Caring Vol. 16. No. 1 (Spring 2010)

VOL. 16, NO. 1 • SPRING 2010

Fulfilling the Great Commission in the 21st century Social justice in the life of Christ

caring The holistic ministries of The Salvation Army

“A Salvation Army who breaks the bindings of its own need for prosperity and tunes into the darkness with expertise, trumpet calls and garden images, knows the spirit of the Lord is upon them.”­—M. CHRISTINE MacMILLAN

Centralized intelligence

by William Booth

With wings outstretched

8

by Christin Davis

Fulfilling the Great Commission in the 21st century

by Karen Shakespeare

13 20

Meet the team

by Christin Davis

Social justice in the life of Christ from the ISJC’s “Jesus and Justice”

FINDING GRACE AT JOYLAND

by Nikole Lim DEDICATED IN KENYA

by Julius Mukonga

22

THE ARMY AND THE MDGs

7 8 15 18 22

24 32 33

MY CORNER 2 • PERSPECTIVE 3 • IN THE NEWS 4 • AND FINALLY... 44

36 Joining a global partnership

by Brian Swarts and Rachel Klick... 36 A society in recovery

by MacDonald Chaava.............. 37 Developing a cohesive opinion

by James Read......................... 38 An ‘intelligence department’ in New Zealand

by Campbell Roberts.....................41

INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT This issue of Caring examines the Army’s work in the arena of social justice and the recently established Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission.

SPRING 2010 • VOL. 16, NO. 1

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MY CORNER

Intelligence Around 1890—at the same time William Booth BY and Commissioner Frank Smith were working on In ROBERT Darkest England and the Way Out, it appears that Booth, DOCTER founder of The Salvation Army, wanted to “centralize” an Intelligence Department in order “to deal with the problems of ‘social evil.’” This unit, he suggested, would “have ready at our fingers the accumulated experience and information of the whole world.”

He wanted to collect data concerning ideas and conclusions relative to “social economy” and use these data to solve “the problem(s) we have at hand.”

As usual, he was about a century early.

The social wing Booth needed information on the social economy because of his increasing awareness that poverty and depravity go hand in hand.

Assistance came from a young researcher named Charles Booth (no relation), who gathered data and surveyed conditions among London’s poor in 1883. He then wrote and published his data and conclusions in The Bitter Cry of Outcast London. Later surveys continued to underscore his work.

As Captain Genevieve Peterson, Australia Southern territorial social policy consultant, recently wrote, London in the late 19th century was “an era that lacked social infrastructure and lacked a deep knowledge of social sciences. Mental illness, addiction, poverty, economy, child abuse, neglect, and political structures and their implication to the construction and consequently the stability of society, were all relatively unexplored academic fields. This meant they were not working with an ideology that was mapped out with years of careful study, research and thought. They were not working from a social paradigm. Consequently, it means that their social practice was almost purely intuitive, and based entirely on their theology.”

Since its inception as the Christian Revival Association (later renamed the Christian Mission and finally The Salvation Army), Booth’s Army demonstrated great compassion for the poor. In late 1890, he initiated the Social Service Wing of The Salvation Army.

Yet, as Booth once said, “All the social activity of the Army is the outcome of the spiritual life of its members. All social service must MY CORNER page 6

Caring is published quarterly by The Salvation Army and seeks to: • •

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Reclaim ‘acts of mercy’ as imperatives to holiness.

Bring the Army’s ministries of evangelistic and social outreach into one holistic ministry.

Describe exemplary programs seeking to integrate the goals of the Army’s holistic ministries.

Foster innovation and the development of creative approaches to ministry.

Edify, enlighten, enrich and stimulate discussion among Salvationists involved in caring ministries.

Provide a forum for examination of critical social issues within the Army.

Report on important and relevant research in areas of holistic ministry.

Review critical contributions of scholars and writers within relevant fields of ministry.

Examine The Salvation Army as an organization in respect to its history, purpose, mission and future.

STAFF Robert Docter, Ph.D. Christin Davis Karen Gleason Buffy Lincoln Edie Jenkins Sue Schumann Warner

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Contributing Editor Associate Editor Editorial Assistant Contributing Writer

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Betty Israel, Major Geoffrey Allan, Major John Cheydleur, Major Kevin Tomson-Hooper Allie Niles, Major

National Headquarters Central Territory Eastern Territory Southern Territory Western Territory

LAYOUT & DESIGN Kevin Dobruck Stephen Martinez

Art Director Graphic Designer

CIRCULATION Christin Davis

562-491-8723

USA WESTERN TERRITORIAL HEADQUARTERS Commissioner Philip Swyers, Territorial Commander Colonel William Harfoot, Chief Secretary P.O. Box 22646 180 East Ocean Blvd.

Long Beach, CA 90802 562/491-8723 • Fax 562/491-8791 e-mail: caring@usw.salvationarmy.org www.caringsa.org

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Unless otherwise indicated, all contents copyright© 2010 by New Frontier Publications, The Salvation Army, USA Western Territory, 180 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802 USA. If requested, permission to reproduce is usually freely granted. Please contact the publisher before reproducing.

PERSPECTIVE

Mending the fabric Along the gate to the sprawling BY United Nations (UN) headquarters— CHRISTIN an 18-acre site along the East River in DAVIS Manhattan—the flags of our world’s

nations send a pulsating shot of color across the street-side entrance.

After completing the security screening, I received credentials to enter a private area of the complex by escort. Up a set of stairs and down a long corridor, I admired the diverse and ornate gifts that the UN has received from governments, empires and regimes.

I entered the Security Council Chamber—where the business of international peace and security is conducted.

The front wall is covered by a massive oil canvas mural of a phoenix rising from its ashes, a Norwegian artist’s depiction of the world rebuilding after the Second World War. In one corner of the image, a group of people weigh out grain for all to share.

Side walls swathed in blue and gold silk tapestry frame two graduated levels of observation seats before the main horseshoe meeting table. World leaders gather here.

On this day, the 15-member council met to vote on a resolution to end sexual violence against women and girls in conflict-related situations.

Resolution With an earpiece for translation, I listened to representatives of each nation make a statement on the issue. They all returned to the fact that in the midst of wars, crimes against the vulnerable continue.

As a cohesive unit, the Security Council decried this reality and resolved to fight against it.

During the closed-door assembly, the council voted unanimously to adopt the draft resolution 1888 (2009), “Women and peace and security,” submitted by 65 nations.

“Even though women and children are rarely responsible for initiating armed conflict, they are

often war’s most vulnerable and violated victims,” said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “The resolution we passed today represents a step forward in our global efforts to end violence perpetrated against women and children in conflict zones. The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn’t just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group. It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings.”

Dignified The imagery stuck with me. Though this meeting was specifically focused on violence against women and children, how many human actions today “shred the fabric that weaves us together as human beings”?

Malnutrition, dehydration, lack of access to medical care, sexual exploitation, forced labor, oppression, bloodshed...

In 119 countries, The Salvation Army works assiduously to deter and end those issues that shred the fabric of humanity. Much of this work is now in large part coordinated through the International Social Justice Commission (ISJC).

According to the commission, “justice challenges human inequity and reaches out from the intelligence of the heart to touch human need.”

The concept: recognizing human value and respecting humanity at large.

As Dr. James Read, ISJC senior policy analyst and director of Canada’s ethics center, said, “We should see people as entitled to what is fitting of human dignity.”

This issue of Caring, “Intelligence Department,” is meant to edify, equip and persuade each one of us in taking up the cause of social justice and beginning to mend the fabric that weaves us together.

With intelligent hearts, we will go on touching human need. n Christin Davis is the managing editor of Caring.

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In the news Compiled by Karen Gleason

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month On Jan. 4, 2010, President Barack Obama proclaimed January 2010 the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, stating: “…we acknowledge that forms of slavery still exist in the modern era, and we recommit ourselves to stopping the human traffickers who ply this horrific trade.”

Obama described the millions of people worldwide who are enslaved or trafficked as a diverse group of “many faces,” who are held “through force, threats, and fear,” and who are all “denied basic human dignity and freedom.”

Urging everyone to work to eradicate today’s slavery, he said: “Fighting modern slavery and human trafficking is a shared responsibility. This month, I urge all Americans to educate themselves about all forms of modern slavery and the signs and consequences of human trafficking. Together, we can and must end this most serious, ongoing criminal civil rights violation.”

Obama asked Americans to observe the month with programs and activities focused on the prevention of trafficking and slavery. National Slavery and Human Trafficking prevention Month ended with the commemoration of National

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Freedom Day on Feb. 1, 2010.

Though the month of recognition has ended, the war against slavery continues non-stop, 24/7, 365 days a year.

Fight on.

From whitehouse.gov Check your produce No, not for freshness—could you be eating “blood” produce?

Recently, the owners of Hawaii’s second-largest fruit and vegetable farm—Aloun Farms—pled guilty to trafficking conspiracy charges. Company president Alec Souphone Sou and his brother Mike Mankone Sou made a deal with Thai labor recruiters to trick workers into taking jobs on the farm. The recruiters charged each of the workers $16,000 to bring them to the U.S. and find them work at Aloun Farms. Once in Hawaii, the workers were told they must pay off this falsely inflated debt before receiving a paycheck; some workers never saw a penny from their labors.

Not allowed to leave the compound, these workers had to endure dwelling in “a storage container with a window cut out, no air conditioning and no bathroom—some of the men thought that was better living conditions than where they had come from,” said the victims’ attorney Melissa Vincenty.

Fortunately, the Aloun Farms scheme was eventually busted and the brothers arrested. They face

DOING THE MOST GOOD

up to five years each in prison— the sentence would be greater, if not for their plea agreement to help the authorities find the Thai recruiters.

We may like to think that farms filled with slaves growing and harvesting produce for supermarkets only happens in developing countries, but we are not immune here in the U.S.— similar cases have occurred in North Carolina, Florida and California.

Avoid buying food grown by slaves. Find out where your food comes from—read labels. Some more processed products, like coffee and sugar, come in Fair Trade certified varieties. When possible, buy from local, small farms and co-ops or farmers markets.

From khon.com and change.org Housing the homeless to the dismay of the government San Luis Obispo County, California, has an estimated 3,500 homeless people. Its shelters have 125 beds. This is simple math. So why would a senior citizen named Dan de Vaul be sent to jail for housing 30 homeless people in a farmhouse and some trailers on his ranch? Well, that’s not so simple.

The strange saga, chronicled in the New York Times, pits de Vaul against local authorities. He says he’s doing good work; they say he charges people $300 a month plus hours of manual labor to live on

his 72-acre property, which has multiple safety code violations— including a dozen wooden sheds with bunk beds that officials have condemned.

