Caring Vol. 16 No. 4 (Winter 2010/2011)

VOL. 16, NO. 4 • WINTER 2010/2011

The Salvation Army and healthcare

caring The holistic ministries of The Salvation Army

“Sick people need to be treated holistically, and The Salvation Army health ministry is faithful and effective when it ministers to people as complete body-soul...”­—DEAN PALLANT

To smile again

by Emilee Langer

Life in all its fullness 14

by Dean Pallant

Pakistan prescription

by Marguerite Ward

Healthy bodies, healthy souls, healthy communities

by M. Christine MacMillan

Looking to the future

by Edward Lyons

Calm in the chaos 16

by Sallyann C. Hood

WORKING THROUGH AUTISM

by Barbara Brown THINKING HEALTHIER

by Carol Seiler WELCOMED HOME

by Beth Desplancke SHELTER FROM THE STORM

by Sue Schumann Warner CLEAN WATER

by Ted Horwood

22 25 27 28 30

7 10 14 16 19 21

40

425

INDEPENDENCE AT HOME

by Carole-Anne Latta...............................33 TEMPLE OF HEALING

by Yvis Gonzales de Otalora......................35 ON THE STREETS OF HONOLULU

by Brian Saunders..................................36 RELATIONAL CARE

by Matthew Jensen..................................38 DUAL RESPONSIBILITY

by Cindy-Lou Drummond.........................40 GIFT CARD GIVER

by Gisele Nelson.....................................42

Do no harm From a dental care facility in Pennsylvania, to a corps covering sewage drains in Paksitan, to a program delivering prescriptions to the elderly in Scotland, The Salvation Army is promoting and producing better health for humanity.

MY CORNER 2 • PERSPECTIVE 3 • IN THE NEWS 4 • AND FINALLY... 44 WINTER 2010/2011 • VOL. 16, NO. 4

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MY CORNER

Primum non nocere Physicians, upon entering practice, swear an essential BY tenet of medical ethics: First, do no harm.

ROBERT In our own life and in our interpersonal relationships DOCTER it would be good for us to embrace such a standard.

Lord knows—we need it!

First, do no harm We harm ourselves.

The Center for Disease Control classified more than one-third of the adult population as obese and stated it had reached epidemic proportions. Without exercise and a proper diet we don’t feel well.

We experience shortness of breath. We go to a doctor who, possibly, will prescribe some medication that could easily mask the real problem.

We live a stressful lifestyle. We load up our days with massive agenda and accept obligations that consume our time and energy.

The stress level plays havoc with our vital organs. We have never learned how to relax. Our blood pressure is through the roof.

Our immaturity, driven by some desire for the emotional comfort of years past, forces us into a posture of immediate gratification—I want it now! Unfortunately, our toys, now, are more expensive. This fact, however, doesn’t inhibit us. We buy on time, banking on a 6 percent pay increase next year.

We also harm others.

Tension levels promote strong anger that, too often, turns to rage.

We become blamers, refusing to accept responsibility for our actions.

We criticize, stereotype and diminish each other—often unsupported by any evidence. Discussions quickly turn to arguments. Bitterness follows. Gossip destroys both the gossiper and the target. Some of us seem only to find the negative in almost everything. Perhaps, the most serious harm we might do is to do nothing—to “pass by on the other side of the road”—to choose not to relate to those in distress.

Do good The statement, “First, do no harm,” however, only cautions us concerning half of our responsibility to self and others. We must not only avoid doing harm, we must also do good—be loving, kind, helpful, caring, gentle and considerate of one another.

Why? Why should we avoid harming others as well as care about them?

Big question! Very big—not easy or simple to answer.

But I’ll try.

I believe that there is within us something we call spirit—a human spirit that connects us with others. From a physiological standpoint it’s unidentifiable, but, nonetheless, very present.

MY CORNER page 6

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

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Reclaim ‘acts of mercy’ as imperatives to holiness.

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

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

Foster innovation and the development of creative approaches to ministry.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Editor in Chief Managing Editor Contributing Editor Associate Editor Editorial Assistant

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

Art Director

CIRCULATION Christin Davis

562-491-8723

USA WESTERN TERRITORIAL HEADQUARTERS Commissioner James Knaggs, 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

Repair and restore More than fixing broken parts Good health is a luxury, and one that BY I’ve long taken advantage of. Besides CHRISTIN one broken arm, I’ve not had many DAVIS encounters with the medical field,

though access to it is readily available when needed.

This puts me in the minority.

In some countries, only 20 percent of people report receiving medical care when they needed it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the United States, Gallup research indicates one in six (16.3 percent) American adults remain uninsured today, putting medical care out of reach. Of those who do receive care, many have trouble paying for it.

Approximately 50 percent of personal bankruptcies are due to medical expenses, according to Health Affairs.

The health care expenditure in the U.S. is the highest of any developed country, at 15.3 percent of the gross domestic product, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

It’s no question that health care is most definitely a hot topic, especially as the U.S. is ripe with debate over health care reform, insurance industry modifications and new legislation.

The problems are of critical concern, and there are no simple answers.

Improving health In September 2010, 140 heads of state and government met at the United Nations (UN) to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals, which were created in 2000 for achievement by 2015. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said the goals, “embody basic human rights—the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter and security.”

A resulting 31-page summit outcome document reaffirms the commitment to these goals and focuses on actions, policies and strategies to support the

countries that are behind in reaching the goals by 2015 (see more at un.org/en/mdg/summit2010).

Despite all debate, improvements are happening, according to the WHO 2010 World Health Statistics report. Fewer children are dying, fewer children are underwieight, more women get skilled help during childbirth, fewer people are contacting HIV and more people have safe drinking water (See statistics on page 44).

Holistic care We have a goal in The Salvation Army to repair and restore people.

Those who might not enter a Salvation Army building any other way may be willing to receive care or information at one of our 29 hospitals, 135 health centers, 64 mobile clinics or 648 health education programs.

Major Dean Pallant, international health services coordinator, recently completed a two-year review of Salvation Army health ministries around the world with his wife, Major (Dr.) Eirween Pallant.

“People in every community want to be healthy, but many are sick,” he writes in his analysis (pg. 10). “Sick people need to be treated holistically, and Salvation Army health ministry is most faithful and effective when it ministers to people as complete body-soul, resisting the modern temptation to merely fix a few broken parts.”

From a dental center in Pennsylvania, to a corps covering sewage drains in Pakistan, to a program delivering prescriptions to the elderly in Scotland, The Salvation Army is promoting and producing better health for humanity. n Christin Davis is the editor of Caring and managing editor of New Frontier Publications.

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In the news Compiled by Karen Gleason

Fast for Change 2010 campaign In Canada, thousands of Christians joined in prayer and fasting in mid-October to raise awareness that hunger in a world of abundance is a matter of injustice. More than a billion people are chronically malnourished. Followers of Jesus are called to respond in prayer and action; Jesus’ command to “feed the hungry” is not a metaphor.

The Fast for Change 2010 campaign challenged Christians to consider why so many in the world are hungry and then to act in solidarity and love. Developed by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank—a partnership of Canadian churches (including The Salvation Army) and church-based agencies working to end hunger in developing countries—the event sought to: • increase and deepen the involvement of Canadians in efforts to end hunger • support partnerships and activities to reduce hunger on an immediate and sustainable basis • influence necessary change in public policy to end hunger.

For more information, visit fastforchange.ca.

From salvationist.ca

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Alegria, red balloons, and the future for AIDS sufferers On Dec. 1, 2010—World Aids Day—The Salvation Army’s Alegria will hold the Red Balloon Walk, a creative way to educate the public about current issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. Alegria—Spanish for “joy”—is a residential and child development center for homeless families affected by HIV/ AIDS located in Los Angeles, California. The village-style community consists of 16 units of licensed residential care and 28 townhomes for permanent supportive housing. An onsite, licensed child development center offers free childcare (upon qualification) for 65 boys and girls from Alegria and the surrounding community.

“The Salvation Army has been a pioneer in developing and implementing a collaborative and integrated response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Lt. Colonel Victor Leslie, divisional commander of The Salvation Army in Southern California.

“We have a long history of working with community, state, national, and international partners to improve treatment, care, and support for persons living with HIV/AIDS. “Our Red Balloon Walk is part

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of our strategic plan in Southern California to educate and reach our community, especially populations at risk for HIV, with the urgent reminder that we all need to become partners in mission in preventing the further spread of HIV and its devastating effects on our communities,” Leslie said.

From redballoonwalk.org

Australia’s Kardinia Network expands services In Australia, The Salvation Army Kardinia Network provides homeless assistance, crisis counseling, drug treatment, women’s support and other services in the Geelong (Victoria) region.

The Geelong Withdrawal Unit—part of this network— opened an expanded services wing, which offers a threestage program including detox schedules, ongoing support and accommodations. The expanded facility has new training rooms, a doctor’s consulting room and nurse’s treatment room.

Facility manager Debra Little said, “The extension means we have a lovely new office and treatment facilities. It boils down to the staff being able to deliver better services for clients.”

From Onfire and salvationarmy.org.au

Helping people stay healthy A recent Census Bureau report found that the number of Americans living in poverty has increased to 1 in 7, with the number of those without health insurance also on the rise.

The Salvation Army is working to help people stay healthy, often partnering with professional organizations and community individuals to hold health fairs that offer free screenings and provide health care information.

Two Army locations held “stand-down” events for the homeless in their communities, providing a one-stop shop of resources on jobs, housing and social programs, and offering services including flu shots, teeth cleaning, free eyeglasses, HIV screenings, hospital referrals and new ID cards.

The La Crosse, Wis., Salvation Army, partnering with Viterbo University and the La Crosse County Health Department, has opened a non-profit organization, located at the corps, which provides free health care to those in need and educates people about healthy living and wellness.

The services include flu shots, blood pressure tests, tuberculosis skin tests, diabetes screening, cholesterol screening and nutrition screening.

Other Salvation Army corps have staged health fairs for their communities; recent fairs took place in Chicago, Ill., Baton Rouge, La., Doraville, Ga., and Torrance, Calif. The

Torrance Corps partners with the city for its health fair; in 2010, 85 volunteers assisted 450 people and administered over 1,200 screenings. The corps knows of one senior citizen whose screening revealed a life-threatening condition. The individual was referred to the emergency room, where he received treatment for a coronary blockage.

From usc.salvationarmy.org and blog.salvationarmyusa.org Mercy Ships—taking healing to the seas The global charity Mercy Ships has operated a growing fleet of hospital ships in developing nations since 1978. Mercy Ships brings hope and healing to the poor, mobilizing people and resources worldwide—serving without regard for race, gender or religion.

