Priority! Summer 2014 by The Salvation Army: SAconnects

Summer 2014

‘Banquet’ In Boston Loving the Hurting In Cincinnati

Milwaukee Boy Helps Others See

Called, Not ‘Grandfathered’

Flip–Flop Season

ummer! It’s my sun–filled favorite season. If I close my eyes, I can imagine myself at Camp Swoneky in Oregonia, Ohio, as a brave new camper. Because my parents were in charge of young

people’s programs for the division, I spent the season at camp. The purchase of flip–flops (only 66 cents in 1958) signaled the beginning of idyllic days filled with music, Sunbeam badges, nature, swimming, lanyards, and Christian nurture. When my flip–flops wore out, I knew it was time for school to begin. (I recall the sadness of losing my little rubber sandal in the mud, one rainy night—30 cents down the drain.) Summer Salvation Army camps are kicking into gear all over the country. (See Upfront, p. 5.) We are praying for good, God–inspired days. For me, it was Camp Swoneky. For Lt. Colonel Ralph Buckiewicz, featured in this issue, it was a camp in Wisconsin. For one retired officer, Doris, it was Camp Glendale in Swoneky, where she felt safe and loved for the first time in her life. She treasured being in a cabin where no one was drunk, swearing, or violent. She remembers vividly learning about a loving heavenly Father. There are going to be more Sues, Ralphs, and Dorises this summer. Our camps will receive them all with the warmth of God’s love. Lives will be changed. My prayer is that each camp will welcome every camper with the life–changing love of Christ. Now I’m going to buy my flip–flops … 66 cents has turned into a 2 for $5 sale at

Photo courtesy E. Sue Swanson

Old Navy.

Commissioner E. Sue Swanson Territorial President of Women’s Ministries USA Eastern Territory

SUMMER 2014

FEATURES

COVER STORY

Volume 16 No. 2

Inviting Everyone To the ‘Banquet’ What if we took Jesus’ teaching to heart and went out to the streets and alleys to invite everyone to church? A Salvation Army church in Boston did that and is flourishing.

Helping Others to See Young Ralph Bukiewicz had to be his blind parents’ ‘eyes.’ He grew up to be a Salvation Army officer who knows how to paint word pictures that help others see the mission.

She’s Been There

Cover and inset photo © Aynsley Floyd/AP Images

Holly Daniels’ family was often homeless when she was a child. That’s what gives her a heart for ministry as a Salvation Army officer in downtown Cincinnati.

Compelled to Offer Hope As a child, Pat Howe heard the night cries coming from the asylum near her grandfather’s house and thought, ‘There has to be a better way.’ Now she’s at the center of the Hope Network in Michigan.

42 DEPARTMENTS 5 Upfront 8 Who’s News 50 MyTake 52 Prayer Power 56 100 Years Ago

Called, Not ‘Grandfathered’ Linda and Terry Griffin both grew up steeped in Salvation Army tradition. But their decision to become officers had to be theirs and theirs alone.

The Equalizer

“T

he Equalizer” was a TV show back in the late 80s. The main character, played by Edward Woodward, is a

retired intelligence agent who wants to make up for the sins he committed on the job by helping people. They find him by answering a newspaper ad: “Odds against you? Need help? Call the Equalizer.” What got me thinking about this idea of the Equalizer was a sermon I heard recently from one of my pastors, Major Brian Glasco of the Hartford, Conn., Citadel Corps. He asked us to respond to the question, “Are you better than anyone else here?” We did all answer “no” eventually, but he had to ask the question a couple of times before he got a strong response. The idea is that before God, we are all equal: sinners saved by grace.

…promoting prayer, holiness, and evangelism through the life stories of God’s people

THE SALVATION ARMY Territorial Leaders USA Eastern Territory Commissioner Barry C. Swanson Commissioner Sue Swanson

Chief Secretary Colonel William Bamford

Editor Linda D. Johnson

It doesn’t matter when or how we come to Him—as a child praying at bedtime, as an adult alcoholic turning to Him, or as a stubborn, dying person finally surrendering at the end. Jesus told a parable of farm workers, some hired at the beginning of the day and some at the end, all receiving the same wages. The workers hired early protested loudly at such unfairness. But the master pointed out that every worker had agreed to the terms. He said to one of them, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. … I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” God is an Equalizer of the generous sort. He’s also an Equalizer of the welcoming sort. The Apostle Paul writes this sweeping statement: “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non–Jew, slave and free, male and female.” (The Message) The world might divide us into categories, but God does not. We who believe in Jesus are all citizens of Heaven, no matter what our background. At the end of days, Jesus will judge everyone. There’s no escaping that. But, thanks be to God, we who have accepted Him don’t have to worry. Because Jesus the Equalizer died for our sins, and whoever accepts Him will live with Him in Glory. Odds against you? Need help? Call the Equalizer.

Linda D. Johnson Editor

Art Director Keri Johnson

Contributing Editors Warren L. Maye, Robert Mitchell

Contributing Writers Alicea Jones, Daryl Lach, Theresa D. McClellan, Maayan Schechter, Greg Tuck, Anne Urban, Gail Wood

Graphic Designers Lea Greene, Karena Lin, Joseph Marino, Reginald Raines

Circulation Deloris Hansen

Marketing Christine Webb

SALVATION ARMY MISSION STATEMENT The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. Priority! is published quarterly by The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory. Subscriptions are $8.95 per year; bulk rates available. Write to: Priority!, The Salvation Army, 440 West Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994–1739. Volume 16, No. 2, Summer 2014. Printed in USA. Postmaster: Send all address changes to: Priority!, 440 West Nyack Road, West Nyack, NY 10994–1739. Priority! accepts advertising. Copyright ©2014 by The Salvation Army, USA Eastern Territory. Articles may be reprinted only with written permission.

