Caring Vol. 16 No. 2 (Summer 2010)

VOL. 16, NO. 2 • SUMMER 2010

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caring The holistic ministries of The Salvation Army

“...‘architectural evangelism’ still upholds excellence, but replaces intimidating experiences with inviting environments. And the invitation, of course, is to Jesus.”­—MEL MCGOWAN

Dorcus beads

by Meble Birengo

Sacred space

7

by Mel McGowan

New life in an old corps building

by Steve Simms

Splintered reality; renewed dreams

11

by Christin Davis

When the Army moves in 18

by Dick Krommenhoek

7 11 16 18 24

ADAPTING THERAPY TO A COMMUNAL MODEL

by Linda Johnson

35

PROVIDING TREATMENT TO CHRONIC INEBRIATES

by Jenni Ragland

37

IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING

by Betty Anderson and Douglas Peacock

40

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

27 Down the road in Venadillo

by Rachel Thieme...................... 27 Reclaimed and redesigned

by Dawn Marks....................... 30 Mind your manners

by Loreen Petzing..................... 32 The garden revolution

by Buffy Lincoln.......................... 33 Caring for creation

by Edward R. Brown................... 42

SACRED SPACE This issue of Caring examines those areas where you go for reflection and connection to the Creator, whether it be in a chapel, under a tree or at your kitchen table.

On the cover: The interior of the chapel at Mariners Church in Irvine, California. See story on page 11. Photo courtesy of Plain Joe Studios.

SUMMER 2010 • VOL. 16, NO. 2

DOING THE MOST GOOD

SUMMER 2010 CARING PAGE 1

MY CORNER

What’s in your sacred space?

Sacred space is consecrated space. It’s set aside for BY special purposes. When in it, we feel different, more ROBERT reverential, more focused on bigger issues, more caring, DOCTER less self-centered.

I find it in loving relationships, in poetry, in memory, in chilling moments of solitude, in the eyes of children.

My attitude determines where I find it.

All of life is a gift from God—the air we breathe, the people who love us, those we meet on our journey, the work we do, the sun in the morning and the moon and stars at night, the values that bind us together, the tilt of the earth on its axis, this complicated, miraculous frame of ours, God’s ever availability and grace.

We live in sacred space.

What’s in yours?

Stop to consider Evil exists, disease strikes, accidents happen, but mostly, what we have in our life is the product of our choices. We can make our space almost anything we want. Let’s look at this “frame” that represents us physically, this body, what do you want in it? It’s a magnificently designed, complex, interlinking series of systems all working together to give us life. We have certain crucial responsibilities to put some things in it and keep other things out. Some disregard this responsibility. Some seize it. Sadly, I believe, some ignore its fragility.

Its moving parts are in delicate balance, and some of the things placed in this “sacred space” destroy that balance—create situations that harm our body’s parts. These harmful choices are often the product of pressures like emotional urges, perceived social demands, “stinkin-thinkin,” or low conscience awareness.

Responses to choice opportunities reveal our potential placement on various continua with such labels as good or bad— smart or dumb—positive or negative—up or down—thoughtful or impulsive—active or passive—growing or stagnate—close or distant—soft or hard.

Often we would like a helper to assist us in making certain kinds of choices. This confronts us with another choice. Who should the helper be? You always need criteria when responding to a choice opportunity. In this situation there should be at least three factors— trust, honesty and competency.

In the stress and pace of society, not enough of us stop to consider God as our helper. He certainly meets all the criteria. He knows MY CORNER page 6

PAGE 2 CARING SUMMER 2010

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

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

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

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

Right at home Soft yellow with an elevated porch, BY the newly constructed bayou-style CHRISTIN house still smelled of sawdust. Tall DAVIS ceilings and a spacious front room led

to a good-sized kitchen—complete with cabinetry and granite counters. The three-bedroom, twobathroom house will soon be filled with homework, snacks, areas for lounging, and maybe even a game of tag. Here, one family will be at home.

This EnviRenew house is one of 125 that The Salvation Army is building in New Orleans (see page 18) to bring displaced Hurricane Katrina victims home.

As I noticed the natural light emerging from the sizeable living room windows, I heard Beryl Ragas, president of the Riverview Association, lifelong resident of Riverview and my community tour guide, yell down the road: “How you doin’, Ray?” I caught up with her along the dirt path to find Raymond Benjamin, 62, sitting outside on a makeshift chair—an ice cooler on top of a wheeledcart with a folded blanket for cushion. The lot surrounding him was littered with debris—cardboard pieces, the base of a table, a doorframe, a lawnmower, a homemade fire pit.

“I’ve lived here my whole life,” Ray said. “This is where I grew up.”

Ray said his house was damaged by the hurricane.

“It caved in a bit and was leanin’ over a little,” he said. “I got scared, but it’s where I lived.”

When his house was deemed uninhabitable by the city, a construction company cleared the land under false promises to rebuild. They left and never returned. Ray still lives on the lot in an old, tattered trailer—a gift from the local junk man—with no running water or electricity.

His neighbors, he said, “help him out.”

Remedying the absence of home As I talked to Ray, I couldn’t help but think of my own recent move. The experience is grueling— packing, sorting, lifting, renovating, fixing, organizing—but now as I sit on a couch that I picked

Ray Benjamin

out, I feel at home. This space is mine. I chose the wall colors, the furniture and where everything should go.

Imagine how sickening it must feel to suddenly not have somewhere to return to.

It’s hard to put a value on feeling at home…the social identity, security and stress-relief. Home is a place of sanctuary.

While it may seem that building houses is outside the typical array of Salvation Army services, I don’t think it is. With EnviRenew, we’re helping people create a space to feel safe and at ease.

We’re implementing research to make ownership sustainable. We’re creating a program that can be replicated anywhere.

The Salvation Army is remedying the absence of home.

This program is not only about rebuilding structures, but with case management and a careful dedication to people, we’re also attempting to repair the internal damage that occurs with home loss.

This issue is about sacred space—those areas that are rejuvenating, healing, harmonious and peaceful.

It is the place that you go to for reflection and connection to the Creator, whether it be in a chapel, under a tree or at your kitchen table.

On a cupboard corkboard full of recipes and reminders in my kitchen, I placed a photo of Ray. He reminds me of the significance that home holds, and I pray that Ray will soon be able to feel right at home once again. n Christin Davis is the managing editor of Caring.

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In the news Compiled by Karen Gleason

Sacred space is where you make it Whether embellished or plain, a church is often regarded as a sacred—and perhaps intimidating—space that many people acknowledge but never enter. To change that perception, many congregations are opting to meet out in the community rather than in a traditional building.

Since 2006, London’s ChristChurch and Hillsong Church have been meeting in theaters, while Jubilee Church meets at a movie theater.

In Australia, Guy Mason pastors City on a Hill, a church with Anglican connections, which meets in James Squire Brewhouse at Melbourne’s Docklands.

Wanting a place that was edgy and culturally connected, Mason decided the brewery would be more accessible for nonChristians.

“We find so many people come because it gives them a fresh understanding of what church means—that church is not a building, it’s people,” Mason said.

Another option—for those who don’t wish to physically attend a church meeting—is the Internet, which offers myriad options with many churches putting their sermons online.

Australian Salvationists recently

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The Ray and Joan Kroc Center in Salem, Oregon.

launched iSalvos, which taps into online social networking and enables people around the world to chat about faith-related issues.

Cathedral, club or computer, they’re all churches—and, therefore, sacred.

From salvationarmy.org.au/warcry Oregon Ray and Joan Kroc Center honored As Kroc Center facilities continue to open across the U.S., children and adults of all ages are experiencing the arts, education, recreation and spiritual programming.

And people are beginning to take notice.

In May, Recreation Management magazine announced that The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Center in Salem, Oregon, is a winner of the Innovative Architecture and Design Award

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for 2010. This prestigious award recognizes creativity and craftsmanship that allows recreation facilities to provide programs and services with excellence.

The 10.6-acre center provides services to over 1,000 people every day. Two years ago it was an abandoned area near the railroad tracks; today, it is a facility whose programming is heralded in everything from the newspaper to hotel directories. This award is a celebration of what The Salvation Army has always done—take available space and transform it for God’s purpose.

“This award affirms what everyone who visits our facility already knows. The Kroc Center is an amazing place that reflects our Oregon culture, values and beauty while its functional design optimizes our opportunity to

promote wellness, encourage excellence, build character and inspire faith,” said Major Donna Ames, executive director of the center.

From Major Cindy Foley Salvation Army in UK launches series of Social Justice Lectures Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg launched the first in a series of Social Justice Lectures, hosted in March by The Salvation Army at the United Kingdom and Ireland territorial headquarters in London. Before an invited audience of 150 leaders of various political beliefs and Salvation Army representatives, he began his speech by acknowledging the reach of The Salvation Army, which he has witnessed firsthand.

Clegg, who has been on the streets with The Salvation Army in his Sheffield Hallam constituency, noted that the Army’s work reaches “right into the most distressing, most hidden parts of our society where you help people without judgment, without prejudice, without expectation—an ethos which represents the best side of all of us.”

He praised The Salvation Army’s Seeds of Exclusion research program and agreed that the fortunes of someone’s life should not be decided at their birth.

“Our big task now is giving people back their hope,” Clegg

said. “It’s something The Salvation Army does every day with people who have problems with drink or drugs, women escaping violent relationships, prisoners coming to terms with their pasts. It’s how you help people turn their lives around. We’re only going to turn this country around if we do the same and make people believe it is possible.”

Lt. Colonel Marion Drew, secretary for communications for The Salvation Army, said: “This was an unprecedented opportunity to hear from one of our nation’s major political leaders as we approach the run-up to a general election. As a charity, The Salvation Army is politically neutral so we are offering each of the major political parties an opportunity to share their vision for social justice.”

From 24dash.com Finding new life for unwanted textiles Major retailers of massproduced, inexpensive clothing can dispose of non-salable items in several ways: destroying them in industrial-sized shredders and/ or dumping them in a landfill, hiring recyclers to re-purpose the clothes, selling them to outlets and discount stores or websites, or donating them to charities like Goodwill or The Salvation Army.

Businesses like Trans-America

provide another solution. These for-profit textile-recycling companies—which process 2.5 billion pounds of clothes a year— receive damaged clothes from charitable organizations and sell them to developing countries or turn them into rags. TransAmerica alone processes 16 million pounds annually, reselling 40 percent of it in developing countries across five continents, for 25- to 50-cents a pound.

Another 35 percent becomes material for the wiper industry (rags for industrial or home use) and 20 percent becomes fiber for insulation, auto sound dampening or carpet padding.

