ ” Eight out of 10 COVID-19 related deaths in Canada occurred in long-term care homes. The average long-term care home has approximately 25 admissions a year, whereas WBSCH has 500, which means that the residents’ health and wellbeing is being emphasized now more than ever.

“The influx of new residents means we’re more susceptible to viruses in the community,” explains Scobie. Fortunately, WBSCH has managed to keep the virus out with an emphasis on education. Since

the beginning of the pandemic, front-line managers meet weekly with staff to teach them about the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and keep the lines of communication open to make sure safety measures are being followed.

Staff are trained to keep the virus out and replace fear with hope.

“We wanted their families to know that we’re trying to make life at William Booth as normal as possible.”

A common misconception is that all long-term care facilities are full of the virus, making them a dangerous place to work. However, the danger comes not from the facility, but from the surrounding community. That’s why WBSCH educates the staff regularly about ensuring the virus is checked at the facility’s doors. “You’re in the safest place working in our long-term care facility, because our safety protocols are of the highest standard,” says Scobie.

In 2020, WBSCH became the test site for the rapid COVID-19 pilot project, also known as point-of-care testing. With

this method, COVID-19 test results are available in just 15 minutes, compared to the standard test which takes three days. Rapid testing replaced the symptom management approach, where caretakers ask residents a series of routine questions to evaluate their health. At the time of the writing of this article, these health measures had successfully kept WBSCH virus-free.

In addition to safety protocols and innovative programming, what makes WBSCH different from other long-term care facilities is its extra attention on creating an environment that promotes the psycho-social well-being of the residents.

For example, Shropshire’s special day included virtual celebration visits with her family, bouquets of flowers, a birthday cake made by the kitchen staff, and a parade through the halls of the home as other residents cheered her on. She even proudly sported a corsage, provided by the WBSCH. It’s these special touches that make residents at WBSCH truly feel at home.

Staying Connected WBSCH is more than your typical longterm care home, offering five unique programs: • The adult day and evening support program allows individuals to postpone their move into a longterm care facility by enhancing the quality of life at home. With an

Salvationist March 2021 15

O ne-on-one programming, such as receiving a manicure, boosts the spirits of the residents during the pandemic. A resident plays hallway bingo, one of the many programs adapted to follow health and safety protocols. A mobile chapel service allows residents to continue worshipping while maintaining social distancing.

expansive reach, serving more than 100 community members, daytime and evening programs are centred around recreation, socialization and personal care.

• The respite program ensures continuity between long-term care facilities and in-home care.

It provides a temporary caregiver to relieve a permanent one who is helping a member in the community, giving them time away from their duties to relax and rejuvenate.

• The convalescent program provides post-operative recovery care for members of the community who require additional time to recuperate from surgery or an injury. Prior to this offering, individuals would have had to remain in the acute care setting.

Now, staff provide physiotherapy and other care to help individuals transition back to their own home in the community.

• The hospice care unit at WBSCH provides 24-hour end-of-life care for residents. Opened in 2005, it was the 16 March 2021 Salvationist

first of its kind in Saskatchewan. For the last two months of a resident’s life, the program focuses on pain control and end-of-life care, both for the resident and their family. One survey response from a daughter regarding the passing of her mother in the hospice care unit at WBSCH said, “If it is possible to make a death perfect, that is what you granted for our family.”

• While WBSCH has many initiatives to promote the physical wellbeing of its residents, it is for the recreational programs that the facility is most well-known. When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, the well-maintained outdoor park area was used in the warmer months for socially-distanced wheelchair dances. It was also a place for family members to sit while they called their loved ones inside, from the other side of the window. Inside the facility, hallway bingo and a treat cart to distribute sweets were also hits with the residents. “The residents light up because of the extra care

and attention we’re putting into the social interactions while maintaining the public health directives,” Scobie explains.

Staying Connected When long-term care facilities had to close their doors to in-person visits to curb the spread of the coronavirus, WBSCH sprung into action to keep families connected. Eight new tablets were purchased, bringing the residence’s total to 10, and the number of virtual visits skyrocketed. Eight hours a day a staff member is assigned to orchestrate these online visits for residents and their families.

For one resident, this meant seeing her son who lives in Texas more frequently. Typically, he would only be able to make the trip once a year, but now he’s been able to connect regularly with his mother via the new tablets. “He’s booked in to visit her every week,” says Scobie.

One foundational program at WBSCH is the daily morning chapel service.

Before COVID-19, residents would also

V irtual visits help keep residents connected to their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.  I vy Scobie, right, with residents, showcasing bright quilts that were donated by a community partner.  A staff member delivers treats to brighten the spirits of the residents.

gather after chapel to attend the “sit and be fit” program, where they would do wheelchair exercises to music. For the residents’ protection, chapel and exercises are now being held in the hallways of the facility, where individuals join from the doorway of their own rooms.

Planting Seeds This past Christmas, a man visited WBSCH with a basket of individually wrapped presents for the staff. He said his mother had been in the hospice there, and it had left a mark on his heart. When the pandemic struck, he thought about The Salvation Army and wanted to give back. Scobie looked up his mother’s name and realized that she had been a resident 12 years before, when the man would have just been a boy. “You plant a seed, and you don’t know when it’s going to come back,” she says.

During Christmastime, staff at WBSCH did all they could to help the residents feel the spirit of the season and stay connected with their families.

“We wanted their families to know that

we’re trying to make life at William Booth as normal as possible,” says Scobie. So, they mailed out a Christmas bulletin to the families, which included menus for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. On the pamphlet was the outline of a traditional holiday meal of slow-roasted turkey, vegetables and cranberry sauce. They also distributed an abundance of Christmas cards, letters and pictures from students who wrote to the residents.

What makes WBSCH one of the top long-term care facilities in the province is its great work keeping residents happy and healthy during COVID-19, by being attentive to their physical, spiritual and emotional needs. “If you walk through our halls, you will notice that the residents are always smiling—they expect you to say hello,” Scobie explains. “Even if they can’t look up from their wheelchair, a staff member will stoop down to say hello.”

When one family began to worry about their mother during the visiting restrictions, a staff member passed

along their concerns. Her reply was, “Tell them I am fine in here. I don’t know what they’re worrying about!”

Get in Touch How can you reach out to seniors in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic?

• Provide personal protective equipment. Drop off some masks, gloves, a face shield, hand sanitizer or other PPE that might help them stay safe.

• Hold an over-the-phone or Zoom Bible study. Read a portion of Scripture and a daily devotional with them.

• Call a senior daily, just to say hello.

It will give a person in isolation something to look forward to when you say, “Talk to you tomorrow!”

• Write a letter to a senior in a longterm care home. Call the home and ask them for the name of a specific resident who is feeling lonely or write a generalized letter that the staff can hand out.

Salvationist March 2021 17

GLOBAL FOCUS

Cols Ian and Wendy Swan enjoy the children’s meeting at the Lusaka North West divisional congress in August 2019

Tell us about the unique expressions of The Salvation Army in China and Zambia.

Global Citizens Living right while righting wrong in Zambia.

C

olonels Ian and Wendy Swan serve as territorial leaders in the Zambia Territory, where they first began their international service in 1989. Along the way, they also spent 15 years in the Hong Kong and Macau Command. Senior graphic designer Brandon Laird spoke with Colonel Wendy Swan for Season 3 of the Salvationist podcast. Here are highlights from their conversation. To listen to the full episode, visit salvationist.ca/podcast.

Tell us about your journey to international service with The Salvation Army.

Colonel Wendy Swan: I grew up in The

Salvation Army. As I responded to a call of officership on my life, I remember a specific challenge in my second year of training college, when General and Mrs. Clarence Wiseman came to speak about their experiences in Kenya. They challenged us by asking, “Where is your place in serving mission?” I remember feeling convicted that I needed to respond in 18 March 2021 Salvationist

some tangible way. That was probably the first real push that the Holy Spirit gave me.

In 1985, as a young lieutenant, I took a delegation to an international youth congress in Macomb, Ill. At the end of one of the evenings, during the song If Crosses Come, I felt utterly compelled to stand up and go down to the centre of this huge coliseum and pray. That was the defining moment for me as an individual. I knew at that point I was going to be serving internationally—what that looked like, I didn’t have a clue. I just knew it was non-negotiable. As much as I loved growing up in Canada, I knew this Canadian was going to be living globally, somehow, somewhere.

We began our overseas service as a married couple here in Zambia and served for seven years, then went to China for nine years, eventually spent another six years in China as leaders, and we returned to Zambia in 2019.

We talk about “One Army, one mission, one message,” and that’s true.

But I think we would all agree that even in Canada, there are a variety of expressions in worship and how people respond to the social issues around them.

In East Asia, there is a reverence and awe when one approaches God. The worship could be described as restrained and solemn, and so the approach to social issues can be similar, although in recent years, we’ve seen a huge change in the Hong Kong context.

Young adults, out of the convictions of their own faith, are prepared to speak about democracy and the marginalized, and are saying it’s time to stand up and be counted.

The African expression of worship is vibrant, spontaneous and active.

It’s a relational kind of community.

When you’re looking at social issues— gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, early childhood marriage— the women take a public and active role.

Female Salvationists, in particular, are often community change agents—they lead and organize other churches.

Over the 25 years of our international service, and especially in the last 10 years, we’ve seen a change. It used to be senior adults who would take part in community matters. In our experience, and I’m very involved in moral and social issues councils in both China and Zambia, the ones who want to get the most involved are young adults, those who are between 18 and 35. They’re thinking individuals, they want to know the theology, the why—but their next question is always, what’s next? That’s part of the Salvationist DNA. We’re doers.

What do you enjoy most about cross-cultural ministry? What do you find difficult or challenging? Is there a story from the life of Jesus that helps guide your approach?

What I love about international service is exploring and learning about this amazing planet, the amazing gift of diversity, that God’s given us. I am a Canadian by birth, but a global citizen

GLOBAL FOCUS

by choice. One of the first challenges— and I continue to learn this lesson—is language. I’ve been a source of laughter for many people in different parts of the world. Different tones and expressions mean different things, and I have made more than one grandmother in a local market go into hysterics, based on what I thought I said—and clearly it didn’t come out right!

Another challenge is living as a minority. I have first-hand experience, some of which has been delightful, some of which has been difficult. But I know what it’s like to feel invisible, to not fit, whether because of my gender, language, nationality or citizenship. But it does, hopefully, help develop empathy for others. So, no matter where I am, I usually find myself seeking out the new person in the room.

As I have read and studied God’s Word, Jesus consistently went out to seek the marginalized. He picked up the little kids in a room full of adults, he elevated the status of women, he spoke to the ordinary person, when the so-called important political figures were in the room. I think of the woman at the well, in the Gospel of John—Jesus seeking out somebody whom everybody else ignored.

When I read of those encounters in Scripture, I think, Well, if Jesus can do it, then he calls me to do it. And he’s promised that he’s going to be with me as I attempt to do it.

Why is Partners in Mission so important?

I’m a firm believer that every country, every culture, every context has something to contribute. In my own journey, I’ve always wanted to make a contribution. And yet each time I’ve attempted to make one, I’m aware

of the richness of the gifts that have been given back to me—relationships, friendships, memories.