USA National website: www.SalvationArmyUSA.org

EVANGELICAL EVANGELICAL

PRESS ASSOCIATION

Upfront: Summer Camp A Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Changing Getaway

his summer, thousands

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Salvation Army programs in

opportunity: attending

local corps (churches), come to

a Salvation Army summer camp camp to earn emblems or badgprogram at one of 45 residential

es. At music camps, kids learn

summer camps across the

to play an instrument or refine

country.

their techniques. Camps for

Many of the kids come from

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teens offer organized sports and

lowâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;income urban families.

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100+ years How many

people go to SA

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in Missouri, help kids referred

a pool or lake, telling stories

by the juvenile courts to refocus

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their lives.

around a campfire, having pil-

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low fights and devotions in a

ence is not limited to kids. Some

camp cabin or worship in an

camps give adults who are in

outdoor theater.

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summer camps?

185,000

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day camp programs

Photos this page courtesy USA Eastern Territory Youth Department

Kids and counselors at Camp Wonderland in Sharon, Mass.

Upfront: Summer Camp Camp Connri in Ashford, Conn., offers lots of activities for seniors.

programs the opportunity to have a place of quiet and beauty to engage in honest reflection and experience spiritual rebirth. And there are special camping experiences tailored to senior citizens. For example, camps for grandparents raising their grandchildren allow caregivers

Camp trivia

to come to camp the same week as the kids. The grandparents

At which location

can enjoy nature, activities and

do some campers

rest, knowing that their grand-

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http://tinyurl.

Photos this page by Colette Masom

com/p7tu5w2

www.armyconnections.org

ILD SPO CH ORSHIP NS

OVERSEAS

Graham, 5 years old, walks home from school in K ibera, Africa’s largest slum. He is fortunate. Most of the children in his school are AIDS orphans. Graham’s mom is HIV–positive, but she is healthy. She is grateful that The Salvation Army helps with Graham’s school fees. You can help children like Graham all around the world through Overseas Child Sponsorship. Call Today!

Northeast: (845) 620–7237 | South: (404) 728–1366 | Central U.S.: (847) 294–2065 | West: (562) 491–8301

Photos © Darren Abate/AP Images

Who’s News

Passion to Serve Needy People by Alicea Jones

he clang of forks and knives began to wane as Lt. Colonel Henry Gonzalez, the Salvation Army Austin, Texas, area commander, took the podium. The members and guests at the Kiwanis Club meeting had just finished their lunch, and the room fell silent as the colonel spoke of his vision for helping people in need in

Georgetown, a rapidly growing community just north of Austin. Laura Spradlin listened in awe as he spoke passionately about feeding the hungry and sheltering the poor. The colonel’s heart for the needy stirred in Laura a desire to help those less fortunate in her own community. By the time Gonzalez reached the end of his speech,

Laura knew she wanted to work with The Salvation Army. The Army already had a presence in Georgetown and greater Williamson County through its Red Kettle Campaign and a mobile canteen run by volunteers. However, having an official, physical service center in the county would mean that The Salvation Army www.saconnects.org

could do even more to provide help in the area. Laura cut through the milling crowd to the front of the room and handed Gonzalez her card. “If The Salvation Army comes to Williamson County,” she said, “I’m interested in working with you.” That was two years ago. Nine months after the luncheon, Laura received a call and interviewed for a job. Now she is the director of the new Georgetown–Williamson County Service Center, which opened in February 2013. She had no prior experience working for The Salvation Army, yet she knew that everything that had happened in her life had prepared her for this position. “I knew I wanted this job. I had been praying about it,” Laura says.

Helping spirit Laura’s journey to The Salvation Army and a life of service started in the 1960s in Friendswood, Texas, a town of fewer than 1,000 people near the coastal city of Galveston. As a child, Laura would find stray critters—some hurt, some just homeless—and put them in the family’s garage, where she could shelter them from the cold and nurse them back to health. By the time she got to high school, she had become interested in helping people with disabilities. She dated a boy who was a paraplegic and, as a result, met other kids with disabilities. “Once I started hanging around with people who were disabled, I realized I enjoyed helping and encouraging them,” www.saconnects.org

she says. “That was a very instrumental time in my life.” After Laura graduated from high school, she joined the U.S. Navy and found new opportunities to help others. As a hospital corpsman, she cared for sailors and their families. She worked in the ER, ICU, pediatrics, physical therapy, and other departments. “I did almost everything a nurse would do except hand out narcotics,” she says. Laura also took physical therapy classes on the bases where she was stationed—in Florida, South Carolina, California, and Japan. She loved the military life, with its opportunities for beginning a helping vocation and traveling. When her tour with the Navy ended in 1993, she began an eight–year career as a licensed physical therapist assistant. She earned a B.A. in applied science

in physical therapy from St. Edwards University in Austin in 2003.