“You see so many people interested in sustainability and recycling. Post-consumer textile waste and apparel, typically, is not included in that discussion,” said Eric Stubin, Trans-America’s founder and a member of Maryland-based textiles-recycling interest group, Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles (SMART).

A 2009 SMART report noted the amount of textiles being dumped is increasing, with 84 percent of the 11.9 million tons of unwanted clothing a year ending up in landfills. In Europe, textile recycling is mandated by law.

From AOL Money and Finance

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SUMMER 2010 CARING PAGE 5

MY CORNER

from page 2

us well. He made us. Perhaps, we’re not able to recognize his voice. Sad. Perhaps, we don’t think we’ll get an answer so we don’t try. Sadder. Perhaps, it never crosses our minds because we doubt his very existence. Saddest.

If you do wish to explore matters with him, you must initiate the conversation. God is not going to impose himself on us. How we relate to him determines much about the dimensions and design of our sacred space. How we use this great gift—this magnificent opportunity of “life”—is up to us.

Our spinning home And what about this home we have—this earth, this little, spinning hunk of dirt and water floating in a rather minor galaxy around what we’re told is a rather minor star? It’s ours. What do you put in your part of it? How careful of it are you? What do you do to help it stay balanced, to protect it from people like us?

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I have no idea how protection of the environment became a political football. It’s very unfortunate.

When things like this happen, money seems to be at the root of the dissension. But when we’re talking about essential matters of life for succeeding generations, about the home of the human race, about the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, we have a sacred responsibility to be effective stewards of God’s sacred gift to us.

Our generation is here for a short time. We’ve done much to improve the environment. Let’s continue to assess the data and continue to examine and modify our behavior just in case current conclusions are true.

What’s the loss? n Robert Docter, Ph.D., is editor in chief of New Frontier Publications.

A micro– enterprise initiative for the women of Kenya

BY MEBLE BIRENGO

In the ninth chapter of the book of Acts, Dorcas, a woman with a reputation for making beautiful clothing and doing good for others, dies. Her friends send at once for the Apostle Peter, who commands Dorcas to “get up”—and she does.

Today, another woman named Dorcus found a way to help women affected

by HIV/AIDS breathe new life into their families and communities. Dorcus Kabugane is a longtime colleague and friend of mine and of April Foster, an American who has been working for many years for The Salvation Army across Africa encouraging people to draw on their own strength and resources to cope with the HIV/ AIDS crisis and its effects.

Conflict to connection In 1994, Kabugane attended an HIV/AIDS workshop in Sudan and became trapped because of conflict between Sudan and her home country of Uganda. While she waited for the situation to change, Kabugane stayed with a woman who made beads with recycled paper. Kabugane learned the technique and when she returned to Uganda, taught women in the slums of

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SUMMER 2010 CARING PAGE 7

Kampala to make the beads. What began with one small group of women, expanded to more than five groups who sold the beads to local markets to support their own children.

The beauty of Dorcus Beads is that they are made with “found” items: pages from discarded glossy magazines. The paper beads can be made in as many colors as can be found in the magazines. And for the women, they provide a real livelihood.

A growing enterprise In March 2008, Kabugane was invited to Kithituni, a local community east of Nairobi, to train five women in the art of bead production.

She lived with the women for a week, mentoring and joining in their daily processes, which included home visitations. The vision has now expanded to include more than 100 women who are connected in the community through the beads. Margaret, the leader of the core team of five women who still manage the production of beads in Kithituni, offers this reflection on the impact of Dorcus Beads on their lives: “When we began making the beads, we didn’t know that it would take us this far. Now we can rent our own place, make our own lunch, afford to buy our own materials, and buy books and food for our children. The men are respecting us more because we are doing well in the community and they are now involved in finding magazines for us. The [100] women who bring loose beads from the community have also connected more with each other. Because they have something to do with their lives, they can afford to pay for their own expenses. A young woman told me that she was able to give her mother transport for the first time and this made her very proud. Young girls who would spend time at Sultan Hamud, a highly known center for prostitution, have now started to learn and connect with the team— there is reason to live.”

In Kithituni, Dorcus Beads enabled women to start saving. Each woman on the core team opened a bank account as part of her personal development. The making of beads has improved people’s lives and even extended them, as women can now afford to buy medicine and treatment.

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Facing page: Dorcus Beads participants measure and cut magazine pages and roll the strips into beads. Catalog images by Nikole Lim. To buy Docus Beads, visit freelyinhope.org.

This page top: Women string beads; left: displaying beads at a craft fair in Kenya.

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The vision and outcomes When April and I talked about initiating Dorcus Beads in Kenya, the vision was to see women become stronger and more capable, living their lives to the fullest. The hope was that the women would in turn use their strengths, connections and relationships to foster change in their families and communities even as they kept Jesus Christ as the foundation of their lives. It has been a journey to watch all this unfold.

Dorcus Beads is not only an enterprise that is profit-aimed—the underlying relationships have been the greatest achievement. The women come together to work on beads, while talking about life—how to deal with the effects of poverty, family conflicts and HIV/AIDS—which has proved empowering.

Rolling the beads is not an easy process. An experienced bead maker can roll 100 small beads a day, which is enough to make four necklaces or fewer, depending on style and length. The women use no machines and each bead must be rolled individually, using both hands.

The gluing process and the varnishing also take time. The beads must be varnished at least three times in a week to have a shiny finish, so each piece of jewelry takes at least a week to make. The work is labor-intensive, but the women always manage to meet deadlines while also filling roles as housewives and mothers. Paper beads are common all over East Africa, but Dorcus Beads continues to stand out because of the quality control established by the team and the women’s foundational principles: faith and belief in Christ as guide and savior.

Expanding the markets Ten stores in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi currently carry Dorcus Beads. The business continues to grow through personal connections and craft fairs.

People are drawn to this beautiful product because it is recycled and it is directly helping to make a difference in the lives of women, children, families and communities.

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April and I visit the women for reflections on the bead process, mentoring in the designing of the products and to join the home visits. It is the team’s vision to continue expanding the markets, connections and relationships, both in Kenya and overseas through friends. Dorcus Beads are changing the lives of communities, re–establishing hope in the lives of vulnerable children and becoming an avenue for witnessing God’s glory and faithfulness to his people.

As interest grows, many more women will find a way to “get up,” like the biblical Dorcas, and sustain themselves, their families and their communities. n Meble Birengo is a Kenyan Salvationist. For more on Dorcus Beads, visit dorcusbeads.blogspot.com. Beads can be purchased online at freelyinhope.org.

Photos by Meble Birengo, Nikole Lim, Ricardo Walters and Sarah Whitey

BY MEL McGOWAN

SACRED SPACE

Two early memories of church buildings remain etched in my mind. In one, I’m sitting in a centuries-old German cathedral, listening to Latin Mass with strangers. (Actually, I mostly remember sitting and standing at the wrong times.) The imagery, centered on a realistic life-sized crucifix, was foreign and frightening.

In the second, I’m “on stage” as an altar boy, still sitting when I should be standing, and receiving dirty looks from the priest each time I placed my candles on the wrong side.

A few years later and a continent away, I first experienced a modern megachurch campus. I’d been asked to design a 3,500-seat sanctuary and Christ-centered community in California and wanted to benchmark a similar facility. After work one day, I pulled off the freeway and wound around to the “compound” entrance. As I pulled up to the gate, a loud squawk-box voice inquired, “CAN I HELP YOU?” I asked to look at the campus.

After a brief pause, the disembodied voice asked, “ARE YOU A BROTHER?” After a brief pause of my own I replied with some forced bravado, “Sure, I’m a brother.” Soon, a golf cart appeared with another “brother” who gave me a guided tour and seemed incredulous anyone would visit the building on a weekday.

Today, many church architects follow

R E T H I N K I N G C H U R C H D E S IGN America is increasingly becoming a postmodern, post-Christian nation, and church architects who drop fiberglass steeples in front of converted Wal-Marts are part of the problem.

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one of two paths. Some cling to the traditional design aesthetic that a church building must incorporate structural acrobatics, soaring ceilings and layers of often-obscure or gloomy spiritual imagery.

Others “cracked the nut” of modern church design 30 years ago. Like Mr. Brady, the architect father on The Brady Bunch who designs nothing but ranch houses, these well-intentioned, hard-working leaders have been rubber-stamping the same “form follows function” single-day-use plans since the ’70s.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I cherish one other memory: between my embarrassment in German cathedrals and my

inexperience at the local megachurch, I met God personally at a casual lunchtime gathering of Christians on the lawn at my high school. As I sat under the master-architect-designed ceiling of tree, sun and sky, I realized the kids around me thought about God more than one morning a week, and they connected with him outside an ominous or boring building. I wanted the same thing—horizontal relationships to others and a vertical connection with God. Church environments can truly facilitate these connections by using concrete, paint and landscaping to communicate the gospel in new ways. This “architectural evangelism” still upholds excellence, but replaces intimidating experiences with inviting environments.

And the invitation, of course, is to Jesus.

Rethinking it A Samaritan woman had made too many mistakes.

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She knew she would never make it to the temple’s outer court or through the inner court, much less to the Holy of Holies where God dwelled. In fact, she couldn’t even gather water at the village well without seeing the scorn and contempt of her neighbors.

But Jesus didn’t wait for her to feel righteous enough for the temple rituals. Instead, he used a nearby well to offer her living water. In one brief exchange, with one simple analogy, Jesus used a specific place to begin the connection, launch the story and transform a life.

It’s still happening, from Las Vegas to the killing fields of Cambodia. Churches around the world are staging design interventions: rediscovering Christcentered communities, rethinking sacred space and revolutionizing ministry.

Form follows faith America is increasingly becoming a postmodern, post-Christian nation, and church architects who drop fiberglass steeples in front of converted Wal-Marts are part of the problem. Without rethinking biblical definitions of authentic church and community, they continue to endorse the same generic solutions across the country.

However, generic is irrelevant—and not always cheaper. Instead of throwing more money at less effective buildings reaching fewer people, a design intervention considers the surrounding culture, unique identity, DNA and purpose of the individual ministry.

Since World War II, the fine line between sacred and secular spaces has become an almost impermeable boundary. Modernist architects and urbanists preached “form follows function” while dividing communities into different uses.

City planning devolved as land zones evolved and organized areas into industrial, commercial, recreational and residential categories linked by highways.

Unfortunately, form follows function isn’t always functional. Mall developers realized that replicating the same vanilla centers with the same blank exterior walls and identical tenant mix may not be their most effective strategy, and architects are realizing churches can’t be mass-produced. Instead, they’re finding success by responding to each church’s individual community context, and they’re learning

Facing page: Exterior of the Mariners Church chapel in Irvine, California.