Community, wherever you find it, is about partnership. What those contributions look like may be different.

For some, it may be monetary. For others, it’s relational. And for still others, it may be resources and materials. Sometimes we make the mistake of attributing a higher value to certain kinds of contributions.

Regardless of where we live and whatever resources we have, if we see it as something reciprocal—I’m bringing something and you’re bringing something—if we approach mission that we’re in this together, and we’re better together, then what comes out of our partnership is going to be something better than we both had before we entered it.

The original partnership was God inviting us to join him. It begins with God, and then it’s you and me and God together. For me, Partners in Mission is really about people.

How is the Zambia Territory working toward gender equity?

It begins with the empowerment of individuals. We began serious discussions shortly after I arrived, and after a year of study and conversations, we have the first gender equity policy for our territory (see page 20). We’re the first church in Zambia, and the first territory in the Africa Zone, to address this.

The nation is changing, and the church is changing, and we are incredibly excited to be part of that change. Here in Zambia, a lack of literacy for girls is very much linked to human trafficking and to child

marriage. Those are the realities in which we live.

Gender equity for us is not only about how to empower young women to be all that they can be—who we believe God has called them to be—but how to create a society and community where a young girl can dream and be encouraged to dream, and how we surround her with support, so that her dreams are possible. Why can’t a young Zambian girl dream of becoming a doctor or a lawyer or a Salvation Army officer or whatever else God has asked her to be?

So, we’ve taken a large framework.

Gender equity for us is not only about appointments, boards and councils and those kinds of things within the Army system. It’s really about saying to our young girls, “You’re brave, you’re beautiful and you’re blessed.” That’s our theme this year: you can be all that God’s called you to be. And we’re alongside you.

What gives you hope as you participate in God’s mission?

Christians are on the winning side.

As I read Scripture, it consistently says that the battle is the Lord’s. Our responsibility is to live right while righting wrong every time we find it. As an individual, I don’t do that alone. In fact, it would be impossible for me to even attempt to do so. The encouragement I have is that Christ says, “I’m in you. I’m with you. And as you go in the world, as you step out that door every single morning, I’m there. In fact, if you want to see what I’m doing, go out the door.” That’s the part that gets me out of bed in the morning. As you’ve said, it’s about God’s mission, God’s redemptive plan for this broken world.

I am hopeful because God has already been at work. He is at work.

He’s promised that as I take his hand and we do this together, that he’s doing more than I can ask or imagine (see Ephesians 3:20). I don’t always know what the day is going to look like or what the challenges are going to be, but I do know who I walk into the day with.

We’re not alone—that’s the adventure.

And that gives me hope.

Cols Ian and Wendy Swan meet with the Minister of Religious and Moral Affairs, Government of Zambia, to discuss the spiritual well-being of the nation

Salvationist March 2021 19

Equipping, Empowering, Exploring Female empowerment and gender equity are top priority in the Zambia Territory.

BY COLONEL WENDY SWAN

F

or almost a century, The Salvation Army has been at work in the African country of Zambia.

Identified by the World Bank as the 11th poorest nation in the world, 54 percent of Zambia’s 17 million people live on less than US$1.90 per day, with young women aged 15-35 making up more than 50 percent of the population. It has been said that women are the backbone of the Christian church throughout Africa, and the Army is no exception. More than 80 percent of the approximately 42,000 Salvationists in Zambia are female.

Zambian Salvationist women are committed to equipping and empowering women and girls, both within the Army and beyond. Believing in a mighty God, they are tenacious in supporting each other and passionate about building up individuals, families and communities to overcome challenges.

Bolstered by Zambia’s Gender Equity and Equality Act, 2015, the Zambia Territory is taking a multi-faceted approach to ensure gender equity within the Army, empower women in the name of Jesus and actively search for new opportunities to improve.

In keeping with International Women’s Day, held each year on March 8 to celebrate the achievements of women and mark a call to action for accelerating women’s equality, below are some of the exciting things happening in the Zambia Territory.

• Territorial boards, councils and boards of trustees have 40-50 percent female and generational representation.

• Establishment of a territorial moral and social issues council with female university student participation.

• Appointment of the territory’s first social justice co-ordinator who will focus on modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT), protection of the vulnerable, and gender equity.

• First-time appraisals, spiritual gift assessments, professional development plans and future tracking of appointments for women leaders.

• Launch of community care ministries and production of a training manual, the first in the Africa Zone.

Empowering the Vulnerable • Launch of a child protection policy, making The Salvation Army the first church in Zambia to do so.

• Education on social issues to help break the link between MSHT, poverty, early childhood marriages and illiteracy among girls in rural divisions.

• Community partnerships to bring awareness of gender-based violence using International Headquarters’ Let’s Talk about Partner Abuse resource and faith-based facilitation.

• Education of women and girls about critical health issues, such as hygiene, sexual awareness, cervical and breast cancer.

• Provision of micro-credit financing to women that enables them to provide for their families and plan for the future.

Exploring New Opportunities • First intergenerational mother/ daughter weekends to be held this month under the theme “Brave, Beautiful, Blessed—That’s Me!” The two four-day events will bring more than 6,000 people together to explore God’s Word, celebrate each other and learn about social issues, such as MSHT and gender-based violence.

• Development of a women’s ministries social media platform to connect and encourage women.

• Plans to reconnect with the Army’s “missing generation,” young professional Salvationists who are not associated with a faith community.

Colonel Wendy Swan is the territorial president of women’s ministries in the Zambia Territory. Also contributing to this article were Lt-Colonel Beauty Kazimpangani, Major Mary Mizinga, Major Otilia Malunga and Captain Evelyn Chiloola.

Equipping the Saints—Gender Equity • Launch of the “Women for Christ Zambia!” vision and communication strategy.

• Introduction of a gender equity track within the territorial strategic plan and human resource practices.

• Development of territorial gender equity, respectful workplace and fair treatment policies, the first in the Africa Zone.

• Completion of personnel records for all officers and employees.

• All officer women now hold their own bank accounts for receiving monthly allowances.

20 March 2021 Salvationist

From left, Col Wendy Swan, Yvonnne Mwanza and Virginia Musamblla

Finding Sanctuary When the COVID-19 crisis is over, will our churches be considered places of safety?

BY CAPTAIN LAURA HICKMAN

Illustration: bubaone/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

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t this time last year, we were preparing for vacation Bible school (VBS) over the March break with the then Ontario Great Lakes Division’s Time to Serve team. News of COVID-19 was on the radar, and there was a growing sense that it was only a matter of time before it touched home.

As numbers in Canada began to climb, so did the number of event cancellations. The call was made to cancel the much-anticipated VBS and, by the end of the week, we were also directed to pause in-person worship, effective immediately. The Salvation Army’s sanctuary at 1201 Grand Marais Road West in Windsor, Ont., became one of many across the territory to lock its doors, shut off from the world.

But as the building closed, the church seemed to wake up—we saw the body of Christ spring into action throughout this pandemic. Neighbours started reaching out more to their neighbours, the young and healthy took an active interest in the elderly and sick, and there was a demonstrated desire to care for each other.

As the weeks and months passed, we gave little thought to the physical space that had been closed, because virtual platforms gave us a way to do things differently. While meeting face to face was not an option, the beauty of a phone call had been rediscovered.

In the fall, when we were able to open the doors and re-gather for in-person worship for a few months, albeit under strict physical distancing and health and safety protocols, there was a sense of “coming home” that fulfilled a longing for many people. While God is certainly not restricted to the four walls of our buildings, we found something meaningful in

Has the church forgotten how to delight in our weaknesses and allow Christ’s power to shine? a return to the sanctuary.

By definition, “sanctuary” means a place of refuge and safety. The COVID19 crisis has changed this definition as it relates to the sanctuary of a church building—how many of us would still identify it as a place of safety?

As I have reflected further, I have wondered if our sanctuaries are perceived as places of judgment and criticism, instead of refuge and safety. It can take courage for a newcomer to enter a church. Some may worry about how they will be received once inside the building. What will people say? Will people even take notice of them? Some carry wounds from previous, unwelcoming experiences.

Even for those who have attended

church for years, there is sometimes a fear of what others are thinking. I remember a time when the mercy seat was quite often filled with people longing for a closer walk with God. It is not uncommon for the mercy seat in today’s church to rarely receive a visit. The need for God has not changed, but the fear of how others will judge the walk to the mercy seat has grown.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, Paul declares, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Has the church forgotten how to delight in our weaknesses and allow Christ’s power to shine? While Jesus demonstrates an open invitation to come to him, it seems as though a level of courage is needed to publicly accept that invitation today. If one has to enter the sanctuary guarded, how can refuge truly be experienced?

I am challenged to consider the kind of sanctuary God longs to offer a hurting and broken world. I seek forgiveness if I have played a role in compromising the sanctuary and commit to the endeavour of re-establishing it as a place of refuge and safety. When our physical sanctuaries are deemed “safe” once again, let’s make sure that everyone venturing into that space will experience the shelter of God’s community.

Captain Laura Hickman is the corps officer at South Windsor Corps, Ont. Salvationist March 2021 21

My Neighbour, William What do we miss when we say, “Not in my backyard”?

BY DANI SHAW

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“

romise me you will eat this, because I know what it’s like to go hungry.” It was a homeless man who spoke these words to me one evening last September. He was one of the more than 35 new men who moved into our neighbourhood after a 24-7 drop-in centre opened on our street just a few months earlier.

The drop-in centre was met with mixed reactions. Some of my neighbours welcomed the new residents with open arms, care packages and books to help pass the time during Toronto’s first COVID-19 lockdown. Others were angry. Angry that the drop-in centre was located right next to a seniors’ apartment building and across the street from one of the many co-op and subsidized housing buildings in our neighbourhood. Angry that local residents had no input—or warning. Angry that this would affect property values for condo owners, some of whom were already living and raising a family in cramped quarters and hoping to move into a larger house one day.

Although I supported the city’s decision and was confident our neighbourhood would adjust to this new reality, I tried to understand my neighbours’ concerns.

I suspect COVID-19 had a particularly noticeable impact on high-density, urbancore neighbourhoods because of the lack of both indoor and outdoor spaces where family members and roommates could get a break from each other or, conversely, gather with neighbours and friends.

22 March 2021 Salvationist

Within our own building, COVID-19 and related public health measures turned our typically friendly, welcoming and tightknit vertical community into something quite different and almost unrecognizable.

Our indoor and outdoor common areas were closed to prevent social gatherings with anyone outside of our immediate household. Taped lines appeared in our lobby and elevators, reminding us to keep our distance. Mask wearing was strongly encouraged inside the building long before the city made it mandatory. The concierge desk and lobby, once the condo equivalent of the office water cooler, were now off limits as casual conversations with our neighbours and building staff were discouraged.

There was no hiding or ignoring the reality of poverty, homelessness, addiction or precarious mental health in our neighbourhood.

From the moment we opened our apartment door to the moment we exited the building, we were reminded to keep our distance, not touch anything, wash

our hands and avoid social interaction with our neighbours. Condo dwellers were already on edge in their own “homes” and physically distanced sidewalk chats on the streets in our neighbourhood became the only opportunity to relax and reclaim some semblance of normalcy and community.