“I believe he truly does care for the people he takes in. There’s only one thing he cares more about, and that’s fighting with the county,” San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors chairman Bruce Gibson told the Times. De Vaul was sentenced in November 2009 to 90 days in jail, a ruling that is currently being appealed.

Though courts have previously intervened against private landowners who house the homeless, there are people who live on de Vaul’s property who wouldn’t feel at home anywhere else. One man wasn’t suited for a shelter, so a clinical social worker referred him to the ranch.

Another, a schizophrenic Vietnam vet, finally found a place to park his trailer without being bothered.

By Josie Raymond at change.org Forced recantations of faith in Vietnam A Vietnamese man violently forced to recant his fledgling Christian faith faces pressure from authorities and clansmen to prove his return to traditional Hmong belief by sacrificing to ancestors next month.

Sung Cua Po, who embraced Christianity in November, received some 70 blows to his

head and back after local officials in northwest Vietnam’s Dien Bien Province arrested him on Dec. 1, 2009, according to documents obtained by Compass Direct News. His wife, Hang thi Va, was also beaten. They live in Ho Co village.

Police and soldiers took the couple into custody after earlier inciting villagers to abuse and stone them and other Christian families. Besides the beating, they were fined money and a pig—used to feed the authorities.

“Here is Vietnamese jungle justice on full display—show up at the home of an official to be tormented and bring plenty of food and liquor for your tormentors,” observed one source.

Po, who finally signed recantation papers, said: “I folded—I signed when police threatened to beat me to death if I didn’t recant,” he said. “Then they would seize my property, leaving my wife a widow, and my children fatherless—without a home.”

Threats against him remain unless he voluntarily offers sacrifices to his ancestors on Feb. 13, Lunar New Year’s Eve. The documentation of the forced recantations in northwest Vietnam indicates that authorities are contravening Vietnam’s 2004/2005 public religion policy.

By Compass Direct News at christianpost.com

Mideast evangelical churches vote to support ordination of women Evangelical church leaders in the Middle East unanimously voted on Jan. 12, 2010, in favor of a statement supporting the ordination of women as pastors.

The vote, which occurred during the Sixth General Assembly of the Fellowship of the Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC), was passed by the 29 voting delegates, including two females.

The conference brought together about 70 church leaders.

FMEEC’s theology committee stated that it found no biblical or theological reasons to oppose female ordination. The fellowship includes evangelical Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed churches in the Middle East.

Bishop Munib A. Younan, FMEEC president said that the fellowship’s action translates to its 16 member churches as encouragement to ordain women as pastors.

While this step makes a bold move for a religious group in the Middle East, the practice is more acceptable in the US, where several major denominations allow the ordination of women, including the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church and The Salvation Army.

By Ethan Cole at christianpost.com IN THE NEWS, page 42

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MY CORNER

from page 2

be based on the spiritual, or it will amount to little in the end.”

Rediscovering the plan For unknown reasons, Booth never followed through with the idea of developing an Intelligence Department. Too bad.

Before conducting a capital campaign, The Salvation Army generally hires an outside company to perform data gathering in the community. The purpose of this “feasibility study” is to meet with advisory board members, officers, employees and leading citizens in the community to determine what unmet needs could be served by the Army. It also assesses whether or not necessary funds can be raised to meet and manage those needs. This study is the basis for evaluating the wisdom of implementing a decision.

In addition to a needs assessment for a plan, the Army needs actual data concerning the wisdom of implementing a decision.

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I once proposed that the territorial program section be changed in order to assume responsibility for three specific functions: perform a research function using trained non-officers to gather and assess data pertinent to plans or problems the organization identified; gather and assess specific social and spiritual issues in a rapidly changing society in order to guide the identification of the problems and proposals analyzed; and evaluate existing programs to determine how to make them more effective in accomplishing their goals.

I’m glad the International Social Justice Commission sees one of its roles as a data gatherer in relation to international social problems. It even refers to itself as “The Intelligence Department.”

The commission’s existence has caused a needed reexamination of Booth’s forgotten plan. n Robert Docter, Ph.D., is editor-in-chief of New Frontier Publications.

Booth’s desire for a Salvation Army ‘intelligence department’

INTELLIGENCE

Power, it has been said, belongs to the best informed, and if we are to effectually deal with the forces of social evil, we must have ready at our fingers’ ends the accumulated experience and information of the whole world on this subject. The collection of facts and the systematic record of them would be invaluable, rendering the result of the experiments of previous generations available for the information of our own.

At the present, there is no central institution—either in this country or any other—which charges itself with the duty of collecting and collating the ideas and conclusions on social economy, so far as they are likely to help the solution of the problem we have in hand.

This intelligence department will have in it the germ of vast extension, which will become a kind of university, in which the accumulated experiences of the human race will be massed, digested and rendered available to the humblest toiler in the great work of social reform.

For the development of this scheme I want an office in which, under the head of the varied social subjects may condense the essence of all the best books that have been written, and the names and addresses of those whose opinions are worth having upon them, together with a note of what those opinions are, and the results of experiments made in relation to them. I want to establish a system that will enable me to use, not only the eyes and hands of Salvation officers, but of sympathetic friends in all parts of the world, for purposes of noticing and reporting at once every social experiment of importance, and any words of wisdom on the social question.

What I want is to get the essence of wisdom, which the wisest have gathered from the widest experience, rendered instantly available for the humblest worker in the Salvation factory or farm colony, and for any other toiler in similar fields of social

centralized

BY WILLIAM BOOTH

progress.

I look for helpers in this department who will assist in the compiling of this great Index of Sociological Experiments, and who would be willing, in this form, to help in this scheme, as associates, for the ameliorating of the condition of the people, if in nothing else than in using their eyes and ears, and giving me the benefit of their brains as to where knowledge lies, and how it can best be utilized.

Our intelligence department will be a great storehouse of information—a universal library where any man may learn what is the sum of human knowledge upon any branch of the subject, which we have taken in hand.

From Booth’s In Darkest England and The Way Out, first published in 1890.

n William Booth founded The Christian Revival Association in 1865 with his wife, Catherine. In 1878, the society’s name changed for the final time to The Salvation Army. Booth served as the Army’s first General from 1878 to 1912.

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WITH WINGS

OUTSTRETCHED Injustice is captivity

The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream

BY CHRISTIN DAVIS

til the current ends and dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.

— from Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”

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Soaring from tree to ledge, to valley to river, a bird rises and lands, eats and drinks, explores as it pleases. With wings outstretched it embodies freedom, peace, happiness and hope. Once caged, it is merely a captive. For The Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission (ISJC), the image of a caged bird stings as a reminder of pain and injustice throughout the world and remains visible—a small caged bird sits on the edge of the director’s desk, children’s bird paintings fill two canvases, and an image of a large black and white caged bird frames the wall by the office entrance.

Their motto: “Injustice is captivity.”

“The power of some to lock people out of their potentiality is something that we want to reveal,” said Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan, ISJC director. “When you see a caged bird, you realize that it can fly but is being kept out of its natural habitat.

“We must have the daringness to engage people who are suffering in the cages of injustice and determine what it takes to unlatch that cage,” MacMillan said. “The environment surrounding the cage must then give access to freedom so they may learn to fly again.”

Located next door to the Hungarian Embassy in Manhattan’s Midtown East, the ISJC now maintains a notable presence at the United Nations (UN) headquarters, which fills the shoreline of the East River just half a mile away.

Though The Salvation Army has been present at the UN since 1947, General Shaw Clifton spearheaded the creation of the ISJC in 2007, prioritizing the Army’s involvement in international law, security, economic development, social progress, human rights and the achievement of world peace—areas within which the UN aims to facilitate worldwide cooperation within.

“We are not called to be politicians or to endorse one party over another, but we are called to speak in Christ’s name for the underdog and the downtrodden,” Clifton said by e-mail. “My dream in bringing into being the ISJC is to enhance and strengthen this aspect of our work with a dedicated and specialized unit that can encourage us all and better coordinate our many initiatives country by country.”

Pulse on the world “God help us soar through Jesus Christ into new liberation, into new life, into new hope, and as we do that our caged bird will remind us of what it means to be set free,” MacMillan said as she released a dove at the ISJC opening and dedication ceremony in August 2008.

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Directed by MacMillan, the eight-member ISJC team is administratively connected to International Headquarters and is the Army’s voice in global deliberations on social justice matters.

The commission conducts research and evaluates systemic issues in an effort to promote community development, peace and the achievement of basic human rights throughout the world.

“Booth [Salvation Army founder] dreamt of having a department that would have a pulse on the world— an intelligence department,” MacMillan said. “I feel we have become Booth’s intelligence department.

We’re challenging the Army to create an expression that is concerned with the world.”

Yet, MacMillan acknowledges, research is not the overarching priority.

Receive the ISJC prayer diary Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan distributes a bi-monthly “prayer diary” of current requests for the ISJC, The Salvation Army and the world at large to those who express a willingness to pray for the commission. To be added to the distribution list, send an email to IHQ-ISJC@salvationarmy.org.

“Jesus was creative in his compassion and how he engaged with injustice,” MacMillan said. “The ISJC is not just about research and facts, but about passion.

We acknowledge the freshness of injustice is always before us. We don’t analyze the pain; we sense it. The immediacy of the issues drives us.”

What is social justice?

“Social services is what we do; it’s in our background,” said Lt. Col. Geanette Seymour, ISJC senior policy analyst and intern program coordinator.

“Social justice is the how and the why we do the services. We commit to a provision of services through grace and mercy. We choose to engage in something consistent with what we believe.”

The ISJC developed a brochure, “Singing the Songs of Justice,” to promote an understanding of the concept.

“Driven by informed conviction and creative compassion, justice challenges human inequity and reaches out from the intelligence of the heart to touch human need,” the brochure reads. “Justice

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means working for the dignity, respect and Godgiven rights of all people. Justice listens carefully to those who are being overwhelmed by life’s demands and seeks their counsel. Justice addresses causes of injustice. Justice restores. Justice rebuilds people’s lives. Justice makes it possible for people to begin again.”

Dr. James Read, ISJC senior policy analyst, acknowledges some apprehension around the topic.

“We often think of providing works from a standpoint of compassion and caring; there is some tension with the language of justice,” Read said.

“Social justice is not only about generosity on the frontlines; we should see people as entitled to what is fitting of human dignity.