This page: Interior and exterior of the Mariners Church Student Center.

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an alternative paradigm: form follows fiction.

This idea is less a new trend and more a rediscovery of the timeless truths intrinsic to great environments throughout history—places that communicate, tell stories and present sequences of rich, immersive experiences rather than simple functional diagrams.

For example, the old Roman basilicas (shopping malls) included transepts with cross symbols and stained glass windows, which served as visual Bibles for the illiterate masses and filled the spaces with symbolism and narrative.

Today’s churches can also tell tales by choosing “big ideas”—based on their unique culture and identity—over random themes. The resulting storyboards then become a design foundation for branding, architecture, site planning, interiors and the space between buildings.

Third places When entomologists study ant colonies or bee hives, they notice similarities among each species’ behavior. Sociologists studying humans also discover patterns in our creating and connecting.

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Above: Exterior of the First Christian Church in Huntington Beach, California. Right: Interior and exterior of Elevation Church in Matthews, North Carolina.

One recurring motif is our tendency to live in three realms defined by physical and social relationships. The family unit (nuclear or extended) and its shared home defines the First Place. The Second Place is the location one pays for or prepares to pay for the home—in other words, the workplace or school. In every age, people have created an additional option—the Third Place.

The Greek agora stands out as an early example of the Third Place in Western history. The agora essentially functioned as a community living room where people “did life together.” On one side, merchants set up shop in the marketplace stalls. Within shouting distance (sometimes literally) Greek citizens experienced the birthplace of democracy and Western philosophy in an area devoted to public discourse.

The Greeks also located their temples and religious monuments near the agora. In fact, sacred space has almost always anchored community space—from the

Instead of throwing more money at less effective buildings reaching fewer people, a design intervention considers the surrounding culture, unique identity, DNA and purpose of the individual ministry.

Roman Forum to Italian piazzas, from Spanish plazas to New England village greens and Midwestern town squares, the Third Place has routinely included commerce, community and connection to the deity of choice.

Today, developers recognize the pent-up market demand for these Third Places. With Starbucks, Truman Show-styled housing developments and even the shopping mall’s reinvention as a lifestyle retail center, the marketplace has tried to meet our culture’s hunger for community.

However, many secular attempts to provide a place where “everybody knows your name” fail to quench the real thirst. During my tenure at the Walt Disney Company, we based Downtown Disney’s layout on a European hill town with meandering streets expanding, contracting and reaching an experiential climax at a central gathering place. However, where an actual town would have devoted this space to a cathedral, we replaced the sacred “anchor tenant” with entertainment and commercially-oriented buildings.

We tried to fill our master plan’s God-shaped hole with the same things many people use to fill theirs.

Although today’s urban sprawl no longer fits the tidy 1-2-3 model, church done well still has the potential to redefine the Third Place and provide authentic community. Across the country, maverick pastors and emerging leaders are once again leading efforts to “do life together” with seven-days-a-week ministry and an external focus. These communitybuilding efforts are resulting in community buildings—and saving spaces for the lost. n Mel McGowan is the president of Visioneering Studios, which has designed 140 churches across the U.S., Cambodia, Ghana, Nepal, Sudan, India and the Philippines. In addition, they designed four hotels, a restaurant and a sports arena-anchored residential/retail/ transit district. The mission: “designing and developing destinations that lift the spirit…now and forever.” See more at visioneeringstudios.com.

Photos of Visioneering Studios’ work courtesy of PlainJoe Studios

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New life

in an old corps building

With love, bricks and mortar turn sacred

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BY STEVE SIMMS

The building was old. It had once been a corps, but was shut down and remained empty. Yet, the space remained sacred.

In early 2008, my wife and I were asked to start a new church in the space—a non-traditional Salvation Army corps.

The goal was to create an atmosphere where the living God would deeply touch human hearts and lives, transforming people into passionate, obedient followers of Christ. We felt that people need and would appreciate an opportunity to interact with God and with each other on Sunday mornings. To do this, we knew we had to change the seating.

The bolted down pews were removed and replaced with a few short

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Facing page left: Community children play outside.

Right: Michelle Hazelip instructs a group of volunteers inside the Berry Street Worship Center.

This page: Reggie Thompson shares his testimony of salvation during an outdoor service.

The Sunday meeting ends with a featured testimony. Every week we schedule one person to take 10 minutes and share how he or she came to know Jesus. It’s incredible how eloquent the average person is when he/she shares his love for God from the heart.

To enhance the atmosphere, we added art to the space—uplifting images and words. We also hung long, blank sheets of butcher paper for people to write prayer requests.

pews along the walls. We took out the pulpit and added a kneeling rail and holiness table against the front wall. Finally, we added two rows of chairs—and even a couch—in the shape of a “U” to allow for greater intimacy.

Based on 1 Corinthians 14:26, we chose to make the Sunday morning meeting more like a support group than a traditional church service. We begin with praise and worship, then have a time of open testimony and prayer. People participate when they are invited to stand and share what God is doing in their lives. Many speak with emotion and tears as they talk openly about their love for God and about his loving care for them. When a need arises, we stop while a few people gather around him/her to pray on the spot.

Open format A woman visiting the Berry Street Worship Center for the first time cried when she walked in. “I could feel God’s presence,” she said.

We recognize that a sacred, spiritual environment makes us aware of God’s presence and love. This open church format has created an atmosphere of love, caring and compassion. Friendships have developed as people actively seek to encourage and support each other.

Church of people Now two years since our reopening, the corps averages more than 100 people each Sunday, including many people we invited from the neighborhood.

The sanctuary attracts people during the week to pray as individuals or in small groups. One Friday a month, the space becomes a coffee house with free coffee and music. The Nashville Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) brings 65 men to our building each week for a “celebrate recovery” group.

Children’s church outgrew our building and now meets in the community center next door with about 50 kids each Sunday. Volunteers from Fellowship Bible Church in a Nashville suburb help provide a snack and a caring atmosphere for kids to experience God’s love.

Every other week, when the Sunday meeting ends, we quickly convert the sanctuary into a dining room.

Volunteers from various parts of town provide a freshly prepared meal for all.

Bricks and mortar provide the space where the sacred can take place, where God’s love can overflow through people. Our vision for Berry Street Worship Center is a modified version of the old children’s finger rhyme: “Here’s a building, there’s no steeple. At Berry Street, the church is the people.” n Steve Simms is the sergeant of the Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Photos by Noelle McCoy

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EnviRenew rebuilds in New Orleans BY CHRISTIN DAVIS

Splintered reality; renewed dreams

Shumeca Chadwick left for work on August 29, 2005, at 5 a.m. Wearing blue with badge in hand, she needed to report for duty by 6. All New Orleans police officers were instructed to arrive ready to serve—assisting with evacuations, monitoring the storm damage and protecting the city.

Chadwick never made it to the station. When she left the house, water spilled over her ankles. Minutes later, it reached her knees. A stranger helped Chadwick and six other people into his small boat and rowed to the Palmetto overpass bridge.

She sat on the bridge for four days, three nights, using her uniform shirt as a shield from the thick, bayou-country air.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to make it or if I’d ever see my daughter again,” Chadwick said. “On that bridge, I was just another person trying to survive.”

On day four, the Coast Guard rescued Chadwick, taking her to a transportation staging area where she eventually boarded a bus.

“It was scary,” she said. “I didn’t know where the bus was going. No one had any plan.”

Before long, Chadwick returned to her sworn duty in New Orleans. For two months, she lived aboard a cruise ship provided to first responders before securing a FEMA trailer on the police lot.

A place to call home When Katrina ripped through the city of New Orleans that August, it left 80 percent of the city under water—up to 15 feet in some areas.

The country watched aerial footage of residents rescued by helicopter and boat from inundated rooftops. When the swampy water receded, roughly 228,000 occupied homes (45 percent) in New Orleans alone were flooded, according to an American Red Cross report.

In the hurricane’s aftermath, The Salvation Army provided disaster relief across three states—Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi—and served evacuees strewn throughout the nation. Construction was a priority in long-term recovery plans along

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Shumeca Chadwick and daughter Ashli, 9, on the property of their future EnviRenew home.

Below left: Throughout New Orleans, abandoned homes stand in postKatrina condition next to those whose owners returned and remodeled.

Below right: A nearly complete EnviRenew house in Riverview.

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the Gulf Coast, and The Salvation Army contributed money to support the efforts of organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Project Homecoming.

It also developed its own plan for community revitalization—EnviRenew—that aims to create efficient, affordable and quality houses for people in need of a place to call home.

As New Orleans now approaches the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in August 2010, The Salvation Army has concluded the pilot phase and moved into full implementation of the EnviRenew program.

“We are purposely reducing vulnerability using a triple bottom line assessment: quality of life, energy efficiency and affordability,” said Lindsay Jonker, EnviRenew director. “We have taken a largely economic and environmental topic—rebuilding New Orleans—and focused on the social component to address the comfort of families.”

Empowering community Driving through affected New Orleans neighborhoods, the continued need for repair and rebuilding is obvious. Lingering effects remain: broken windows, splintered walls, leaning structures, water and mud stains, abandoned homes. Some

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owners have returned and remodeled; other houses still bear the neon spray-painted “X” of search and rescue teams—indicating in each quadrant the date searched, by which agency, whether the house was entered and if any corpses were found.

EnviRenew is working with five New Orleans neighborhoods to build 25 homes each. Two areas were selected early on—Broadmoor and Riverview.

Fifteen neighborhoods applied for the three remaining slots; EnviRenew leadership selected Gentilly, Ponchartrain Park and Honeybee Road.

“With social and urban planning, you do have to fight through political will,” said Grover Mouton, director of the Tulane Regional Urban Design Center at Tulane University, who is assisting with the Honeybee Road project. “You have to find out who the people are but also be economically viable. The mayor is usually listening to the developer, but you must also look at the quality of life—the distance to bus stops, grocery stores, the cost of lots—you must develop amenities and plan for open space and public playgrounds.”

Long-term investment “These houses will increase emotional security in the event of another flood,” said Hal Roark, executive director of the Broadmoor Development Corporation, whose own Broadmoor home was filled with seven feet of floodwater. “The water is the easy part; what is emotionally traumatic is the experience of not knowing—will I have a job? Will there be anyone left in my neighborhood? Will my insurance cover the damage? Should I stay in the area?

“The Salvation Army is empowering this community,” Roark said. “It is not just about building a house; they are serious about long-term recovery and respecting our community.”

Broadmoor, with roughly 7,000 people and 2,400 buildings, suffered from six to 10 feet of flood damage following Katrina. Soon after, the Bring New Orleans Back Commission gave Broadmoor a “green dot,” recommending that it be bulldozed and turned into a drainage field.