The drop-in centre further disrupted the sense of normalcy. Within days of its opening, men began hanging out near the loading dock behind our building. The dumpster containing cardboard recycling was set on fire one night. Drug dealers and drug paraphernalia began appearing on the sidewalk. Throughout the summer months, it became a regular occurrence to see someone walking down the street yelling and screaming and swearing at passersby—both real and perceived—“for no reason.” In August, my neighbours reported that a woman was assaulted in a local park when she set up a lemonade stand with her two young children. Just before Labour Day, a 71-year-old man who was living in a bus shelter outside the drop-in centre was stabbed. Weeks later, he succumbed to his injuries, while still living in the bus shelter.

There was no hiding or ignoring the reality of poverty, homelessness, addiction or precarious mental health in our neighbourhood. It was out there, on the sidewalk, for all of us to see. Many of the “us” in my neighbourhood did not see “them” as our neighbours.

I juxtapose these events with a conversation I had with a man—whose name I

(left) Dani Shaw, director of public affairs, shares her neighbourhood with a drop-in centre for those experiencing homelessness

Photos: Dani Shaw

later learned was William—as I stopped by my local grocery store one evening on my way home from work. I was just leaving the store when a man asked if I could spare some change. He had a gentle, childlike demeanour. Given that I almost never carry cash, I apologized and offered to go back into the grocery store to buy him some food. I had done that once before when I saw him outside of my local coffee shop.

We talked about what he would like to eat. At first, he asked for a piece of cake, seemingly not wanting to ask for too much, but maybe just wanting something sweet and decadent. I offered to get him a premade meal from the deli, or some snacks, before we settled on chicken wings. I went back into the store where I managed to get the last five chicken wings they had.

As I headed toward the self-checkout, chicken wings in hand, I texted my husband to tell him it seemed like the entire population of Toronto was at our grocery store. I hadn’t seen lines like that since toilet paper was in short supply. So I waited—probably a good 15-20 minutes.

On exiting the store again, William was sitting outside, with a full roast chicken

and a bottle of water in hand. I apologized that it took me so long and attempted to give him the chicken wings, but he told me a nice lady bought him a whole chicken, so he did not need the wings.

Wanting to ensure he had enough to eat, I suggested maybe keeping them for later. But he graciously insisted that I keep them.

As he handed the wings back to me, he said, “Promise me you will eat these.

Promise me you will take them with you and eat them yourself.” Then a third time, he said, “Promise me you will eat this, because I know what it’s like to go hungry.”

That moment stuck with me. It stuck with me because William did not see me as “other” than him—as one of the more affluent people whose neighbours protested the opening of his new temporary home. Or as the charitable stranger who, to paraphrase Dr. Aimee Patterson in her recent article in the Salvation Army journal Word and Deed, “did something” for a person we presume can’t do much for themselves. It stuck with me because he didn’t see “us” and “them”—he saw our common humanity and insisted on caring for me. He knew what it was like to go hungry and did not want me to experience it.

I took those chicken wings home and I ate them. I ate them mindfully, thinking about William, whose compassion brought Jesus’ teachings and our shared

humanity to life. I thought about the parable of the Good Samaritan—the socially marginalized person who cared for a man found lying and left for dead on the side of the road after more affluent and more highly regarded men passed him by. I thought about the words of Matthew 25:35, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” I thought about William’s gentle, childlike demeanour and the words of Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

My conversation with William reminded me that we share a common humanity, and when we recognize that, we can show concern for our fellow human beings—strangers, friends and neighbours. It reminded me that if we take the time to look for the things we have in common, rather than the things that set us apart, we can love one another as neighbours. We all need food, water, shelter and someone who cares enough to notice us, to stop for a sidewalk chat and ask how we are doing, and to help make our day a little brighter. William’s kindness made my day a little brighter.

William is my neighbour.

Dani Shaw is the director of public affairs.

Shaw met William outside her local grocery store one evening on the way home from work

Salvationist March 2021 23

Keeping Pace Peer support team helps shelter workers cope after a critical incident.

BY GISELLE RANDALL

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n 2016, Canada was in the middle of a growing opioid crisis, with fentanyl—a synthetic pain medication 100 times more powerful than morphine—fuelling an explosion of overdoses and deaths.

“There was a four-month period, from June to September, when we lost a lot of our clients—guys that we knew well,” says Paul Puhringer, a front-line worker at The Salvation Army’s Wilkinson Road Shelter, in Brampton, Ont. “Fentanyl came in, and it just started downing them real fast. We were trained to administer naloxone and we’d be running to help several times a week.”

“It was a scary time,” agrees Tanisha Bryan, an outreach housing support worker at the Army’s Honeychurch Family Life Resource Centre in Brampton.

“It was just overdose after overdose after overdose.”

When anyone encounters the threat of serious injury or death, it’s a traumatic experience that can evoke feelings of fear and helplessness, undermine a person’s sense of safety and security, and interfere with their ability to function. Acute stress, if left untreated, can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“We realized we needed to be here for each other as staff,” says Bryan. “So we came together as a team, with employees from the various Salvation Army shelters in Peel Region, to offer support during and after critical incidents.”

The P.A.C.E. (peers aiding in critical experiences) team, launched in June 2019 and led by Puhringer and Bryan, is modelled on a method for helping first responders called critical incident stress management (CISM). Durham Regional Police, which has successfully used this method with their force, provided training in group and individual crisis intervention.

Although the overdose epidemic was the catalyst for forming the P.A.C.E. team, shelter workers are exposed to other distressing experiences.

“The type of critical incident depends on the type of shelter,” says Bryan. “For Paul, it could be an overdose. In my work at an emergency shelter for abused 24 March 2021 Salvationist

women and children, it could be helping a woman with her injuries, or a situation where a child is removed from a family.

“It’s heavy work that we do. It causes a lot of burnout in our peers.”

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the weight, with increased safety measures, worries over the possibility of outbreak and wary landlords making it difficult to find housing. Another consequence has been an increase in domestic violence, as families contend with stress over job loss and spend more time together.

“There’s a lot of pressure on people,” says Bryan. “We’re dealing with our own fears, plus the fears of our clients, but we have to be the calm, reassuring ones. We still have a service to provide—we have to make sure we’re the best we can be when we’re at work.”

After a critical incident, the team is called to provide one-on-one, confidential support, following the S.A.F.E.R. model— a form of psychological first aid.

“It’s about creating a safe space,” says Bryan. “We stabilize the situation, acknowledge the crisis, facilitate understanding, encourage effective coping and

refer to external resources, such as our employee assistance program. We’re not there to fix someone—we’re there for support.”

Captains Robert and Laura Burrell, chaplains at Peel Shelter and Housing Services, are also part of the P.A.C.E. team and offer spiritual care when requested.

After the initial meeting, the team always follows up to let the individual know they aren’t alone and help is available.

The message is getting out. From June 2019 to June 2020, the P.A.C.E. team made more than 1,000 contacts, most often related to work stress.

“The number of calls shows that our peers think we are trustworthy, that they can depend on us,” says Bryan. “They can come to us and share whatever it is that they’re feeling, and we can help.”

That’s why Puhringer first joined the team.

“Dealing with overdoses and other work stressors affected me, but I didn’t want to go and talk to a stranger,” he says.

“It’s more comfortable to open up to a peer, someone you know.”

Tanisha Bryan and Paul Puhringer lead the P.A.C.E. (peers aiding in critical experiences) team for Peel Shelter and Housing Services

Photo: Image Source/Image Source via Getty Images

GRACE NOTES

Abundant Life With Less Practising the art of making do.

BY CAPTAIN LAURA VAN SCHAICK

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lot happened in 2020. But buried under headlines about the pandemic, the U.S. election and other important issues was a December report announcing that humanity had passed an important milestone: humanmade materials—1.1 teratons of anything from concrete to plastic to glass—now outweigh natural life on Earth.

That fact hit me like a ton of bricks.

While much of this weight is tied up in infrastructure such as roads and buildings, a good amount inevitably comes from our household possessions, the stuff we surround ourselves with every day—and we’re drowning in it.

Over the past few years, many voices have spoken in favour of minimalism in a world that values bigger, better and more.

Most notably, Marie Kondo’s KonMari method invites us to ask of our possessions, “Does this thing I own spark joy for me?” If not, it is to be discarded.

Nearly two years ago, I explored the KonMari method, documenting my thoughts in an article for Salvationist (“Sparking Joy,” May 2019.) While I have

implemented some of Kondo’s methods in my household, I later discovered that I was asking the wrong question of my clothes and other possessions. It was no longer about whether a simple piece of fabric or plastic could bring me joy.

Even the matter of whether I desired the item became a moot point. Rather, the question I began to ask was, “Does this thing I own fulfil my need today?”

With this in mind, I set out to practise the art of making do.

Making do is not another form of minimalist living. If Marie Kondo delights in discarding, making do is nearly the exact opposite. If an item still serves its function, even if it is no longer shiny or new, it should still be utilized. If an article of clothing has a hole in it, it should be mended rather than thrown out and replaced. Making do mitigates thoughtless consumption and unnecessary waste, and it causes us to reorient our relationship with things and to reconsider their value.

My early days of making do weren’t easy, and there have been days that

I’ve slipped up. In Matthew 6:21, Jesus reminds us that, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Hundreds of advertisements vie for our attention each day, pleading with us to consider their products a treasure. If we aren’t intentional about deciding what we treasure, the world will decide for us.

But since committing to making do, I’ve gone months at a time without buying an item of clothing, most of the gifts I give now are consumable, and I’m spending significantly less time filling online shopping carts. The result has been a healthier relationship with the possessions around me, and a greater emphasis on the relationships that really do matter: relationships with God, family and friends.

In times of scarcity, making do is rather straightforward. If we only have access to a limited supply of items, we will inevitably make things last. In times of abundance, however, it can be difficult to practise self-control when more or new is easily within reach. And we are living in a land of plenty.

What is necessary is a redefining of the term abundance. In John 10:10, Jesus says, “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.” But what does it mean to have abundant life?

I’m sure Rachelle Crawford, author of the blog Abundant Life With Less, is not alone when she shares, “For as long as I can remember, I was under the impression that an abundant life had to do with more. More comfort, more success, more money, nicer stuff, a better life, greater health.…”

Making do teaches that abundant life has nothing to do with the accumulation of more, or always having new.

Instead, making do teaches that abundant life can, and should, exist alongside our accumulated possessions, not because of them. Living abundantly means living with more loving relationships, more peace, more contentment, more trusting in God’s provision. Making do reminds us that possessions fill a physical need, not an emotional or relational need. We are called to love God and people, not things.

Captain Laura Van Schaick is the divisional secretary for women’s ministries in the Ontario Division.

Salvationist March 2021 25

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENTS

Rallying Cry New auxiliary-lieutenant program offers a path to full-time, non-officer service.