The charity utilizes professional volunteers—who serve from two weeks to two years—in service roles or specialized medical or technical positions, thereby maximizing donor support and reaching those who need help the most.

An upcoming documentary features the work of Mercy Ships in the West African country of Benin. In The Dawn of a New Day, filmmaker Ryley Grunenwald tells the story of patients being treated for burn contractures, tumors and congenital abnormalities— receiving the care they could not otherwise afford. Grunenwald

said she wants viewers to realize that “even in their own communities, opportunities exist to get involved and live a life bigger than themselves” and to bring healing to thousands who would otherwise not receive it.

From sagoodnews.co.za and mercyships.org “Cultures in Harmony”—uniting the world through music Juilliard-trained William Harvey is convinced music can bridge culture gaps and save the planet. His conviction evolved after playing his violin for 9/11 soldiers working at Ground Zero when he saw firsthand the difference his music made in their lives.

Through “Cultures in Harmony”—his nonprofit organization—he and his team have conducted 11 projects in 19 countries and sent “musical diplomats” to places such as Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Cameroon and Egypt.

He currently teaches violin at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul. Although the school faces daily uncertainties, Harvey remains confident of its future.

Harvey is giving concerts in Pakistan to generate funds for girls wanting to study at the institute, a difficult task due to the Taliban’s ban on female education and music. But, again, he is optimistic for success.

From aolnews.com

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MY CORNER

from page 2

In childhood, as we grow, each of us, guided by that part of us that is spirit, may choose to begin a process in which we construct a belief system. This confronts many choices as we struggle to refine and modify the nature of our human belief system.

Some choose to believe that we don’t really have any choice at all. Others hone the belief system more pointedly as they confront their choices and weigh what to believe about the nature of human existence.

For me, I believe there exists an essence greater than humanity who created our world and all of us in it. I call this essence “God.” I believe that God revealed himself to us in human form through the man Jesus in order to teach us how to relate to him, to one another and to all his creation. He focused on

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relationships—with God and with other humans and taught us how to love one another.

I choose to accept his teaching and struggle in my humanness to emulate it. I choose to identify him as God. I believe with a depth of certainty that he is Messiah, the Christ, the chosen one sent by God as a gift of grace, of salvation, of forgiveness for all who choose to believe and actualize that belief in behavior. Therefore, we love him and all those he loves. We worship him, respect him and obey him.

He is the reason we never “pass by on the other side of the road.” n Robert Docter, Ph.D., is editor in chief of New Frontier Publications.

Dental Center restores oral health

TO SMILE AGAIN

The first patient in The BY Salvation Army Dental Center EMILEE in Oil City, Pennsylvania, LANGER arrived with her favorite stuffed

animal, “Tickles.” Brenna, 4, received one filling on the opening day in March 2010. As she left, she exclaimed, “Thank you for making my day and my smile special!”

A line of people from the community anxiously waited for their turn outside.

Now just months later, the center has seen more than 1,000 dental patients from Venango County and its immediate surrounding area. Clients at the Dental Center also receive additional assistance through Army programs, including food distribution, men’s and women’s fellowship, children’s after-school care and day camp.

“This is more than drilling and filling. We listen and evaluate the needs of each family, and then work to provide the best service available,” said Emilee Langer, administrative director for the Dental Center. “The comprehensive services offered are an answer DOING THE MOST GOOD

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Clockwise from top left: (l-r) Major Lynette Reel, Commissioner Nancy R. Moretz, Sir Brush-A-Lot, Commissioner Lawrence Moretz, Major Robert Reel, and patients at the Dental Center opening. Julynda Nulph, dental hygienist, teaches oral hygiene to a patient. Outside the Dental Center on the day of the ribbon cutting.

to prayer, and a direct result of a committed group of community leaders who recognized the need.”

A call to action At the turn of the century, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health. In the report, oral health was described as a “silent epidemic” of untreated diseases affecting the most vulnerable citizens—the poor, the elderly and many racial and ethnic minority groups. This landmark report called upon leadership in every area of health care for collaboration and working solutions to increase the public understanding of oral health as part of overall health, to eliminate barriers—geographic, socioeconomic and ethnic—and to address the dental workforce shortage in underserved communities. The Salvation Army heard the call.

Locally, Venango County was working to address the 2005 needs assessment, which revealed that nearly half of its residents were living at or below the federal poverty level. The assessment confirmed a shortage of dental professionals and lack of access to dental care in other areas due to transportation and cost of care for

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individuals without insurance.

Captain Martha Jenson and Captain Cindy Lou Drummond, former commanding officers for the Oil City Corps, were interested in staying active in the medical community. Through the State Health Improvement Partnership – Focus on our Future Collaborative Board (SHIP- FOOFCB), Jenson and Drummond linked with the Diabetic Task Force. As physicians and Salvation Army officers, their interest in this group led to an invitation to join the Venango County Dental Task Force (DTF). This group echoed the need for a community dental center, reporting individuals using dentures of deceased relatives or pulling their own teeth with pliers due to extreme pain. After a few meetings with the DTF, the request emerged—a dentist was willing to volunteer, but a dental office would be needed.

“We talked about the possibility of using a room in the Army building and agreed that this would be a good means for outreach,” Drummond said about meetings with the DTF. “We thought of an annex building used for food storage and distribution.”

Drummond invited Dr. Bart Morrow from the University of Pittsburgh Dental School to see the space and he approved.

In a 2008 letter of commitment, Brenda Carll, a

registered public health nurse with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and DTF chairperson, solidified the commitment between the DTF and The Salvation Army, with planning and clinical support provided by the University of Pittsburgh, School of Dental Medicine.

Mission and vision According to Major Robert Reel, Western Pennsylvania divisional commander, the notion that the Dental Center’s services bring practical help and hope in this critical area of health is another way for the Army to provide innovative services.

The opening of a dental facility in Venango County for the underinsured and the uninsured means healthier children and eventually, adults. It means improved confidence and self-esteem. It means one less frustration for people who are subject to the lack of health care accessibility. Through the doors of this dental center come people who might not otherwise have entered a Salvation Army building. The dental center provides an avenue of reaching those who not only need their teeth repaired, but need their lives restored.

“I am blessed to see the present dental challenges sensitively and successfully addressed as well as creating future inroads for better dental health through education and continuing care for this rural area of Western Pennsylvania” Reel said.

Financial support The majority of patients served are covered under Medical Assistance, an entitlement program through the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare.

For individuals without insurance, the center offers a sliding fee scale based on income and family size.

For families whose income falls below 100 percent of the federal poverty level, the indigent care fund helps cover the cost for services. However, funds granted to the facility for indigent care are limited, and additional funding sources are being sought to assist with the cost for dental services needed in Venango County.

“We are fortunate to have funding support at the state, local and private foundation levels,” said Captain David Means Jr., commanding officer for the Oil City Corps.

The combination of funds received to date allowed The Salvation Army to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, and to hire the high-caliber clinical and

administrative staff employed at the center.

Means said the goal is to be self-sustaining by the end of the third year of operations, in 2013. In the interim, grant funding continues to be a critical part of the Dental Center’s success.

The future As part of its mission, the Dental Center supports oral health education through community outreach with area Head Start agencies, elementary, middle and high schools, organized community dental events, and continued collaboration with the DTF and SHIP – FOOFCB. In September 2010, the Dental Center expanded its outreach through the Student Community Outreach Program in Education (S.C.O.P.E.) with the University of Pittsburgh.

S.C.O.P.E. is a voluntary program that places fourth year dental students into community practice settings prior to graduation. Dental Center personnel, working as adjunct faculty to the University, supervise students.

“The program is a win-win,” said Dr. Richard Rubin, S.C.O.P.E. chairperson and faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh. “Students gain realtime knowledge about patient evaluation, treatment planning and treatment completion working in a private practice setting.”

Rubin said that community outreach through S.C.O.P.E. will be a mandatory requirement for graduation as of September 2012.

The Dental Center is a ministry. Literature, video, and one-on-one contact with corps officers and Christian employees provide an open door for the patient and family to not only see the programs the Army offers, but also an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ. Any qualified person can provide dental services, but only those that know the giver of abundant life, Christ, can offer dental services as a ministry.

“You have given me the most wonderful gift—my beautiful smile back,” said Jennifer, 33, a patient. “You can’t begin to know what you have given me; to be able to laugh and smile after so many years of hiding.” n Emilee Langer, MPH, is the administrative director of The Salvation Army Dental Center in Oil City, Pennsylvania.

Photos courtesy of The Salvation Army Western Pennsylvania Division

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LIFE IN ALL Salvation Army health ministry in the 21 st century

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ITS FULLNESS BY DEAN PALLANT

In the past three years, I visited 43 countries, more than 120 cities, hundreds of towns, villages and homes on every continent of the world to study Salvation Army health ministries, understand current opportunities and challenges, and consult with hundreds of people about its future.

Major (Dr.) Eirwen Pallant, my wife, and I were tasked with developing an international vision and strategy for Salvation Army health ministry in the 21st century, and we learned four key lessons about Salvation Army ministry in today’s sick and hurting world along the way.

Lesson One: Everyone wants to be healthy, but many are sick People all around the world want to enjoy good health.

Overall, the world’s population is healthier, wealthier and lives longer today than it did 30 years ago, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics.

In 2008, the total annual number of deaths in children under age 5 fell to 8.8 million—down by 30 percent from the 12.4 million estimated in 1990, according to WHO. The under-5 mortality rate has declined due to improved access to medicine and clean water, improved sanitation and care for pregnant mothers and newborn babies.

According to WHO, global expenditure on health

in 2006 was about 8.7 percent of gross domestic product, with the highest level in the Americas at 12.8 percent and the lowest in the South-East Asia Region at 3.4 percent. The world’s expenditure in this area grew 35 percent between 2000 and 2005; in 2007, the world spent $5.3 trillion on health.

People are getting healthier. Progress is possible.

Yet, other trends cause concern.

We were struck by the rapid growth in the world’s population and consumption of the Earth’s resources. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the world population is currently estimated at 6.9 billion. Current projections show a continued increase of population (but a steady decline in the population growth rate) with the population expected to reach 8 to 10.5 billion in the year 2050.

Second, despite the progress made in improving health standards, a number of countries lag behind with some even losing ground. Health inequalities within countries are sometimes stark. For example, in the African city of Nairobi, the under-5 mortality rate is below 15 per 1,000 children in the highincome areas, but in the slum areas, the rate is 254 per 1,000 children.