“The urban planners were not crazy,” said Doug Ahlers, director of the New Orleans Recovery Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School, which is assisting the Broadmoor community in its rebuilding process. “The level of damage and the statistics

indicated no way for rebuilding.

“Broadmoor turned the corner when it realized there was no cavalry coming; they had to do it themselves,” Ahlers said. “That’s when it became an incredibly powerful and inspiring place as real leadership stepped up and real change occurred through dozens of citizens.”

The residents of Broadmoor held 165 meetings from February to July 2006 to develop a 319-page plan for recovery and a vision for their renewed community.

Now 84 percent rebuilt, Broadmoor is nearing full revival. The 25 EnviRenew homes will help the area establish a “security grid” to house first responders, teachers and police—people who are contributing to the betterment of their community.

EnviRenew recipients will be chosen by the five individual neighborhoods but must qualify with a lending institution for the mortgage balance beyond the $75,000 home grant and must have lived in New Orleans on August 25, 2005.

“When rebuilding this much infrastructure, it is crazy not to rebuild better, safer and smarter. Most strategies are to rebuild as cheap and fast as possible; to build better takes planning and commitment,” Ahlers said. “What I like about EnviRenew is the real commitment to thinking it out and doing it right—it is an investment in the long-term life of the community.”

A different expression of recovery The need for affordable housing in New Orleans is great. According to the Brookings Institution, the loss of housing in New Orleans drove up rent, resulting in the current cost for a typical apartment to hit $733 a month, which, as Portfolio reports, is more than a person working in food preparation, retail or lowerrung health care jobs can afford in this area.

EnviRenew is intelligently and efficiently targeting this problem.

“We are trying to holistically recover in New Orleans, which is wholeheartedly the mission of the Army,” said Captain Ethan Frizzell, area commander for The Salvation Army in New Orleans. “We’re just expressing it differently.

“We want to restore the person to where they were before Katrina and prepare them to handle the next storm too,” Frizzell said. “At the same time, we must

be respectful of the neighborhood, create a sense of community, provide replicable strength-based social work and rebuild with energy efficiency.”

From Katrina relief donations, The Salvation Army allocated $12 million to EnviRenew in September 2009. Scheduled for completion in September 2011, the program has four components: 125 home

renovations to meet green home sustainability standards; 125 grants for new home construction throughout five neighborhoods; 125 EcoBaskets of products for home improvement resulting in energy savings; and a wiki-like website, envirenew.org, which chronicles the challenge of rebuilding and records data to allow for program duplication.

In Broadmoor, two home designs are available for recipients—the “William” and the “Catherine.”

Chadwick chose the former, an elevated threebedroom home with a pantry, wash room, living room, dining room and porch. It is historic looking— in traditional New Orleans style—with a modern floor plan and amenities.

Three EnviRenew homes are currently complete, with the 122 remaining homes to be built by September 2011. To date, 14 green home sustainability retrofits are complete and 37 are in progress; 12 EcoBaskets have been distributed and

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installed and 25 are in progress.

Attracting families to revitalize The three completed EnviRenew houses are in Riverview.

A visibly dated neighborhood, Riverview did not experience flood damage but is instead plagued by underdevelopment.

“As people have died, this neighborhood has died,” said Beryl Ragas, president of the Riverview Association and a lifelong resident of Riverview. “We need people here to revitalize the community, and these new houses for first responders and teachers will provide a sense of stability and growth for the residents.”

Driving through the roughly 5,000-resident area, Ragas points to tattered buildings with fond memories of days when jazz musicians, including Ray Charles, once played.

“I grew up here and love the old homes; I want the community to be restored to what it was,” Ragas said.

“We need people to move here who are committed to revitalizing the area, and hopefully the ‘teacher’s village’ will help that.”

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Partnering skills To fulfill the work of building neighborhoodappropriate, energy-efficient homes, The Salvation Army joined with local partners and subject experts.

Green Coast Enterprises, a New Orleans-based real estate development company, is managing all renovation and building for EnviRenew, including installing spray foam insulation, energy-efficient windows, low-flush toilets, wood flooring, and lowVOC paints to reduce energy costs and improve quality of life in the home.

“It’s about people, planet and profit,” said Will Bradshaw, president of Green Coast Enterprises.

“We want to improve the community fabric, leave the planet in a better condition and be financially viable.”

Green Coast Enterprises has completed renovations on 14 New Orleans homes and another 37 are currently in progress.

“I love the investment The Salvation Army has made and I wanted to walk alongside it,” Bradshaw said. “EnviRenew is a model that says, ‘Here’s how you rebuild a community and achieve recovery.’ It’s inspired by vision and the leadership has brought in the skills needed to meet that vision.”

The Salvation Army is also working with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), which is hosting its annual Natural Talent Design Competition for students and young professionals in 2010 in conjunction with EnviRenew. Young architects will compete in designing an 800 sq. ft. house, seven feet above grade and fulfilling the LEED Platinum specifications (a certification designating the highest standards for green design, construction and operation) for under $100,000.

Four designs will be chosen and announced in August 2010; the houses will then be built as part of the EnviRenew program in the Broadmoor neighborhood.

More entrants have enrolled in the competition than ever before. To date, 276 contestants through 31 national chapters are participating.

“This competition is exciting because of the potential for the design to actually be built, and built for the betterment of lives,” said Anisa Baldwin Metzger, the USGBC green building coordinator in New Orleans. “That is beyond what most architects have the opportunity for. Architects are often hired by the wealthy or by corporations. People who could really use the thoughtfulness don’t always get it, but here we have designers’ minds centered around real needs.

“It’s been nearly five years, but we are finally figuring out our recovery,” Metzger said. “There is so much hope here—in the new building projects taking off, in the new mayor, in the Super Bowl victory—it’s like a euphoric high of hope for the city.”

Replicating a plan One key element of EnviRenew is preparing to replicate the program in the future—in New Orleans and beyond.

Between summer 2009 and summer 2010, 19 students have worked at various times as EnviRenew interns in New Orleans. One intern, Aron Chang, a Harvard master’s graduate who now teaches architecture at Louisiana State University, worked on design guidelines that relate to climate, region and best practices for architects to follow in the five selected neighborhoods. He advocated, for example, for the design guidelines to include significant porches to fit the area’s traditional look and also provide shaded living space, which impacts the

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 Beryl Ragas, president of the Riverview Association need to be freed to explore a new future. and a lifelong resident of Riverview, stands outside of a newly built EnviRenew Jesus lived right—righteousness was his way of house in her community. life. The material will also show that Jesus repeatedly owners’ of life. He also conducted rightedquality wrongs—that pursuing justice forresearch the sakeon lowering insurance rates for by mission building of others was his intent andhomeowners practice. Jesus’ thehad structure higher off the andinusing a metal two cutting edges.

Heground awakened the morning roof. with a vision for people’s spiritual well-being. And he “In areas with blight, newfor construction raises envisioned opportunities people whose plight in property andby changes people’s mindset,” life wasvalues curtailed oppressive constraints and life Chang said.forces.

“HereJesus you lived have right mostly smaller denying and righted wrongs. neighborhoods, which means thetoeffects new And for those of us who claim be his of followers, construction willon multiply Army’s Jesus’ mission earth inand his The time Salvation is our mission on collaborations might lead to further propagation.” earth in our time.

Chang’s thought is already a reality. By simply using the EnviRenew plan, Broadmoor recently Identifying outsiders secured $1.7bemillion fromplace. the U.S. Ouranother world can an unkind Caste systems Department Housing and Social Urbanjudgment Development have manyof configurations. parades (HUD) to build additional homes.the physically with many faces.

The disfigured, disabled, the mentally handicapped and even kids Coming home who are bullied on school playgrounds can be Chadwick stoppedwithout at Louisiana front victims of injustice beingAvenue, guilty ofinanything of but the being lot of themselves. her future EnviRenew home, where They are outsiders.

They construction is set to begin soon.unjust exclusion is are simply excluded.

And their “I am most excited about it being mine…to walk humiliating. into my house and know that is mine,” Chadwick Childhood memories can itstill generate deep said with ainsmile, discussing ideas forby interior feelings later before adulthood.

Being rejected your paint colors with her daughter 9. “Idisability, need this; I circle of friends, coping with aAshli, learning need a sense of closure.” failing a grade at school or always being the last person chosen to make up a sports team can leave n some Christin Davis is scars. the managing editor of Caring. emotional See more at envirenew.org Cultural rejection can be as simple as being born a girl or dealing with the stigma of testing positive Photos

by Christin Davis for HIV/AIDS. On the religious front, women can be restricted

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SUMMER 2010 CARING PAGE 23

When the Army

moves in NO W O P E R AT I N G I N 1 2 1 CO U N T R I E S W I T H 7 4 TO GO

BY DICK KROMMENHOEK

Any army moves strategically to battle, including this Salvation Army. It’s all very well singing “the world for God; I give my heart, I’ll do my part,” but as soon as the last chord of the song has faded, it’s time to get up and go.

In my previous appointment as the General’s representative for global evangelization, I was assigned to go to countries where the Army was not operational and advise General Shaw Clifton on the feasibility of commencing the Army’s mission in such places.

I visited and explored 10 countries: Namibia, Greece, Burundi, Mali, Kuwait, Benin, the United Arab Emirates, Sierra Leone, Vietnam and Nepal.

Consequently, The Salvation Army has now been officially launched in all but two of these countries, and in due time Vietnam and Benin may follow.

With the recent opening of our mission in Nicaragua, The Salvation Army now works in 121 countries of the total 195, which means that The Salvation Amy flag is flying in almost two thirds of all the countries in the world.

A soldier’s job Arriving at the immigration office in Kuwait, I wondered for a moment what kind of questions I would be asked and, more interestingly, if they would allow me in at all. The immigration officer looked at my cap and slowly read aloud “Sal-va-tion Ar-my.” He then looked at me. I smiled. He tried to smile back. And then, without any ado, I was permitted entry to one of the most prominent strongholds of the Muslim world.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the mission of The Salvation Army—to “save souls, grow saints and serve suffering humanity”—is needed in all 195 countries of the world, and the means to this end is

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simple. Virtually all of The Salvation Army’s new openings happen through the obedience and dedication of just one or two officers or soldiers with the courage to respond to the prompting of God’s spirit.

Too often we think that the success of our mission is determined by our having beautiful buildings filled with the finest musical instruments, superb multimedia and other items checked off our church wish lists.

However convenient and pleasant all this may be, we need to remember all that is necessary is people who bring Christ to the world by loving others into God’s kingdom.

This does mean war against the power of darkness, which is well established in every country of the world.