BY MAJOR DEANA ZELINSKY

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Illustration: Intpro/iStock via Getty Images Plus

will never forget the day Major Helen Hastie came to talk to me and my husband, Rick, about Salvation Army officership. Before leaving, she pulled a VHS tape from her purse—some of you reading this may not even know what that is—entitled “A Proud Day in June,” referring to when Salvation Army officers are commissioned in the Canada and Bermuda Territory, and promised a follow-up visit to continue the conversation. At the time, we didn’t feel God calling us to officership, and certainly not to move away from home for formal training, but we were open to full-time ministry if an opportunity became available.

Major Hastie felt comfortable having that conversation because she had a relationship with us as members and leaders in her corps. Personal relationship and conversation remain vital to helping people explore their calling to ministry.

However, in our ever-changing world, the paths we take to get to that place of calling and ministry have grown, and our territory recognizes the need to create new ways for people to explore and confirm a calling to full-time ministry.

Throughout our history, the Canada and Bermuda Territory has promoted different paths to officership and full-time service, such as field-based training and

auxiliary-captaincy. These opportunities continue along with accredited, residential programs at the College for Officer Training. Increasingly, there is renewed interest in lay ministry opportunities and that, along with a decline in our active officer rolls, has prompted territorial leadership to seek a solution to the need for leadership by creating an alternative form of non-officer service.

The new auxiliary-lieutenant program offers a full-time, non-officer position for those considering spiritual leadership in The Salvation Army. It will benefit those who feel called to officership as an avenue to explore ministry, and it can also serve as an opportunity for Salvationists who are not certain they feel called to be an officer but think a short-term ministry opportunity may help. In either case, it is a means by which people can consider and confirm a calling to full-time ministry as an officer.

This program requires an initial threeyear commitment to ministry, after which time the suitability for extending this term will be reassessed. The auxiliarylieutenant program is encouraged for Salvationists age 18 years and older, whether you are a young adult who has not committed to a career path and want to engage with the ministry and mission

of the Army, or someone entering early retirement and wanting to use your experience and expertise in ministry.

The role of auxiliary-lieutenant is not a lesser or an “officer-lite” version of leadership, as it still requires the spiritual maturity of a committed believer in Christ and the spiritual leadership they will bring to this ministry. This necessitates the applicant has local, divisional and territorial leadership support, and careful vetting through the territorial candidates council.

Following acceptance, auxiliary-lieutenants will receive training and coaching in the field to orient them to the requirements and expectations of ministry. This will include instruction in Salvation Army systems, policies and processes, with an emphasis on pastoral ministry, theology and preaching. The development of an auxiliary-lieutenant’s spiritual leadership is of key importance and will be tailored to prior learning and experience.

Auxiliary-lieutenants will also be required to complete the course, “Introduction to Officership,” offered through Booth University College. While the auxiliarylieutenant role is not a commissioned or ordained officer role, it will function like one in ministry responsibility, and the Booth course is designed to augment the understanding of those responsibilities.

I believe that at some point in our lives as Salvationists, we need to consider a call to serve God in full-time ministry. I hope and pray that as you read this, you might consider what it could look like for you to serve in a full-time, short-term capacity in our territory. If you have been waiting for an opportunity like this and feel God is calling you to something new, I encourage you to reach out to your corps officer and set up a time to chat more about ministry opportunities.

If you are an officer and have identified people in your corps who are suitable for spiritual ministry leadership, but haven’t outwardly expressed a calling, I encourage you to send them this article, with the following message: “I read this article and thought of you. I’d love to talk more about it.” You just might plant a seed like the one my corps officer did over coffee and a VHS tape.

Major Deana Zelinsky is an area commander in the Ontario Division and the territorial training and development officer.

26 March 2021 Salvationist

CROSS CULTURE

IN THE NEWS New Year, New Grocery Bill?

Get ready to pay more for your food, thanks to COVID-19.

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ccording to the 11th annual Food Price Report done in collaboration between Dalhousie University, the University of Guelph, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of British Columbia, the average family’s total grocery bill will be $700 more in 2021. The five percent increase is mostly attributed to the cost for meat, produce and bakery. This rise is due to the higher cost of production for these items because of COVID-19 restrictions, notes Sylvain Charlebois, food distribution and policy professor at Dalhousie University. This dramatic increase is like nothing we’ve seen in a decade, the report says.

The Salvation Army acknowledges this increase and is helping families experiencing food insecurity through its many food banks and voucher programs in the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

Last year, The Salvation Army distributed 10,129,531 pounds of food, 920,690 meals and $598,898 in food-store gift cards to 239,008 families across the country, with the help of a $11.25 million donation by Agri-Food Canada.

“People are facing tougher decisions now, and often that means sacrificing nutritional value for cheaper food,” says Peter Thomas, community and family services consultant, corps mission resource department.

The rolling lockdowns, reduced wages and job losses are also contributing factors as to why people are facing food insecurity now more than ever. “Some people are choosing between food or keeping the lights on,” Thomas says.

Many food banks closed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but not The Salvation Army. “We have a track record of being there in many circumstances,” he says. “I have confidence that our local family services will continue to meet the need.”

309 Million Christians Persecuted Worldwide Report shows an increase of 49 million from last year.

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ne in eight Christians face persecution worldwide, according to Open Doors, an international Christian watchdog agency, which has monitored Christian persecution around the world since 1992. For the last 20 years, North Korea has scored at the top of the World Watch List, as the most dangerous place for Christians to live.

The 2021 report includes other harrowing statistics: each day, 13 Christians are killed because of their faith, 12 churches are attacked, and 17 Christians are imprisoned or abducted.

Worldwide, there are 309 million Christians living where persecution is extremely high, a considerable increase from the data that showed 260 million Christians were facing persecution last year.

Factors contributing to the increase include surveillance and censorship continuing to spread in China, with other countries adapting the same measures while using COVID-19 as a cover-up, and an increase in extremist attacks in Africa and the surrounding countries.

David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors U.S.A., says that the list isn’t about oppression, but rather about “resilience.”

The church isn’t dying, he says, but rather it is thriving. “You need only to look to what God said to Isaiah many years ago in Isaiah 43:19, that he will ‘make a way in the wilderness.’ ”

IN REVIEW Browsing the Bible

BY MAJOR NIGEL BOVEY

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ooking for an in-depth exploration of the Bible? Major Nigel Bovey’s Browsing the Bible takes readers on a journey through each of the 66 books from the Old and New Testaments with an overview of the essential message contained in each one. A daily plan, which includes a theme and prayer, encourages readers to engage with Scripture on a deeper level. This book also serves as a road map for readers to make discoveries of their own.

Major Nigel Bovey is a Salvation Army officer who has served for several decades in various capacities—from prison ministry, to corps officership, to publishing in a variety of forums, including The Salvation Army United Kingdom’s weekly newspaper, The War Cry. Browsing the Bible marks the eighth book he has written.

Commissioners Floyd and Tracey Tidd are inviting you to join an online Zoom conversation around the new territorial vision.

Starting March 24 at 7 p.m. EST the territorial leaders will be rebooting Together in Mission as Together in Vision.

Register Today at Salvationist.ca/Together

Salvationist March 2021 27

PEOPLE & PLACES

MOUNT PEARL, N.L.—Mount Pearl Corps celebrates as three senior soldiers are enrolled during a socially distanced service. Front, from left, Nadine Glynn, young people’s leader; Abigayle Hillier, Evan Stuckless and Riley Hollett, senior soldiers. Back, from left, Mjrs Kathleen and Dinzel Baggs, preparation class leaders; CSM Clyde Vincent, holding the flag; and Mjrs Morgan and Lisa Hillier, COs.

TORONTO—Thanks to the efforts of a team of women from Yorkminster Citadel, residents and staff at Meighen Health Centre, which includes Meighen Retirement Residence and Meighen Manor, received a special gift during the holidays. The initiative began when a neighbour contacted the corps to explain that they had hand-crafted ornaments throughout the year and were wondering if The Salvation Army would be able to use them. Ardyth Percy-Robb, who attends Yorkminster Citadel, suggested that they could be distributed at the centre, along with a Christmas card containing a handwritten message from one of the women in the corps family. Mjr Maureen Bain (right), chaplain, Meighen Health Centre, receives the gifts and cards from Mjr Pauline Gruer-Caulfield (left), CO, and Ardyth Percy-Robb.

Accepted as Auxiliary-Captain TORONTO—Ted Troughton (second from right), managing director, National Recycling Operations (NRO), presents a certificate of appreciation to Saud Ahmad and Hassan Muhammad of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA) in recognition of the association’s donation of 77,700 pounds of gently used clothing, the largest donation on record. Also on hand for the presentation at NRO’s Scarborough Distribution and Recycling Centre are Tonny Colyn, director of business development and sustainability, and Jose Martinez, distribution and recycling manager.

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Do you know the difference between the CCM and the CSM? Who’s your CO? And what exactly is a DDWM? See below for a list of some common acronyms and abbreviations that appear in the pages of Salvationist.

BM/SL—bandmaster/songster leader CC—community church CCM/CCMS—community care ministries/community care ministries secretary CO—corps officer CS—chief secretary CSM/YPSM—corps sergeant-major/ young people’s sergeant-major IHQ/THQ/DHQ—International Headquarters/territorial

28 March 2021 Salvationist

headquarters/divisional headquarters JSS—junior soldier sergeant RS—recruiting sergeant TC/DC/AC—territorial commander/ divisional commander/area commander TPWM/TSWM/DDWM/DSWM— territorial president of women’s ministries/territorial secretary for women’s ministries/divisional director of women’s ministries/ divisional secretary for women’s ministries Tty/Cmd/Rgn/Div—territory/ command/region/division TCYS/DYS—territorial children and youth secretary/divisional youth secretary

Nancy Harrison Northridge Community Church, Newmarket, Ontario Division I believe God has deliberately woven The Salvation Army into the story of my life. Nearly 30 years ago, I worked in the relocations business and facilitated the overseas personal effects transfers for the Canada and Bermuda Territory. As a single mom with two young boys, 17 years ago I moved to Pefferlaw, Ont., where the first family we met were Salvationists. Through their friendship, six years ago I came to Northridge Community Church and a year later to Christ.

A job opportunity became available at Northridge, so I left my career in project engineering without hesitation to work at the church. God was quickly changing and refining me. Then I heard an officer preach on Psalm 127, reflecting on his calling from engineering to officership, and just weeks later, a couple who was pursuing officership told me about auxiliary-captaincy. The very next day, I met someone in the atrium at Northridge who was from the College for Officer Training, who told me this was possible for me. I’m not anxious or afraid anymore because I now have peace and the assurance that Jesus is on my journey with me.

I am living proof that with God all things are possible.

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PEOPLE & PLACES

TRIBUTES SHAUNAVON, SASK.—Mrs. Major Lillian Hammond (nee Rowsell) was born and raised in Kitchener, Ont., but was proud of her Newfoundland heritage. Lillian loved The Salvation Army and its ministry and mission. Sensing the call of God to full-time service, she entered the training college in Toronto in 1950 and was commissioned as a Salvation Army officer in 1951 as a member of the Ambassadors Session. Lillian married Captain Robert Hammond in Kitchener in 1952. Together they faithfully ministered in corps in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, and in correctional services in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia until their retirement in 1987. Upon retirement, they moved to Shaunavon. Lillian had a beautiful alto voice and loved to sing. Lillian and Bob often sang together, with Bob playing his guitar and Lillian playing her autoharp. She had a beautiful smile and always enjoyed being with people, never liking to be alone. Now she is with her Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ and loved ones awaiting her in heaven.