ISJC STRATEGIC GOALS 1. Raise strategic voices to advocate for the world’s poor and oppressed 2. Be a recognized center of research and critical thinking on issues of global social justice 3. Collaborate with like-minded organizations to advance the global cause of social justice 4. Exercise leadership in determining social justice policies and practices of The Salvation Army 5. Live the principles of justice and compassion and inspire others to do likewise “The Salvation Army needs to reclaim our voice in the public square and indicate to the world that we have something to contribute,” he said. “The Army does not need to rebrand itself, but to see social justice as part of our vocation.”

Inside the United Nations The UN is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries “committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights,” according to its website.

It provides the current 192 member nations a forum to discuss and act on issues through its three

administrative bodies: the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council; The Salvation Army holds “special” status in the latter. By invitation, members of the ISJC sit on 12 different committees within the Economic and Social Council—in New York, and the UN offices in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna.

(See related story, “The UN’s fight to end violence against women,” on page 13.)

Religions for Peace For the ISJC, an important aspect of committee membership is the ability to network and partner with organizations seeking a similar goal.

The Salvation Army was invited, through Seymour,

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An international e-Summit

Pursuing advocacy

BY GEANETTE SEYMOUR The ISJC and The Salvation Army Ethics Centre of the Canada and Bermuda Territory are hosting an e-Summit from March 22-28, 2010.

This event will collect an international group of participants, from as many Salvation Army territories, commands and nations in which the Army is officially present, to discuss advocacy from three perspectives: Theory, Theology, and Promising Practice.

Advocacy creates a potential for transformative change. It assists in negotiating at tables of policy creation.

Advocacy can be found in the first ISJC goal and in the “Principles of Justice” model. It: Addresses issues of injustice Designs strategies to alter systems Values vulnerable people as agents of change Offers expertise to implement objectives Convinces power structures to alter policies Accesses like-minded people to join the cause Changes policies, practices and perceptions Yearns for justice that leads to sustainability n Lt. Colonel Geanette Seymour is the ISJC senior policy analyst and intern program coordinator, and is also organizing the e-Summit.

For more information or to pre-register, visit salvationarmy.org/speakout.

General Shaw Clifton (left) meets with UN Secretery-General Ban Ki-moon.

to sit on the Global Women for Faith board within the UN’s Religions for Peace-USA committee, the largest representative interreligious collaboration in the United States.

“This is an opportunity for people of different faiths to come around the issue of peace; we all have a similar intent with different ways of accomplishing it,” Seymour said.

“People know that I am a Christian and expect me to be a Christian; they don’t expect me to deny my faith. They treat me with dignity and respect, and ask for the same privilege from me.”

The committee of more than 50 different religious traditions focuses on peace and justice, and aims to bring together leaders and facilitate relationships between communities while strengthening existing connections, according to its website (rfpusa.org).

“We have to be brave enough to engage in issues that normally separate people,” Seymour said. “In the developed world, we often point out our differences. If we come together, maybe we will realize we have more similarities than we think and can work to solve social issues together.”

Eight goals to eradicate poverty Much of the ISJC’s work centers on the United Nations’ eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were signed by 189 Heads of State and governments in 2000. The goals were renewed in 2008 with an achievement date set for 2015.

Broadly, the goal is to eradicate poverty and achieve basic human rights for all people in areas like education,

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maternal and child health and environmental sustainability (see endpoverty2015.org for more information). To measure the goals, nations report progress to the UN and the Secretary General reports on international progress to the General Assembly.

When General Shaw Clifton met with SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon in August 2009, he provided a report on The Salvation Army’s work around the world in conjunction with the MDGs. (See related story, “The Army and the MDGs,” on page 33.)

“Our profile at the United Nations has never been higher,” Clifton said. “This was clear to me in my recent visit to meet the Secretary-General who spoke warmly of our contribution.”

ISJC strategic goals Following its creation, the ISJC surveyed The Salvation Army world on local social issues and

needed support; the responses helped develop five strategic goals for the commission that continue to frame its work today. (See goals on page 11.)

“We recognized that our commission would only be strengthened if we knew where we were going,” MacMillan said. “We developed five goals—not just to help establish the commission, but to create momentum to bring about change in the world.”

In response to the reported needs, the ISJC developed “Jesus and Justice,” a complete guide on social justice as evidenced in the life of Jesus, to be released in 2010. (See excerpt on page 22.)

“We understand that The Salvation Army is a faith-based people of God and needs Scriptural foundation for why justice is important,” MacMillan said. “Action comes out of a conviction of faith.”

MacMillan and other ISJC team members frequently speak and facilitate discussion with Salvation Army audiences on social justice.

The UN’s fight to end violence against women Salvation Army invited to Security Council’s passage of Gender Equality Architecture Reform BY CHRISTIN DAVIS

Along with a number of nongovernmental organizations and United Nations committees, the International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) pressed the United Nations to pass the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR)—a resolution to end sexual violence against women and children in conflict-related situations.

When the issue was slated for a Security Council meeting in late September 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited Major Victoria Edmonds, ISJC representative to the UN in New York, to attend.

During the closed-door assembly, the 15-member Security Council voted unanimously to adopt the draft resolution 1888 (2009), “Women and peace and security,” submitted by 65 nations.

“Even though women and children are rarely responsible for initiating armed conflict, they are often war’s most vulnerable and violated victims,” Clinton said in a statement during the meeting. “The resolution we passed today represents a step forward in our global efforts to end violence perpetrated

against women and children in conflict zones. The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn’t just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group. It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings.”

Representatives from each member nation also made a statement, along with the UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon.

“With its resolution today, the Security Council is sending an unequivocal message—a call to action,” Ban said before expressing regret that previous responses to sexual violence had not been able to stem the scourge and pledging to ensure effective follow-up by the UN system.

The written resolution calls for a special representative to lead, coordinate and advocate efforts to end sexual violence, a team of experts to work with governments to strengthen the rule of law and enhance accountability, and new and renewed peacekeeping mandates condemning sexual violence and providing guidance for local authorities on how to end it.

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In 2009, ISJC members traveled to places like Kenya, to speak at the All Africa Congress and meet with local personnel; Moscow, to meet with Army leaders on developing a national moral and social issues council and positional statements; and Brazil, to speak at the Americas Zonal Conference of territorial leaders, meet with the national Moral and Social Issues Council and speak at the Southern Conference for South American leadership.

To better equip its staff and the grassroots Salvationists, the ISJC began its policy intern program in January 2010, using four qualified and experienced individuals from throughout the world to conduct research further fulfilling Booth’s vision of an intelligence department. (Read about the first intern to arrive, Daniel Alarcon, on page 21.)

The commission is also looking to fill a full-time research position with a Salvationist who holds a Ph.D. “Our purpose is to know what is going on and

to influence what is going on,” Seymour said. “We aim to educate ourselves and in turn educate The Salvation Army. We want to become a part of activity for change and get involved in issues of change while letting the UN and the world know about the Army’s international involvement.”

Credible collateral “The Army has incredible potential because of its spread across 119 countries,” said Dr. Don Posterski, ISJC global affairs consultant. “Though postmodernism is winning and secularism is high in the world, the ‘Salvation’ in our title is still credible and accepted. Credibility is like collateral; my question is: how will we spend the collateral?” n Christin Davis is the managing editor of Caring.

Photos by Christin Davis, Paulo Filgueiras, Mark Garten, Joao Araujo Pinot and Michos Tzovaras

Global women’s conference held at Army facility

The ‘2010 NGO Global Women’s Forum for Beijing + 15’ meets in New York BY VICTORIA EDMONDS

In late February—15 years following the 1995 women’s forum in Beijing, China—New York welcomed the two-day “2010 NGO Global Women’s Forum for Beijing + 15” event, hosted by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a committee of the United Nations (UN).

Part of the event took place at The Salvation Army’s Centennial Memorial Temple. As 1,500 women entered the facility, they crossed under the engraved words, “While Women Weep, I’ll fight.”

The current forum reviewed the 12 critical areas for action that women in 1995 felt were important global issues to address, including poverty, education and training of women, health, violence against women, power and decision-making for women, and women and the media. UN member states, representatives of non-governmental organizations and other entities participated and

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spoke on the issues.

Individuals from the developing world also shared stories of triumph surrounding the 12 critical issues in his/her country or offered perspective from his/her local community on the issues.

I was proud to acknowledge that many of these issues are areas The Salvation Army has been working in for over 100 years—Home Leagues teach microcredit, women and girls are educated in Army schools, social service programs shelter women and girls from violence, and anti-trafficking campaigns are fighting to protect women.

n Major Victoria Edmonds is the ISJC representative to the United Nations in New York. As a member of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, Edmonds co-chaired of the 2010 NGO Global Women’s Forum for Beijing + 15.

Fulfilling the Great Commission...

instthe 21 century The Salvation Army and social justice On August 26, 2008, in New York City, the official opening of The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission marked the commitment of The Salvation Army at the highest level to “give strong and articulate support to social justice initiatives by Salvationists around the world,” according to General Shaw Clifton.

For The Salvation Army, whether it is the local worshipping community or the international administration, social justice is rooted in faith, and

BY KAREN SHAKESPEARE

Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan releases a dove at the opening of the International Social Justice Commission Headquarters in New York.

characterized by action, particularly on behalf of the oppressed. A holistic approach to salvation suggests that Christianity must address not only the spiritual and the physical aspects of people’s lives, but also the societal norms, traditions and policies that militate against, or prevent, wholeness for every individual.

Scripture The first of The Salvation Army articles of faith describe Scripture as foundational to both Christian belief and Christian living: “We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice.”

Therefore, any discussion of The Salvation Army’s

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commitment to social justice must begin from our understanding of Scripture and of the personal and corporate response that is required from the people of God. The self-revelation of God through the Bible establishes justice as the foundation of his character; a justice that is revealed in love and mercy (Psalm 89:14). The creation of humanity in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27) not only implies the worth of the individual, but also a requirement that human beings too are just, loving and merciful.

However, the fallen nature of humanity also calls forth from God a justice that brings healing. The effects of sin lead through social injustice to broken lives and communities and it is only through the relational, faithful and covenanted love of God that justice can be restored (Isaiah 9:7; 1 John 1:9).

So the followers of Jesus are commissioned to work toward the fulfillment of the kingdom, with justice as a central reference point. For the church, including The Salvation Army, justice is not only social justice, but kingdom justice that finds its origins not only in what is deserved but also in grace (Luke 15:11-24).

Social justice should be the natural consequence of living out God’s plan for the world.