New lands, new cultures Long before joining the Navy, Laura had been bitten by the travel bug. She had vacationed with her family in Spain and France. And in her early teens, her dad’s job transferred him to Tehran, Iran, and the family went along. Laura attended the Tehran American School in the early 1970s and loved learning about the culture and language. She even learned to adapt to the conservative dress code; she refrained from wearing shorts and short–sleeved shirts. “We ate their food and shopped in their stores. We did everything they did,” she says. Though there was no indoor plumbing in some places and she had to get used to herds of sheep walking in the

Laura with a volunteer at the Georgetown clothes closet

Who’s News

streets, she loved the experience and made new friends. She remembers hanging out with other kids in the neighborhood, shopping for groceries at the street markets, and eating warm barbari bread made in ovens right on the street. “Traveling to foreign countries opened my eyes to different cultures and people. You have to respect what people are thinking—their backgrounds and cultures. How someone is raised determines their beliefs,” Laura said. “It also caused me to be flexible and adaptable.” From this experience, Laura learned, “Different isn’t bad. I believe God allowed me to see the world in a larger

sense.” Whether in Iran, Spain, France, or Friendswood, Texas, Laura learned that all people have the same need for love, acceptance, and significance. She also learned that every country has people whose most basic needs for food and shelter are left unmet. She realized that God had allowed her an adventurous life to prepare her for her work with The Salvation Army.

A center is born

In 2011, The Timothy Group, a consulting firm, conducted a study to determine whether The Salvation Army could help address unmet needs in Georgetown. “The new service center is the first step in The Salvation Army’s long–term commitment to Georgetown and Williamson County,” says Ron Haas, vice Share the savings with your coworkers without president with sharing a bill. On the Sprint Framily Plan, the The Timothy more people you add, the lower your rate. Restrictions apply. Group. “We identified a gap for the types of Visit your Sprint store or services the Army sprint.com/framily provides in meetfor details. ing basic human needs. I was very impressed with Offer for employees Plus, save of The Salvation Army the collaborative Get your best deal online at spirit of the other sprint.com/salvationarmy service providIL discount on Mention this code to claim your IL discount. select data buy ups ers who were Corporate ID: NASVA_ZZZ Restrictions apply. See store or sprint.com for details. IL Discount: Available for eligible company or org. eager to work employees (ongoing verification). Discounts subject to change according to the company’s agreement with Sprint and are available upon request for monthly data buy-up svc charges for Framily plans. ©2014 together with The Sprint. All rights reserved. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. Other marks are the property of their respective owners. N145197CA MV1234567 Salvation Army

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to solve community problems without duplicating services.” His impressions mattered because, according to Jan Gunter, communications and community relations director of The Salvation Army Austin Metropolitan Area Command, “The way The Salvation Army works is to enter a community and meet basic human needs without duplicating services.” Service centers are located in areas where the Army doesn’t already have a corps (church and community center). Months before the Georgetown Service Center officially opened, Laura brought her diverse talents to bear on her new position. She knows the area and began contacting other service organizations. Not one to sit still, Laura coordinated a free Christmas luncheon for the entire community; it was a joint effort of the Army and the First United Methodist Church in Georgetown. She and her volunteers also took blankets to a local nursing home. “The volunteers loved it,” she says. “They got as much out of it as the residents.” Laura also established a clothes closet and will be opening a food pantry in the small building in Georgetown where the service center shares space. She is part of the Hunger Task Force in Georgetown. Georgetown has an estimated “food insecurity rate” of 14% as of 2011 (Source: www.feedingamerica.org). Food insecurity refers to the USDA’s measure of lack of access to enough food to maintain a healthy, active family. www.saconnects.org

Laura’s goals for this year are to: r *ODSFBTF UIF OVNCFS PG volunteers from 40 to 200 r $PMMBCPSBUF XJUI PUIFS MPDBM agencies to meet the needs of the community r %FWFMPQ B EBUBCBTF PG SFTPVSDFT so that she can refer clients to the appropriate agencies and organizations r &YQBOE UIF $PNNVOJUZ $BSFT nursing home visitation program Eventually, Laura would like to see the Georgetown Service Center become a corps community center so that in addition to providing emergency financial aid, food, and clothing assistance, The Salvation Army would also be able to offer worship, youth education and music camps, and programs to meet broader social issues. “My biggest goal is to let God work in this and go where He wants us to go,” Laura says. “I am one person with one life, living to serve others,” she says. This “one person” knows that whether she was helping a woman with paraplegia get to her lunch table, giving a soldier a penicillin shot, or adapting to the culture in Iran, God’s hand was in it all, preparing her for continued service with The Salvation Army.

www.saconnects.org

All–Volunteer Response Team

andy O’Dell’s first emergency call came on April 17, 2013. He was told to bring his team to West, Texas, where a fertilizer plant had blown up and taken a chunk of the town with it. Though the situation was horrific, Randy says he and his all–volunteer crew felt a deep sense of fulfillment as they provided face–to–face help to the responders. Although the Georgetown, Texas, Service Center is new, Salvation Army volunteers have been serving in the Austin area since the 1950s. Randy started volunteering with The Salvation Army in 2011, working in the emergency supply warehouse. He enjoyed his work but had a desire to serve first responders and victims directly. So in 2012, he contacted the Austin Area Command and was told that if he could find 50 volunteers, he could start using a mobile canteen for disaster response. ‘I believe I can do that,’ Randy said. Randy actually lassoed 55 volunteers and shortly after that was provided an old truck in dire need of repair. He got the motor and the other broken parts fixed, and he and his crew received the necessary

Randy with Lieutenant Jeremy Walker

training from The Salvation Army and FEMA. Eventually, the crew received a newer, custom–built truck, a 2005 Freightliner, which allows them to provide food service for up to 2,500. ‘We are probably number one or two in the state as far as readiness,’ says Randy, who credits the training he received from The Salvation Army and FEMA with helping him and his crew run an efficient mobile canteen operation. They have also received professional training to handle the emotional upheaval of those affected by disaster. ‘We’ve learned a lot about communicating with people,’ Randy says. His work with the mobile canteen crew has affected him deeply. ‘That’s the blessing part of it. Everybody needs you when you get down there. We all feel the same. It’s a team effort.’