It takes a true soldier of Jesus to fight this battle. In the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit we stand in the tradition of Booth’s timeless speech: If the world despises a notorious sinner, we will love her.

If the world cuts off aid to the poor and suffering, we will offer food and healing.

If the world oppresses, we will raise up the oppressed.

If the world shames a social outcast, we will proclaim God’s reconciling love.

If the world seeks profit and self-fulfilment, we will seek sacrifice and service.

If the world splinters into factions, we will join together in unity.

If the world destroys its enemies, we will love them.

Kenya’s school for disabled children heals a woman

Why be a soldier if you don’t intend to fight?

The World for God—only 74 countries to go!

n Commissioner Dick Krommenhoek is the territorial interview with Grace Nambuye Wangosi commanderFrom of the an Finland and Estonia Territory.

Photos by Nikole Lim

NEPAL, COUNTRY 118

SIERRA LEONE, COUNTRY 119

By Lalnunsangi

By Amos Makina

In April 2009, The Salvation Army commenced work in Nepal, in the India Eastern Territory. One of the Himalayan Kingdoms, and home of Mt. Everest, Nepal became a federal democratic republic in 2008, following earlier protests, a peace accord and constituent assembly elections.

We left for our new home—bordered to the north

by China and to the south, east and west by India— understanding that 81 percent of its population is Hindu.

Preparing In 1989, Captain Lalkiamlova, then secretary for evangelism outreach in the India Eastern Territory (now International Secretary for South Asia) visited Nepal with a vision of opening Salvation Army ministry, despite serious opposition against Christianity at that time.

Seeing the situation in the capital city of Kathmandu, Lalkiamlova decided all he could do was buy a picture of the king and his family and pray for the family and the country that the Lord would open a way for the Army there one day.

In 2007, Captain Richard Vanlalnghaka and his wife were appointed to further explore Nepal and remained in the country for one year, which resulted in a 20-member Salvation Army fellowship, meeting regularly under the Army flag. During the same year, Commissioner Lalkiamlova and then Colonel Dick Krommenhoek visited Nepal. In 2008, formal recommendation reached the General.

Settling in We slowly began to feel at home in Nepal, even though the transition continues from monarchy to

In 2006, Major Robert Dixon—then commanding officer in Liberia—undertook a feasibility study in Sierra Leone and received positive response from the local government. Then Colonel Dick Krommenhoek visited Sierra Leone, met with government officials and submitted a positive report to the General.

In late 2009, Captains John and Rosaline Bundu, officers of the Liberia Command, returned to their homeland in the west African country of Sierra Leone to begin Salvation Army work. Two weeks later, following the advance payment of one year’s rent, they acquired a 4-bedroom apartment with a spacious sitting room that would be the meeting hall for approximately 60 people.

On December 20, 2009, the Army flag flew for the first time as the Captains and their young son marched through the streets of Freetown. The first Holiness meeting and Bible study were held in the apartment with 10 adults and eight children.

Settling in The work is now growing with increasing attendance at Sunday meetings, young people’s Sunday school and the mid-week Bible studies and prayer meetings.

A class with 27 recruits is leading people into a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian, serving God in The Salvation Army. Three children were recently dedicated.

Captains Bundu met with the inspector general of the National Police of the Republic of Sierra Leone Western in Freetown. At the conclusion, he pledged the support of the entire police force for Salvation Army activities such as open-air meetings. The Captains also met with the country’s chief immigration officer, who

NEPAL page 26

SIERRA LEONE page 26

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NICARAGUA, COUNTRY 120

NEPAL FROM PAGE 25

Effective March 1, 2010, The Salvation Army opened work in its 120th country—Nicaragua—to be led by Majors Enrique and Ana Molina, officers from Costa Rica.

Previous attempts to establish the Army in Nicaragua were short lived (1980-1981) on account of civil conflict within the country. In 2005, with the regime more open to the presence of Christian organizations in the country, the Army began exploring recommencing operations there.

Meetings with the government occurred in early 2008, and the Army spent the following months working through various legal requirements to register in the country.

Now, in good standing with the Nicaraguan authorities, prospects for the future development of The Salvation Army work are positive.

democracy. For some time, lawlessness, kidnapping, abduction and agitation occurred often in Nepal.

After finishing registration with the embassy, we decided to open a community development center for women, which was dedicated in June 2009. We now have a tailoring center and an English language center for indigenous women, as well as organized worship meetings on Saturdays.

Two people recently accepted Christ, and two others believe but still fear converting.

By his grace, we dare to have a vision in the remote Nepalese villages that The Salvation Army will make Jesus visible. We want to reach these people.

n From a Salvation Army international news release

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, COUNTRY 121 In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a long-standing fellowship of Salvationists from a number of countries who reside and work in Dubai exists. In 2009, exploration of extending official ministry into the UAE began after the Army was invited to plan a Christmas carol service in Dubai that hundreds of people attended.

The Salvation Army now has an official presence in the UAE as of June 1, 2010.

Just two years ago, the Army opened work in neighboring Kuwait, under the leadership of Majors Mike and Teresa Hawley, officers of the U.S. Southern Territory, who are providing leadership in the UAE. The Salvation Army’s legal presence is growing and the Army is developing its relationships with prominent members of the government, diplomatic and legal communities in the UAE. Regular meetings now take place in rented property in both Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, which, along with the formation of an advisory board, will help ensure that the Army becomes part of daily life in the Middle East. n From a Salvation Army international news release

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n Major Lalnunsangi and husband Major Lalsangliana are the extension officers in Nepal.

Photo by Rebecca V.L Vuite and Krishna Rai

SIERRA LEONE FROM PAGE 25 recently converted to Christianity from Islam and expressed interest in and support for the Army’s work in the country. Other church leaders are supportive, including an Anglican priest who provides an audio system for use in Sunday meetings.

The Captains appeared on television and radio, and the local population is showing increasing interest in the Army.

“God is in control of the steady movement of his work,” said Captain John Bundu. “The light is on, the flag is up. We are moving forward. To God be the glory.” n Commissioner Amos Makina is the international secretary for Africa.

Photo by John and Rosaline Bundu

A

bumpy, dirt road—about half a mile long—leads to the main grounds of the impoverished village, Venadillo. On my first drive there, through the dust, I could make out a few neighbors and a couple of cow and chicken farms.

This was now home—a Salvation Army children’s home in Mazatlan, Mexico. As a short-term missionary, I would spend the next 10 months as the primary caretaker for 12 boys, ages 3-16.

The home itself is clean and well kept, but on day one my eyes noted the faded buildings, the ancient wooden playground, the uncomfortable humidity and the fact that we had no air conditioning to offer relief. It was hard for me to fully accept that this foreign and isolated place was now “home.”

And then the kids arrived.

The atmosphere immediately changed and was filled with sounds of laughing, playing, arguments over bikes and toys, the creaking of swings and soccer games in the driveway.

As caretaker, I get the boys up in the morning, make sure school uniforms are on and clean, teeth are brushed and hair gelled. After school, I monitor homework. In the afternoons, I put out crafts and take the kids on walks.

It was during an evening devotion last October that I realized how much I truly care about these boys.

During a weekly trip to Wal-Mart for vegetables, I came upon the foot spa section and thought back to my days as a camp counselor. One-by-one, the boys later sat in a chair squealing with laughter while I scrubbed at

Down the road in Venadillo A place of love and comfort—home—for impoverished kids BY RACHEL THIEME

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SUMMER 2010 CARING PAGE 27

their heels, cleaned between their toes and rubbed lotion on their feet. I then cleaned the dirt out from under their toenails, which they pretended hurt a lot. Once they settled in their beds, we talked about being servants for others and I read the story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet from the book of John.

Beloved creation The officers in charge—Major Candace Frizzell and Captain Lulu Ramirez—and I make the most of any opportunity to expose the kids to the world outside of the local neighborhood. We have taken trips to the library, to the top of the local lighthouse, to the circus and to the beach. We had a chance to eat breakfast and tour one of the cruise ships that dock here; the children—wide-eyed—were treated as guests of honor.

It didn’t take long for me to see the home not as forlorn, but busy. Yet, in getting to know these kids— where they come from, why they are with us and what we can give them—this home unveiled itself as something else, something more sacred.

Despite my specific assignment to the boys’ dorm, I have formed relationships with all 25 of the children

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here. Each one, with a different personality and needs, has challenged me and I have done my best to challenge him or her. The kids here are not orphans, but live at the home because of poverty. They come from neighborhoods ridden with violence, poor education and alcoholism. We recognize that each one is a beloved creation of God, with a unique story.

Juan Carlos One of the boys, Juan Carlos, 11, always makes me laugh. He constantly has a way to be silly, which makes him difficult to deal with when it is time to be quiet, pay attention, or do homework and chores. Yet, Juan Carlos also has a sweet side. On our walks, he often picks flowers for all the girls.

Juan Carlos’s mom has six kids from two different fathers—Jaun Carlos is the oldest. Out of pure neglect, the children did not go to school for two years before arriving here. Each one is desperate for love and attention, which Juan Carlos obtains through disobedience and humor.

Over the past month, Juan Carlos was extremely rude and disobedient. I can tell there is a struggle going on inside of him. He wants attention, but

aggressive with the other kids and flipped me off. I told him that I could not take him acting this way and that he had to change.

During that evening’s prayer time, Juan Carlos asked to pray for the first time in about a month. He asked God to forgive him for not praying and for misbehaving with me. He asked God to help him change.

I am utterly thankful and amazed as I witness God working in the lives of the kids here. When Juan Carlos took this step, it reiterated that it will not be my love in the end, but God’s love that will save him.

I believe God will continue to pursue Juan Carlos and show him that Christ offers love in which he can trust.

seems afraid to accept it. His grandma expressed concern that he was out on the streets late at night on the weekends. We saw him later that week, standing with a group of seven older boys who, dressed in the typical Mexican gangster attire, were smoking and drinking. My heart sank as one of my biggest fears played out before my eyes.

No matter how many times we tell the kids that they can have a different life than the surrounding impoverished neighborhoods offer, it’s hard for them to see beyond the shacks that they live in or the “protection” and “family” offered by the gangsters who roam the streets.

In our evening prayers, Juan Carlos often refuses to pray. I sometimes use my turn praying aloud to ask God to fill Juan Carlos with assurance of how much he loves him. One night, this filled his eyes with tears.

He later told me he felt angry inside but didn’t know why. I told him that the Bible says, “the joy of the Lord is our strength,” and that the enemy wants him to be weak, but the truth is that he is never alone and that he is always loved.