Reason While, as Clifton said, The Salvation Army “at all times will be overtly and explicitly Christian,” it is willing to engage in intelligent and sensitive networking with secular agencies in the cause of social justice.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides a foundation and a goal for the philosophy of many agencies and organizations. Human rights are viewed as a prerequisite to the development of a just and peaceful society, providing a framework for justice and a “common standard of achievement,” according to the United Nations. The standard is to be respected, taught and progressively pursued.

Article 1 is foundational: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood” (un.org/overview/rights).

Despite the fact that the biblical witness to humanity created in the image of a just and loving God gives reason for human value that goes beyond the scope of the document, this statement resonates

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deeply with a Christian understanding of the worth and dignity of every human being, creates common ground and makes space for working together in the cause of global social justice.

Tradition The history of the church demonstrates that its relationship to the socio-political context has often shaped its response to the world.

Christian history suggests that during the earliest days, the church was outside the structures of society, a marginal people with no political power, unable to address inequities. However, Christian teaching subverted the accepted norms, so that a runaway slave was encouraged to return to his master who would now view him as a brother (Philemon 12, 15), marriage relationships were re-defined (1 Peter 3:1-7) and Jew and Gentile found a common center (Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 2:11-18).

Over subsequent centuries the church became respectable, an institution of society linked to the dominant voices of the prevailing culture. In the West, from the period of Constantine to the beginning of the modern era, state and church shared a common responsibility for the life of the people. The church’s influence provided a sure foundation, particularly in matters of law, education and medicine. However, it can also be argued that the close relationship between church and state has sometimes compromised the Church’s ability, or motivation, to work for social justice and social reform. Like the “court prophets” of the Old Testament who tempered their prophecy to suit the mood of the time (Jeremiah 14:13), the church has failed to critique the prevailing wisdom.

The Salvation Army has strong traditions that have shaped our self-understanding and theology; two are particularly relevant to the area of social justice—a call to the marginalized and a culture of activism.

The roots of the movement in the East End of Victorian London, coupled with the social awareness of William and Catherine Booth, have ensured a historical commitment to the poor and marginalized throughout our history. From its beginnings, The Salvation Army was always a “neighborhood religion” growing within urban society and led by local people.

Although Booth is known to have welcomed the very poor into his local Methodist church as a

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

—From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

youth, much to the chagrin of the congregation, history records that it was not until 1888, returning home late at night and seeing the homeless men sleeping under the London bridges, that Booth truly recognized the need for The Salvation Army to act.

The primacy of the gospel remained paramount, but Booth also acknowledged the role of economic poverty in jeopardizing the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being of the poor. In 1890, Darkest England and the Way Out outlined comprehensive plans to combat a wide variety of social ills of the time and consequently the mission of The Salvation Army to serve the suffering received new focus and the pursuit of social justice became a feature of the Army’s response to societal need.

The Soldiers’ Covenant, a document signed by all who wish to be Salvation Army soldiers, contains the simple phrase “I will make the values of the kingdom of God and not the values of the world the standard for my life.” The values of the kingdom cannot be properly apprehended unless they result in the pursuit of social justice.

Living in obedience to the commandments of Jesus (Matthew 28:20) places upon the Christian the obligation to bring good news to the poor…release to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind…let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18-19).

Experience Despite the charge that we have grown old and “safe,” as The Salvation Army faces the challenges of the 21st century, it is evident that social justice is once more firmly established as a primary focus of our movement. A re-exploration of a rich heritage and an honest appraisal of the demands of true discipleship are resulting in a resurgence of interest in issues of social justice at all levels of the movement.

The establishment of the International Social Justice Commission provides a major impetus and a point of international coordination. As “The Salvation Army’s strategic voice to advocate for

human dignity and social justice with the world’s poor and oppressed” (from the brochure “Singing the Songs of Justice”) it will speak on behalf of the powerless in the international public arena, particularly the United Nations, and “assist the Army in addressing social injustice in a measured, proactive and Christian manner, consistent with the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army,” according to Clifton.

It is not only through the development of expertise or the setting up of programs that social justice will be established. It begins when individuals take responsibility for living differently, offering a new model of being human as citizens of God’s kingdom.

The church, including The Salvation Army, will only bring about justice when it lives justly, creating an inclusive, counter-cultural society in which all are offered a place of belonging.

Reflection Isaiah 1:17 reads, Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.

Throughout its history, The Salvation Army has “encouraged” and provided for the oppressed.

Through its social service ministries and community outreach it has developed expertise, instigated programs and fulfilled its mission to “meet human needs in his (Christ’s) name without discrimination.”

The role of the prophet, as one who speaks forth the word of God, is therefore to challenge those structures which lead to oppression, marginalization and poverty. If The Salvation Army is to be a prophetic voice in the 21st century, it must continue to faithfully develop and expand its expertise in the area of social justice advocacy.

Booth’s promise to “fight to the very end” is familiar to Salvationists worldwide. His words stand as a statement of our commitment to social justice and a reminder that this is not an optional extra for any Salvationist or Christian, but is foundational to our being and identity in Christ. n Lt. Colonel Karen Shakespeare is the executive assistant to the secretary for spiritual life development at International Headquarters and secretary to the International Doctrine Council. An extended version of this paper, which was originally presented to the International Doctrine Council, can be found at salvationarmy.org/socialjustice. Photo courtesy IHQ

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MEET THE TEAM

International Social Justice Commission

Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan

BY CHRISTIN DAVIS

Lt. Colonel Geanette Seymour

Major Victoria Edmonds

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COMMISSIONER M. CHRISTINE MACMILLAN Director

In July 2007, MacMillan began service at a unique appointment—the first director of The Salvation Army’s new global initiative, the International Social Justice Commission (ISJC).

Administratively connected to International Headquarters (IHQ), the commission represents the Army’s voice in global deliberations on social justice matters.

MacMillan, a professional addictions counselor, has a long history of specific training on social issues and a number of significant appointments in the field.

In 1976, she founded Cross Walk, a drop-in center and base for street work in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. In 1985, at the request of the British Columbia government, she founded the Kate Booth House, a haven for battered women and children.

In 1990, she was transferred to London, England, where she spent her orientation period living and working in Hopetown, a Salvation Army hostel for women in London’s East End—the same district in which William Booth founded The Salvation Army in 1865.

In 1991, MacMillan was appointed to The Salvation Army’s social services headquarters in the United Kingdom Territory as the associate director of the London Homelessness Project, which focused on addressing the challenges cited in a major study of homelessness and poverty undertaken by The Salvation Army through more than 20 capital and program projects.

From July 1995 to 2007, MacMillan served in a number of leadership appointments including director of social services and assistant social services secretary in the Canada and Bermuda Territory, Ontario East divisional secretary for program, and Australia East territorial secretary for program. She was also appointed territorial commander for the Papua New Guinea Territory and later the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

“I didn’t come to be an officer at any point in time; I am led to be an officer every day and have to work on it daily,” MacMillan said. “The last two years [as ISJC director] have been the most impacting of my life; this is the most difficult appointment I have ever had.”

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MacMillan also serves as the chairman of the Moral and Social Issues Council.

“Looking at the suffering in the world makes me want to be better than I am,” she said. “I want my life to be full of light so that when I go into the darkness, the light shows up.”

LT. COLONEL GEANETTE SEYMOUR Senior policy analyst and intern program coordinator Originally from Australia, Seymour felt the call to be a Salvation Army officer and entered training school in Sydney within a 12-month period.

Eleven years later, she completed a degree in social work and immediately moved into social management at the divisional level. Seymour served as social program secretary for seven years, divisional program secretary for five years and Australia East chief secretary for two years before she was appointed to the ISJC in March 2008.

“Our goal to ‘raise strategic voices with’ is significant,” she said. “We don’t raise voices for or on behalf of, but with. It is the strength of the sum of us that creates.”

Lt. Colonel Julius Mukonga

MAJOR VICTORIA EDMONDS United Nations representative – New York A third-generation Salvationist, Edmonds visited New York each summer as a child to learn about the arts and take a tour of the United Nations. After graduating from high school, Edmonds served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years and then worked for AT&T for seven years. As she prepared to move into a position at the United Nations—where she had always wanted to work—she felt called to be a Salvation Army officer.

Twenty-five years after her commissioning, Edmonds was appointed to the ISJC. “If you’re faithful, God will give you the desires of your heart,” she said. “At that time [preparing for employment at the UN], I was not ready to work for the UN, but I gained education, experience and global knowledge through The Salvation Army. I now have an overseas and cultural understanding that helps me in my position.”

Major Elizabeth Frei

LT. COLONEL JULIUS MUKONGA United Nations representative – Nairobi Mukonga met The Salvation Army as a 9-year-old boy in Kenya. He worked as a primary school teacher before becoming an officer in 1978.

Mukonga now serves as the divisional commander of the Machakos Division in the Kenya East Territory, in addition to his responsibilities with the ISJC.

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Major Sylvette Huguenin

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Dr. James Read

“Poverty is a big issue,” Mukonga said of his home territory. “A major need is education of youth; however, employment is not available for students finishing university. We need to show them how they can help themselves.”

Rain is a social justice issue in Nairobi as the area is still experiencing drought and people depend on the rain for crops. He said the Army is helping to bore more wells in Kenya this year to help people access water.

With his wife, Mukonga holds weekly meetings with roughly 20 HIV/ AIDS survivors, “to help them keep living,” he said. They teach skills, including soap making, to help the individuals become self-sufficient.

“I want to see people get out of sin and accept Christ,” he said. “I love The Salvation Army; serving the Lord is the most important role in my life.”

Major Elisabeth Frei United Nations representative – Vienna

Dr. Don Posterski

After serving as a corps officer for more than 35 years, Frei recently retired but continues her role as the UN representative in Vienna, a responsibility she has held for the last 10 years.

Frei grew up attending The Salvation Army in Basel, Switzerland. At age 15, she felt called to be an officer, but first completed her schooling, went to the Swiss French Port to learn French, and worked as an auxiliary nurse. Upon commissioning, she served as a corps officer for 35 years and a regional officer for six years before retiring.

Now a member of the ISJC, Frei is encouraged by the new focus on Army involvement at the UN. “We needed to either be greater involved at the UN or leave it, because we were giving the impression that we were just there,” Frei said. “Now with the ISJC, we are going to meetings, reviewing important documents and getting involved. It’s our goal to humanize the social justice concept so that Salvationists will listen more carefully and stand up for it around the world.”

Major Sylvette Huguenin United Nations representative – Geneva

Daniel Alarcon

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Huguenin became a Salvation Army officer in 1991 and moved with her husband and three children to the Congo. She worked as a nurse and he as the doctor and director of six Army dispensaries for over four years. The Huguenins then began a new program for community health and made frequent contact with corps to provide primary care to church members.