Who’s News

‘Ms. Rose’ Cooks With Passion by Maayan Schechter

he calls herself a paraprofessional, but others call her “Ms. Rose,” or sometimes simply “Mom.” In the back of a Salvation Army church in Aiken, S.C., Rose Mitchell prepares her home–cooked meals from decades–old recipes passed down by her grandmother, Mary Scott. A homemaker, Scott sold food out of her Aiken home to feed the downtrodden. She was an icon in the neighborhood, and her skills left a lasting impression on Rose. The menu this day includes a big vat of macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes dripping with fresh gravy, fried chicken donated by Kentucky Fried Chicken, and buttered rolls. Vegetables are missing, which Rose says is very rare; she almost always adds some greens on the side.

The one item that will never touch her kitchen is her grandmother’s signature item—chitlins. Just speaking the word causes Rose to wrinkle up her nose. “Chitlins are disgusting … and that stench is … I just can’t,” Rose says. She makes a promise to those who walk in: You will be welcomed, and you will leave with a full and satisfied stomach. Rose grew up visiting neighbors and family members not too far from Aiken’s downtown. She has four children—two boys and two girls—but really raised at least seven. After receiving a degree from Voorhees College, Rose decided to forgo a job with Honda and stay with The Salvation Army. Going on seven years come June 20, Rose has prepared meals

rain or shine for everyone from children to seniors. Her day doesn’t end in the kitchen, and downtime isn’t a word she uses too often. “I’m always on my feet helping the ones who come to [get a meal] or to read their mail. Sometimes they want help with paying their bills,” Rose says. She also helps seniors with their medicine and other issues. Then there’s the two days a week when she styles hair, another job she performs with the utmost passion. Hard work comes naturally to Rose. When she was only a preteen, she used to perform chores not just for her family, but also for many people around the neighborhood. “I’d go into my grandmother’s house, www.saconnects.org

give her a kiss, go get a snack out of the fridge, and then hop over the fence and go to an older lady’s house,” she says. “She had this wood stove, so I would clean out the ashes and cut the wood. I’d mop the floors. I never did any of this for money.” Paul Volz, shelter director, says women like Rose are the heart of the system, one that’s been forced to cut many workers from full– to part–time. “She’s just amazing,” Volz says. “She’s

been here for the long haul, and she’s like a mom here. People … enjoy having someone to come in and see and recognize. Rose is great. She’s helpful and she listens.” Rose knows her residents so well that if a regular misses a few meals, she follows up without hesitation. “One of the nicest guys was George, and he would come in and help me clean every time,” Rose says. “He missed a couple of weeks, and then we found

out he passed, so we helped out with his funeral and brought food.” Rose wears a lot of different hats. She is a therapist, cook, hairstylist, and part of the legal team. But every day she walks in to work, she wears her bright smile. “I love my job, and I just have this passion to work with people,” Rose says. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” This article originally appeared in the Aiken Standard.

Returning the Favor Through Taekwondo by Anne Urban

hanks to Joseph Hernandez, hundreds of children, teens, and adults over the last 25 years have learned the sport of taekwondo, couched in Christian principles, at the Salvation Army’s Plymouth, Mich., Corps (church). Joe began studying taekwondo, a martial art combining combat and self–defense techniques with exercise, at Wayne State University in Detroit. He joined an on–campus student club while he was working on a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering; he’s now an architectural engineer and an eighth– degree black belt with the rank of grand master. He needs only one more degree to reach the top echelon of the sport. Joe is proud of his Hispanic ancestry and family roots in Texas that date to the late 1700s. His father was born in Mexico City and his mother in Detroit, where Joe attended a prestigious Catholic high school and excelled in art and architecture. Four generations of his family have faithfully attended the www.saconnects.org

Joe, at far left in back row, with students and staff

city’s oldest church, St. Anne’s. A devout Catholic, Joe teaches taekwondo with a healthy spiritual twist. He concentrates on taekwondo’s techniques rather than its Asian religious philosophies and symbolism. After the birth of his first daughter in the late 1980s, Joe took a year off from martial arts but became increasingly concerned about wayward and troubled youth in his suburban Detroit community. Joe hoped to provide

youth the same spiritual and physical disciplines and direction he learned as a young man in the church and through taekwondo. With the support of other practitioners, Joe began offering evening lessons to community youth at a local elementary school. Soon he had not only children and teens as taekwondo students but also adults who wanted to join in the fun, including the school’s principal. When the program needed to 13

Who’s News

find a new home several months later, a student attending the elementary school suggested holding classes at his church home, the Plymouth Corps. After renting the gym for a year, the corps officer (pastor) asked Joe if he would consider continuing teaching taekwondo as a community outreach program of the corps. Joe was happy to oblige as long as the classes would continue to be free to any child who couldn’t afford them. Even for those who can afford to pay, the tuition cost, a donation to the corps, is low—$20 per month and $5 for each additional family member. Offering lessons at little or no charge

so that whole families can participate is important to Joe, who comes from a family of nine children. “My time and that of our 12 black– belt instructors is given voluntarily,” Joe says. “We also do fund–raisers at every given opportunity for The Salvation Army.” Two big tournaments hosted in the spring and the fall by the “Plymouth Chang Moo Kwan,” as the program is known in taekwondo circles, are particularly effective. “We’ve raised close to $20,000 for the corps since we’ve been here. God has blessed us, and we’re returning the favor!” Joe says.