It is not only people in Africa and Asia who struggle to be healthy. Many readers, like me, live in economically developed countries. Our communities face serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer and addictions of many kinds. A significant problem for westerners is not finding excellent hospitals with superb doctors offering life-saving treatment; the problem is paying for it.

Left: Children attending a mobile clinic in Cochabamba, Bolivia, receive a nutritional drink. Above: Major (Dr.) Eirwen Pallant engages a disabled child at The Salvation Army’s health center in Begoro, Ghana.

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People in every community want to be healthy, but many are sick—this is the broken world that The Salvation Army is called to serve.

Lesson Two: Money helps, but is only part of the solution Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid to improve the health of the poorest people, preventable diseases such as malaria and diarrhea still result in almost 11 million deaths every year.

The situation is critical. More than 100 million people a year fall into poverty because they cannot afford their health care costs.

Money is essential to fund treatment, such as vaccines and medicines, but as we have repeatedly realized, relationships are also crucial. People need relationships to be healthy—a relationship with God, good relationships with family, friends and neighbors and, especially important, a good relationship with our own body and soul.

Relationships + Money = Change.

All around the world, The Salvation Army has learned that when money is invested in strengthening human relationships, as well as meeting immediate physical needs, the outcomes are more effective, efficient and long lasting.

Our relationship with God is our most important relationship; his very nature—three persons in one— is relationship. This understanding of God helps us appreciate why Christians are called to focus on relationships.

International Headquarters recently published a booklet called Building Deeper Relationships using Faith-Based Facilitation that sets out a faith-based process to help people deepen their relationships.

It captures the distinctiveness of Salvation Army ministry—a ministry based on the Bible, enriched by the reality of long-term engagement with the reality of a messy, broken world but empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit to change it.

Lesson Three: Health is more than medicine On our travels, we have seen how modern medicine is often part of the problem—not the solution. As a medical doctor, Eirwen—in addition to her service as a Salvation Army officer—works

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two days a week as a General Practitioner (GP) in a government health center in London. Every British resident must be referred by a GP to see a specialist.

Many of the poorest people in the world insist on going straight to a specialist—even if that pushes up the cost of treatment.

The body is not a machine that can be repaired like a mechanic changes the parts of a car; God created humans as body and soul made for relationships. Sick people need to be treated holistically, and Salvation Army health ministry is most faithful and effective when it ministers to people as complete body-soul, resisting the modern temptation to merely fix a few broken parts.

Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Army, explained the holistic nature of Salvation Army ministry in a sermon in 1881: “It is not a scheme of salvation merely—it is a scheme of restoration.

He proposes to restore me—brain, heart, soul, spirit, body, every fiber of my nature to restore me perfectly, to conform me wholly to the image of his Son.” Lesson Four: An integrated approach is highly effective The Salvation Army works in 121 countries with an amazing diversity of services including hospitals and clinics, community centers, schools, recovery centers, children’s homes, adult education initiatives and community-based income generation programs.

At the heart of every program is a worshipping community of people seeking to put faith into action.

Integration does not just happen—it needs careful attention.

General John Gowans (now retired) summarized The Salvation Army’s mission as “saving souls, growing saints and serving suffering humanity.” This three-fold statement is not a menu of options from which we choose. It is a statement of the essential components of integrated Salvation Army mission— salvation, sanctification and service. All three are required for a stable, sustainable, God-honoring expression of Salvationism.

Salvation Army Founder William Booth identified the importance of safe places in helping people

out of poverty. In Darkest England and The Way Out (1890) he called them “colonies.” As I travel, I witness Salvation Army ministry in many safe places today—children’s homes, hospitals, schools, hostels, corps, refuges and farms. In the U.S., the developing Ray and Joan Kroc Centers are modern-day safe places.

Salvationists do not wait for the community to come to the safe place—from the days of the Booths, the calling has been to go out and build relationships. Encouraging spiritual health is not an optional activity; it is a necessity.

The world is crying out for better health—God

has shown us how to enjoy life in all its fullness. The development of Salvation Army health ministry in the next couple of years will include an emphasis on health education, the rightsizing of Salvation Army hospitals to ensure quality primary health care services, and to support community and corps-based health initiatives. n Major Dean Pallant is the international health services coordinator and the under secretary for program resources at International Headquarters in London.

Photos by Dean Pallant

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PAKISTAN Simple health responses for healthy communities BY MARGUERITE WARD

Most of the villages and slum areas in Pakistan have open, uncovered sewage drains that run in front of homes and shops, gathering additional trash and obviously posing great health risk.

Following training in community development, the corps officer of the Basti Corps began a project with the corps’ youth to start a cleanup. They developed a simple map of the local area and as they clean and cover sewage drains, the group colors in the related section of the map, which hangs on a wall in the hall of the corps displaying achievement in multi-color.

In a village in Jhang, a candidate was denied college entry when it was discovered she had hepatitis. In the following months, several others also fell ill. The Salvation Army brought key community members together and tested the water to find that sewage run off was infiltrating the wells. The group organized a visit to the local government, which resulted in a new, covered sewerage drain that produced clean water from the wells.

A second village in the same division acquired an electricity supply, which had previously been limited.

With community and government engagement, a new transformer and safer wiring resulted.

The Salvation Army in Pakistan acknowledges that focusing on community health invovles working with local leaders, and beginning basic health programs and skills and literacy trainings to help people in Pakistan improve their own conditions.

A vision Women’s Ministries in Pakistan reinvigorated the Medical Fellowship (MF)—an Army program founded in 1943 as an international fellowship for nurses and health care professionals. The group developed a health vision with a number of objectives and activities, including volunteer medical service and community

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devlopment training.

Members realized that many of the villages did not have health facilities, so they organized and conducted health camps. During these visits, women officers and selected village members requested training in basic health responses. They can now take blood pressure, temperature and baby weight. They are also trained to recongnize high risk conditions and methods for encouraging families to make every effort to travel from remote areas to regional or city health clinics/hospitals when necessary. At some training sessions, professionals from nearby government clinics serve as guest lecturers.

This is an intentional effort to link communities to the government services that go unknown.

In another sprawling settlement in Hyderabad, the MF opened a basic health clinic. Because the community is located far from other health care services and community members can’t afford the travel fares, each MF member volunteered to provide free service. The clinic is open three hours per day and charges a small fee to maintain itself.

From the Canadian Territory’s “Gifts of Hope” funding system, the Pakistan Territory received a donation to purchase blood pressure cuffs, thermometers, scales, and other medical equipment for each division, which various corps currently share.

Women’s Ministries and MF collected data on the more prevalent maladies and developed fact sheets to assist the officers in prevention, recognizing symptoms and providing basic treatment. These fact sheets will be included in the Women Ministries’ Manual this year and are also provided to our major development project—Sustainable Livelihood Development (SLD)—personnel for use during monthly campaign days.

Women’s health clubs Meeting mother and child health concerns are of particular focus throughout Pakistan right now.

Women’s Ministries and SLD hold monthly training events and conduct weekly check-ups to monitor

weight, check hygiene and answer questions. These health clubs include women of both Christian and Muslim faith. In addition to raising the level of health in the community, we pray for its impact on communal peace.

A women’s minstries team recently scheduled a three-day visit to each division to offer support on various issues women face in Pakistan. On the final day during our visit to the Khanewal Division, we focused on health issues.

We informed the women about blood pressure, high fevers and treating wounds, including practical demonstrations.

One beautiful young woman was ecstatic that she had been trained to take a temperature and recognize what fevers require immediate attention. She said she planned to purchase a thermometer (and antiseptic to clean it after each use) and inform her village that she had this skill. Somberly, she acknowledged that children often die because the mother didn’t realize soon enough that the fever was dangerously high.

Although there is no health facility in her village, she said she could now advise mothers on when they need to take their child to the neighboring city for treatment.

Having extensive and varied involvement in health responses from the tertiary level to basic community health around the world, the tremendous impact of health issues facing our world is clear. I am encouraged and inspired by the ministry of healing by Christ, and the surprising capacity of communities to initiate and cope with necessary change. n Colonel Marguerite Ward is the territorial president of women’s ministries in the Pakistan Territory. She previously spent 17 years as director of pastoral care in Salvation Army hospitals in Canada and South Africa, and served in Africa for 12 years, participating in HIV/ AIDS ministries.

Photos courtesy of the Pakistan Territory Women’s Ministries

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Healthy bodies, healthy souls, healthy communities Jesus went throughout

BY M. Galilee, teaching in their CHRISTINE synagogues, preaching the MacMILLAN good news of the kingdom,

and healing every disease and sickness among the people (Matthew 4:23).

Advocating just health policies and practices

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Specific encounters are behind this summary statement from Matthew: Jesus met Peter’s mother-in-law lying on her sick bed; Jairus’s daughter lay stretched out on her deathbed; a chronically ill woman strained to touch his cloak; a visually impaired Bartimeaus was keen to see his face; and Legion pulled at his chains of mental torture.

Jesus’ bedside manner strikes us as intensely personal and contextual.

“Get up; what is your name?”

“Who touched me? Woman, you are healed of your sickness.”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins.”

“What do you want me to do for you?”

The direct personal encounter is very important. In my own ministry, I have lived in countries where dieting is a struggle because food is too plentiful and I have lived in countries where “diets” are

DOING THE MOST GOOD

forced on children because food is so scarce.

On one occasion, a female Christian leader in the command where I was stationed began to hemorrhage in childbirth. The Salvation Army emergency response team arrived and asked her the question Jesus asked: “What do you want me to do?” It was her husband who answered. He declined the offer to have his wife lifted into the ambulance. It wasn’t cruelty; it was fear.

Would a bill come to their village afterward demanding money to pay for the blood stains on the vehicle? He wouldn’t have it. No amount of pleading, coaxing, or pressure could get him to change his mind. As a result, one more woman and one more half-born child died on the floor.

When I heard about this the next day I felt helpless.

Life for some is profoundly unjust. Jesus asked the man beside the therapy pool, “Do you want to get well?” In some parts of the world, to ask that question seems cruelly unjust. “What do you mean?” this hemorrhaging mother and her husband could have replied. “Of course, I want to get well. But by what mean? At what cost?”

Extension of life Having Salvation Army health personnel onsite was not enough. Health is not only a matter of good medicine, it is a matter of money and culture and access. It is nested in a host of other social complexities.

If immediate crises like this woman’s bleeding make us feel helpless, the sense of powerlessness is amplified by noticing the surrounding factors that contribute to its being a crisis in the first place. The temptation is to conclude that changing things is beyond our control.

A social justice initiative is not prepared to concede.