Eighteen months later, her husband died of malaria and she returned home to Switzerland with four children.

Huguenin now oversees a 60-bed hotel for The Salvation Army in

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Geneva, a position she has held for 12 years, and has served as a member of the ISJC for just over a year.

“I first spent time meeting people and building contacts within the Conference of NonGovernmental Organizations (CONGO) and was challenged to better learn English,” she said. “My goal at the United Nations is to be present and have a testimony. We have to collaborate between socialization and evangelization.”

Dr. James Read Senior policy analyst Read assists with the strategic direction of the ISJC, but also serves as the director of the Army’s Ethics Centre in Winnipeg, Canada, and as the vice chairman of the Moral and Social Issues Council.

“We aim to affect a culture shift within The Salvation Army,” Read said. “We want to engage internally, especially with the leaders, and help the Army become more comfortable with the language of social justice.”

Read grew up attending The Salvation Army as the son of officers. He later earned a doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of California Los Angeles and then taught at East Tennessee State University, Ohio’s Miami University and Catherine Booth Bible College (now named William and Catherine Booth College).

“Our biggest challenge internally is education,” Read said. “We need to take responsibility for the education of Salvationists and understand what it is to love God with our full minds. We shouldn’t always outsource our thinking, but cultivate the thought inside the organization too. At the ISJC, we are providing tools to help leaders think of organizational decisions in terms that are grounded in a biblical understanding of justice.

“The ISJC is not about program delivery; it is intended to help affect the worldview of The Salvation Army,” he said.

Dr. Don Posterski Global affairs consultant

for World Vision for 20 years in more than 20 countries. He now provides consultation to the ISJC for strategic planning and takes a lead on writing and research.

A lifetime Canadian, Posterski earned a doctorate degree in theology and sociology and said he uses research as a means to identify issues.

“The gospel transcends political ideology,” he said.

“We have a higher calling informed by the mind of Christ. We align ourselves with the promotion of justice, which often gives bias for the poor. The ethic of love calls us beyond self-interest.”

Posterski led the “Jesus and Justice” project, a tool for territories to use in teaching social justice, to be released in 2010.

“The materials are to inform and motivate action,” he said. “The ISJC stands as an invitation to address the causes of poverty rather than the symptoms.”

Daniel Alarcon Research intern In January 2010, the ISJC welcomed Alarcon as its first research intern.

Alarcon, 26, moved from Santiago, Chile, to New York to spend one year working with the commission.

As a trained psychologist with a master’s degree in child psycho-therapies, Alarcon will focus his research on education.

For the past year, Alarcon directed a program to stop violence in a public school. Over the last two years, he counseled child victims of bullying and child aggressors, and led workshops for teachers and parents on related issues.

Now at the ISJC, Alarcon hopes to develop skills to take back to Chile, where he plans to become a Salvation Army officer.

“I believe in the liberty and freedom that the Lord can give me and I also want the same for the rest of humanity,” Alarcon said. “The Lord wants the best life that you can have; if I can receive that mercy, I want the same for others.” n Christin Davis is the managing editor of Caring.

Before joining the ISJC team, Posterski worked

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F R O M T H E I S J C ’ S “J E S U S A N D J U S T I C E ” The essence of Jesus’ mission is captured in a single vision—one vision with two dimensions. Jesus’ hope for a restored humanity has a double focus: people who are spiritually poor and people who are socially poor.

Spiritually poor: Jesus begins with a personal claim: The spirit of the Lord is upon me. I have been touched by God and I am in touch with God. And the good news I bring to those of you who are spiritually poor is—you can be in touch with God too.

Socially poor: Jesus understands the systemic nature of social poverty. He sees people in poverty as those who are held captive. They are oppressed. They are victims of the circumstances surrounding them. People living in social poverty need eyes to see beyond the barriers that imprison them. They need to be freed to explore a new future.

Jesus lived right—righteousness was his way of life. The material will also show that Jesus repeatedly righted wrongs—that pursuing justice for the sake of others was his intent and practice. Jesus’ mission had two cutting edges. He awakened in the morning with a vision for people’s spiritual well-being. And he envisioned opportunities for people whose plight in life was curtailed by oppressive constraints and life denying forces. Jesus lived right and righted wrongs.

And for those of us who claim to be his followers, Jesus’ mission on earth in his time is our mission on earth in our time.

Identifying outsiders Our world can be an unkind place. Caste systems have many configurations. Social judgment parades with many faces. The disfigured, the physically

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disabled, the mentally handicapped and even kids who are bullied on school playgrounds can be victims of injustice without being guilty of anything but being themselves. They are outsiders. They are simply excluded. And their unjust exclusion is humiliating.

Childhood memories can still generate deep feelings in later adulthood. Being rejected by your circle of friends, coping with a learning disability, failing a grade at school or always being the last person chosen to make up a sports team can leave some emotional scars.

Cultural rejection can be as simple as being born a girl or dealing with the stigma of testing positive for HIV/AIDS. On the religious front, women can be restricted from leadership roles or isolated in separate sections for worship. In some circles, being divorced or living as a lone parent can lead to relational alienation. Choosing a particular sexual preference or indulging in certain lifestyle behaviors can close doors into people’s lives.

And then there is the parade of economic disparity.

If you are chronically unemployed, a permanent recipient of welfare or live on the street without an address where the government can send you checks, you can expect “do not enter” signs to be posted at almost every turn you attempt to make.

On the outcast scale, the treatment from other people can be more difficult to cope with than carrying the emotional weight of being physically disfigured or mentally challenged.

Historic dilemma In Jesus’ day, lepers were victims of discrimination

through no fault of their own. They were social outsiders. While their bodies attacked with skin lesions that physically disfigured their limbs and eyes, lepers were subjected to social segregation.

They were excluded.

In Old Testament times, one of the most famous lepers was Naaman. A man of prominence, the captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper (2 Kings 5:1). Namaan was required to shout out “unclean, unclean” when people approached him.

Even though the debilitating disease is now readily treatable and is not contagious, victims have been and continue to be contained in colonies.

Instead of humane treatment, they are judged socially unfit and sentenced to isolation.

Today, according to the World Health Organization, approximately 200,000 people still suffer from leprosy. Pockets of high vulnerability remain in some areas of Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal and the United Republic of Tanzania. These countries remain highly committed to eliminating the disease, and continue to intensify their leprosy control activities.

Encountering God When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matthew 8:1-3).

Compassion is motivated by empathy. It generates behavior that sees life from the other person’s point of view. True compassion generates responses that open doors for outsiders to become insiders.

n “Jesus and Justice” was developed by the International Social Justice Commission as an educational guide to social justice in the life of Jesus.

This excerpt comes from the introduction and first chapter. The full guide, to be released in 2010, includes reflection and discussion questions.

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For three days, I sat in a jail cell in my nightdress after being arrested for turning down a certain inspector. When I was taken to court, I was accused of “rejecting his advances.” He wanted an affair but I rejected it; that’s what was read to me.

I have had many problems with men in my life.

When I dropped out of school and started working in various houses to earn money, the men would sometimes make sexual advances at me. I refused because I wanted to succeed in life

FINDING GRACE AT

joyland

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Kenya’s school for disabled children heals a woman

From an interview with Grace Nambuye Wangosi Photos by Nikole Lim

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Grace Nambuye Wangosi tends to a child at Joyland.

and be a dignified girl. But one day I was fooled. The man that I worked for took me to a lodging place.

The sign outside said “boarding,” so I thought it was a children’s boarding place. It wasn’t.

I came out pregnant but later aborted the child myself because I felt I could not give birth as an unmarried woman.

In my next job, I became pregnant again and gave birth to a baby girl. Her father and I married, but he later also married two other wives. Though I was the first wife, he wanted me to be the house help to his other wives. Because I refused, he forced me out of my home. My daughter and I left and I worked in bars. I was a drunk. In fact one day, I was so drunk, a group of men urinated on me.

Later, my husband came and snatched my daughter away when she was only five months old. I was brokenhearted.

When selling charcoal on the streets did not make me enough money, I got into prostitution. For the third time, I became pregnant out of wedlock.

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I tried to abort, but this time the baby didn’t come out. Usually, when I was three months pregnant and took four family planning pills four times a day, the abortion was successful.

I seduced men to get money from them. My home was a grass-thatched house and I slept on a homemade mattress of rice paper sacks stuffed with old blankets. Insects would eat me, but I lived there for over five years.

To earn more money, I roasted corn and helped women deliver their babies. Some women had AIDS, but I cleaned their feces anyway because they paid me.

I became pregnant and aborted the baby again.

One after another, I aborted my babies.

Desperate One day I carried my corn from a far distance, sweating hard. A group of Salvationists met me and said, “God will bless you with a better gift to relieve you and bring an end to your suffering.”

“God opened a way for me when I was offered a job at The Salvation Army’s Joyland Special School. “

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“I used to be a person with lots of anger. Whenever I remember what I had gone through, I would start crying. But now the Lord has taken away the bitterness. He has cooled my harsh heart completely. “

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I told them that if they found any job for me I would do it because I had nothing else to depend on.

They said that they would search for a job and give it to me. I had been roasting corn for so long but I wanted it to stop there. I had nothing and the money was not enough to get me food. I couldn’t even afford a blanket or cooking pans; I used an outdoor stove that belonged to a neighbor.

I eventually found a woman who needed house help so I lived there until I became sick. I had a bleeding problem and would bleed so much that I couldn’t sit. I bled the whole year. I started feeling that nothing was possible anymore.

I begged a man to accommodate me so he gave me a room to stay in. If I had to leave the house to go buy something, though, he would lock the door and I would have to sleep out in the corridor. If he opened the door for me, fine. Then I’d stay with him.

He would order me to go and prepare food for him and his guests; I ate the leftovers. I was still bleeding profusely and had a terrible backache. When he kicked me out, I had 3,000 shillings ($39 USD) saved.

I cut up my blanket to use as sanitary pads. I couldn’t tell anyone what I was going through

because bleeding was shameful. At the hospital, the doctors said I might have cancer, but I didn’t have money to go to the national hospital.

Desperate, I sent a message to the Salvationists: “I am dying, please help me!”

Finding grace God opened a way for me when I was offered a job at The Salvation Army’s Joyland Special School.

In The Salvation Army’s Kenya West Territory, the Army sponsors a number of schools including Joyland—a primary and secondary school for the physically disabled. Though a government school, The Salvation Army provides full-time chaplains to care for the spiritual needs of the students and staff.