She was greatly loved and will be greatly missed. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Major Robert Hammond, in 2008, and is survived by her daughter, Major Gloria Hammond.

WEST DALHOUSIE, ANNAPOLIS COUNTY, N.S.—Donald Frank Swinimer was promoted to glory at the age of 78 from his home in West Dalhousie. Born in Halifax, he was a son of the late Charles and Ella May (Hupman) Swinimer. Donald was employed with the City of Halifax for many years. A senior soldier at Bridgetown Community Church, N.S., he enjoyed playing the drum and trumpet. Predeceased by his brother, Bill (Monica), Donald is survived by his wife, the former Doris Healey; son, Donald; daughter, Tanya (Jeff) Lively; stepson, Steven (Dena); stepdaughters Paula (David) and Donna (Aaron); grandchildren Thomas, Stephen, Zech, Jonathan, Timothy, Naomi and Joel; great-grandchildren Sophie, Blake and Daniel; sister, Marjorie (John) McDonald; brother, Steven (Mary); nieces Lisa and Debora.

GAZETTE TERRITORIAL Appointments: Mjr Hannu Lindholm, CO, Helsinki Temple, Finland and Estonia Tty (additional responsibility); Mjr Stephen Manuel, community ministries officer, North Toronto CC, Ont. Div (temporary appointment extended); Mjr Karen Puddicombe, executive director, Burlington CFS, Ont. Div (additional responsibility); Cpts Peter/Ruth Hickman, corps and community ministry officers, Khi—A Community Church of The Salvation Army, Milton, Ont. Div (designation change); Aux-Cpt Nancy Harrison, assistant CO, Etobicoke Temple, Toronto, Ont. Div Accepted as auxiliary-captain: Nancy Harrison Retirements: Lt-Cols Brian/Anne Venables Promoted to glory: Mrs. Lt-Col Evelyn Haggett, Dec 26; Col Barbara Gruer, Jan 11; Mjr Harold Sharples, Jan 15 INTERNATIONAL Appointments: May 1—Cols Edward/Shelley Hill, international secretary/ zonal secretary for women’s ministries, Americas and Caribbean Zone, IHQ, with rank of comr; Col Evie Diaz, CS, Canada and Bermuda Tty; Lt-Col Peter Forrest, CS, IHQ, with rank of col

CALENDAR Commissioners Floyd and Tracey Tidd: Mar 4 Territorial Executive Conference (virtual); Mar 13-15 CFOT (virtual); Mar 23 Earl Robinson Memorial Lecture, Booth University College (virtual) Colonels Edward and Shelley Hill: Mar 4 Territorial Executive Conference (virtual); Mar 22 divisional review, Maritime Div (virtual); Mar 30 Holy Week service, THQ (virtual)

OTTAWA–Nancy Joyce Wilfong (Shadgett), born in Peterborough, Ont., in 1928, was promoted to glory with her son and daughter at her side. Nancy grew up in Peterborough where she met and married her husband, Arthur Wilfong, and had their children before they moved to Brampton, Ont., in 1960. After Art’s passing in 1986, Nancy moved to Ottawa in 1991, where she attended Woodroffe Temple (now Barrhaven Corps) and continued to love and serve her Lord in any way he required. Nancy was still making phone calls and sending cards up until three days before going into the hospital.

Her smile, encouragement, Christian love and warm hugs will be greatly missed by many. Nancy was predeceased by her husband, Art; son, Bram; and daughter, Debra. She will be dearly missed by her son, David (Linda); daughter, Marjorie-Anne; daughter in-law, Terri; grandchildren Jeffrey, Todd (Amy), Lorie, Andrew, Darlene and Matt (Kathleen); great-grandchildren Austin, Courtney, Zoe, Lucas, Connor and Maya; great-great-grandson, Matteo; sister, Marjorie Lowell; many nephews, nieces and friends.

Guidelines for Tributes Salvationist will print tributes (maximum 200 words), at no cost, as space permits.

We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Tributes should be received within three months of the promotion to glory and include: community where the person resided, corps involvement, Christian ministry, conversion to Christ, survivors.

A high-resolution digital photo or high-resolution scan of an original photo (TIFF, EPS or JPG; 300 ppi) should be emailed to salvationist@salvationarmy.ca; a clear, original photograph mailed to 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto ON M4H 1P4 will be returned.

Salvationist March 2021 29

SALVATION STORIES

Problems, Policies and Politics How my faith calls me to analysis and advocacy.

I

n 2014, my mom took a position in

Mons, Belgium. As incredible as living abroad is, it can also be challenging living in a community that speaks a foreign language. Our move happened between grades 8 and 9, and meant leaving everything I knew behind. Like any other Canadian, I had studied French in elementary school, but I was in over my head in a French-speaking country. Yet we were welcomed into the Quaregnon Corps with open arms, and faith and fellowship provided consistency in our lives. Despite the language barrier, a Bible verse is a Bible verse, and a hymn is a hymn. Even though I was 3,000 kilometres from Canada, being able to play in the band and attend an Army corps helped make Belgium feel like home.

Three years later, in Grade 12, I left Belgium to spend a year in the small town of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, where there was another small, gracious Army corps.

The first Sunday, the officers invited me to their quarters for lunch. The second Sunday, a retired officer couple asked me to their home for dinner. The third Sunday, I ate with the other young people from the corps. Though the streak of free Sunday dinners didn’t last an entire year, the hospitality and fellowship did.

Being on my own in a country where I knew no one, it could have been easy to feel isolated, but my church family kept

BY SIMON HOPKINS me grounded through these changes. In every place I’ve lived, it was a Salvation Army corps family that provided me with a sense of belonging.

In high school, I loved to debate and

joined my school’s model United Nations society. I attended conferences throughout Europe, where thousands of students congregated to write mock policy dealing with international issues. I was inspired by the innovative and complex ideas of my international peers and decided that I wanted to create policy as a means of responding to world issues. But I had no idea how I could become a policy maker or how to relate my faith and values to policy making.

In 2017, I met Major Mike Stannett, a British officer who was stationed in Brussels to lead The Salvation Army’s European affairs office. Major Stannett worked in an advocacy role, expressing the Army’s concerns and positions on European issues. I reached out to Major Stannett to ask if I could visit Brussels and observe his work, and he invited me to a conference his office was hosting.

Religious organizations from all over Europe were convening to draft a briefing note for the European Union.

The conference came at the height of the refugee crisis. Millions of people fleeing war were arriving on European

shores and living in tent cities, shelters and camps, unable to work or move to other countries. The people at the conference were representatives from Christian organizations providing shelter, food, job training and legal assistance.

I was so excited to observe the working minds of these remarkable leaders, but what I didn’t expect was to be part of the process. Less than 10 minutes into the first meeting, I was asked to introduce myself and engage in the discussion. By the second day, I was presenting the notes I had taken from a breakout group. I was only 17, but I realized there was a place for me. I had a drive and a calling that needed to be fulfilled. Policy advocacy is a tool we can use to engage leaders and help us fulfil our mission and values.

This experience inspired me to pursue

a career in policy. I’ve almost finished my degree in public policy at Carleton University in Ottawa, and recently finished a diploma in emergency management from Ryerson University in Toronto. One framework commonly used in the academic world is the streams model, which describes policy as the coming together of three streams: problems, policies and politics. When a prevailing issue, a solution and the public desire to fix the issue all coincide, the policy process can occur.

When studying policy, you start looking at the world around you through that lens. I see it showing up when I look at issues The Salvation Army deals with, both in my community and in the broader scope of social justice. I believe that with the course of my studies, I will have the knowledge and ability to make an impact in my community through policy, and my desire to do so is a calling from God. I am motivated to help people by providing critical analysis of issues, rooted in my values.

Simon Hopkins participates in the Eurodiaconia Conference, a European network of churches and Christian nongovernmental organizations providing social and health-care services and advocating social justice

30 March 2021 Salvationist

What Do All of These Officers Have In Common?

Class of Booth UC, page 2 of many...

They All Graduated with a Degree from Booth University College

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Runaway Bunny

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The Band Played On

PETER RABBIT 2 P.5 “DON’T WORRY” P.10 COVID-19 CONCERT P.26

Faith&Friends I N S P I R AT I O N F O R L I V I N G

faithandfriends.ca

MARCH 2021

Faith on the Menu THERE’S NO BEEF WITH HOW THE BURGER’S PRIEST RESTAURANT GIVES BACK. P.16

Life Is a Highway

Between the competing demands of work, school, family and friendships, life can sometimes feel like one big highway with no exit ramp in sight.

If you feel like life is passing you by, then get out of the fast lane. STOP and evaluate what you’re doing. Is there a better way to live? LOOK around you.

Are you in a rut of your own creation?

LISTEN to your heart. Are you missing something in life?

“ God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course. Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—my whole life one long, obedient response. Guide me down the road of your commandments; I love travelling this freeway!”

—Psalm 119:33-35 (The Message) Let God back in the driver’s seat of your life.

To learn more about God’s lessons for living, visit our website faithandfriends.ca or contact us at: The Salvation Army Editorial Department, 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto ON M4H 1P4

March 2021

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3

FAITH BUILDERS 5 Runaway Bunny

Like Peter Rabbit, we have to decide who we want to be.

LAUGHING MATTERS 8 Word Power

The right one at just the right time is a work of art.

SOMEONE CARES 10 “Don’t Worry”

10 Runaway Bunny

Army’s Safe Refuge

For those experiencing homelessness, The Salvation Army offers a safe refuge.

The Band Played On

FEATURES

PETER RABBIT 2 P.5 “DON’T WORRY” P.10 COVID-19 CONCERT P.26

Faith&Friends I N S P I R AT I O N F O R L I V I N G

faithandfriends.ca

MARCH 2021

12

Faith on the Menu THERE’S NO BEEF WITH HOW THE BURGER’S PRIEST RESTAURANT GIVES BACK. P.16

16

COVER STORY

Cover photo: Courtesy of The Burger’s Priest

22

26

Three Words

Because of them, a family was forever changed.

Faith on the Menu

There’s no beef with how The Burger’s Priest restaurant gives back.

The Frame Up

Brent Perry’s lunch bag reminds him of how far he has come, with the help of the Army.

GOD IN MY LIFE 26 And the Band Played On

Salvation Army brings joy through music during the pandemic.

LITE STUFF 28 Eating Healthy With Erin

Sudoku, Quick Quiz, Word Search.

NIFTY THRIFTY 31 Spring Refresh

Five essentials to spruce up your wardrobe.

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Faith&Friends

FROM THE EDITOR

“End of Story”

B

rent Perry, one of The Salvation Army’s chief philanthropy advisors in Ontario, was chatting with Lt-Colonel Sandra Rice, then head of the Army in the central-east region of the province, about what motivates our mission.