Commitment to social justice is a commitment not to let unfairness continue just because doing something about it is hard work. Without diminishing the importance of the individual situation, social justice begins to analyze the structural factors that are in play, imagine alternative structures, and then strategize how things can be done differently.

I sit on the board of Health Partners International (HPI), a Christian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). HPI accesses health resources, such as prescription medications that are abundant in countries where the shelves of 24/7 pharmacies are full, and

arranges for them to be delivered to hospitals and health professionals in countries where illness is rampant and medicine scarce. The mission is not at the bedside, but a contribution at one removal from the bedside is critical to the relieving of pain, curing of illness and extension of life all the same.

That’s good, but what if compassionate nurses and doctors and efficient NGOs run into laws that prevent the trans-shipment of surplus drugs? What if there is evidence of government corruption or inadequate distribution networks in the countries where the medicines are needed? What if there are patents that the drug companies feel they need to protect if they are to stay in business? Then there need to be advocates equipped to take the case to the next level, ready to “speak truth to power” as necessary.

Advocating for health On the global scene this means engaging with United Nations (UN) agencies. In 2000, the member states of the UN adopted eight Millennium Development Goals, three of which specifically target health [see sidebar].

These goals align with Jesus’ mission to bring healing and health and to call into being communities in which care is available. As Jesus looked out for the suffering felt by individuals, I am certain he recognized ill health that was unfairly caused or sustained by economic deprivation, stigma, disability, social exclusion and gender discrimination.

That’s why The Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission will continue to advocate for just health policies and practices. The work will not always be tidy. Success will seldom come quickly. We won’t always be able to celebrate a big win. But living in the mess of today’s complex world is just where Jesus’ followers should be, speaking God’s love for stressed bodies, disturbed minds and agonized spirits.

On another occasion, in the same country where the mother died in childbirth, I delivered a solar-powered refrigerator to a remote village by helicopter, accompanied by our social services staff and representatives of the country’s government. That summer 150 children had died of measles. Vaccines were hard to get, and without refrigeration they would quickly become useless even if we could secure them.

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Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals target health: GOAL 4 Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the mortality rate of children under age 5.

Quick Facts: • The number of children in developing countries who died before they reached age 5 dropped from 100 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2008.

• Almost nine million children still die each year before they reach their fifth birthday.

• The highest rates of child mortality continue to be found in sub- Saharan Africa, where, in 2008, one in seven children died before their fifth birthday.

• Of the 67 countries defined as having high child mortality rates, only 10 are currently on track to meet the MDG target.

GOAL 5 Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio and achieve universal access to reproductive health care.

Quick Facts: • More than 350,000 women die annually from complications during pregnancy or childbirth—99 percent are in developing countries.

• In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s maternal mortality risk is 1 in 30, compared to 1 in 5,600 in developed regions.

• The maternal mortality rate is declining only slowly, even though the vast majority of deaths are avoidable.

• Every year, more than 1 million children are left motherless and are 10 times more likely to die prematurely than those who are not.

GOAL 6 Halt, by 2015, and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other major diseases, and achieve universal access to treatment.

Quick Facts: • Every day over 7,400 people are infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS-related illnesses. HIV remains the leading cause of death among reproductive-age women worldwide.

• An estimated 33.4 million people were living with HIV in 2008, two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Access to HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries increased 10-fold over a span of just five years.

• Malaria kills a child in the world every 45 seconds. Close to 90 percent of malaria deaths occur in Africa, where it accounts for a fifth of childhood mortality.

• 1.8 million people died from tuberculosis in 2008, about 500,000 of whom were HIV-positive.

From a 2010 United Nations MDG fact sheet.

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Our analysis of the situation told us that modern technology devised by people who had all life’s advantages, delivered to a village that was completely off any electricity grid, could change the equation. So, when the fridge arrived, there was dancing and leaping and praising God. I prayed over that fridge as if I was laying hands on a sick body. The local Salvation Army officer understood that salvation had come to his village that day. As we walked up the hill to the rudimentary corps building, we gave thanks to God that young children would now live long enough to get to Sunday school.

Healthy bodies, healthy souls, healthy communities.

The fridge was a small fulfillment of the prophet Amos’s vision: But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-ending stream (Amos 5:24). n Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan is the director of The Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission (ISJC). Dr. James Read, director of The Salvation Army’s Ethics Centre in Winnipeg, Canada, and a member of the ISJC, contributed to this article. See more about the Millennium Development Goals at un.org/millenniumgoals.

LOOKING FUTURE TO THE

Promoting self-sufficiency for the visually impaired BY EDWARD LYONS

In 1928, Colonels John and Elizabeth Barrel founded The Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Jamaica.

When the Barrels began working with the blind in 1927, no one envisioned the impact their initiative would have on the lives of hundreds of people in the Caribbean.

Before this school existed, the blind and visually impaired in the Caribbean had no hope of education, proper socialization or skills and vocational training—they were seen as outcasts, deserted by family, left to beg on the streets and forced to fend for themselves.

Over the years, students have performed exceptionally well in the fields of music, drama and speech; their academic achievements, on many occasions, are placed above counterparts with sight.

The school has instilled hope, hospitality and heroism for the blind and visually impaired.

Graduates have become lawyers, educators, statesmen, businessmen, computer technicians and computer operators, and made their presence felt both in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the wider world.

Boarding Children and young adults between the ages of 4 and 21—from the length and breadth of Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands—benefit from the school’s program, which includes infant, primary, secondary and vocational education.

With an enrollment of 133 students, 75 percent

of whom reside on campus, the school is the only one of its kind in Jamaica that caters to every blind student in the country. Visually impaired children are referred directly to The Salvation Army.

Residential status for students became necessary as most are from rural Jamaica. A contribution of $80 is charged for board and lodging each term, although it costs The Salvation Army roughly $1,500 (excluding staff costs that the government covers). Though 90 percent of the families cannot afford this fee, The Salvation Army works with students to ensure all can board.

Many of the children suffer from illnesses that accompany or cause blindness, including glaucoma, cataract and epilepsy. These conditions have to be treated daily and can prove very costly. The Salvation Army also provides clothing, toiletries and school supplies.

A staff of 72 people includes 13 house parents who cater to the daily needs of the residential students, teachers, seamstresses, launders, cooks, grounds men, farmers, secretaries, clerical assistants and a financial administrator.

Nutrition The Salvation Army covers the nutrition program at the school by raising funds locally and overseas.

This has been difficult in recent times, and had it not been for the sponsorship program, the nutrition program at the school would be nonexistent at this time. Discretionary funds from the sponsorships help to pay the food bill every month. We sincerely

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hope those who have been sponsoring our children will continue to do so as the school leans heavily on these funds.

A partnership with the Atlanta Peach Tree Presbyterian Church helped us start growing vegetables and producing eggs and chicken for the children’s consumption. We have also been able to sell eggs weekly.

Education Children attend classes through grade 11. At grade six, students take the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT)—the entrance test for high school.

Those who pass the GSAT attend a regular high school while still boarding at our school. For this “integrated program,” an integrated teacher is assigned to visit the school and coordinate programs including a homework program. If they are unsuccessful, the student continues to grade 11 and takes the Caribbean Examination Council Exam.

Students from other high schools and colleges visit our school and assist our students with homework and other school related activities.

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Spirituality is an essential part of the children’s up-bringing. Staff conduct morning devotions, Sunday school and a praise meeting on Sunday evenings. Students also attend worship meetings at different corps in Kingston on Sundays.

Future aspirations It is our goal for every child who graduates from this school to enter the job market or access further development in a tertiary institution.

Presently, 60 percent of our graduates go back to the communities, and wait to be cared for.

To combat this problem, we need to create viable training entities—data processing, telephone operating, answering services, arts and crafts—that supplement the school and can employ the young adults until they are self-sufficient. n Captain Edward Lyons is the administrator of The Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Jamaica.

Photo by Jasmin Lewis

CALM IN THE CHAOS Mental Health Clinic serves in crime-riddled Mexican colony

The colony of Morelos is today BY considered the area with the most crime SALLYANN in all of Mexico. Yet, you might call C. HOOD one of its blocks “Salvation Army Row” for it includes Corps No. 1 with a daycare center and printing shop, Hogar La Esperanza (a men’s dormitory), the Clinica de Salud Mental (Mental Health Clinic) and four officer apartments.

The clinic offers psychological therapy (not psychiatric) with a staff of volunteer doctors. A growing group of students from Alliant International University—based in San Diego, California, and with a satellite campus in Mexico City—also conduct therapy under supervision to earn practicum hours for a master’s degree in psychological counseling.

Although most students speak fluent Spanish, conducting therapy in a non-native language is sometimes intimidating for the students, including Dr. Jim, a Texan, who needed to complete the 500 hours required by Alliant. He began by observing, then started “co-therapy” with one of the other students, and is now carrying his own full therapy load.

At the clinic, psychologists offer three regular workshops: for couples (one Saturday a month), for parents of troubled children (one Saturday a month), and one on “self-esteem” (each Wednesday).

Family disintegration is widespread here, with issues ranging from single parenting, extended family living in small quarters, new partners that confuse the children as to who is boss, troubled children, socioeconomic tensions, “macho male” attitude, and addictions.

Open for care Following a destructive earthquake in 1985, the clinic was opened to provide psychological and medical services. Because the Mexican government provides medical care, however, the need for emergency care soon faded. Remaining money was placed in a fund and invested to support a continued Mental Health Clinic.

This fund continues to support our work today, along with minimal fees from the patients.

The clinic is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through

Friday, and alternate Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The office manager responds to referrals from the government “hotline,” but fellow or former patients refer most of our patients. If, in turn, the clinic cannot offer needed therapy, we refer the patient to specific institutions that are more specialized.

On average, we work with up to 600 unduplicated patients a year.

Calming On this busy street, across from a pet fish market and stores filled with aquariums, the clinic provides calm amidst the chaos. The clinic walls are filled with pictures and Bible verses, and a group of Salvation Army officers are on call to offer spiritual advice if requested. The clinic pamphlet also includes information about Corps No. 1 and its services. We long for peace in these individuals’ difficult lives and offer tools with which he or she can learn to cope. n Major Sallyann C. Hood, M.D., is the director of the Clinica de Salud Mental and the Territorial Secretary of Social Services in the Mexico Territory.

Photo by James Hood

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BY BARBARA BROWN

IT’S SOMETIMES SAID, “If you’ve met one person with autism—you’ve met one person with autism.”

In other words, each person with autism is unique, with a set of particular symptoms. Those who work in the developmental disorder field know better than to make assumptions about an individual condition or to say a single therapy program works for everyone.