The Army also has representation on the school’s Board of Governors and owns the property that the school occupies.

Over 300 children are currently enrolled at Joyland, with more than 200 children on the waiting list for registration. Each child faces multiple handicaps, but Joyland provides a safe environment for kids to learn how to live in society.

I live with these kids who are disabled and teach

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them to be independent. I teach them to walk, use the bathroom and wash their clothes.

Most of the kids at this center were abandoned by their parents.

For example, Milicent arrived with crutches. I helped her learn to walk, use the bathroom, and trained her how to wash clothes. She was a burden to her mother, but now is able to do all the household chores. Her mother is happy.

Irene came here very weak and fell whenever she tried to walk. I discovered that she was an orphan. As I counseled her, I grew to love her and she became like my child. I guided and provided for her. She started being happy and studied well. She went on to high school and took a dressmaking course.

My own family now accepts me again. When I used to visit, my parents would hear me and ask, “Who has arrived?” My siblings would respond, “Grace is here.”

They said, “We don’t want to see her.” Today, my family says to me, “Grace, if you have time come and advise our children on the best way to live life.” They welcome me warmly by cooking chicken. After so many years of anger toward my parents, I sought their forgiveness and we shared a reconciliation meal.

I now care for my younger sister’s six kids because she died from HIV/AIDS. I don’t know my own kids. My daughter deserted her baby girl here at Joyland and then disappeared because she couldn’t care for her. Now I am like a mom to my granddaughter.

A place to live I have been blessed since Christ saved me; I discovered there is victory, power and support in Christ.

I was lifted from a hole and planted on solid foundation.

As an employee, the job is demanding. I must take good care of the kids that I look after and teach them to know God. I realized that they will not love or appreciate God unless I love them first, so I make fellowshipping with the kids my priority. In the evening, I stay with them and teach them to sing to God. I bring the foundations of Christ to them.

I went through difficulties, but God brought me to this place and I have prospered. I am saving up to buy a small portion of land to house all the kids I take care of.

I have even slept hungry because of the deductions from my pay, but I am still happy because I have a place to live. If there is a child here without parents, they could stay with me in my land. I rejoice over the land because I

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can help these children. I tell each of them that if you love God, he will lift you from the mud, raise you to a place where you don’t even deserve and have you sit with those who are right in the eyes of God. I used to be a person with lots of anger. Whenever I remember what I had gone through, I would start crying. But now the Lord has taken away the bitterness. He has cooled my harsh heart completely.

My hope is to finish paying off my land and build a house where I can settle so that even someone like me can help orphans and widows. n Nikole Lim conducted this interview, which will appear in the documentary, While Women Weep, and a corresponding book, to be released in May 2010. For more information, visit whilewomenweep.com.

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Left to right: Lt. Colonel Julius Mukonga, Major Sylvette Huguenin and Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan

Dedicated in Kenya ISJC member works for the people in his home division As a Salvation Army officer BY commissioned in December 1978, JULIUS I have served the Lord in the Army MUKONGA for the last 31 years as a corps officer,

district officer, divisional commander, assistant secretary for personnel, field secretary, and editor for the East Africa Territory. Today, I am the divisional commander of the Machakos Division in the Kenya East Territory and the International Social Justice Commission representative to the United Nations in Nairobi.

A goal of the ISJC is to raise strategic voices to advocate with the world’s poor and oppressed. I work directly with a number of these individuals in Kenyan communities.

Growth Since 2006, an average of one corps per week has opened in Kenya, each with at least 150 worshipping members weekly, its own facilities and the financial ability to support officers, according to The Salvation Army 2009 yearbook. Due to such dynamic growth, the territory was divided into a Kenya East Territory and a Kenya West Territory in May 2008.

The focus in the Kenya East Territory remained on the people, increasing its ranks by five percent within eight months of the territory’s inauguration. The latest available figues from 2009 record 69,554 senior soldiers, 58,126 junior soldiers, 499 officers and 51 cadets in the territory.

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Committed to serve Social justice is an important cause to me. I don’t want to see people not have the right things done to them. We should follow the steps of Jesus.

In the Machakos Division, we operate a psychosocial support project to allow young children with vulnerable backgrounds—including orphans and the poor—to come and play, receive counseling and be trained in technical skills to start small businesses.

My wife, Phyllis, and I formed a group of people living positively with HIV/AIDS to give counseling and skills training. For example, we taught the group how to make liquid soap, Vaseline oil, beads, dye and sisal ropes.

By developing self-sufficiency, they feel more accepted by the community.

We visit local schools and plan youth meetings in the churches to guide students on moral issues, including abstinence, dangers of drug use, and behavior and discipline. The goal is to mentor students so that when they enter society they will be responsible, disciplined and will not be easily influenced to do wrong.

I love The Salvation Army. Serving the Lord is the most important role in my life. n Lt. Col. Julius Mukonga is the divisional commander of the Machakos Division in the Kenya East Territory and the International Social Justice Commission representative to the United Nations in Nairobi. Photo by Christin Davis

The Army and the

MDGs A GOAL TO END POVERTY

Much of The Salvation Army’s work around the world centers on the United Nations’ (UN) eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were signed by 189 Heads of State and governments in 2000.

The goals were renewed in 2008 with an achievement date set for 2015.

Broadly, the goal is to eradicate poverty and achieve basic human rights for all people in areas like education, maternal and child health and environmental sustainability (see endpoverty2015.org for more information). To measure the goals, nations report progress to the UN and the Secretary General reports on international progress to the General Assembly.

The Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) measures its progress based on these eight goals, and the Army’s International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) is working in conjunction with a number of Salvation Army units and UN committees to achieve the goals internationally.

When General Shaw Clifton met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in August 2009, he presented a report of Salvation Army progress on each goal. Excerpts of that report are detailed here:

GOAL 1: To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger In a city dump outside Novi Poselak, Ukraine, a number of people spend their days foraging for food in piles of rotten and decaying food scraps; pieces of metal, iron and wood; putrid water; rats and flies.

Some even live there. When Captain Alexander Onishenko of the nearby Kirovograd Corps saw people gathering trash at the dump in the freezing weather, he found a cook and along with another officer, Captain Konstantin Svab, the Army now delivers and serves food at the dump six months out of the year (because of budget constraints).

Ten to 15 people from the dump now attend a weekly Army service at an apartment area nearby.

The Army also brings cold medicine and clothing when possible, and refers people to hospitals, tuberculosis clinics and rehabilitation centers.

“Many people were surprised at our work at the dump and didn’t want to get involved at all,” Svab said. “But we couldn’t abandon these people; they

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have so many medical, emotional and spiritual problems. They have become our friends.”

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education In its 119 countries of operation, The Salvation Army currently runs 504 kindergarten schools, 957 primary schools and 180 upper primary/middle schools, according to the Army’s 2010 Yearbook.

Indonesia’s 2004 tsunami demolished schools and suspended learning activities for children in the region. A Salvation Army mobile library and informal curbside school now brings educational programs and books to school-age children. The Army is working to significantly reduce the number of illiterate young people in the area.

In post-disaster development projects in Sri Lanka, more than 800 homes have been built, six community centers constructed, 225 enterprises supported and at least 1,300 livelihoods restored.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women Many women in India work in the lowest-paid jobs, putting in long hours of difficult labor while middlemen and sellers along the production chain are the main beneficiaries of their work.

Over the past decade, self-help groups (SHGs) have been found to be a useful tool to help women escape the trap of poverty. The groups—usually consisting of between 15-20 women and costing less than $400 USD for original administration and operating costs—have surfaced as a mechanism to link women with micro-finance.

Women are seen as low-risk lending opportunities for banks and have demonstrated excellent repayment records. Estimates suggest that of the more than 1.5 million SHGs operating in India, at least 90 percent are led and operated by women.

Through The Salvation Army, roughly 1,000 women’s SHGs are currently operating in all six Indian territories. The groups have also allowed the Army to spread vital information to enhance

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the social and political status of women, including domestic violence prevention, anti-human trafficking awareness and health training in such areas as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, malnutrition prevention, family planning, immunization, water, sanitation, human rights and literacy. In many groups this has also led to opportunities to develop spiritual conversations.

Some 750 small businesses have started because women in various parts of India obtained business loans through the operation of a Salvation Armyinitiated SHG. Due to this success, 20 men’s SHGs were formed in southern India in the hope that they will benefit men—and their communities—in the same way.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality In Pakistan, The Salvation Army’s Mother and Child Health Education (MACHE) project, supported by the Switzerland, Austria and Hungary Territory, combines literacy education with health and hygiene training as well as teaching practical skills. It is run in 21 Salvation Army centers and can cater to approximately 1,000 women and hundreds of children at any time.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health In Ghana, Salvation Army clinics across the country have provided medical help for more than 50 years to expectant mothers. Mothers are offered prenatal care and a safe and hygienic place to give birth.

The clinics then have the dual purpose of seeing the babies through the perilous early years while ensuring the mothers keep well.

Goal 6: Combat AIDS, malaria and other diseases The Salvation Army in Moldova developed and implemented an educational HIV/AIDS program for schools. In partnership with local government education authorities, the Army has held over 80 seminars in schools and colleges to an audience totaling over 16,000 young people.

The United Nations’ 16-acre complex along the East River in New York City

In Zambia, The Salvation Army’s Chikankata Hospital has 150 beds, a training school for nurses, midwives and laboratory assistants, and an associated leprosy control program and rehabilitation center.

A mobile community health team operates in the surrounding districts in conjunction with five associated rural health centers. Since 1987, the hospital has operated an AIDS care, prevention and control program, and also conducts a four-phase nutrition program.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability The Salvation Army in Angola is working to address the need for shelter in partnership with Oxfam GB, the Angolan Government and the communities themselves.

Before doing anything, Salvation Army workers immerse themselves in the communities in order to mobilize and motivate the people, ensuring that the need for water and sanitation is understood and that the community supports the initiative. The community then appoints a Grupa Agua Saniemeto (GAS) who takes initiative in helping the community construct latrines out of local materials and in selecting sites for wells.

The Salvation Army water technicians then dig and build the wells with the help of the community.

They also train members of the GAS to operate and maintain the well, to ensure that the community can perform any minor repairs. The Angolan Government completes major repairs.

The Army has assisted Angolan communities in building more than 200 latrines.

Goal 8: A global partnership for development The Salvation Army’s “Sally Ann” Fair Trade is transforming the lives of poor producers in the developing world by enabling them to use skills and resources to build sustainable livelihoods for their families and communities.