“Obviously, we are faith-based and what we do is God’s work,” she said. “If anyone needs help, we are there. End of story.”

“That’s exactly what The Salvation Army is,” Brent says. “If you need help, they are there without question.”

Brent should know. Once helped by the Army when he needed it the most, he is now a passionate advocate for all they do.

“Any time I meet with anyone from front-line ministry units, I’m inspired,” he explains. “It’s a tough job and they work crazy hours—but they do it with love and compassion.

“I believe that people are inherently good,” he explains, “and if people realized how The Salvation Army is helping those in need every single day, they would chip in if they have the means to do so.

I’ll do anything I can do to support them and the incredible work they do.”

Brent’s story is on page 22.

The Salvation Army can’t do what they do without the generous support of people such as you, especially during COVID-19, so please give generously throughout the year.

Elsewhere in this issue of Faith & Friends, you’ll read how The Salvation Army offered a safe refuge to Ross and his best friend, Sassy, see our take on the new Peter Rabbit sequel and find out how three words forever changed three generations of a family.

Ken Ramstead 4 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

Mission Statement To show Christ at work in the lives of real people, and to provide spiritual resources for those who are new to the Christian faith.

Faith & Friends is published monthly by: The Salvation Army 2 Overlea Blvd, Toronto Ontario, M4H 1P4 International Headquarters 101 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4P 4EP, England William and Catherine Booth FOUNDERS

Brian Peddle, GENERAL Commissioner Floyd Tidd TERRITORIAL COMMANDER

Lt-Colonel John P. Murray SECRETARY FOR COMMUNICATIONS Geoff Moulton, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ken Ramstead, EDITOR

Brandon Laird SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Hannah Saley DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST Pamela Richardson, COPY EDITOR, PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR

Ada Leung CIRCULATION CO-ORDINATOR

Leigha Vegh STAFF WRITER, PROOFREADER

Giselle Randall STAFF WRITER Scripture Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from New International Version Contact Us P. (416) 467-3188, F. (416) 422-6217 Websites faithandfriends.ca, salvationist.ca, salvationarmy.ca Email faithandfriends@salvationarmy.ca Subscription for one year: Canada $17 (includes GST/HST); U.S. $22; foreign $24 P. (416) 422-6119 circulation@salvationarmy.ca All articles are copyright The Salvation Army Canada & Bermuda and cannot be reproduced without permission.

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FAITH BUILDERS

Photos: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

Faith&Friends

Runaway Bunny Like Peter Rabbit in the new movie, we have to decide who we want to be.

by Diane Stark

P

eter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, in theatres next month, is a live-action and computeranimated comedy. A sequel to the 2018 movie Peter Rabbit, it picks up where the original film left off.

It tells the story of two humans, Bea (Rose Byrne, Bridesmaids) and Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson, The Revenant), who fall in love and get

married—despite the frequent chaos caused by a rabbit family that lives in Bea’s garden.

Safety or Adventure?

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter Rabbit, based on the Beatrix Potter characters, have formed a makeshift family with Bea and Thomas.

The other bunnies are pleased with

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Faith&Friends

FAITH BUILDERS

their new family, but Peter (voiced by James Corden) struggles to fit in. He has always been a rabbit who loves mischief, and his new life isn’t exciting enough to suit him. He thinks the garden is “small potatoes,” so he leaves to find some adventure.

He ends up in the city, where he meets some shady characters. While they might not be the best influence on Peter, they enjoy his mischievous

tial taste of freedom, we might not have wanted it to end. We might have made choices that went against the values we were raised with, but we didn’t care. We wanted to be our own person and make our own decisions.

We wanted to be in control.

But all too often, that control isn’t real, at least not long-term. In the beginning, we feel powerful because we are in charge of our own lives,

Will Peter choose his family and the safety of the garden or will he decide that excitement and adventure are more important to him? nature in a way his family never did.

Peter loves the newfound freedom this exciting life provides, but when trouble arises and his family comes looking for him, Peter must decide how far he’s willing to go to discover who he really is.

Will Peter choose his family and the safety of the garden or will he decide that excitement and adventure are more important to him?

Out of Control Peter Rabbit’s runaway tale echoes many people’s real-life stories. We might have grown up in a home where we felt like we couldn’t be our true selves. When we left home for the first time and had that ini-

6 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

but it rarely lasts. One bad choice can snowball and grow into more bad decisions, leading us into a life we didn’t plan. We might wake up one day and realize that what started out as excitement and freedom have turned into a prison we’ve built ourselves. Our own bad choices can lead us into a substance abuse problem, financial or legal problems, or an estranged relationship with our loved ones. Even our relationship with God can be negatively impacted.

Coming Home There’s a saying: “Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.”

Who, Me? When trouble arises and his family comes looking for him, Peter Rabbit must decide how far he’s willing to go to discover who he really is

Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates this perfectly (see Luke 15:11-32). A father had two sons. The younger asked for his inheritance, left home and spent the money on wild living. Soon, he found himself broke and hungry. He got a job feeding pigs, and he was so hungry, he wished he could eat their food.

Then he remembered that his father’s servants had plenty to eat.

He knew he was no longer worthy to be called his son, so he decided to return home and beg his father to make him a hired servant.

But his father had been watching for him. When the man spotted his son in the distance, he ran to him and kissed him. He put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then he planned a celebration because the son he’d been waiting for had come home at last.

One Good Choice This story shows us that it’s never too late to return home. With God, there’s no such thing as too far gone. No matter what mistakes we’ve made, He will always welcome us back with open arms. God forgives runaways and celebrates their return.

Like Peter Rabbit, we must decide who we want to be. But it’s not a one-time decision. If we’ve made bad choices in the past, it’s never too late to choose a better path. Because He wants a real relationship with us, God gives us the freedom to make our own decisions. We are free to accept Him or reject Him, but again, it’s not a one-time decision.

God loves us, and no matter how many steps we’ve taken in the wrong direction, He is always only one good choice away.

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Faith&Friends

LAUGHING MATTERS

Photo: enterlinedesign/stock.Adobe.com

Word The right one at just the right time is a work of art.

I

sometimes use the wrong words in conversations. Just ask my wife. Thankfully, it’s not as bad as the husband who said, “Having one wife is called monotony.” I assume he meant “monogamy.”

When I was a kid, I told my mom a friend got exploded from school.

She was surprised. “That’s a little harsh,” she said.

Wixed-Up Merds Such mix-ups are called malapropisms, the misuse of similar-sounding words that can bring a delightfully humorous outcome.

Here are a few classic word blunders from kids. “I helped my dad in the garage. He let me hit some nails in with his hamster.” Ouch. Poor hamster. That’s not a nice way to go.

A proud niece said, “Auntie Mary will be having a baby in March because she is stagnant.”

8 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

by Phil Callaway

Kids learn interesting things in school. Like this: “In geography, we learned that countries with a sea round them are islands and ones without a sea are incontinents.”

This is from an essay: “In wartime it was safer in the country. Children who lived in big cities had to be evaporated.”

Kids get their merds wixed up and it’s always nice to be around when it happens. “When you write a story,” said one, “you should do a daft copy first. Then you can change it round and make it sound better.” I’ve written a few daft copies myself.

This from an eight-year-old: “When you are writing, if you don’t want to use a full stop on a sentence, you can use an excitement mark instead.”

TMI Equally entertaining are children found guilty of TMI, or Too Much

Information. A little girl said, “My uncle shouts at my cousins and makes them do chores. One day they are going to be policemen and policewomen so they can put him in prison.”

Another little girl said, “I sleep in my bedroom. My brother sleeps in his bedroom. My mummy sleeps in hers and Daddy’s bedroom but Daddy sometimes sleeps on the sofa with our dog. I think this is because he growls like a dog when he is snoring in his sleep.”

An adult asked a little boy whose mother was expecting, “Do you want a boy or a girl?” The boy attempted to parrot his parents and said, “We don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, just as long as it’s wealthy.”

Seven Words I, too, am guilty of inserting words and thoughts into conversations.

Sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s belittling or demeaning. One of my prayers lately is that God would help me use words that build something noble.

Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly

spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (English Standard Version).

The right word at just the right time is a work of art. Just ask Mary. She always knew she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. Hated their teasing about her physical features. Hated being different. Hated that she could barely hear with one ear. Then she entered Mrs. Leonard’s class. Her teacher was kind and gracious; she smiled a lot. This was the 1950s and teachers routinely administered an annual hearing test. During that test, Mrs. Leonard whispered softy into Mary’s good ear while Mary pretended to plug her deaf ear. The teacher whispered seven words that Mary heard clearly. Words she held onto. Words that changed her life. “I wish you were my little girl.”

Apples of gold in a setting of silver are words fitly spoken.

Words such as: “Way to go.”

“Thanks for your friendship.” “You brighten a room.” “You just made my day.” “If I knew it was gonna be this good, I’d have married you in high school.”

(left) Phil Callaway’s Laugh Again radio program airs 700 times a week in Canada. Visit him at laughagain.org.

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Faith&Friends

SOMEONE CARES

“Don’t Worry” For those experiencing homelessness, such as Ross and Sassy, The Salvation Army offers a safe refuge.

by Linda Leigh

N

ow, more than ever, people are facing new financial challenges and frightening realities. The Salvation Army across Canada has seen a fivefold increase in the number of people needing support in some locations over the last year. And people listing homelessness as their reason for visits has doubled since 2019.

Temporary Refuge “I went to the front door of the Salvation Army shelter and rang the bell,” says Ross, 78. “When they answered, I wasn’t even sure what I was doing there. I had never been homeless.”

Ross had lived in the same apartment for 20 years when he was invited to move in with his sister.

A Dog’s Best Friend Ross, holding his beloved dog, Sassy, was relieved that The Salvation Army was there for them

10 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

“I don’t know where I would be without The Salvation Army.” ROSS Both were widowed and on fixed incomes. It seemed like a good plan.

But a few months after Ross moved in, his sister had a heart attack and never recovered.

“New owners of the house raised the rent and I simply couldn’t afford it,” says Ross. “When I tried to find a place to live, landlords didn’t want to rent, fearful that people couldn’t pay their bills due to the pandemic. And rental units that were available were too expensive. I had no place to go.”

Ross found refuge in a hotel. But knew he couldn’t afford to stay for long.

A New Start “When I learned The Salvation Army in Campbell River, B.C., was pet-friendly, I was incredibly relieved,” says Ross. “Sassy was my only source of companionship and comfort at that point in my life.”

The shelter provided Ross with good food and a warm place to sleep. He was grateful for COVID-19 safety protocols that were in place and staff who truly cared about his well-being. After three months in the shelter, he moved into Kathy’s Place, the Army’s transitional housing program.

Across Canada, The Salvation

Army has an increasing number of transitional housing units that offer a safe, supportive and semi-independent environment where people can rebuild their lives and make the transition from homelessness and marginalization to stable housing and meaningful engagement with the community.

“The Army tells me, ‘Don’t worry,’ and I don’t,” says Ross. “I don’t know where I would be without them.”

Transitional Housing Across Canada, The Salvation Army has an increasing number of transitional housing units that offer a safe, supportive and semiindependent environment where people can rebuild their lives and make the transition from homelessness and marginalization to stable housing and meaningful engagement with the community.