THIS END UP F U R N I T U R E

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Salvation Story

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Helping Others To See by Daryl Lach

Salvation Story

ix weeks shy of his 12th birthday, young Ralph Bukiewicz was awakened by his mother’s sobbing. Accompanied by a police officer, she was holding a bag of her husband’s belongings from the ER. It was 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, 1972. For as long as Ralph could remember, he and his older sister, Kathie, had been their parents’ eyes. Their mother, Virginia, was legally blind but somewhat independent. Their father, Alex, blind since birth, lived in total

darkness. From the age of 5, Ralph had the responsibility of leading his dad everywhere by the arm and hand. This routine included walking five blocks every day to a bus stop at 4 p.m. to guide Alex home from work. But Alex was on his own in the morning. At 5 a.m., he would leave for his job at a workshop for the blind in Milwaukee. Because there were few people on the street at that time, he could maneuver his own way to the bus stop. But on this day, while attempting

Childhood photos courtesy Ralph Bukiewics

Virginia, Ralph, Kathie, and Alex Bukiewicz

to board, he climbed over an icy mound of snow, slipped backwards, hit his head on concrete, and died instantly. When Ralph learned the news, though he was numb and grieving, he stoically went to school. He knew that his strict, no–nonsense father would have expected it.

Life’s boot camp Even before Alex died, life had been difficult for the Bukiewicz family. They had the bare necessities, with few extras. Their home, next door to a chemical foundry, had train tracks running directly behind it. To supplement Alex’s income, the family needed food stamps. Ralph would use his second–hand bicycle and a red wagon to haul supplies when he and his mother went shopping. At critical times of the year, the family relied on the kindness of two women from The Salvation Army, Brigadier Eleanor Roup and her assistant, Ora Bilsky. In spite of tough times, there were bright spots. The Salvation Army Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Division ran a camp for blind families at Army Lake Camp, so the Bukiewicz family spent a week in the country every summer for free. At Christmas, someone from The Salvation Army would drive Ralph and his sister to a big children’s party at the Milwaukee South Citadel Corps (church), where Santa would hand them a surprise gift. Yet Ralph was resentful. As his parents’ “window to the world,” he always had to be on duty. And, compared to his friends, he had very little. www.saconnects.org

Above: Ralph and Kathie with Christmas toys they received from The Salvation Army in 1964. Ralph says, ‘Throughout my formative years, The Salvation Army ministered to us every Christmas and throughout the year, serving our most basic human needs in very practical ways.’ Inset: A scene from ‘Growing Up Fisher,’ about a blind dad raising his kids Right: Ralph and his dad, Alex

It’s academic Before they married, Alex and Virginia talked about how they would raise their children. Alex, a Polish Catholic, agreed to let Virginia, a devout Lutheran, bring the kids up Lutheran. About the time his dad died, Ralph began catechism classes and was confirmed at age 14. He’s still impressed with the intense training he received in the Christian faith but says that to him, the training was at first all academic. He was much more interested in the newfound freedom he had acquired since his dad died. www.saconnects.org

Foreshadowing his later leadership abilities, Ralph became the ringleader of a merry band of juvenile delinquents. They would steal items from the local drugstore and sit on a train trestle, puffing away on “cancer sticks,” bragging about their exaggerated endeavors, and daring each other to do worse. People who know Ralph, including his wife, Susan, often joke that if things had not changed, he’d be sitting in the slammer somewhere as a white–collar criminal, with an hourlong episode of “American Greed” broadcasting his exploits.

Why do they care? But Ralph’s life did suddenly take a turn for the better. He had started playing trumpet in school, and when Major Ray Wert of the Salvation Army’s South Citadel Corps heard about it, he visited Ralph and encouraged him to go to Band Camp at Army Lake that summer. Ralph was excited—all the more so when he heard some really cute girls were going too. However, something kept gnawing at Ralph. Why did these people in those funny–looking uniforms care so much about him? 17

Salvation Story

Then, just weeks before Band Camp, Ralph and his little gang of hooligans broke into one boy’s parents’ liquor cabinet. They got smashed and— dangerously—swam in the backyard pool. Ralph slept in his own vomit that night. When he awoke, he was disgusted with himself, especially because he had just been confirmed. Though Ralph doesn’t remember what the speaker at camp said during the Sunday morning service weeks later, he says God spoke directly to his heart, and in a flash, his spiritual eyes opened. What he had learned in catechism about God’s grace through Christ and the answer as to why these people cared for him all came together. But unlike some other campers, he didn’t go to the mercy seat (altar). Instead, he slipped out of the pavilion and walked to the empty Sweet Shoppe to think. An officer friend followed. They prayed. Determined to turn from all wrongdoing, Ralph accepted Christ as the Lord of his life. That day the Sweet Shoppe counter, as a makeshift mercy seat, became hallowed ground for Ralph.

Taking the field for Jesus Forty years have passed since then, including 34 as a Salvation Army officer. Lt. Colonels Ralph and Susan Bukiewicz, married for 33 years, have never looked back. They thrive in and love their work. “When we signed our covenants [to become officers], we meant it!” Ralph says. Today he and Susan, as leaders of the Metropolitan (Metro) Division in 18

Chicago, oversee the Army’s work in 11 counties. This entails the spiritual leadership of 28 corps community centers, including the biggest Ray & Joan Kroc Center in the country, and administration of the largest private agency provider of direct social services in Chicagoland. The division provides nearly 1.6 million meals annually—to the elderly through various programs, to homeless people residing in Salvation Army shelters, and to neighborhoods through 21 mobile feeding sites that operate throughout the city every day of the week. Also, Metro offers emergency Lt. Colonels Susan and Ralph Bukiewicz

housing and financial aid to families, counseling centers, a huge Correctional Services Department, a large Harbor Light complex to combat addictions, emergency disaster services, 70 service extension units in areas where there are no corps, and extensive human trafficking work that has become a model for the nation. Of his wife, Ralph says, “She is an amazing gift from God who brings out the best in me.” Susan’s father was an alcoholic who was saved through the Harbor Light ministry. Both of her parents became officers, as did her four sisters.