A couple of weeks later, Juan Carlos had a terrible day—he was completely disobedient, contemptuous,

In need of love Every day I walk to the elementary school to collect homework from teachers. I frequent the local mini store and now know the storeowners and some of the patrons by name. I take the kids on weekly walks, each time down a different dirt road. I love the farm we walk to on the hill where the owners let us pick tamarinds from their trees and pet their magnificent horses. I enjoy seeing the sun over the cornfield and stopping by the families’ houses.

Yet, my love for Venadillo also came with a feeling of burden for this place. Beneath the laughter and seeming indifference, people are in desperate need of experiencing God’s love.

When I first arrived, I didn’t see this place as a sanctuary for kids who need a home to clothe, shield, feed, shelter and love them. Now I see it for what it is—sacred.

These children still have so many years ahead of them, so many difficulties and joys they will face. God has won many of the battles already and I know that as I leave here, I do not leave the kids standing alone.

The one who conquers is already on their side. n Rachel Thieme is living in a children’s home in Mazatlan, Mexico, for 10 months as a short-term missionary from the U.S. Western Territory. She returns to her home in California in July 2010.

Photos by Rachel Thieme and kids at the Mazatlan Children’s Home

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reclaimed and redesigned

Interior design students use family store finds to create beautiful space Five Adult Rehabilitation Center BY (ARC) family stores in Orange County, DAWN California, recently received 10’ x 10’ MARKS redesigns by local interior design students

in The Noah’s ARC Design Challenge.

Student members of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) competed in creating a room using donated furnishings found in the family store.

“My passion in interior design is to improve quality of living,” said Tamara Stratton, interior designer and member of the Mediterranean-style design team. “I believe beauty is a gift that keeps on giving, that a well designed space is transforming and elevating to those who enter it, and that sustainable design is both an affirmation of life and a gift to all.”

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Following the design completions, the rooms were on display for two weeks as all items were available by auction, with proceeds going to the Army’s Anaheim ARC. Around the country, ARC programs provide no-cost residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation services to men and women. The programs are funded primarily through the sale of donated goods.

Mediterranean Awarded Best Room Design Family Store: San Clemente Designed by: Deidre Greenberger, Monica Castro, Alicja Davis, Tamara Stratton and Marisele Osborne.

Students of: Saddleback College

Beachside Family Store: Huntington Beach Designed by: Tammy Jimenez and Keri Kennedy Students of: Art Institute of Orange County Antique Family Store: Orange Designed by: Kelley Goodwin, Keri Shrimpton, Mathilda Teo, Alfredo Martell and Colleen Dunleavy Students of: Interior Designers Institute Mid-Century modern Family Store: Cotsa Mesa Designed by: Madona Shaheen, Britni Chance and Gigi Harris Students of: Saddleback College and Interior Designers Institute, also members of the ASID Student Affairs Committee Eclectic Family Store: Anaheim Designed by: Derek Gonzalez, Anne Pham, Jasmin Ocampo, Mariel Hernandez and Nuvia Sanchez Students of: Westwood College “I’ve know quite a few people who have come through the ARC program,” said Tammy Jimenez, interior designer and member of the Beachside room team.

“They come in broken…The Salvation Army helps them find their center and become something incredible. I saw the beauty in these individual, broken furniture pieces that were collected at the Army’s distribution center. By working with them, painting them and grouping them together, they’ve become something surprisingly beautiful.” n Dawn Marks is the marketing consultant for the Adult Rehabilitation Center Command in the U.S. Western Territory.

Photos by John Docter, Kathy Lovin and Diane Prendergast

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MIND YOUR MANNERS Supper Club teaches table manners, spiritual lessons to kids “Hey, Lieutenant!,” Andrea, 8, exclaimed. “I am coming to Supper Club tonight and I’m going to put my napkin in my lap, always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and eat all of my vegetables!”

Andrea worries a lot.

Fearing deportation, her family moves to a different house or apartment in South Phoenix, Arizona, every six months and switches schools each time.

At The Salvation Army Phoenix South Mountain Corps Community Center, Andrea comes to have dinner.

they are expected to come to Supper Club ready and excited to participate and learn new things.

BY LOREEN PETZING

Manners and nutrition Every Wednesday evening, 40 kids ages 7 to 12 arrive ready to eat. Majors Guy and Denise Hawk implemented the Supper Club program five years ago to help bring kids into the corps who normally only participated in sports or after-school tutoring. Since the beginning of this program, 49 children have been enrolled as junior soldiers and now regularly attend the corps.

In overseeing this program, I discovered that few families consistently teach manners to the upcoming generation. At our table, manners are a priority, and seconds or dessert are not available until the kids finish a serving of vegetables. While this rule often elicits groans, it also encourages the kids to eat food that they would not normally eat and teaches the importance of well-balanced nutrition. Meals are prepared by Supper Club cook Miguel Utrera.

Supper Club at Phoenix South Mountain has four simple expectations. The first is that they can do anything they would like as long as it does not cause a problem for anyone else. The next is that they are expected to treat all leaders with the same level of respect that we treat them. The third expectation, linked to the first, makes known that if they cause a problem for anyone else, there will be a consequence. Lastly,

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Nothing fancy In the past year, we began Manner of the Month to emphasize etiquette, including: always say please and thank you; always put your napkin in your lap; and wait for your whole table to be served before eating. These manners are becoming automatic when they sit down at the table.

After the meal, the kids clean their tables and we begin the Bible story. We started in Genesis and are moving forward with the theme, “God uses little people to do big things.” The kids learned about Joseph and how he did big things in Egypt even though he was so young and was sold into slavery. They learned about David and how God wanted him to be king even though he was the youngest son in the family. The kids have also learned to ask questions—that challenge me at times—about God’s word.

These children are intrigued by the stories of people who lived thousands of years ago and did amazing things. There is nothing fancy about the way they learn the Bible stories or about the program itself. It is a simple program that requires little funding. Meals are made with food mostly from the Food Bank and the lessons come straight from the Bible, but the kids learn practical manners to carry throughout their lives. We also stress that it does not matter who they are or where they are from, God can still use each child to do big things if they follow him.

In Phoenix South Mountain, a simple dining space has become the breeding ground for real life change. n Lieutenant Loreen Petzing is the assistant corps officer at the Phoenix South Mountain Corps Community Center in Arizona.

Photo by Loreen Petzing

the

garden revolution

BY BUFFY LINCOLN

A few months ago, my daughter spent a week in a small town in Nebraska— population 342—to meet a friend’s family. The fact that she was born and raised in Southern California made this trip quite a cultural experience for her, and an entertaining story for me to hear.

The family lived on a farm in a town far removed from any major city. Their location is so rural that, rather than shop for food at the supermarket, they actually hunt and grow their own.

“They do absolutely everything themselves,” my daughter said.

While they may grow their own food out of necessity, it seems that many communities are choosing to go back to “living off the land.” This re-awakening idea of “growing your own” is visible in the community gardens that are springing up throughout the world.

As inflation and unemployment numbers continue to rise, many people are finding themselves unable to keep up. In a number of homes, one of the basic needs of life—food—has become more of a luxury than a given.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found in

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY

2007 (the latest data available) that 3.4 percent of all U.S. households (3.9 million households) accessed emergency food from a pantry one or more times.

Survival demands alternate solutions when basic human needs, such as nourishment, cannot be met, and The Salvation Army is beginning to use neighborhood gardens to fill the gap between household lack of money and the requirement for food.

Got land?

The Salvation Army corps in McMinnville, Oregon, is located on four acres of land. In 2003, they decided to better utilize unused acreage by starting a community garden to provide fresh vegetables and fruits for the corps’ food pantry.

The plots are harvested three times a week and produce up to 150 pounds each time. In roughly a year’s time, the “farm” produced 1,600 pounds of zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, squash, broccoli, herbs and more for community distribution. Any leftovers are taken to local food banks and soup kitchens before they have a chance to spoil.

“The garden enables us to provide fresh vegetables, and in some cases fresh fruit, to the people we

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serve. We also train those involved to produce their own food, both here and at home,” Major Dennis Trimmer, corps officer, said.

The corps received a $4,000 grant from Garden Enhanced Nutrition Education (GENE), through Oregon State University, to purchase a greenhouse that enables year-round gardening and to automate the water system.

Fingers in the dirt In Melbourne, Australia, school children ages 3 to 6 routinely put on hats and aprons to play in the dirt. The “dirt” is found in a once unused plot of land that has been revitalized into a fruit- and vegetableproducing garden. Each student spends a minimum of four hours a week planting, growing and weeding the crops they’ve planted.

The Salvation Army in Australia also runs the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program, named after celebrated chef and author, which was created with the purpose of getting kids involved in “pleasurable food education” by developing their skills both in the kitchen and the garden and encouraging them to enjoy the benefits of growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing.

“My 10-year-old son was playing with a friend from school and I realized that they were discussing the kitchen garden program over their Lego building,” one mother said.

In 2009, the program received more than $12 million in federal funds. It currently operates in 86

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primary schools across Australia.

Other benefits Majors Jim and Barbara Sloan, corps officers in Portland, Oregon, are proud of their work with the West Women and Children’s Shelter. When one of the residents suggested planting a vegetable garden behind the shelter, they formed a Garden Committee to brainstorm the plausibility of the idea. The decisions they made were life changing.

Working with donated soil from a local food bank, seeds from an advisory board member, seedlings cultivated by the kids in their day-care program and raised beds built by a local Boy Scout troop, the resident women dug in. Before long, they realized that gardening is not only a productive venture, but also a relaxing and therapeutic one.

Hands needed Summer is upon us and gardens are once again seeding and growing. However, many hands are needed to furrow, dig, plant and harvest. Dig in to community grounds. Talk to your corps about farming your own community garden. After all, don’t you ever feel the urge to get your hands dirty? I know I do. n Buffy Lincoln is an associate editor for Caring.

Photos by Bev Norman, Megan DeLapp and Janet Gahr

Adapting therapy to a communal model Officer studies PTSD in remote Alaska BY LINDA JOHNSON

When Scott Nicloy read Margaret Craven’s I Heard the Owl Call My Name in high school, he had no idea that one day, like the book’s protagonist Father Mark, he would sail into a Native village with an organ stored away in the cargo hold.

Now a Salvation Army major, Nicloy has taken his organ—he is classically trained—with him to each of his appointments in Southeast Alaska, including his current one in Kake, on Kupreanof Island.

He and his wife, Major June Nicloy, minister to a small Army congregation in a town of just 400 people. Most are Tlingit Indians who make a subsistence living from hunting and fishing; an outsider might think this an idyllic place, far removed from the stressors of modern life.

It isn’t. Aside from the living they make from the land and sea, there are few year-round jobs and many struggle to get by, especially during the harsh winters.