Length of stay • Transitional housing: six months to two years (varies by province/ territory) Transitional housing programs also provide: • Job training and job search assistance • Computer access • Life-skills coaching • Health and wellness activities

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Faith&Friends

FEATURE

Three Words BECAUSE OF THEM, A FAMILY WAS FOREVER CHANGED.

by Wendy Mouland

Happy Siblings Wendy Mouland and her brother, Mike Mouland

W

hen people ask me what is the one thing they can give to help make the world a better place during this global crisis, I reply, “Time.”

Even when finances are tight and resources limited, we can give of our 12 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

time to help, to lead, to reach out, to serve, to meet human needs and demonstrate our love for our neighbours. Our time is one of the most beautiful gifts we can offer. And God can use that time to transform the lives of those around us. And I

actually have a story that can speak into this.

Mission From God I’ve often heard the story of Majors Woodrow and Maxine Boyde, a young Salvation Army officer couple who were transferred to a small town with a large church.

After working hard and settling into their new church and community, the pastors were preparing to go on a short and well-deserved holiday.

with other pressing ministry demands on their time, and the visit slipped their minds.

As they were pulling their car out of the driveway to leave for their longanticipated vacation, God whispered a reminder of the promise they’d made to go see their local leader’s daughter. They knew they had to make the time to do what they had promised. So the young couple pulled back into the driveway. Major Woodrow stayed with their children

As the pastor left the house and retreated home to her family, she felt defeated and wondered why God had ever sent them to that church and community.

They were approached by their corps sergeant-major, the chief lay leader in any Salvation Army church who assists the pastors.

He asked if they would go and visit his daughter before they went on vacation. According to the corps sergeant-major, she was in serious trouble, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The worried father didn’t even think she’d be there when they returned from vacation.

The pastors promised to go see her but as sometimes happens, the couple found themselves sidetracked

while Major Maxine went back into their house, changed into her Salvation Army uniform and headed out on her mission.

Retreat and Defeat What Major Maxine walked into on that day was horrible.

She knocked on the door to enter a dirty, broken home where the mother, the corps sergeant-major’s daughter, was drinking, chainsmoking, and obviously high on drugs. She held a little boy who looked to be about a year old, and faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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Faith&Friends

FEATURE

Two Lives Changed Wendy’s mother and father, Juanita and Arthur Mouland, upon the occasion of his commissioning as the corps sergeant-major in their home church in Musgrave Harbour, N.L.

next to her was a little girl who seemed to be about three. The girl was dressed in a dirty blue bathing suit and she looked like she’d been wearing it for days.

At that moment, the woman’s husband returned home. Extremely embarrassed that the Salvation Army pastor had walked in uninvited into this mess, he wasn’t friendly or welcoming to her.

The young pastor spent a few moments taking it all in, the mother high on drugs and alcohol, the dishevelled children, the surly father.

Totally overwhelmed and at a loss as to what she could possibly do or say, Major Maxine could only think of three words.

“God loves you,” she said.

As the pastor left the house and retreated home to her family, she felt defeated and wondered why God had ever sent them to that church and community.

14 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

Changed and Transformed When Major Maxine and her family returned from their vacation, the last thing she expected to see was the mother and father and their two children at the Sunday night service.

But there they were.

And as the congregation started singing Amazing Grace, that broken couple walked to the mercy seat, that simple wooden bench at the front of the church where sinners and saints confess their sins. There, they made the decision to follow Jesus and to become Christians, and they promised they would serve God for the rest of their days.

The two were instantly transformed by the power of God’s Spirit, and from that moment on, they were set free from their addictions. They went on to live a life that was spiritually rich, full and free.

Time Well Spent The little boy and girl grew up knowing God. Like their parents, they started attending The Salvation Army. The children became involved in the church band and the youth programs, and they both became official members of the organization.

Today, the son is married with an amazing wife and two beautiful children, and they all attend The Salvation Army, giving of their time and resources to impact the world.

And I am the little girl in the dirty blue bathing suit. I grew up to become a Salvation Army pastor sharing my story.

Through the haze of alcohol and drugs, my mother heard a Salvation Army officer tell her that she was loved and valued. She heard three words—“God loves you”—three words used by God to change three generations of my family.

I have no idea where I’d be today if that Salvation Army officer hadn’t told my mother that God loved her.

Major Maxine sacrificed time from her vacation to step into a broken home, to minister to a family who many in the community had written

off as hopeless. That officer could never have known the impact she would make as she stepped into that house.

But because she did, three generations of a family were changed forever.

Happy Soldiers Mike with his wife, Ashley, and their two children, Isabella and Alex. The entire family are official members of The Salvation Army

(left) Major Wendy Mouland is the corps officer at Southlands Community Church in Winnipeg. faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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Faith on the Menu THERE’S NO BEEF WITH HOW THE BURGER’S PRIEST RESTAURANT GIVES BACK.

by Ken Ramstead

16 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

Faith&Friends

COVER STORY

The Vatican Two grilled cheese sandwiches (made from buns) and two cheeseburgers

WALK INTO ANY BURGER’S PRIEST

Photos: Courtesy of The Burger’s Priest

location and you’ll realize you’re not in some generic fast-food joint.

There are biblical quotes on the walls, and the hamburgers have names such as High Priest, Fiery Furnace, Noah’s Ark, Tower of Babel and Judgement Day. But the quotes and names are not just for decoration or to impress.

“Our entire business is built around Acts 20:35: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ That Scripture captures it all,” says Alex Rechichi, CEO of Extreme Foods, of which The Burger’s Priest is a chain.

“It’s not just about faith; it’s about doing what’s right, and the restaurant’s philosophy is built on that.”

Birth of a Burger The first Burger’s Priest opened its doors in Toronto’s Beaches area in June 2010.

It was founded by Shant Mardirosian, a seminary student who had attended Tyndale University in Toronto.

Born and raised in California with a background in the food industry, he put his plans for the priesthood on hold and decided to try his hand at launching an eatery based on the classic old-fashioned burger he

knew and loved as a child.

The Burger’s Priest soon developed a devoted following and attracted the attention of Alex, who owns almost 300 restaurants in Canada and the United States.

“I remember friends telling me, ‘You have to go check out this Burger’s Priest place.’ And I’d always reply, ‘I have an issue with burgers.

They’re not really something I’m crazy about.’ ” Alex was finally persuaded to try it out.

“I took a bite into a burger, looked at my partner and said, ‘Oh, my goodness. This is unbelievable.’ ” Alex met Shant, then opening up his third Burger’s Priest, and the two joined forces. When Shant exited the business, Alex became sole owner, and the nine locations have grown to 25, in Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton, and there are plans to start spreading across the country in the next couple of years.

Giving Back A person of faith himself, whose children attend Christian college, Alex’s plan “was to always continue the culture, soul and mindset that the brand was founded upon” under his watch.

“I certainly do not have Shant’s faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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depth of biblical knowledge, but we had a lot of conversations on faith and religion over the years,” Alex says. “One of the things I learned from Shant is how the organization has always given back. He was very in touch with that, and in tune with giving back to different causes he believed in. That’s exactly what we’ve continued to do with The Burger’s Priest.”

This was never truer than the steps The Burger’s Priest took during COVID-19.

Paying It Forward The Burger’s Priest was not immune from the damage wrought by the pandemic’s restrictions on the restaurant industry.

“Our primary focus last year was to get our restaurants reopened,” says Alex. “It’s important for people to put food on their tables and to work.”

To that end, the restaurant started the Have Faith campaign. The First Ten Burger was created to celebrate a decade in operation. Billed as the “ultimate COVID comfort food,” this classic maple-dipped bacon cheeseburger was served between two full soft-baked doughnuts, grilled with butter and topped with 18 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

Burger Boss “Our entire business is built around Acts 20:35: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive,’ “ says Alex Rechichi, CEO of Extreme Foods, of which The Burger’s Priest is a chain

a dusting of icing sugar. Proceeds from that and other burger sales and branded merchandise went toward The Full Plate, a Toronto non-profit charity that supports displaced hospitality and restaurant workers.

“We’ve been able to adapt,” says Alex, “but there are a lot of restaurants and small businesses that are finding it challenging.”

The Burger’s Priest also held a “giveaway giveaway” with a $10,000 prize. The winner submitted a video or essay nominating a deserving person, small business or charity that they would give the money to.

And the person who submitted the winning entry would get free hamburgers for a year!

“We created this contest as a way

Order Up! (left) A scene from the launch of a Burger’s Priest in London, Ont.

To Go (above) Catering options for work or play are a specialty of The Burger’s Priest Welcome! (right) A Toronto storefront faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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20 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

“ We created this contest as a way to pay it forward. What better way to celebrate than to give?” ALEX RECHICHI to pay it forward,” says Alex. “It’s about giving back. What better way to celebrate than to give?”

The Way We Were A similar initiative was adopted within the chain itself, where the staff have been asked to identify co-workers who have impacted their lives in a positive way.

“It’s unbelievable,” smiles Alex.

“I’ve been reading the submissions and I have been wowed by what their co-workers are saying about the nominees.

“I’m proud of the connections we have with our guests, but it’s those connections we make with our front-line staff and fellow employees

that’s truly wonderful. It’s a reflection on everyone, including my family, my colleagues and the rest of the team.”

Alex has been in the restaurant business since he was 21.

“It’s in my veins. I’m passionate about it, but the best part of it is truly the people.

“Like everybody else, I want everyone to stay safe, that’s the number one priority,” concludes Alex, “but I can’t wait for the day when we can interact with people the way we used to.”

Time to Eat (left) A typical scene at a Burger’s Priest in Edmonton. “I can’t wait for the day when we can interact with people the way we used to,” says Alex The Pope (right) A panko-crusted, cheesestuffed portobello cap sandwiched between two American cheddartopped beef patties in a non-sesameseed bun faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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Faith&Friends

FEATURE

Photo: serikbaib/stock.Adobe.com

The Frame Up

MY LUNCH BAG REMINDS ME OF HOW FAR I HAVE COME, WITH THE HELP OF THE SALVATION ARMY.

by Brent Perry

I

remember the date well: June 30, 2006. I had not washed or bathed in weeks, and I was passed out in Toronto’s Moss Park, right across from The Salvation Army’s Maxwell Meighen Centre, a multi-care facility where I was a resident.

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But unlike other benders, when I came to that morning, the first thing I saw was a lunch bag in front of me. The bag had a message written on it in crayon: “Xavier loves you.” And there was a happy face drawn on it.

I’d lost my children, I’d lost my family, I’d lost all my material possessions. BRENT PERRY

I never had any way of ever finding out, but I’ve always assumed that a child had walked by, either on a school trip or with his or her parents, saw me and took pity on me by leaving me their lunch.

At that moment, I saw myself through that child’s eyes. What happened? I thought. How did I get here?

Losing Yourself Where I was at that point was a million miles away and a thousand years beyond the life I had known.

I had graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., with an MBA. I moved from Kingston to Toronto, intent on a career in corporate finance.