When Ralph was a child leading his father, he would paint the scenes ahead in vivid word pictures. Susan says of her husband, “Ralph’s outstanding communication skills came out of his need to describe the world to his parents.” Susan says that when he describes a scene from the Bible, such as Lazarus coming forth from the grave, “It’s as if the listener can ‘see’ it on film!”

www.saconnects.org

‘Whether you want someone to tell the story of the living Lord or put a face on The Salvation Army, you get Ralph!’ —Major Debbie Sjogren

Salvation Story One of Ralph’s graphic designs

Ralph’s kids, Jillian and Jonathan (now 30 and 27), called their dad the “analogy king” because he had a gift for explaining confusing concepts in a visual way. “He’s my hero!” Jillian says. Ralph also has an interesting hobby. He’s into photography and graphic design and uses it, he says, “to communicate God’s love, forgiveness, and grace to a world that is often blind.” After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Ralph spent seven weeks as the Army’s public information officer at Ground Zero. Major Debbie Sjogren, who sent him there from the USA Central Territory, says, “Ralph made dramatic connections

with the media. He’s the best friend of a microphone. Whether you want someone to tell the story of the living Lord or put a face on The Salvation Army, you get Ralph!” Young Ralph felt cheated because he had to spend so much time being his parents’ eyes. But today he has a ministry because of those experiences. He reflects, “God’s grace specializes in reclamation. In Christ’s service, no experience, good or bad, is ever wasted.”

Divine Reach

India photos courtesy Ralph Bukiewics

s the USA Central Territory’s community relations and development secretary from 2004 to 2008, then–Major Ralph Bukiewicz was assigned to travel to India to anchor a World Services video project featuring the Salvation Army’s relief work after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. One stop Ralph made with the film crew was in Bapatla, where the Army’s Evangeline Booth Hospital specializes in the treatment of leprosy and AIDS/HIV patients. Because the Indian government no longer acknowledged leprosy as being a problem, the hospital received no financial assistance for its 75 patients. The small staff of one officer administrator, one part–time physician, and a full–time registered nurse depended largely on faith to maintain daily operations. Many patients were considered dreaded ‘untouchables,’ outcasts from their own families and villages. Some, when they came to the hospital, had not experienced

human touch for a very long time. There were two women on the AIDS/HIV unit. One was fortunate enough to still have family support. The other, in her 30s, was gaunt, gasping for air, and all alone. When the film crew moved on to another building in the compound, something inside Ralph would not allow him to leave. He felt constrained to reach out. While the woman’s leathery fingers tightened around Ralph’s hand, their eyes connected. She seemed to be

staring into his soul. Just then the administrator came in and quietly whispered, ‘You must understand, Major, when someone touches the untouchable, the untouchable believes that it’s the very hand of God.’ But Ralph, who as a boy used his blind father’s arm and hand to lead him and only years later grasped the spiritual significance of that act, knew better. No, he thought, her hand is God’s hand reaching down to me.

All That I Am

She’s Been There by Robert Mitchell

Major Holly Daniels claps along as children from the Cincinnati Citadel Corps sing during a Sunday service.

Photos © Tom Uhlman/AP Images

hen Major Holly Daniels looks into the faces of the hurting and homeless in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, she sometimes sees herself as a child. “For me personally, I’ve been there,” Holly says. “My family is the product of Salvation Amy services. We were often homeless. “I can understand how that makes a child feel because I was a child in that same setting when I was growing up. I know the potential of what can take place in the lives of the clients that we serve because I was there at one time.” Holly is the personification of 2 Corinthians 1:4, which says “[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 23

All That I Am

Today, when Holly preaches on Sunday mornings at the Cincinnati Citadel Corps, her congregation is made up mostly of “street people” looking for a good meal after her sermon. Holly’s background is invaluable in coordinating a Salvation Army shelter for families. A victim of sexual abuse as a child, Holly is also involved with an anti–human trafficking effort run by the Army. (See sidebar.)

Finding a home When people come in looking for help with food, clothing, or a place to stay,

Holly is patient and kind as she makes phone calls for clients and tries to help them solve their myriad problems. “I’m overwhelmed that God would allow me to have a part in His plan for their lives,” Holly says during a rare quiet moment. “When I think about that, I’m just in awe of His ability to see the whole picture. “When I’m able to help these families, I know that I’m fulfilling God’s calling on my life. I also have the assurance that I’m fulfilling a part of His plan for them. It’s a real blessing to see that.” That calling for Holly began in Red

Bank, N.J. She was only 7 when her parents divorced and her mother was left to raise Holly and her five older sisters alone. “I saw my mother struggle trying to make ends meet,” she says. “Very often I had to rely on my older sisters to help me. They raised me for the most part. We were always moving from place to place. We were pretty much transient because we didn’t have our own home.”