Kake is isolated, reachable only by ferries and planes.

The Tlingit people who live here suffer from alcohol and drug abuse, sexual issues—including addiction, abuse, and incest—difficult memories of military service (especially Vietnam), death of family members in accidents (hunting, logging and fishing incidents are common) and domestic violence. The people who suffer from such traumas often face ongoing post–traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In addition to being a corps officer in Kake, Scott Nicloy is an addictionologist, a “tent–making” counselor with the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). His training has taught him to treat PTSD with cognitive–behavioral therapy.

Is treatment too Western?

“This accepted method looks at thought patterns and how they were altered by trauma,” Nicloy. “It’s basically saying, ‘What you think is what you feel.’

Then you work on altering those thought patterns.”

But, Nicloy said, “My concern with this approach

with an indigenous population is that it is an extremely individualistic form of therapy and it is very cerebral.”

He began to wonder—from his experience working with Tlingit communities in Petersburg, Hoonah and Kake—whether such an approach is too “Euroamerican” or westernized in a culture that is based so strongly in community.

“I began to think about how the culture could help people with post–traumatic stress,” Nicloy said. “I asked myself, ‘What’s in the culture that empowers people, that helps them to connect?’”

Nicloy said that in Alaskan Native communities, alcohol abuse contributes to just about every other trauma people suffer. In 2000, when the Nicloys were serving in Hoonah, a community of about 850 people on Chicagof Island, Nicloy wrote: “Alcoholism is an everyday reality in the life of the village. Deaths due to accidents and illnesses related to alcoholism are routine announcements. The village’s high rate of sexual and domestic abuse problems is almost always related to alcohol in some way.”

The scourge of alcohol This wasn’t always so. According to Clarence Jackson, a nationally known Indian activist who has lived on Kake all his life, alcohol came to the villages of southeast Alaska only about 30 to 35 years ago.

Clarence’s great-grandfather spoke up against allowing a liquor store in Kake.

“This is my town,” he said in Tlingit. “My relatives will die if alcohol comes in.” Speaking to the crowd gathered to debate the topic, he said, “Your family’s going to die, too.”

But others—including representatives of various churches—supported having a local liquor store because people were getting killed in boating accidents as they made runs on dangerous, often icy seas to get liquor.

The supporters won, and now a liquor store is one

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of Kake’s few establishments, besides a gas station, a grocery store and a restaurant.

Nicloy said the introduction of alcohol in the villages caused increased child abuse and neglect, sexual abuse and assault, accidental deaths, childhood problems such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, domestic violence, mental illness and a high incidence of suicide.

Missing ‘Dad’s’ point Currently, Nicloy is reviewing literature on the subject. He says he’s discovered that most modern therapists seem to have missed an important part of the thinking of Alfred Adler, considered by many to be the “father” of modern psychotherapy.

“Like most sons and daughters, cognitive psychologists only listened to part of what ‘Dad’ had to say,” Nicloy said. “[They] built on Adler’s emphasis of the power of private, personal thoughts. But they neglected Adler’s greater emphasis on the importance of human connection…Maybe ‘Dad’ Adler was onto something that his cognitive offspring missed.”

Nicloy observes, “My impression is that the Tlingit way of dealing with the effects of trauma is much more communal (hence, more Adlerian) than it is cognitive. That is my hunch.”

That hunch comes from years of close observation.

For example, Nicloy says, in traditional Tlingit culture, “Parents are considered too close to their offspring to properly raise [them]. This task is left to the uncles and aunts…because [they] are the ‘true parents.’ In Tlingit culture there is no such thing as nephews, nieces, or cousins…they only have brothers and sisters.”

Every Tlingit is either an Eagle or Raven, and each tribe subdivision is broken down into clans, sub-clans and families. If an Eagle dies, it’s up to the Ravens to take care of the needs of the grieving Eagles.

The Ravens will cook, prepare for services and host visitors. A year later, the Eagles will host a “payback party” for the Ravens.

To the Tlingit people, such interconnectedness is extremely important, especially during crisis.

That fact is what led Nicloy to his research project.

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Majors Scott and June Nicloy

Once he’s finished reviewing the literature, he plans to begin interviewing people to discover how the Tlingit culture helps members remain connected and empowered.

Nicloy suggests that a communal model may not just be appropriate psychologically but also spiritually—even for “Westerners” who are Christians.

“Pastorally, I think St. Paul’s image of people being individual organs in a corporate body (1 Corinthians 12:12–26) is appropriate,” Nicloy said.

This pastor/counselor—even as he works on his dissertation—believes that he and his wife must create a “safe place” for their people.

“When people feel safe to share their hurts, then— and only then—can they heal,” Nicloy said. n Linda Johnson is the literary secretary in the U.S. Eastern Territory and the editor of Priority!

Photo by Linda Johnson

Salvation Army pilot project works in Alaska

BY JENNI RAGLAND

Just after its opening, in November 2009, Bill Hollinde arrived at The Salvation Army Clitheroe Center’s new Specialized Treatment Unit (STU). By court order, he had to stay for 30 days.

After suffering physical injuries from his training as a Navy diver, loss of loved ones and a fear of personal failure, Hollinde sought comfort in prescription pills and a bottle of whatever alcohol he could afford. Hoping a change in environment would help him make the life changes he desperately wanted, Hollinde moved to California to pursue a career in Hollywood.

Instead of new opportunities, he found plentiful drugs and alcohol and his efforts to fit in only deepened his dependence on substances, especially methamphetamine.

Soon, Hollinde was homeless.

After moving to Seattle, efforts of the local Veterans Administration (VA) clinic helped Hollinde remain clean and sober for six months. During this time, he found employment in the Alaska fishing industry in Ketchikan. For the next few years, Hollinde worked the fishing season in Alaska and returned to Seattle to drink away his wages.

In 1998, during a fierce storm while fishing in the Bering Sea, Hollinde had

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what he describes as an encounter with God. “For the first time in a long time, I had a glimmer of hope and felt that God was watching over me,” he said.

Then in 2009, while in Homer, Alaska, a caseworker with the Anchorage VA clinic convinced him to meet with a doctor. Although he didn’t know it then, the doctor that examined Hollinde wasn’t optimistic he would survive, but completed the paperwork to admit him to The Salvation Army’s new STU program at Clitheroe Center.

While Hollinde doesn’t remember anything from his first few weeks in the program, he remembers being outraged when he found out that he was stuck in the program for 30 days under court order.

As the days turned to weeks, Hollinde began to see things in a different light. When his 30 days of courtmandated treatment concluded, he asked to remain in the program. He recalls saying, “God saw me this far, so maybe I just need to shut up and listen to others for a while.”

After four months in treatment, Hollinde was discharged and moved into a room at The Salvation Army Eaglecrest, a substance-free transitional living program. He admits that his sobriety is a day-to-day process, but for the first time in years he has hope and looks forward to his future.

Title 47 treatment In November 2009, The Salvation Army Clitheroe Center opened its 10-bed STU. Local leaders— including Senator Johnny Ellis, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, Representative Mike Kelly, and Melissa Stone of the State Division of Behavioral Health—attended its grand opening.

The first program of its kind in Alaska, STU provides detox and treatment services under Title 47 state regulations to adult chronic public inebriates at serious risk of harm to themselves or others.

According to this statute, police or community service crews can take someone off the street and deliver them to a treatment facility, where they are required to stay. The initial commitment period is for 48 hours, with extensions granted up to 30 days or longer at the discretion of a judge and with input from the treatment team. The goal is to provide the individual with an opportunity to make choices about the future with a clear mind.

While Title 47 involuntarily commits individuals,

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The Salvation Army is clear that the program is not intended to be punitive.

“At the forefront of my thinking and what I ask my staff to remember is that if this were my loved one, wouldn’t I want a safe place for him to receive help?” said Robert Heffle, director of Clitheroe Center.

Piece of the puzzle Recent headlines in the Anchorage Daily News reminded our community of the devastating impact that alcohol has on the lives of individuals, with 12 people dying on the streets in the year following May 2009 as a result of alcohol abuse.

While these headlines highlighted the issue, Ellis had initiated dialogue about the need to address the abuse more than two years ago. Throughout the process, the senator and his staff dedicated countless hours and secured the resources needed to help keep the project moving forward.

Estimates indicate that there are approximately 400 chronic public inebriates in Anchorage, but 10 percent of the individuals account for about 90 percent of the costs associated with public inebriation.

Ellis said, “This Specialized Treatment Unit is just one piece of a complex puzzle and I’m hopeful that funding for substance abuse treatment will be a priority for lawmakers in the future.”

Sullivan also advocates for addressing the city’s chronic inebriate problem. Since taking office in July 2009, the mayor created a strategic action plan addressing Anchorage’s chronic public inebriates and related issues of homelessness, hired a homeless coordinator and formed a homelessness leadership team, including The Salvation Army, to bring together service providers and other concerned individuals to formulate a comprehensive approach to the issue.

“By working together in a coordinated, collaborative community effort, we can help our most vulnerable citizens while improving public safety in our neighborhoods,” Sullivan said. “The Specialized Treatment Unit at Clitheroe is a good example of such collaboration.”

Choosing to stay While the STU is a pilot project, The Salvation Army is already seeing the impact of the program in the lives of individuals. One of the first STU graduates

recently shared that he had marked his seventh month living substance free.

“Since opening the doors to the STU, 35 individuals have been admitted to the program with the majority choosing to stay an average of 47 days—17 days longer than the court-ordered 30 required for completion of the program,” said Ellis. “The STU has treated individuals from across the state and is working closely to provide treatment programs to clients that will better their chances of success, including vocational training and housing assistance. While initially funded through June 30, 2010, new funding allocated for continuation of the program will increase the treatment opportunities for chronic inebriates across Alaska.” n Jenni Ragland is the divisional public relations director for The Salvation Army in Alaska.

Photos by Jenni Ragland

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REUNITED Mother and son

REUNITED Father and daughter

REUNITED Nephew and aunts

IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING The Army’s Missing Persons Bureau reunites fragmented families

BY BETTY ANDERSON AND DOUGLAS PEACOCK

In February 1882, an article appeared in The War Cry telling of a young boy—Harry—who ran away from his home in northern England. Harry’s decision to attend Salvation Army services enraged his father so much that he threatened to break Harry’s neck, and the frightened boy fled. The War Cry gave a full description of Harry and invited its readers to keep a look out for him and report any sightings. The following month, the paper stated that Harry was seen in a Sussex village and was on his way home to his apologetic father. This incident marked the beginning of the Army’s active concern for a missing person.