I was married at the time and a father of a boy, but he sadly passed away from congenital heart disease.

That was a difficult time but my wife and I had two more children before we divorced.

Determined to make a fresh start, I moved to the United States and started working for Goldman Sachs in New York and London, England. I

became addicted to the lifestyle, but I also became addicted to alcohol and cocaine.

I ended up back in Toronto. I’d lost my children, I’d lost my family, I’d lost all my material possessions.

But the worst thing was that I’d lost myself.

“Are You Ready?”

Looking at that lunch bag, realizing how I must have looked to that child, made me realize I needed help.

I crossed the street and returned to the Maxwell Meighen Centre.

My support worker took one look at me and knew something had changed.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“I’m going to walk with you down the street to St. Michael’s Hospital.”

She brought me right to the emergency department because I was in very rough shape. From there, I went into detox, which was very desperately needed, and after that I went into treatment. And I got clean, for the first time in a long time. faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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Choosing God But now what? I had nothing, and I had nowhere to go. The hospital was trying to get me into a safe facility but in the meantime, I had nowhere to go.

I returned to Maxwell Meighen, where I was placed in the protective services unit. There, I could stay clean, safe and sober. Without The Salvation Army, I probably would have relapsed and I seriously doubt I would be here today.

The Army found a place for me at Transition House, a short-term supportive residence in Toronto for men with addiction challenges who want to make a positive change in their lives. The Salvation Army gave me a subway token to get there. Every single thing I owned was in a garbage bag, and I can remember to this day walking up the steps to go to Transition House.

Fast forward to today. I’ve been clean and sober for more than 14 years and I am a firm believer in the 12-Step program, which requires a belief in a higher power.

As for me, I choose God. Full Circle For the last decade, I have been on the board of directors of Transition House, the place that took me in.

I have spent a considerable period of time trying to mend my relationships with those that I had harmed.

24 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

My philosophy has been I needed to make amends for everything I had done in my past. I cannot control the outcome. Some people will accept that and some won’t, but that’s fine.

All I can do is clean up my side of the street.

I started over from scratch and created my own consulting company. It took some time but I got my business up and running and made it into a success.

Along the way—and this is the biggest blessing of all—I established an excellent relationship with both of my sons, now grown. I have a granddaughter now, who apparently finds me quite entertaining on FaceTime.

I also fell in love and I’m now engaged. It was my fiancée who called me up one evening and told me that The Salvation Army was looking for a senior philanthropy advisor in Ontario.

I applied, but during the job interview, I never once mentioned my past or how The Salvation Army had helped get me back on my feet.

I wanted to get the job based upon my merits and abilities. After I was hired, however, I shared my past with my boss.

Life for me has come full circle.

A Life Changed I still have that lunch bag, by the

A Changed Life “Without The Salvation Army, I probably would have relapsed and I seriously doubt I would be here today,” says Brent Perry

way. I have no idea how I was able to keep it but it was in the green garbage bag that had all my earthly possessions.

It’s in a hideously ugly frame that I found while I was at Transition House. I was walking down the street. It was garbage day, and somebody had thrown it away, not surprisingly, but I retrieved it and framed the lunch bag. I know that I could reframe it but there are too

many memories associated with it for me.

Looking at it reminds me of that long-ago day when my life changed, thanks to the good people at The Salvation Army.

Things have come a long way from my days as an international financier, but I have no regrets. I love the Army. I absolutely believe in the incredible work that they do—what we do. faithandfriends.ca I MARCH 2021

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GOD IN MY LIFE

Photo: Tim/stock.Adobe.com

Faith&Friends

And the Band Played On Salvation Army brings joy through music during the pandemic.

by Caroline Franks

T

his past year, The Salvation Army’s Rideau Heights church band in Kingston, Ont., was interested in playing outside longterm care homes in the area to bring joy to residents. Because of the pandemic, however, they were unable to enter any of the homes for several months.

But on a Sunday last October, the brass band received permission to perform—socially distancing themselves, of course—outside Kingsdale Chateau, a retirement home in Kingston, and played some of the residents’ favourite songs. This is where Ineta Skepple, a longtime member of The Salvation Army, lived.

26 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

Faithful Presence “Our band played at five different spots outside the building, so residents could see and hear us from their rooms,” says Lieutenant Thomas Marsh, Rideau Heights’ co-pastor.

“They were extremely grateful, many singing from inside their rooms.”

The Salvation Army band particularly enjoyed the concert, as it had been seven long months since they had performed together.

“The last spot we played was outside Ineta Skepple’s room,” Lieutenant Thomas says. “Years ago, she led our church’s community care ministries, a visitation program that provides the opportunity for Salva-

“Ineta’s frail hands clapped louder than our band. It was as if she was praising her God, in her own way, for God’s faithfulness through the years.” LIEUTENANT THOMAS MARSH tion Army pastors and volunteers to minister to people with special needs, physical impairments and the older adult community. Over the years, she ushered many into the church— including one of our band members who became involved because of Ineta. She was a faithful volunteer, and she also conducted many Bible studies.”

God’s Timing Outside Ineta’s room, the band played O Boundless Salvation, a hymn composed by the co-founder of The Salvation Army, General William Booth. During the song, she raised herself from her walker-seat, and clapped and cheered to God. “As we got to the part in the song where we played, ‘And now, hallelujah! The rest of my days, shall gladly be spent in promoting His praise who opened His bosom to pour out this sea of boundless salvation for you and for me,’ it brought tears to many, as Ineta’s frail hands clapped louder than our band,” continues Lieutenant Thomas. “It was as if she was praising her God, in her own way, for God’s faithfulness through the years.

“It was a moment that I find difficult to explain with words, as the moment was holy and transcendent.”

Six days after the band’s performance, Ineta passed away.

“I received a text from the program director and the bandmaster both expressing their gratitude and how God’s timing is perfect,” says Lieutenant Thomas. “I am always surprised by the truth that God takes our plans and uses them for bigger things. I love when that happens. I am humbled by these moments and extremely grateful to bear witness to the timing of God.”

Ineta Skepple

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Eating Healthy With Erin MUSHROOM RISOTTO

Recipe photos: Erin Stanley

TIME 35 min MAKES 5 servings SERVE WITH chicken or fish

1.5 L (6 cups) reducedsodium vegetable broth 45 ml (3 tbsp) butter 1 garlic clove 375 ml (1½ cups) Arborio rice 250 ml (1 cup) cremini mushrooms black pepper (garnish) 30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh Italian parsley (garnish) 60 ml (¼ cup) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. In saucepan, heat broth over medium heat and reduce to simmer.

2. In large deep skillet or pot, cook 30 ml (2 tbsp) of butter and garlic clove for 2 minutes on medium heat. Add rice and stir constantly until rice is lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

3. Add 125 ml (½ cup) of broth from saucepan and cook until absorbed, stirring frequently so that it does not stick to the pan. Continue to add broth 125 ml (½ cup) at a time, each time allowing it to be fully absorbed into the rice grains prior to adding more. This will take about 20 minutes.

4. Stir in mushrooms and remaining butter and allow mushrooms to soften.

5. Garnish with pepper and fresh Italian parsley. Add Parmesan cheese to taste (optional).

LOADED EGG SALAD TIME 25 min MAKES 2 servings SERVE WITH fresh rye bread

4 eggs 30 ml (2 tbsp) mayonnaise 7 ml (½ tbsp) Dijon mustard 15 ml (1 tbsp) chives, diced pinch of salt and pepper pinch of paprika 60 ml (¼ cup) red pepper, diced 60 ml (¼ cup) celery, diced

28 • MARCH 2021 I faithandfriends.ca

1. Cover eggs in pot so that at least 25 mm (1 in.) of cold water is covering them. Bring to boil. Once boiling, remove from heat, cover and allow to sit for 12 minutes. Remove from pot and allow to cool.

2. Peel eggs and mash together.

Add remaining ingredients.

3. Add paprika to garnish.

Open Mouth ...

... INSERT FOOT P.5

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Sudoku Puzzle

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Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3 × 3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

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QUICK QUIZ 1. In what city was Canadian Alex Trebek, longtime host of Jeopardy, born?

2. Are bell peppers, and all peppers, fruit or vegetables?

3. How many member states make up the United Nations?

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© www.kevinfrank.net

HEAVEN’S LOVE THRIFT SHOP by Kevin Frank

Answers on next page.

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Word Search The World of Woodworking S O F T W O O D Z E G T A B V T A F J J A E X Q T J M G Z T E N O N K R G P S C A B R I O L E L E G U O G I L A C Y M T T A B L E S A W H R C P G C I L B C H I S E L C B O B P A F J P A E K P B E S P O K E S H A V E F M V B C L D J R U H H N O M J Q N X E X U I A O Z N B T U C S S O R C L P H P T N V T R A O S H C W I Q E O U B C S E E O L R L A G K X N J D Q L U G H R T T E C I N R O C T D A N Q L N S C A I M L P D I D E E O R I X L I U S I U K A R E N T S R O F A G N D P U L C G M K R D U I U W K B K O L L E I S M P C E E Y T J D I B S S U W H S I N R A V R E R B R L I L E O S R E B M U L B R Z O E A P K E D M F D I C H F E R E F M A H C APRON BAR CLAMP BENCH GRINDER BEVEL BISCUIT BULLNOSE CABINETMAKER CABRIOLE LEG CHAMFER CHISEL CORNICE COUNTERSINK

CROSSCUT DOVETAIL DOWEL FASCIA FEATHERBOARD FORSTNER GOUGE HARDWOOD JOINTER LATHE LUMBER MORTISE

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MOULDING PILOT HOLE PLANER PUSH STICK RIP FENCE ROUTER SANDER SOFTWOOD SPOKESHAVE TABLE SAW TENON VARNISH

Quick Quiz Answers: 1. Sudbury, Ont.; 2. fruit; 3. 193.

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Faith&Friends

NIFTY THRIFTY

Spring Refresh Five essentials to spruce up your wardrobe. * All items pictured are from a Salvation Army thrift store

S

pring is a wonderful time to shed your winter layers and finally show off the style underneath. But what if your wardrobe is feeling drab and uninspired? Head to your local Salvation Army thrift store to find affordable wardrobe essentials. Here are a few items you can shop for to elevate your look this spring: Sweater Perfect for warmer weather and layering under lighter jackets. Shop for a longer style to transition through spring.

Shoes A simple outfit can look stunning with the right shoe or low boot. Find a design to match your current wardrobe.

Jacket Look for one with a pop of colour or pattern to add some fun to your spring wardrobe.

Purse Something fashionable but practical is always a good idea. Leather is great to look for when buying a bag; it will last longer and be more durable.

Accessories Spring calls for a fashionable beret or an oversized necklace.

There are so many nice accessories that can be found in-store.

Adding a few key pieces into your wardrobe can make all the difference. Find all of these spring essentials without breaking your budget by shopping at your local Salvation Army thrift store.*

(left) Tijana McAllister is the frugalista behind A Plentiful Life, a lifestyle blog that shows readers how to live their best life on a budget. She is also a creative expert for The Salvation Army’s thrift stores. Find a thrift store near you at thriftstore.ca.

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