Fair trade has to work within the complex system of international trade while ensuring a fair wage for producers to cover the product cost and make a reasonable profit.

The international fair trade movement has developed a fair price system for commodities in the world market, such as coffee and cocoa. If the product is recognized as fair trade, its packaging will bear the fair trade mark.

Fair trade can also include advance payments so producers can buy raw materials, pay wages and rent premises up front. Moneylenders often charge extortionist levels of interest, but The Salvation Army currently provides advances with no interest.

The Army offers Sally Ann suppliers, via International Headquarters, design advice and market information. Appropriate advice can help producers in the developing world make viable products to sell in Western markets. The goal is to always make fair trade items of good quality, and when possible better than the comparable goods on the market.

UN Photo by Lois Conner

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Joining a global partnership SAWSO takes on ending poverty

BY BRIAN SWARTS AND RACHEL KLICK

The Salvation Army joined the global partnership to reduce extreme poverty in the world by 2015.

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are at the heart of the Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) effort to tackle global issues, including food, education, basic health care and economic opportunity.

The goals are tangible and have the power to bring the entire world together to address our most pressing global problems. SAWSO uses the MDGs to envision and evaluate its projects around the world because the vision of a world without extreme poverty and injustice is a reflection of the mission that God has given his people.

The office now uses these eight goals as a comprehensive, international framework for its programs.

While most of SAWSO’s work focuses on programs that directly address issues of food, education, basic health care and economic opportunity, it also recognizes that urging national leaders to develop a strong global partnership for development is critical to achieving the MDGs. The value of advocacy Global poverty includes a number of interconnected issues, which require advocacy for new policies and systems of global development. The

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MDGs recognize that one issue cannot be solved apart from the others, and that is the vision of goal eight—global partnership.

The Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) reflects on the development issues that SAWSO staff and partners face on a daily basis. The reality is that overcoming poverty requires more than giving handouts; rather it must be about transforming the systems, the mindsets and the laws that oppress and marginalize the innocent. SAWSO believes the ISJC’s advocacy is critical to achieving the goals and encourages other Salvation Army areas to become involved in their work.

Micah Challenge To join with the global voice calling for international partnership, SAWSO joined Micah Challenge USA—a global evangelical Christian movement of millions of individuals, churches and communities across more than 40 countries with a mission to achieve the MDGs. It derives its name from Micah 6:8, And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. This partnership benefits the work of the Army, but The Salvation Army also brings a strong voice and tradition of faith and justice to strengthen the Micah movement.

“The Salvation Army provides a powerful and PARTNERSHIP page 40

A society in recovery SAWSO’s disaster response, both immediate and long-term While The Salvation Army BY World Service Office (SAWSO) MacDONALD works to bring immediate relief CHAAVA to earthquake-stricken Haiti, it

continues to provide relief and development in areas affected by the 2004 tsunami, in partnership with the India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia territories. Having contributed to the provision of immediate needs in the disaster’s aftermath, The Salvation Army is now an established member of society here and is working to establish long-term sustainability for the people.

Captain Sam Walsalam has been part of the tsunami response program from the beginning, nearly five years ago. His main task has been to visit in the homes of survivors and beneficiaries in hard-hit communities in Sri Lanka who receive the support of SAWSO and local Salvation Army projects. He offers prayers and conversation with the beneficiaries and their families, and is well known to local families, who often welcome him into their homes.

Indonesia Referred to as the “Front Porch of Mecca,” Aceh is considered the province in Indonesia where Islam has the strongest position; it is run under Islamic law.

Until the tsunami hit this province, it would have been inconceivable for The Salvation Army, or any other Christian group, to enter and carry out the massive multi-million dollar projects we have now led. The tsunami changed much of that, although

access to this area is still highly restricted, largely for religious reasons.

Salvation Army officers have worked with the communities of Aceh to provide permanent shelter for hundreds of survivors. Due to limitations of religious freedom for Christians, it was not clear that SAWSO local Army leaders would be allowed to continue working in that community after initial recovery efforts. However, during the hand-over ceremony of houses and development programs the community leaders realized that the work of recovery was too important and they invited The Salvation Army to stay for 10 more years, continuing to work alongside the people of Aceh in rebuilding their lives.

Machilipatnam Community elders here relive the tsunami’s destruction with the following: “The black walls of water came and swept everything. Countless numbers were taken away from us. Our boats swept away, our livelihoods totally destroyed. We were like people without a future. Fear and apprehension filled us concerning the future.

Then The Salvation Army came. Many groups also came to help us. The Salvation Army gave us food for several weeks and the comfort we needed to talk about what happened. The Salvation Army people are still with us today, helping us along the way to regain our livelihoods.”

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Important social issues are complex and generally controversial, leaving many Christians in disagreement.

Practical actions are likely to involve compromise and fall short of solving the problem.

Current IMASIC members, appointed by the General: Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan (chair) Dr. James Read (vice-chair) Commissioner William Cochrane Dr. Anders Fridberger Commissioner Kenneth Hodder Lt. Colonel Lalngaihawmi Major Dean Pallant Major Campbell Roberts Colonel Carol Seiler Dr. Roland Stettler Professor Cathy Tsikirayi

Developing a cohesive

opinion Council brings the Army’s voice into public debate

General Shaw Clifton formed a body—the International Moral BY and Social Issues Council (IMASIC)—in 2008 to craft contemporary JAMES positional statements for The Salvation Army and revise dated READ statements.

In the 1970s, international Army leaders recognized a need to publically declare reasons for The Salvation Army’s stand on abuse of addicting substances, gambling and exploitation. In 1980, The Salvation Army published its first official international positional statements under the authority of the General on a number of controversial social issues such as abortion, euthanasia and conscientious objection.

Work on positional statements continued at both national and international levels in the following years, until a decision was made within the last decade to not issue any more international statements.

Clifton reversed this decision with his creation of IMASIC. Its job is to advise the General on issues of personal, organizational, social and international morality on which The Salvation Army may have a responsibility to express an opinion.

Although IMASIC reports directly to the office of the General, it has strong links to the International Social Justice Commission (ISJC), which is important given the overlap between the core concerns of the two bodies.

Stating an issue Important social issues are complex and generally controversial, leaving many

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Christians in disagreement. Practical actions are likely to involve compromise and fall short of solving the problem.

In forming a statement, the full scope of The Salvation Army’s presence in the community has to be factored in. We must ask: Is this an issue on which the Army ought to enter the public debate? Our behind-the-scenes work—grappling with concepts to reach collective conviction that will help to define the present and shape the future—is demanding, but necessary.

We aim to define the topic, set forth a succinct proclamation of the official Army position, give contextual detail on social realities and empirical facts, provide the biblical principles that ground the position and practical actions that logically emanate.

The General approved two international statements in 2009, written by IMASIC, on suicide prevention and human trafficking.

IMASIC is also tasked with encouraging and assisting similar work at the national level, especially in territories that did not already have such a committee. Recent commissions have occurred in Brazil, Eastern Europe and Switzerland and several other territories are exploring what they can do. A consistent Salvationist ethic needs to apply around the globe, but equally desirable is a national voice speaking to national concerns in the nation’s own idiom.

The 2010 IMASIC work plan prioritizes revising the existing international positional statements (some of which have not been reviewed for 20 years) and creating statements on current issues. Among topics slated for this year, the council will deliberate on racism, the use of power and climate change.

While the General approves the council’s agenda, its terms of reference say that any Salvationist may propose items for IMASIC consideration. Suggestions and rationale can be routed through the ISJC office. n Dr. James Read is the director of The Salvation Army’s Ethics Centre in Winnipeg, Canada, a member of the International Social Justice Commission, and vice-chairman of the International Moral and Social Issues Council.

The General approved two international statements in 2009, written by IMASIC, on human trafficking and suicide prevention.

International positional statement: HUMAN TRAFFICKING The Salvation Army is deeply committed to fighting human trafficking however it may be manifested. We seek to exercise care in restoring the freedom and dignity of those affected.

International positional statement: SUICIDE PREVENTION The Salvation Army believes that every possible means should be taken to prevent a person from intentionally taking his or her own life, or seeking the assistance of someone else to do so. While suicide may be primarily a medical or mental health problem (among others), protective factors such as social support and connectedness play a significant role in its prevention. Suicide prevention is everyone’s business. Prevention may be a matter of a caring person with the right knowledge being available at the right place at the right time.

Read the extended statements—with more about the issue, principles, biblical and theological background, practical responses and reference documents—at salvationarmy. org/isjc.

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PARTNERSHIP

from page 36

credible voice to speak out against global poverty,” Jason Fileta said, Micah Challenge USA leadership team. “They provide a network of Christians who are compassionate and dedicated to fighting poverty but who may have not have had the opportunity to do so through advocacy and can provide diverse and discerning on-the-ground perspectives of anti-poverty policies and their real impact.”

This year, Micah Challenge is sponsoring a campaign calling Christians to come together behind prayer, partnership and a promise to do all we can to transform extreme poverty. An international day of prayer and action is scheduled for 10.10.10 (visit micahchallenge.us to get involved).

The strength of Micah Challenge, and the mission of SAWSO, is not in words or promises, but in the body of Christ coming together to transform poverty and to provide a glimpse of a kingdom of mercy, justice and love. n Brian Swarts is the microfinance technical advisor for SAWSO. Rachel Klick is a SAWSO administrative specialist. Photo by Justin Boswell

RECOVERY

from page 37

SAWSO and the India Central Territory supported the repair of boats, provision of new boat engines and fishing supplies, and funding for income-generating activities. Much of this activity centers on livestock— buffaloes, goats, sheep—which give families start-up materials for sustained livelihoods.

Hearts and hands wide open The practice of integrated mission asks each of us to translate the mission of Christ into actions that transform lives and communities, providing both sustenance and hope for the future. The communitybased development efforts of SAWSO and local territories do more than simply strengthen the global reach of The Salvation Army—this work makes the love and promises of Christ’s kingdom real in the lives of millions around the world every day. n MacDonald Chaava manages the SAWSO tsunami recovery program. Photo by Lt. Col. Dan Starrett

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TRUMPET

from page 44

58. A Salvation Army who breaks the bindings of its own need for prosperity and tunes into the darkness with expertise, trumpet calls and garden images, knows the spirit of the Lord upon them.

The prophet Isaiah does become softer in the end verses. He imagines well-watered gardens with plenty to eat and drink because prosperity is not for a few but for all when the human family is cooperating. Its doctrine is not extreme in one position or another but integrates a truth that knows God and humanity in reflective balance.