An international service The Salvation Army Missing Persons Bureau is one aspect of the Army’s international social services. Its purpose is to facilitate successful reunions between family members who have lost contact with each other.

William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, laid out the concept of an “Inquiry Office for Lost People” in his masterwork In Darkest England and the Way Out. In 1885, Florence Booth—the young daughter-in-law of the Founder—created the Inquiry Department of The Salvation Army.

Because employment was scarce, many young people left their families in the provinces to seek

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employment in the city. Parents who had lost track of their children contacted the Army because it was known for its willingness to help anyone in need.

Things are not too different today. Sociological elements including divorce, adoption, drug and alcohol abuse, AIDS, spouse/child abuse and disagreements all lead to family fragmentation.

The Salvation Army helps private citizens, inmates and mental institution patients find relatives they have lost. This search service is confidential; the Army will not reveal any information about the person being sought without his or her express permission. The Army also acts as liaison once the relative is found, as a located relative sometimes does not wish to be in direct contact with the inquirer. In these cases, we offer a letter forwarding service so the two relatives can communicate in a manner comfortable for both.

How to begin Searches are conducted utilizing government offices, credit institutions, social service agencies and law enforcement personnel, and can take six months or more.

The first step in beginning a search is to fill out the Missing Persons Inquiry form. More information about guidelines and necessary information can be found through salvationarmyusa.org. A search begins in the Missing Persons office of the territory where the seeker resides and—from there—can be sent to Army offices around the world.

REUNITED Brother and half-sisters

REUNITED Mother, son and daughter-in-law

There is a $50 non-refundable registration fee to review the case.

Once received, the form is evaluated. The Missing Persons Bureau reserves the right to reject an application based on motive, feasibility, and guideline restrictions. If the case is accepted, a letter is sent to the inquirer; if not, appropriate referrals are made.

If the sought relative died, the news is relayed to the inquirer, who can then allow continued search for a surviving family member of the deceased relative.

Often our inquirers consider online searches to be costly and personally invasive. The Salvation Army does the initial contacting and lets the person being sought know who is looking for them and why.

Inquirers trust the Army to handle the search in a caring, professional manner.

Booth Records Service The U.S. Western Territory recently began a program to reunite birthmothers from Booth Memorial Hospitals with children they placed for adoption.

The first “rescue home” for destitute, expectant mothers in the U.S. was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1880s. As the scope of service expanded, these multi-service health and welfare centers included social casework, medical care, spiritual guidance, counseling, foster homes and related services. This ministry offered privacy and respect for each young woman regardless of age, race, religion or economic background.

In an average year, more than 2,600 women turned to Booth Memorial Hospitals for assistance. Most were between the ages of 15-20. More than 2,000 children were born annually, with approximately three-fourths of the infants placed for adoption.

Staff helped to facilitate adoptions through approved

REUNITED Mother and daughter

agencies.

By the mid-1970s, most Booth Hospitals had either closed or revamped services to meet the needs of a new generation.

In the past, The Salvation Army considered their records to be closed and provided no services to birthmother or adoptee. However, social work staff felt that the Army had an obligation to assist with reunions if and where possible, and established a reunion registry.

In the West, Booth Records Services now strives to successfully reunite inquiring adopted adults with their birthmothers. The Booth Home records are kept confidential, but the information contained in them is utilized to conduct classified searches for birthmothers. No information is released without permission.

A well-kept secret The reward of the work is felt when we reunite long separated relatives.

In one case, a father had not seen his daughter in 40 years. After speaking to her, he contacted our office: “A miracle happened; my long lost daughter called me. I’m stunned. I’m thrilled and am experiencing every emotion one could possibly experience. You guys did it.”

A frequently heard comment: “I had no idea The Salvation Army provides these search services.”

We seem to be a well-kept secret, but want our clients to know more about this valuable department of The Salvation Army. n Major Betty Anderson and Major Douglas Peacock direct the missing persons bureaus in the U.S. Eastern Territory and Western Territory, respectively.

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Caring for creation A task for the church today Last October, Manila, Philippines, BY was hit by two massive typhoons.

EDWARD R. According to some reports, 80 BROWN percent of the city experienced

flooding, much of it severe. Homes were inundated with water to the top of the second floor. Over 1,500 people lost their lives.

On the heels of these storms, I went to Manila to teach an environmental seminar, “Hear the Call to Care for Creation,” that had been planned almost a year earlier. Surrounded by homes still damaged by floodwaters, more than 70 people spent two days seeking to understand what God might be saying through the environmental disaster.

“This is God’s timing,” said Alice Pineda, director of the sponsoring organization. “We are experiencing the results of sins against the environment, [and] it is time for the Philippine church to address this problem more intentionally and concretely.”

Sins against creation Many of the world’s ills—from poverty to political instability—arise from a rapidly intensifying environmental crisis. In theological terms: sins against God’s creation. Church leaders in the Philippines understood that their recent trials were not due to an “act of God.” Typhoons are not pleasant, but they are an indispensable part of God’s creation. However, God also provided forests to absorb rainfall and wetlands to act as flood barriers when typhoons come.

With most of the forest removed (the Philippines has less than 16 percent of its original forest remaining) and with wetlands replaced by culverts channeled through the middle of Manila (whose population is now more than 10 million), the consequences of the typhoon are obvious.

The Philippines are not alone. Mudslides in Haiti, drought in Kenya, failing wells in India: all signs that environmental abuse increases human suffering.

And it is not possible to alleviate that suffering without dealing with the underlying cause. We cannot truly “love our neighbor” without addressing environmental issues.

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In the Western world, we are affected differently by the environmental crisis. There are a number of reasons for this divide, but three stand out as worthy of mention: We just don’t know As I write these words, I’m sitting at my dining room table in Madison, Wisconsin. It’s a delightful morning. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. I can hear birds all around the house, even with the windows closed.

It doesn’t feel like the environment is in crisis. And that is our problem.

The visible parts of the environmental crisis are in other parts of the world right now. The air is virtually unbreatheable in most of the cities of China. Millions of people around the world do not have clean water to drink. Entire countries have been deforested in just the last 20 years, along with all of the erosion, droughts and floods that result. The ocean’s fisheries are almost exhausted and vast underground aquifers are giving up their last drops of water. But I can see none of this from my living room window.

Of course, you could not see the iceberg from the ballroom of the Titanic, either. And that is, unfortunately, the situation we are facing. Whether we live in California or China, the Philippines or Pakistan, we are all part of the same globe and damage to God’s creation on one side sooner or later affects us all.

We do not see the importance I hear this frequently: Yes, God’s creation is suffering—but we have more important work: evangelism, church planting and ministering to the poor and sick.

The answer to this lies in taking a step back in order to ask a fundamental question: What is God’s purpose in redemption, the framework within which the work of the church takes place? It doesn’t take long to begin to realize that God’s redemptive plan is bigger than we often realize: For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him

[Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:19-20).

This biblical concept—that God is working to redeem all of creation thus reversing the effects of our sin everywhere—is evident in Romans 8:19-22 and is supported by many other passages, such as Revelation 5:13: Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

I am not at all suggesting that environmental work should replace any of our traditional work of evangelism or church planting. But we need to realize that if God’s plan for redemption includes nonhuman creation, then the church must include that in our agenda as well.

We think the problems are too big The problems for God’s creation are indeed big, but perhaps solutions lie within the church.

What do we have to offer? Let’s start with what makes us a church—we have a relationship with the creator himself. We have his word to guide us and we have his power to enable us.

As the Church, our work to build families, alleviate crime in our cities, end the scourge of poverty around the world and make Jesus better known, must also include lessening harmful effects of the environmental crisis.

It is time to get to work! n Rev. Edward R. Brown is the director of Care of Creation, an environmental mission organization, author of Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation, and the presenter of the “Our Father’s World” seminar. Contact him at info@ careofcreation.org.

SAVE THE DATE!

DOING THE MOST GOOD

SUMMER 2010 CARING PAGE 43

AND FINALLY...

Sacred space is found inside The sacredness of Salvation Army buildings and facilities does not come from the brick and mortar that hold them together. The sacredness can be found in the things that happen inside: the decisions for Christ that are made during an altar call in the chapel on Sunday morning and the life-changing that happens at the Holiness Table; the young boy or girl who is led to Jesus for the first time in the fellowship hall during Sunday school; the prayer that takes place in the classroom for Bible study, or the young couple who are counseled in the office of the corps officer.

The ministry of the Army allows our sacred places to be mobile. I have seen firsthand a simple canteen become sacred ground with the bowing of a head for prayer and an offering of comfort to someone who has lost every earthly possession. I have seen a plain tent function as a tabernacle in the wilderness when the word of the Lord is shared with hurting hearts. Even the place on the street where we stop to give a bottle of cold water to someone in need during the summer’s heat can become sacred ground.

At territorial headquarters, a place many see only as sterile and businesslike, a conference room becomes a gathering place for prayer with a hurting employee.

Beyond discussions of construction plans and design layouts, I am often privileged to have spiritual conversations with others in my office. I have discovered that my sacred space can and will be found anywhere and everywhere the Lord is invited to be.

Roughly six years after Joan Kroc

BY WILLIAM RAIHL

PAGE 44 CARING SUMMER 2010

DOING THE MOST GOOD

bequeathed $1.8 billion to The Salvation Army, another sector of unique and dynamic structures have emerged in the Army’s property repertoire. Once all construction is complete, 25 “Kroc Centers” will stand as community centers in 25 cities across the United States.

Kroc intended for these centers to offer new opportunities for children and families in underserved communities.

The state-of-the-art facilities by definition provide confidence-building educational, recreational, artistic and spiritual activities to provide hope and change.

These facilities, by creating community centers, are drawing people to the Army.

The Salvation Army also houses people in transitional facilities, emergency lodges, treatment centers and permanent senior housing. We provide vital social service work in day-care centers for youth and adults, family service centers, clinics and a host of other specialized need programs. Camps and recreation areas allow for rest, relaxation and spiritual birth for some, renewal for others. All programs are housed in facilities that are mission centered, purpose driven and God honoring.

It is not the name of our spaces— citadel, tabernacle, divisional headquarters, camp—that make them hallowed. The life transforming work that happens inside of our buildings turns the space into a grand cathedral. With the Lord in our hearts, every structure has the opportunity to be sacred. n Major William Raihl is the property secretary in the U.S. Western Territory.

Salvation Army centers in the United States KROC CENTERS

25 planned 8 open CORPS

1252 OUTPOSTS

24

ADULT REHABILITATION CENTERS

105

EMERGENCY LODGES

183

SENIOR RESIDENCES

68

CHILD CARE CENTERS

105

MEDICAL/DENTAL CLINICS

7

From the 2010 Salvation Army Yearbook

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