That’s why staff of the new Salvation Army Lawson Ministries Adult Autism Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, developed a service model that is tailored to the individual needs of each client.

“For some people, employment is a big goal and maybe the individual needs assistance in writing a resume, getting work experience or help talking to employers,” said Justin De Waard, the agency’s senior case manager.

Other members with more profound symptoms come to the day program to learn basic social skills, such as decision-making or how to get along with a group of people in a public setting. Case managers work closely with these individuals and the families to set specific goals.

De Waard said one non-verbal man was apprehensive about leaving his home and elderly parents, even for a brief period. The first established goal was to make him comfortable enough to join other members of the autism program for group outings and activities.

“He was just so anxious, with a lot of screaming and pushing staff away,” De Waard said. “It was him telling us how really stressed out he was. Back then, we didn’t have a safe place for him to go.”

Today, the man is a regular visitor to the new autism center and is gradually becoming better integrated.

“Home is where he is most comfortable and I don’t think that’s going to change, but it’s still important for him and his family that he get out and be involved,” De Waard said.

The disorder Ontario Adult Autism Research and Support Network estimates there are more than 76,000 people in the province with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Approximately 50,000 are over 21 and

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working through

autism Lawson Ministries focuses on job skills, resumes and experience

Left and below: Colin Baxter, 27, is a high-functioning individual with autism who has started a video production company with a staff member to get on-the-job training.

Below left: The Lawson Ministries Adult Autism Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

no longer eligible to attend publicly funded high schools. Without learning and developmental opportunities, many of these young adults are left to sit at home, in danger of becoming more isolated from the community.

Autism is a complex developmental disorder that affects the function of the brain. The spectrum refers to a group of disorders, including autism, Aspergers, atypical autism and pervasive development disorder, which shares some symptoms. One common trait is difficulty with social interaction and forming relationships. Symptoms range from mild to profound.

Front-line staff at Lawson Ministries recognized years ago the huge gap in services for adults with autism. They started out with about 70 clients who needed help with life skills, on-the-job training or just a safe place to gather and participate in structured daily activities.

Their caregivers, too, some of whom were elderly parents, needed respite from the demanding responsibilities of looking after an adult with profound symptoms of autism.

The program The Salvation Army Lawson Ministries raised around $2.5 million for the new building that now houses the adult autism center. It was funded by the sale of one of its properties, along with the financial support of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, corporations and individuals in the community.

Program manager Lisa Schumph anticipates the center will serve about 140 adults with autism this year and can accommodate up to 35 members a day.

The building is fully accessible and features a small gym, a literacy and computer classroom,

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Students at the Adult Autism Centre exhibit and sell the works they create in the art program.

art room and atrium cafe where clients can learn to wait on tables. There is also a Snoezelen therapeutic room—a multi-sensory environment that provides stimulation and relaxation through the use of smell, touch, sound, color and light.

Art instructor Kamila Miszelska said one of the center’s objectives is to encourage members to create artwork, which they can use as “calling cards” or an introduction to the outside world.

Members of the art program can earn money from the sale of their work, which is displayed on the walls of the center and was recently shown at a local cafe run by The Salvation Army. Plans are underway to show more of the work at a private gallery in Hamilton’s Jamesville neighborhood, which each month invites the public to take part in an “art crawl” and to purchase works by local artists on display at different galleries.

A better presentation One member, Colin Baxter, 27, is seeking full-time work in video production, but finds his mild autism symptoms can be a barrier to finding employment.

Baxter is a theater arts graduate from McMaster

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University and has a broadcast journalism diploma from Niagara College.

He and Lawson Ministries staff member, Mark Van Noord, formed a partnership in a small company called Airborne Films. Although he is a high-functioning individual with autism, Baxter says he can always benefit from more practical experience and help with interpersonal skills.

Baxter recently documented an autism conference in Hamilton and is producing a DVD of the event. He and Van Noord are also working on a video documentary about a charitable basketball tournament that will honor a Lawson staff member who died in a tragic accident “It does give me more confidence,” Baxter said about learning how to better present himself in a job interview. “I am always well dressed, but I’m trying to learn more about how to present myself and finding the right words to say to an employer.” n Barbara Brown is a Canadian journalist who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and specializes in justice issues.

Photos by Kamila Miszelska and Mark VanNoord

Thinking Healthy BY living is often CAROL perceived SEILER as overrated, inconvenient and hard to do—until a life-threatening “wakeup call” catches our attention. Suddenly, we realize that the daily small choices actually impact life enjoyment, productivity, cost and relationships—the quality and quantity of years.

Introducing a culture of healthier living is challenging, but the Central Territory is working toward the goal.

card access to the fitness center 24/7, including: “cabana” bathrooms that allow for total privacy, cardio and weight bearing equipment (chosen by employees), and a stretching area.

In addition, a personal trainer is available to members for 3.5 hours a week at no additional cost. Family members can also be included on memberships. Finally, a Lotus Notes program tracks participation hours, which can earn the employee up to two additional paid days off.

Of the employees on the THQ campus, approximately 50 percent are now members. Attendance fluctuates, but the impact of a wellness culture is evident.

“I didn’t want people to look at me [in the fitness center],” one employee said. “But my desire to be healthy, and my prayers for godly appetite and control over my addiction, overcame those fears. I now know that food no longer controls me; I make choices.”

Another employee, a woman in her 50s, decreased

healthier

Employee wellness During Kroc Center development meetings, a small group at territorial headquarters (THQ) in the Chicago area—where 230 individuals work—began thinking about their own fitness. A committee of officers and employees conducted focus groups and held business discussions, which led to the opening of a 2,600 sq. ft. fitness center in the newly remodeled THQ basement.

For a nominal member fee, employees have key

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her recovery time following knee surgery by 50 percent due to exercise before the operation.

“The increase in endorphins has significantly decreased my winter depression, increased my mental state, increased my energy levels, my clothes fit better, my whole sense of self-control is improved,” she said. “I feel stronger and more flexible, with more endurance.”

Now at THQ, people of all ages encourage efforts, talk about bike rides, and celebrate achieving days off. Seventy-four individuals participated in a 10-week challenge to lose 10 pounds, and 28 achieved the goal.

It’s clear that fitness and wellness thinking are important now as I see healthier meals, running shoes under desks, and the use of the stairs.

Clinical care At the nearby Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC), a doctor on the advisory council initiated an onsite clinic. A nurse practitioner sees beneficiaries one day every three weeks. More than half the beneficiaries have new awareness of aches and pains now that they are no longer “in their disease.” Health histories are difficult because of memory loss of events that happened during those times. One individual recently could not remember why four toes had to be amputated in the past five years.

“When a beneficiary comes to us in search of recovery, we find that the greatest concern is physical condition,” said Major Mark Anderson, ARC administrator. “It weighs heavy on the mind— ‘Am I going to live long?’ When even the smallest of issues are addressed the individual seems to function better and is able to work on recovery and a life of possibilities and responsibilities.”

Since February 2010, the nurse practitioner sees beneficiaries onsite for basic screening and health education. Clients are given 20-minute appointments, and are released from work assignments for the appointment.

On one typical day of roughly 20 appointments, the following health concerns were addressed: asthma, healthy diet choices, allergies, lower back pain, hypertension, diabetes, grief, bed bugs, vision, acid reflux, gaping cavities and broken teeth, broken

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finger, allergic rash, and smoking cessation.

As residents look at options for better health, the nurse practitioner discusses the impact of choices and consequences. Many express a desire to make better choices in all aspects of life, and often identify feelings of loss, grief and pain that were once covered by self-medicating. The regret for years gone by is palpable.

Chronic health issues are being addressed, and perhaps more importantly, there is a sense that wellness matters and is part of the solution—when the sign-up list is posted, the day is quickly filled. n Commissioner Carol Seiler is the territorial president of women’s ministries and territorial coordinator for strategic mission planning in the U.S. Central Territory, as well as a licensed nurse practitioner.

Photos by Andrew Gray

welcomed home

Pastoral counseling helps individuals in recovery reclaim the Father Like the prodigal son in Luke BY 15, men and women enter Adult BETH Rehabilitation Centers (ARCs) DESPLANCKE across the country ashamed of past

addictions. Head low with guilt, the individuals arrive defeated and discouraged.

In this parable, Jesus tells us that a young man demanded his inheritance and then blows all of it on wild living. Broken, destitute and hungry, he returned home, hoping his father would take him back as a servant.

The father saw his son a long way off, ran to his child, embraced and welcomed him home with no words of condemnation or “I told you so.” He lovingly welcomed his son home; no questions asked.

As a chaplain, I present the Father to prodigal sons.

Through counseling, men and women learn that our heavenly Father doesn’t care where we have been or what we have done; he has and will continue to love us.

This is a new concept for some, especially those whose family and friends cut off interaction and appear to have stopped loving them due to addiction. Many have even had a hard time loving him- or herself.

Turning back Counseling sessions involve no judgment. Both the beneficiary and chaplain have committed sins, and God doesn’t have different criteria for different sins. I, too, have wandered from my loving God and when I turn back to him, he welcomes me home. Nowhere in the parable does the father ask his son what he did, because it simply doesn’t matter.

When the son arrived, the father had the finest robe put on him, shoes on his feet, and a ring on his finger. In pastoral counseling, men and women not only learn about God’s love and acceptance, but also about the hope of transformation that the Lord can work. The past may be full of mistakes, regrets and bad decisions, but the future doesn’t have to be the same.

Each individual has the choice to accept Christ as his or her personal savior, and is encouraged to grow in relationship with him and work on the issues that led to addiction.

The reception When the son arrived, he hoped to be a servant for his father; he didn’t even imagine the possibility of a warm welcome. He could have rejected the father’s offer, focused on his past mistakes and his unworthiness, and begged his dad to make him a servant. Instead, the father and son celebrate his homecoming.

Becoming sons Many of the men and women who go through the Army’s rehabilitation program become “sons” for the first time; they receive Christ as personal savior and are lovingly welcomed into God’s family. Others renew a relationship with him and are welcomed back with open arms into his family. Sadly, despite the welcome the Father gives, some cannot move past the lure of addiction or guilt from the past, and they choose to miss out on the love, hope and restoration the Father has to offer.

Through pastoral counseling we see lives changed, men transformed, and God glorified. With heads held high, individuals leave confident of God’s love and forgiveness. n Captain Beth Desplancke is a chaplain at the Long Beach ARC, in the U.S. Western Territory.

Photo by C. Busby

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Transitional housing is a start toward wholeness Life goes on in Haiti.