A piece of barbed wire Public policy commits to a framework of ensuring social justice and human rights work in tandem.

Policy without justice and justice without rights is lost in the rhetoric of idealism.

The mission statement of Jesus in Luke 4 coincides with Isaiah 58 in the call to remove the chains of the prisoners who may be chained unjustly.

The actions of Jesus are never one sided as he invites onlookers and critics to enter the captive-freeing events of his ministry. Are they advocates for truth and reconciliation? Does their silence keep injustice under the cloak of darkness?

While in South Africa, I received an invitation to Constitution Hill where the Constitutional Court of Justice sits surrounded by prison cells that held advocates for justice among many in the days of apartheid. I stood in the cell that was Nelson Mandela’s living quarters. As I silently reflected on his journey of 27 years in captivity, I saw his writings now encased in protective glass. I sensed his spirit of forgiveness and hope and visualized the planting of a nation where flowers of freedom would be offered in breaking the weeds of racism and injustice.

I treasure a piece of barbed wire that was given to me from the prison. It is an icon of something that is no longer at work in captivity. I look at it, handle it and ask myself what fences of injustice are mine to work on today. n Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan is the director of the International Social Justice Commission.

An ‘intelligence department’ in New Zealand SOCIAL POLICY AND PARLIAMENTARY UNIT

BY CAMPBELL ROBERTS

In 1890, William Booth estimated that a submerged 10 percent of English citizens could be lifted out of poverty if given the necessary tools and opportunities. Despite a century of economic and social reform—and a way of life still the envy of much of the world—some New Zealand citizens are still “submerged” below the poverty line and have become social casualties.

Every day The Salvation Army stands alongside New Zealanders at crisis points in their lives. With this privilege comes a responsibility to ensure that what we learn brings improvement and change, so that other individuals and families don’t follow the same routes of crisis.

Developing intelligence In 2004, with the encouragement of then Territorial Commander Shaw Clifton (now General), The Salvation Army analyzed the effectiveness of its social services. We discovered that—despite best efforts—more people were falling into poverty. To simply continue providing services without assisting and encouraging New Zealand governments to develop and implement policies to permanently improve the social and economic climate of the nation did not seem sensible or socially just.

The New Zealand Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit has its genesis in Booth’s awareness of the need for intelligent and creative thinking and sound social research (See “Centralizing intelligence,” page 7).

No poverty Our bold mission statement—“to work toward a New Zealand in which there is no poverty”—leads engagement in research, education and advocacy to permanently improve the social climate and reduce material need. Our staff members have expertise in disciplines of economics, social policy and theology, utilizing professional research and policy development methods to prepare research papers, policy documents, submissions and articles for the

business sector, the media and the government.

The Salvation Army cannot eradicate poverty alone and the unit, therefore, interacts with national and local politicians, businessmen, educators and our colleagues in churches and community organizations to build structures that offer the chance of equity and justice to all.

Essential tool A further aspect of our work is to help people understand how the gospel speaks into contemporary issues of New Zealand society. We organize regular “Just Action” conferences to instruct on social justice and social policy from a Christian perspective and publish a monthly e-newsletter.

Our office is located in Manukau City, one of New Zealand’s poorest communities, rather than cocooned in a headquarters environment. Staff members are thus constantly reminded of the people and life situations they are called on to represent.

The unit has become an essential tool in the mission of the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory. Its voice has given The Salvation Army unprecedented influence on policymaking and the social and economic direction of New Zealand. This voice speaks of a God who cares for and demands justice for his people, particularly those whose circumstances make them vulnerable and poor. n Major Campbell Roberts is the director of the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit and a member of the International Moral and Social Issues Council. For more information on this unit, visit salvationarmy.org.nz/ socialpolicy. To subscribe to its e-news, send an email to social_policy@nzf.salvationarmy.org.

Photo by David Youngmeyer

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IN THE NEWS

from page 5

Hong Kong Christian Council addresses widening gap between the rich and poor The Hong Kong Christian Council called its churches to renew their commitments to social justice as the gap between the rich and the poor widens. The declaration was made after a threeday mission council in 2009.

The council stated that since the handover of Hong Kong to China more than 10 years ago, the church there has become “functionalistic” rather than addressing missions

and its spiritual emphasis. The announcement—drawn up by over 120 denominational leaders from various religious groups—urged churches to become more involved in “serving the poor, promoting democracy and safeguarding the environment...serving the marginalized.”

The group further affirmed that more women should be ordained to balance out the male dominated church leadership and suggested mechanisms at the congregational level to promote gender justice and the election of one male and

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one female leader to co-head the Hong Kong Christian Council.

“Gender justice needs to be a pastoral concern of the churches,” seminary lecturer Dr. Rose Wu said at the concluding session.

Anglican Bishop Thomas Soo, chairperson of the council, addressed a concern that the ecumenical movement is dying.

He stated that local leaders shared a common direction toward Christian unity, but admitted that the way will be filled with challenges.

“The Mission Consultation is

an occasion for the churches to discern the signs of the time,” Soo said. “The church needs to address its mission over the changing of the time.”

By Francis Wong at christiantoday. com Takin’ it to the beaches “In many ways surfing is a selfish, self-indulgent sport. It’s all about how many waves you can get for yourself. So when you have a group of surfers who will give up their time to take others surfing, it makes an impact,” Steve Bailey said.

Bailey is the national director of Christian Surfers Australia (CS)

and he and his co-surfers have been news items for the past 30 years. More than 40 of the beachbased groups are active around Australia.

“Our aim is to serve the surfing community by letting our actions speak for themselves. I really like that quote from Francis of Assisi: ‘Preach the gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words,’” Bailey says.

With nearly 200 members running the clubs, outreaches range from Bible studies to “dropin” nights to fix boards and play games to running camps and competitions. For 25 years, CS

has run the Jesus Pro-Am, a wellknown event on the surfing circuit that attracts top-level surfers each year.

Bailey believes the best part of his job is seeing people find God and grow in their faith. And, of course, his second best is heading for the beach when the surf is high.

“I pray a lot when I surf. It’s a good head-clearer to get out in the water and wash the cobwebs away,” he said.

For more information, go to christiansurfers.org.au.

By Faye Michelson at warcry.au

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AND FINALLY...

The trumpet sounds Isaiah 58 and social justice Having recently visited Africa,

BY M. where mining resources become CHRISTINE liquid assets to export sparkling MacMILLAN crafted jewelry, one observes miners

who could be a drink away from survival. The serial failure of rains and crops turn many countries into a dust bowl. It seems the basics of life in a cup of cold water should outshine the thirst for sparkling outerwear.

The prophet Isaiah initiated attention with trumpet sounds (Isaiah 58:l). This concert did not end in applause for notes strung in fine fashion. It was a blast, a message pushed out into the present and future arenas of injustice.

It is said that William Booth’s Scripture passage of significance was Isaiah 58. Written to God’s people, it delivers a response to the attention-seeking practices of self-made ideology. Perhaps Booth saw trumpeting more required off of the concert platform and in the conscience of the quiet disturbance which self examines.

In this passage, God’s people are fasting— sacrificing bodily comforts in confession cries. The problem emerges when the activity becomes blowing ones own trumpet. God is subtly blamed for not noticing his people giving up a meal for his good; his applause is not loud enough, long enough or proud enough.

New perspective The formation of a Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission is not something to clap for. Yet, it creates a response when recognized for its essence of purpose. Such responses mine out injustice through research and understanding, mine out emotions of frustration through anger and tears, and mine out hope in the capacity of a determination that ultimately triumphs in living right while righting wrongs. The concluding analysis of the fasting people

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of God is that religiosity is marked by: “living for oneself.”

Hot off the press in his latest encyclical letter, “Charity in Truth,” Pope Benedict XVI sees injustice addressed in the formation of God’s people through the “cooperation of the human family.” He identifies the “deepest forms of poverty as one of isolation.”

Perhaps the fasters felt isolated from God but sought all the wrong ways to enter his loving relationship.

Pope Benedict is zeroing in on an Isaiah 58 truth when he suggests that: “Man is alienated when he is alone, when he is detached from reality, when he stops thinking and believing in a foundation. All of humanity is alienated when too much trust is placed in merely human projects, ideologies and false utopias.”

So where do we go from here? The analysis is clear but the escape clause is yet to be revealed. The prophet reamed out his judgment and now invites the fasting to nourish on a new morsel of thought.

A relational justice is not found in an exclusive Godfearing perspective; rather the perspective is a people of humanity who welcome integrity of spirit and sacrificial living while valuing others.

Dust bowl of captivity Trafficking is a word on our lips these days. It stems from esteem deprivation in the insidious profiteering, hedonistic demands and false tickets to a new opportunity. This form of captivity where injustice becomes a dust bowl of tasteless refreshment is best descried as slavery. The world of inhumanity has a capability to be met with a “truly and properly God and truly and properly man” salvation (see Salvation Army doctrine four).

Perhaps Booth saw Jesus trumpeting out his mission statement in Luke 4 as a reflection of Isaiah TRUMPET, page 40

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SACRED SPACE Look for an article by Mel McGowan, president of Visioneering Studios and former architect of the Walt Disney Company who now provides innovative design intervention for churches around the world.

Also featuring the Army’s EnviRenew program, a comprehensive community renewal strategy that is rebuilding and renovating homes in New Orleans.

Learn about The Salvation Army’s international water projects and nation-wide community gardens in the U.S. A first-hand perspective on Haiti and plans for longterm recovery.

What happens when the Army moves in? We’ll share about the opening of the Army in Nepal and Sierra Leone, the most recent countries of Salvation Army presence.

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Must reading for every Salvationist.

A VIEW FROM THE CORNER

FOR OVER 25 YEARS, New Frontier Editor-in-Chief Bob Docter has stimulated—and encouraged—the Army to fulfill its mission. In A View From the Corner, readers will enjoy a selection of his most compelling columns pertaining to the ministry of The Salvation Army.

A lifelong Salvationist—and sergeant-major at the Pasadena Tabernacle Corps for 40 years—Docter brings a wealth of insight to the Army’s inner workings.

—PAUL A. RADER, GENERAL (RET.)

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“Bob Docter’s A View from the Corner offers a highly stimulating perspective on many issues touching modern Salvationism in North America.

I commend it to readers and express warm thanks to the author for sharing so effectively from a lifetime of dedicated Salvation Army service.”

—SHAW CLIFTON, GENERAL

Available now at: amazon.com saresourceconnection.org and shop.salvationarmy.org ISBN: 978-0-9768465-1-2 • $14.95 The Salvation Army Frontier Press