Finding Jesus The family lived with neighbors and relatives, and her mother often sought the help of The Salvation Army. Holly also went to the Army’s Red Bank Corps for church and other programs. “We just got more and more involved at the corps and I stayed. They [couldn’t] get rid of me,” Holly recalls with a laugh. “I believe that God used The Salvation Army to really save my life,” she says. “I don’t know where I’d be today if it weren’t for The Salvation Army entering into my life.” Holly was 9 and attending Vacation Bible School when she invited Jesus to enter her heart at the invitation of a corps officer (pastor). “I remember just sitting in my seat and bowing my head and repeating the ‘sinner’s prayer’ with him,” she says. Holly became a junior soldier (member) and was active in corps music programs. She also attended the Army’s Camp Tecumseh in Pittstown, N.J. As a teen, she first heard God calling her to become an officer. www.saconnects.org

Holly hands out a treat after the Easter Sunday service.

“I didn’t quite embrace it immediately,” she says. “It wasn’t really anything that I was personally interested in.”

Answering the call Holly complained to God that she felt she had nothing special to offer and didn’t believe she was particularly talented or skilled. “I felt that my background would be the very thing that hindered me, but then again I felt very passionately that I wanted to help people with the same type of background,” Holly says. “I ignored it for a long time and I did not act on it until I was about 20 years old. I’ve always sensed that God had a purpose for me and for the challenges I experienced when I was younger, but I www.saconnects.org

‘When I’m able to help these families, I know that I’m fulfilling God’s calling on my life. I also have the assurance that I’m fulfilling a part of His plan for them. It’s a real blessing to see that.’

didn’t think that He was going to be able to use me … as a Salvation Army officer, so I kind of ran from that calling.” Holly was later working at the Red Bank, N.J., Corps when she decided to stop running. “Just seeing the clients coming in our doors, and having a heart that would just break over their situations, I knew that I had to do something,” she says. “To keep silent and not do anything and just to turn my head would not have been the right thing for me.”

Off the streets Holly has been an officer for 17 years. In Cincinnati, she finds that 90 percent of the people in her congregation are just looking to survive from day to day. 25

All That I Am

“They’re hungry, not just for the meal we serve after, but they’re hungry for the Word of God,” Holly says. One man recently told Holly he feels more loved and cared for at The Salvation Army than [at] any other place he seeks help. “When they come into these doors, not only do they sense the presence of God, but they sense warmth and love here,” she says. “There’s no one here to judge them. There’s no one here to make them feel bad about their circumstances. “I want this place to be known as a place where people are caring for those that others may not care about, the throwaways of our society.” Holly says it’s not out of the ordinary

for someone to suddenly stand and share a testimony or sing during the holiness meeting. “They … just feel free to be who they are,” she says.

Breaking bread After church, about 65 to 70 people show up for a catered meal. “Somebody said we have the best meals in town,” she says. “We’re proud of that.” Holly finds this a great time to engage and share the love of God. “Sitting around a table and getting

to know them, sharing Christ with them, getting to know their needs, and asking for prayer requests [makes it] not just a feeding program. It is more of an evangelistic tool. “It makes it a whole lot easier getting to know the person sitting across the table from you because the barriers have come down. You’re fellowshiping, you’re breaking bread together, and they feel comfortable having a cup of coffee with you and sharing what’s on their heart at that point.” Holly, who has been in Cincinnati for about a year, ministers in the 24–person shelter, where there is rarely a vacancy. “I try to offer programs to the families in the shelter,” she says. “I go up there from time to time and do programs with them.

Building bridges

Holly seems just as excited as the children about the annual Easter egg hunt.

“You never know which direction they are going to be headed once they enter our doors. The impact can be long– term. It can be life–changing.” Holly tells the story of one shelter family that was “loved” into the corps. The staff planned a surprise baby shower for the mom, who then started attending the corps. “She was thrilled,” Holly says. “She said she had never had anyone plan a baby shower for her. “It’s important for us to make those connections and not [have the corps] be a separate entity. I want them to know that they’re more than welcome here. We’re a family corps.” www.saconnects.org

‘New Identity’ for Trafficking Victims

olly Daniels, once a victim of sexual abuse herself, has a heart for the women served by Cincinnati’s anti–human trafficking program. A drop–in center recently opened, and Holly would like to start a Bible study soon. ‘From my own experience as a youth, and having been subjected to things that youth should not be subjected to, I have a heart and a passion for women who are forced into a situation that they should never have to face,’ she says. ‘Many of them, even though they are fully engaged in these activities, really don’t want to be on the streets.’

Photo by istock.com

Restoring lives Holly says women often stay on the streets because they don’t have anywhere else to go, they are addicted to drugs, or they are afraid of their pimps. ‘Many of them are looking for a way out, and The Salvation Army has the ability to help them get back on their feet, not only physically, but with a spiritual foundation,’ Holly says. ‘I want them to know that they

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are worth more than what their “johns” are telling them. God has created them in His image and He can use them and clean them up and give them the purpose that He intended for them initially.’ Holly says The Salvation Army recently held a memorial service at the drop–in center for a woman who was killed on the streets. It’s all part of building relationships with the women. ‘Since I’ve been here, I’ve spoken with many young ladies who have been very comfortable coming to me … not knowing my background. They didn’t realize that I had also gone through a period in my life when I was sexually abused. I was able to share my testimony as a result of that and encourage them.’

New creations Holly says her counsel to the women varies according to their needs, but her overarching theme is that they can be new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). She often uses the accounts from the Bible about the potter and the clay, the woman at the well, and the woman with an issue of blood. ‘[My counsel] really always hinges on new life,’ Holly says. Holly says that is also how she sees herself. Calling Christ ‘my everything,’ she says she knows that her past has been cleansed. ‘Christ is my new identity,’ she says. ‘I’m not what the world tries to say I was. I’m not all of those terrible things that happened to me in my life. So Christ, to me, means newness.’