BY SUE Months after the devastating SCHUMANN earthquake that killed 230,000, WARNER injured more than 300,000, and left

1.3 million homeless, Haiti’s needs continue: shelter, sanitation, stability…and hope.

In Port-au-Prince, rubble is everywhere—piles of broken concrete and trash line streets, causing pedestrians and traffic to navigate spontaneously and energetically—especially the ubiquitous tap tap busses adorned with painted flowers and religious slogans, bursting with riders inside and out, that beep-beep their way along city streets and country roads.

Market stalls vie with trash and rotting garbage for space on sidewalks, and sellers hawk chickens, goats, eggs, cabbage and carrots in the midst of it.

Inhabitants live life day-by-day—tomorrow is uncertain. Get through today…find work today… survive today.

A young woman, beautiful and self-assured, crosses the street in front of our car. Her crutches find level ground and she swings her one leg purposefully; a stylish red shoe adorns her foot.

Striding behind her, two young students in clean, crisp blue-checkered uniforms head to school with books in hand.

Changing rhythms On Sunday the rhythms change—as if the whole country takes a deep breath, lets out a tentative sigh, and for one day forgets the 37 seconds that redefined life in the poorest nation in all of the Americas.

One can see the difference when driving to Jacmel, a coastal city across the mountains that sustained significant damage in the quake, and where The Salvation Army has built, so far, 600 transitional shelters.

The roads are usually filled with scooters, tap

taps, trucks, women and children balancing baskets of goods on their heads or toting plastic bins of water, and men leading donkeys.

Instead, on this church day, men, women, and children are dressed in Sunday best: white shirts and ties, dark pants, dresses; they walk along rutted roads, Bibles in hand, enroute to country churches. No washing laundry in streams today.

A shelter is God’s gift The Salvation Army began work in Haiti in 1950, and has had an ongoing ministry that includes primary and secondary schooling (over 10,000 children and youth currently attend 45 Salvation Army schools), as well as medical clinics and feeding programs. Its 60 churches remain a source of spiritual strength to thousands.

In addition, the Army continues to provide significant assistance to survivors in quake-damaged locations: temporary and transitional shelter, food, water and medical care.

Take, for example, 72-year-old Sorel Bateau, who sits with his young son outside their new home—a simple transitional shelter in the community of Matador, where 65 such dwellings have been constructed. “This shelter is God’s gift,” he exclaims with a broad smile. “Thank you very much, Salvation Army!”

Their shelter is one of 600 that have been constructed since the quake; in the next phase, an additional 1,500 transitional shelters will be built.

All of the 10 by 20 ft. dwellings are designed to last three years or more and are framed with timber

SHELTER

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from the

With street signs and numbers lacking in these communities, The Salvation Army works with local officials and residents to identify locations and map them with GPS coordinates, which are then uploaded to Google Earth for easy reference.

“The shelters give people a fighting chance to get back on their feet,” Starrett said.

And a fighting chance is what they need.

from beetle-killed trees salvaged from sustainably managed forestlands in Colorado—a bane to those in that state, but a blessing to Haiti.

Corrugated galvanized steel roofs, reinforced poly vinyl sheeting and oriented strand board floors complete the secure habitations.

The total cost of a shelter is about $1,800.

“Construction benefits the local economy as well as the homeowner,” explained Lt. Colonel Daniel Starrett, Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) director. Haitian workers—both men and women—are trained as carpenters and construction crewmembers under the supervision of The Salvation Army’s technical specialists.

More than 400 Haitians, comprising at least 45 construction teams, have obtained skills needed to supervise and build the homes in a cash-for-hire program. Most shelters are completed in one day.

An uncertain future Sadly, in many ways Haiti is not much different than before the earthquake. The country has little infrastructure: roads, especially outside Portau-Prince, are rutted and in disrepair; there are few public schools (four out of five students have to attend private schools); land rights are confusing (90 percent of Haitians rent); there is little access to health care; sanitation systems are inadequate; extreme poverty abounds; and its political system has historically been characterized by instability and corruption.

It will take more than repairing earthquake damage to bring wholeness to this island nation.

But you have to start somewhere. And for those fortunate enough to have a secure shelter, provided

by The Salvation Army and built by Haitians, it’s a good beginning, indeed. n Sue Schumann Warner is the former New Frontier Publications senior editor/editor at large. Warner retired in fall 2010 after 20 years with New Frontier Publications.

STORM

Photo by Sue Schumann Warner

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BY TED HORWOOD

An essential element of life

C

The relationship between humans, the environment and God is most notable in situations where people become dependent.

I once discussed the differences in prayer between those in the global north and south with a Zimbabwean friend. He prayed desperately to God for the rains to come on time, so that he and his family could eat throughout the year. Late another night, I clearly remember the echoes of singing and drums in the valleys of Malawi. The rains came, the crops were safe and the family would eat. After the harvest, another celebration took place in remembrance of the provision of rain to sustain the community. To one who directly relies on the environment for sustenance, nature is sacred.

With real appreciation goes responsibility. We don’t live over and above creation, but within it. My decisions impact others.

The sanctity of water The percentage of the world’s population using improved drinking-water sources increased from 77 percent to 87 percent between 1990 and 2008, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Statistics 2010.

Yet, millions of people in Africa acquire preventable diseases every year because they lack what the developed world takes for granted—clean drinking water. In the African Region, according to WHO, the percentage of the population using improved drinking-water sources increased from 50 percent in 1990 to 61 percent in 2008.

In a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Chairman Donald Payne said, “Africa is one of the most water-impoverished regions…and the lack of clean water claims the lives of 4,900 children every day.”

Walter North, senior deputy assistant administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) agreed, adding, that the United States is working with African partners to meet U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets set to reduce by half by 2015 the number

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International Salvation Army water projects ANGOLA • Water wells • Springs building • Sanitary mobilization LIBERIA • Water wells KENYA EAST • Muuti women’s water expansion • Kimrii women’s water project • Kenyan rural schools water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project • Mukuyuni community clean water project TANZANIA • Rainwater harvesting • Access to safe and clean water in rural communities • Community water recovery • Water and nutrition for life ZAMBIA • Community boreholes ZIMBABWE • Matabeland water provision project • Zhomba water harvesting and community gardens • Mbome valley water and sanitation INDIA EASTERN • Guwahati slum water provision SOUTH AMERICA WEST • Clean drinking water in Corqueamaya, Bolivia INDIA EASTERN • Dolcherra village water scheme INDIA SOUTH EASTERN • Water and sanitation in Nambithoppu, South India, Salvation Army middle school CHINA • Ganjiachuan Village (Minhe County) drinking water supply • Tianwan Village (Xichou County) drinking water supply PAPUA NEW GUINEA • Central Province rural water and sanitation project Compiled by Karen Horne, office administrator of the international projects and development services at International Headquarters.

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of people without access to clean water.

“More than one child in sub-Saharan Africa dies every minute from diarrheal disease—a direct result of inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene,” North said.

In October 2010, it was reported that Zimbabwe’s water supply and sanitation services have declined in recent years, contributing to the 2008-2009 cholera epidemic that claimed more than 4,000 lives, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Scarce resource Water shortages threaten to reduce global food supply, while the world’s population grows by 80 million people each year. With current trends, by 2025, one-third of all humans will face severe and chronic water shortages.

Some would ask how a planet that has 70 percent of its surface covered with water could face a water crisis; more than 97 percent of that water is ocean water. Of the remaining three percent, about three-quarters is locked away in ice caps or glaciers, and is unavailable.

In truth, slightly less than one one-hundredth of one percent of the world’s total supply of water is easily accessible as lakes, rivers, and shallow groundwater sources that are renewed by snow and rainfall.

Water—the essential ingredient for life on this planet—is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. A recent WHO/UNICEF report revealed that more than 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to basic sanitation and more than 1 billion people still use unsafe drinking water. n Major Ted Horwood is the international projects officer at International Headquarters in London, England. As of January 1, 2011, he is the General Secretary of the Angola Command in Africa.

Photos by Hanna Ferguson, Felix Wood and courtesy of the International Projects and Development Services

Joyce Thompson, asistant project manager, client Mary Birse and Major Jim McClusky, project director

Independence

Delivering groceries and prescriptions in Scotland

at home BY CAROL-ANNE LATTA

Known around the world as “Scotland’s birthplace,” Angus is an area of outstanding natural beauty, situated on the East coast of Scotland. The county of Angus encompasses mountains, glens, seaside towns and farming communities—an area of more than 2,000 sq. miles. Like the rest of the United Kingdom, Angus’s population is aging and residential care can be expensive. It is also not always the preferred choice of older people who wish to remain within the community they have known for many years.

To help people remain independent for as long as possible, help is sometimes required.

Established in 1997 by a legacy, which stipulated that it would be “used for the care of elderly people in Angus,” The Salvation Army’s Angus Community Care Service offers weekly collection of groceries and pensions. Household tasks such as paying bills, filling medical prescriptions at the pharmacy, formfiling and inquiries to various support agencies are also completed to help each individual access the support services needed to continue living independently at home.

The project is delivered in partnership with Angus Council (the local government authority for the region) and is subject to continual monitoring by the council and the Army.

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“Built on social inclusion, our focus is a holistic approach where we not only meet the immediate needs of shopping and essential bill paying, but our staff are also encouraged to keep a watchful eye on the overall well-being of people in our care and if necessary highlight significant changes to health care professionals within the council’s social work team,” said Major Jim McCluskey, who has led the project since its creation with his wife, Major Sandra McCluskey.

Highlight of the day With improved healthcare and longer lives, Angus Council anticipate the number of older people in its population will grow by 128 percent. It is the aim of the council to offer older people in the area a good quality of life and avoid isolation.

“We have a statutory responsibility to deliver and promote social welfare, which is challenging in the current economic climate of recession,” said Dr. Robert Peat, Angus Council director of social work and health. “However, our partnership with The Salvation Army ensures that we can still achieve this in two ways, by offering the best value at a very high standard.”

“Early intervention is key in our duty of care,” Peat said. “Our focus is very much on enabling and encouraging people to do small tasks to maintain their independence within their own home.”

The Angus Community Care Project is not selective when it has to step in and offer help; clients have included a dame of the British Empire and an Indian prince, but most service users are like Mary Birse, 98, who is fiercely independent and still enjoys managing her household budget.

“It’s the highlight of my day when Sandy visits, he always lets me know what food is on offer at the supermarket, then I’m sure to get the bargain of the week,” Birse said. “I love the ‘Sallies’! I’m like part of their family; they just seem to know when I’m not

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feeling good, and they always seem to have time to listen to me. Then they lift my spirits by inviting me along to a day out at the corps, where I can relax with my friends and enjoy listening to the brass band.”

McCluskey invites clients to various activities; among the most popular is a visit to the ancient town of Arbroath. Famous for the “Declaration of Arbroath,” signed at Arbroath Abbey, McCluskey always shares that the founder of The Salvation Army in America, George Scott Railton, was born in the town of Arbroath.

Gift of a friend Angus Council and The Salvation Army provide a considerable investment each year to keep the program financially viable, however, the last few years have been difficult. In early 2010, McCluskey was forced to discuss with the council plans to end the program.

“We had been praying for an answer to our financial difficulties when, out of the blue, we received a phone call from The Salvation Army’s legacy department to say that one of our service users, Mr. Robert Saddler, had donated £850,000 [over $1.3 million] for our work in Angus,” McCluskey said. “To say I was speechless is an under statement.”

Saddler had used the Army’s service for years.

“We had no idea of his wealth or that he intended to leave this legacy to The Salvation Army,” McCluskey said. “Mr. Saddler was more than a service user, we regarded him as a friend, and this act of kindness will enable us to develop the service and touch lives in Angus for many years to come.” n Carol-Anne Latta is The Salvation Army’s regional press officer for Scotland.

Photo by Carol-Anne Latta

TEMPLE OF HEALING HARRY WILLIAMS HOSPITAL TOUCHES LIVES IN BOLIVIA Maria arrived at The Salvation Army Harry Williams Hospital in Cochabamba, Bolivia, to deliver her baby. She had no prenatal care, but both the mother and child are doing well.

It became clear that Maria did not have any money to pay for her care. Maria’s 10-year-old brother told us that they didn’t have parents; they lived alone with other siblings. There wasn’t anyone to come to pick Maria up from the hospital.

Two days before giving birth, Maria had given her little brother a pair of shoes for his birthday.

When the baby was born, the little boy asked to sell his shoes so he could take his sister home from the hospital. We told him that he could keep his shoes because Jesus paid the bill.

BY YVIS GONZALES de OTALORA

Mother and child Harry Williams Hospital is a 25-bed facility that focuses on maternal health and pediatrics. It serves a widespread area and includes a mobile unit and community health program, as HIV/AIDS is becoming a significant issue in the area.

People come each day from different areas outside Cochabamba city; humble people, without hope or resources. Many who tour the hospital do not want to go to any other health center because they feel at home here.

At the hospital, or in communities the hospital

reaches with the extension team, we help people not only with curative health, but also with spiritual health. When people arrive here they receive words of encouragement, hope and guidance. It is the love for God and for our neighbors that makes us not only a hospital but also a temple of healing.

New expectations The doctor for Sabina, 32, asked her to take further tests following an examination. The test was positive; she had AIDS. Sabina was also very poor and had four children from four different fathers. The virus was detected in her the previous year, but she didn’t want to accept it and left to live in the countryside.

When she arrived at Harry Williams Hospital, she was underweight and had skin problems. Following care and interactions with our staff, Sabina accepted Jesus as her personal savior and found new life expectations.

We contacted a support center for people living with AIDS, and were able to obtain her medication for free. Each of her children were tested, but are free of the disease. Sabina’s mother told us that they both attend church, and the family is doing well. n Major Yvis Gonzales de Otalora is the chaplain at Harry Williams Hospital in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Photo courtesy of Harry Williams Hospital

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On the streets of Honolulu CIRCLE OF MINISTRY IN CHINATOWN In this vacation paradise, the sun sets over the green mountains to the west of Waikiki, Hawaii, and a different world emerges from the shadows. The tourists, bright red and squinting, retreat to hotels to nurse the day’s sunburns and prepare for the evening in elegant restaurants and trendy clubs as locals close up shop and head home, away from the pulsating rhythms of Waikiki and downtown.

During the day, Honolulu’s Chinatown is a bustling, energetic neighborhood, but at night, owners lock storefronts tightly—bars, chains and padlocks cover doors and windows. Drug addicts, prostitutes, the homeless and the mentally disabled take places along the storefronts and alleyways. At night, it’s a place of despair and hunger; a place with little hope or opportunity. In short, it’s the perfect place for The Salvation Army.

BY BRIAN SAUNDERS

Different world Every Sunday night, and several times during the week, The Salvation Army’s “I’ll Fight” team, led by Rob Noland, go into Chinatown armed with nothing more than Bibles, peanut butter sandwiches and bottled water. Noland, with his wife Dee, also leads the Army’s “Revolution Hawaii” discipleship and missions program; participants join with Honolulu Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) graduates and members of the Kauluwela Mission Corps to minister in Chinatown.

“It’s a very different world here at night,” Noland said. “But it’s right where we need to be.”

I’ll Fight is a key component of the Sunday program at the Kauluwela Mission Corps, located just two blocks north of Chinatown in Honolulu. It is the Army at its most basic—providing hope to the

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hopeless, help to the helpless, and friendship to the friendless.

Each Sunday, after the “Upper Room” contemporary worship service, between 20 and 30 volunteers fill the corps’s kitchen to prepare for the outreach ministry.

“It’s usually peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” said Major Randy Mulch, corps officer, “but sometimes we’ll do spam musabi or something more substantial—depends on what is available.”

Adam Schrott, a recent graduate of the nearby ARC, and now an adherent at the corps, is in charge of procuring supplies.

“Every couple of weeks I go to the food-bank and stock up on whatever is available,” he said. Schrott also coordinates donations from the ARC and local stores.

Giving back For some, the ministry is personal.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was out there myself,” one of the volunteers said.

Noland gathered the evening’s volunteers and asked for a show of hands: “How many of you have been on the streets yourselves?” Of the 25 people in the room, 12 raised their hands.

“It’s a circle,” Mulch said. “The same folks that were once hopelessly addicted to drugs and alcohol, are now clean, sober, active in the corps, and giving back by ministering on the streets.”

In this Chinatown ministry, the same people who were once homeless, living on the street, using and abusing, are now back walking those same streets, but this time with a Bible.

At about 8:30 p.m., the team gathers for prayer and heads out. It’s a short walk from the corps across the canal into Chinatown. Volunteers usually divide into groups to better to cover the territory.

The ladies, particularly members of the Revolution Hawaii team, often head down the street to where the prostitutes congregate.

“It’s a privilege and a challenge to minister to these women,” said Brianna Murray, resident manager for Revolution Hawaii.

Some of the men head south and east to the area around the ARC. Chris Ancara, another recent ARC graduate and new adherent, finds joy in the ministry.

“I love doing this,” Ancara said. “It’s a way to give something back, and to share God’s love with others.”

The team, dressed in black “Heart to God, Hand to Man” T-shirts, threads through the makeshift camps, tarps, blankets and boxes handing out sandwiches and water, and stopping for conversation and prayer.

“The food is important, but what we are really doing is sharing God with people,” Noland said.

“They need the physical help, but what they really

need is much deeper.”

With the frequent visitation, team members build trust and develop relationships.

“That’s when we can really make a difference,” Noland said. “When they trust us enough to open up, and to let us in.”

In recent months, several have attended the worship service at the corps. A number have entered the ARC as beneficiaries, and some have accepted Christ.

It is holistic, incarnational ministry—on the streets, with God’s people, sharing his love in practical ways.

Making a difference, one sandwich at a time. n Major Brian Saunders is the director of personnel at the Crestmont College for Officer Training in the U.S. Western Territory. He and his wife, Major Leticia Saunders, were the corps officers at the Kauluwela Mission Corps from 2007 to 2010.

Photos by Randy Mulch and Brian Saunders

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“Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained.”

In the tortured confines of a mind BY fried from years of drug addiction and MATTHEW mental illness, Johnny’s eyes glanced JENSEN over to seize mine. In that instant,

his need and my heart fused together as I realized that his mind would no longer allow him to say, “help me.” From that point forward I’ve wrestled with the question of what our response should be as The Salvation Army to effectively help those who, because of mental illness, are physically unable to accept the help we have to offer in the love of Christ.

Perceived resources Our society offers a number of modern resources to combat the issue on both the state and local level. The most notable resources are an individual’s creation of a living will, appointing of a power of attorney with lawyer consultation, and prior establishment of healthcare directives. In those instances the individual foresees mind or body failing in the future, and makes preparations for care and legal concerns. These tools, however, only help those who are mentally able to engage in the process. The minority then gets taken care of, while the majority who has lost the luxury of choice is left to their own deterioration as their mind slowly fails.

– Helen Keller Our system neglects to take into account helping those who have not made these prior preparations, and are too ill to consciously choose to accept our outstretched hand.

If, however, the mentally ill man or woman is considered to be a serious threat to society, law enforcement can legally take the individual into protective custody. If a doctor’s evaluation deems the individual mentally ill, involuntary admittance to a program is possible. But the hard truth is that many of us have had dealings with seriously mentally ill people who wouldn’t classify as posing a threat to the general population. I’ve met many homeless men and women who were not only insane, but who were some of the nicest and warmest individuals I’ve met.

So what about them? How does our system help those who don’t fit the criteria of government aid?

What I do know is that The Salvation Army hears their silent cries for help, and as sure as the Lord has raised us up to fight for the neglected and helpless, I’m confident that he is calling us to fight for even these.

Our effective response If I’ve learned anything while serving in The Salvation Army over the past few years, it is that we can’t serve suffering humanity alone. The laws of the

Relation E V E N

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W H E N

land will never be perfect, our efforts will always be tainted with sin and selfishness, and even our own social services will never be faultless because people who are imperfect run the systems. So we should not be shocked then that the government isn’t living up to the ideal biblical standard when we can find many aspects in our own ministry that could use repentance and work.

The best solution to this complex problem once again comes down to the very simplicity of it all: a choice to love those suffering in his name, regardless of mental illness or circumstance. What we so desperately need is a revival of relational ministry.

Care to talk Sitting in his decaying box in a dark alley, Johnny continued to tell me about how the government is watching him through robotic insects. He went on to describe how all social services are secretly traps of demons, until he finally paused and began to tear up while gazing off into the dim streetlight overhead.

“What’s up, Johnny?” I said quietly.

“Oh nothing,” he said. “It’s just that I can’t remember the last time someone cared enough about me to sit and talk.”

Wiping the tears away from his eyes, he continued

on about conspiracies and fantasy. In that instant, it was hard for me to hold back tears of my own as I saw beyond his words and into his heart, as though through a window that the Holy Spirit opened and beckoned me toward.

Sometimes the best thing we can do in ministry is to simply meet the person at his or her level and love the individual for who they are. When institutional care is unavailable, we can visit on a regular basis and become a friend. When the legal system of social services does not act, we can offer a listening ear and make it clear they are indeed loved. Should an individual reach the point of giving up all hope, we can display again and again the hope we have in Christ, which is bigger than all of this world’s complexity. Yes, there are opportunities to be seized, even for those who are mentally ill.

We must choose to love in the beauty of servant relationship if we are to continue to live up to the holy calling that God has ordained us to minister through. To simply love the people in Jesus’ name regardless of circumstance is the mark of authentic Christianity. n Matthew Jensen is a second-year cadet at the College for Officer Training in the U.S. Western Territory, to be commissioned in June 2011.

nal Care P E O P L E

C A N ’ T

A S K

F O R

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Dual responsibility One doctor/officer works for both medical and spiritual healing The Salvation Army’s delivery of medical services around the world impacts individuals, families and communities. In the medical field, we often say that healthy people form healthy communities. From Scripture, we know that we have the promise of hope: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Hope. It is a universal feeling—to want what can be had. It is what drives us to tremendous heights physically, emotionally, and spiritually—and keeps us from the depths of despair.

In settings around the world, as both a corps officer and physician, I’ve encountered hope numerous times. I appreciate both vocations, as together they bring an understanding of the human condition that perhaps each vocation alone does not completely allow. Jesus’ healing was never simply medical; it always had a spiritual component.

BY CINDY-LOU DRUMMOND

Pennsylvania Jolene’s parents were at wit’s end. In a matter of months of dieting and exercising to an extreme, the 15-year-old girl shed more than 40 pounds. She carried less than 100 pounds on her 5-foot, 4-inch frame—and desired to lose more. The parents tried to restrict her exercising and force her to eat, but she continued on her quest for a “perfect” self-image.

At the time, I worked in private practice while also serving as the corps sergeant major of the Lancaster Citadel Corps. When the family came to my office, Jolene typified anorexia nervosa. Her hair was dry and brittle, she had poor skin, and her teeth showed signs of an added problem—bulimia. To appease her parents, she would eat and then purge.

The situation seemed out of control to family and friends, yet Jolene felt she was in command.

After a thorough assessment, Jolene was admitted to the Renfrew Center in Philadelphia,

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Pennsylvania, where a process of healing began.

On a return visit, Jolene’s parents expressed the first feelings of hope.

Zimbabwe The Salvation Army Howard Hospital in Glendale, Zimbabwe, is a dispensary of hope. In fact, the unit that cares for people with HIV is called “Tariro Clinic.” In Shona, the local language, tariro means hope. People in the catchment area can visit the clinic to be tested for HIV, receive counseling and education, and initiate antiretroviral medications (ARVs). The drugs require a mandatory 7-day stay in the unit and then regular follow-up visits in a prescribed time sequence.

I was assigned to the “C” (children’s ) in Tariro Clinic. This ward consisted of two sides—one for medical and surgical problems and the other for undernourished children. The majority of undernourished children were also HIV positive.

We aggressively treated those children who were literally wasting away—a vicious circle that could not be interrupted without the help of ARV drugs.

In a country where 36,000 children under age 5 die every year, an undernourished child with HIV has little hope of survival without the support and care of places like Tariro Clinic.

One child, Gabriel, 7, arrived in the C ward with his family, who were well to do and had been on a family outing for several days when Gabriel, who was known to be HIV positive, developed diarrhea. In a matter of a day or two, he was severely dehydrated, emaciated, unable to walk or talk, and extremely debilitated. Gabriel was admitted and treated with IV fluid resuscitation and ARV drugs.

After several weeks of inpatient therapy, Gabriel was stable enough to go home, though still thin and appearing younger than his stated age.

By the time he returned to Tariro Clinic for follow up, he had gained over four pounds and was looking healthy. Hope came to life for this young family.

Haiti When the January 2010 earthquake struck, The Salvation Army forces went to work. Within days, a medical team arrived from the United States—some from “In His Image” Family Practice Residency program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and others from Michigan. The team also included retired Salvation Army officer, Lt. Colonel (Dr.) Herbert Rader, Dr. Steve Fisher and myself. Fisher is a devout Jewish physician who takes seriously the Talmudic saying “arevim ze la ze”—a sense of responsibility for each other.

Initially, we saw the most traumatic cases— injuries that had not had medical attention in five or more days since the earthquake: gaping wounds, burns, broken bones, crushed limbs, head injuries, eye injuries, and anxiety. After an evaluation in the medical or surgical rooms, patients were escorted to a counseling area where Haitian Salvation Army officers supplied much needed counseling, reassurance and prayer. With injuries cared for, conditions improved, and patients could see light at the end of the physically painful tunnel. There was hope for healing.

One distressed family brought in 5-week-old Wendytu. The child’s mother and father—at 18 and mid-30s, respectively—ceased to breast-feed

and, without financial resources for formula, the baby began to starve. The clinic was not set up for inpatient care, but the team of doctors provided round the clock monitoring for Wendytu in our living quarters. Each team member took a one-hour shift, monitoring his vital signs, adjusting the IV fluids, and administering formula in scientifically and mathematically accurate amounts. His condition was critical.

Within 48 hours, Wendytu showed considerable progress. After meeting with the parents and receiving approval from the University of Miami Field Hospital, Wendytu was transferred to the hospital for further treatment. Major Lucien Lamartiniere, divisional commander in Haiti, counseled the parents in an effort to restore the family relationship.

The Salvation Army’s holistic treatment approach provides hope for today, for tomorrow, and for eternity. n Captain (Dr.) Cindy-Lou Drummond is the Health Officer at the School For Officer Training in the Eastern Territory. Drummond is board certified in family practice by the American Board of Family Medicine and is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice.

Photos by Cindy-Lou Drummond

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GIFT CARD GIVER Unused cards compile to meet need Last year, Time Magazine reported that $6.8 billion in purchased gift cards goes unused in the U.S. each year.

With this idea in mind, Jeff and Andre Shinabarger asked eight people how much money in gift cards they had in their wallets at that moment.

The pair walked away with $50 in unused gift cards to help others and GiftCardGiver.com was born.

Since its beginning, Gift Card Giver has distributed over $55,000 in unused gift cards to 139 people and organizations in need, including phone cards to women and children rescued from a sex trafficking brothel in Kansas and gas and restaurant gift cards to families with children suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses.

BY GISELE NELSON

How it works Gift Card Giver collects any type of gift card from every state, with all different dollar amounts remaining, and organizes the cards in secure bins by company name. Cards arrive through the mail, from large events, neighborhood festivals, church campaigns, house parties and organized awareness tours. When a mass of dollars (anywhere from $100$2,500 depending on the company) is obtained, the cards are given to a project, person or organization that can best use the money to fill a significant need.

The organization developed an application process (giftcardgiver.com/story.php?p_id=19) for each potential partner organization, and a giving committee determines which applications to award gift card contributions.

Many churches have successful collections in a gift

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card offering. After the holidays, our wallets are fat with gift cards, and many of them go unused for the majority of the year. January is an ideal time to take a gift card offering, and all of the gift cards are used to help people and organizations in great need.

Get involved You can throw a House Party: 1. The House: Find a home to host. Partner with your small group, youth group, or with your community and invite friends to be involved in collecting gift cards to meet great needs around you. Card Me Party Kits

are available for a suggested donation of $25; email info@giftcardgiver.com.

2. Charity: Choose an organization or group in need. Ask them to share about the good work they are doing at your party. Gift Card Giver will send that charity gift cards they can use in the amount you collected.

3. The Bouncer: Card everyone at the door— require each attendee to contribute a gift card at the door for entry. Gift cards can contain any amount of money. If you don’t have a specific charity in mind, Gift Card Giver will make sure the money gets to people in need.

4. The Games: Play an unending number of card games (For ideas, see the Official Game List at giftcardgiver.com).

5. Mail your stack of gift cards to: Gift Card Giver, PO Box 17628 or 750 Glenwood Ave., Atlanta, GA 30316. n Gisele Nelson is the project manager for Gift Card Giver.

Watch videos and find out more at giftcardgiver.com.

Photo by Russell Shaw

Make plans now to join us in Orlando Keynote Speaker

JENNA BUSH HAGAR former first daughter Keynote Speaker

PETER SHEAHAN “Generation Y” expert

Gospel Singing Legends

BILL AND GLORIA GAITHER

Don’t miss this exciting event!

For more information visit MySABOARD.org

Registration is open now at MySABOARD.org

DOING THE MOST GOOD

WINTER 2010/2011 CARING PAGE 43

AND FINALLY...

Health by the numbers

Worldwide Salvation Army healthcare stats.

Total U.S. health expenditure:

$2.3 trillion Total spent worldwide: $5.3 trillion

From The Salvation Army Year Book 2010

29 25 19 56

General hospitals Maternity hospitals Other hospitals

Number of undernourished people Est. number of people living with HIV Under-5 mortality rate Orphans due to all causes Annual birth rate Annual death rate Active physicians

99

UNITED STATES

WORLD

Specialist clinics

13 million

925 million

General clinics/ health centers

1.1 million 8 (per 1,000) 2.8 million 14 (per 1,000) 8 (per 1,000) 816,727

percent of births in the U.S. are attended by skilled health personnel

[64 percent worldwide]

36 million 65 (per 1,000) 163 million 20 (per 1,000) 8 (per 1,000) 8.8 million

92

135

Mobile clinics/ community health posts Convalescent homes

64 12

Health education programs

648 Daily care programs 31 Doctors/medics 3,744 Inpatients 263 Outpatients 947,878 percent of people receive measels vaccination in the U.S.

[83 percent worldwide]

From the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010; a special 2009 UNICEF report on the State of the World’s Children; and the World Health Organization’s World Health Statistics 2010.

Percentage of population using improved drinking water sources: U.S. 99 WORLD 87

PAGE 44 CARING WINTER 2010/2011

DOING THE MOST GOOD

Dorcus Beads Dorcus Beads is a micro-enterprise, established in 2008, that enables Kenyan women who are HIV+ to support their families by making jewelry out of recycled magazines.

Read more about Dorcus Beads in the summer 2010 issue of Caring, or at freelyinhope.org.

19

$

95

Order a Dorcus Beads bracelet or keychain for $19.95 and receive a complimentary 1-year subscription to Caring. Look for the convenient reply card inside this issue of Caring or call 562/491-8723.

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PAID The holistic ministries of The Salvation Army The Salvation Army USA Western Territory P.O. Box 22646, Long Beach, CA 90802-5646

LONG BEACH, CA PERMIT #5308