What God Is Doing in … Boston’s South End

Inviting Everyone by Linda D. Johnson

Photos © Aynsley Floyd/AP Images unless otherwise noted

Majors Greg and Irene Norman with some of the uniformed soldiers (members) of the Boston South End Corps, a Salvation Army church and community center.

to the ‘Banquet’ J

esus tells a parable, found in Luke 14:16–23, about a man who invites many guests to a banquet. When he sends out the word that the feast is ready, everyone starts making excuses. One has just bought a field and has to see to it. Another has just bought some oxen and wants to try them out. A third has just gotten married. When the servant reports back, the master becomes very angry and orders the servant to go out to the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the blind, and the lame.

The servant does that, but there is still room at the table. The master tells his servant to go out to the roads and country lanes to find more guests so that his house will be full. A few years ago, Major Greg Norman of the Salvation Army’s Boston South End Corps preached on that passage and applied it to the church’s up–and–coming neighborhood. “A lot of these people are more interested in going to a coffee shop on Sunday morning than going to church,” he says.

Four churches in the neighborhood had recently closed their doors. The situation looked bleak. But Greg and his wife and co–pastor, Major Irene Norman, decided to serve a breakfast “banquet” once a month on a Saturday to the homeless people in the area. It was not so much a strategy as a divine mandate, straight from the parable Jesus told. “God wanted us to be a place that is available,” Greg says. But the church had its limitations.

What God Is Doing in … Boston’s South End

There was no chapel; services had to be held around a few small tables in a game room. Irene remembers one Sunday when there were five people in the congregation: the Normans and their three children. (See sidebar.)

‘Garden in concrete’ “Starting a city ministry is like planting a garden in concrete,” Irene says. Many who come through the doors of the South End Corps are either living in shelters or struggling to pay for essentials like food, rent, and utility bills. “Often, all the people are thinking about is finding a way to survive.Church is the last thing on their minds.” So the focus of the South End Corps

has been on help with and prayer for those essentials. “When people get a job or an apartment or renew a lease, we celebrate,” Greg says. “Everything is a celebration.” For two couples who couldn’t afford weddings, the church stepped in and provided all the trimmings. “They were shocked by the beautiful preparations,” Irene says. “I told them, ‘This is what the church does!’ ” “We have a guy who was homeless for 11 years,” Greg says. “He’s now involved in political and advocacy volunteerism in Somerville, Mass. Someone will be number 300 on a list to get an apartment. We will say, ‘We believe God has an apartment for you.’ They will go back the next week and all of a sudden, they

are number three on the list. We have seen miracles! This is a place for healing and restoration.” “We are the grassroots Salvation Army,” says Irene. “We remember in the early days when someone would be saved at the drum [in an open–air meeting], and William Booth would put him in a uniform and slap epaulets on him.” A number of people who came to the Army from the streets are now uniform– wearing soldiers (members). In April, the corps commissioned its first set of local officers (lay leaders). The church essentially started two years ago when the new wing, with a chapel, was built. The people who are part of the congregation came in many interesting ways.

Photo by Ernie Jiminez

Nadera and Raul Lopes dedicate their baby to the Lord. Major Greg Norman (far left) performs the ceremony.

‘Sister Rose’ Jean Noel (front) invited Jacqueline (left), who in turn invited her sister and brother–in–law, Emiliene and Jean Baptiste. All are from Haiti.

Haitian connections “Sister Rose” (Rose Jean Noel), a Haitian woman, does a call–in radio prayer show called “Au Bord de la Piscine” (Around the Pool), which refers to the healing Pool of Siloam in the Bible. One night, she says, “I was sleeping, and I dreamed of this place.” She had dropped off her grandson at the Army’s after–school program, but she had never been inside and didn’t know there was a church there. Someone showed her the partially completed chapel. It was two years ago when she came for a visit on a Sunday; there were just nine people in the congregation. But she knew it was the place for her. Another Haitian family came to the corps as a result of a bus–stop meeting www.saconnects.org

Orlando and Laura Zayas

with Sister Rose. Jacqueline Mauricette was feeling very discouraged that day. Her 22–year–old son had passed away, and she was in trouble at work, about to be fired. She overheard a woman talking to someone else at the bus stop and thought she recognized the voice

of Sister Rose from the radio. Rose invited Jacqueline to the corps; she in turn in invited her sister and brother–in–law, Emiliene and Jean Baptiste. “When I came to the church, I fell in love!” says Jean, a third–shift cab driver. Raul and Nadera Lopes, Cape Verdeans, were homeless and living shelter to shelter when they first came to the corps for worship. Eventually, they married and became soldiers (members). Earlier this year, they had a premature baby, and they dedicated her in the church on Easter Sunday.

Sidewalk encounter Orlando and Laura Zayas were on their way to Walgreen’s two years ago when Irene said hello to them on the sidewalk 31

Photo by Ernie Jiminez

What God Is Doing in … Boston’s South End

Ben DeLa Cruz and Orlando Zayas, who is giving a Salvation Army ‘salute,’ one finger pointed toward the Lord

in front of the corps and asked if they would like to come in. That led to a two–hour conversation and a first–time visit for worship. “Greg was preaching about working,” recalls Orlando, who had a part–time job as a bookkeeper. About a week later, he went to see the pastor and asked, “You have a job for me?” Orlando is now the receptionist at the corps’ Family Services Center. He has a ministry dealing with more than 1,000 people. In addition to helping people with essentials, Orlando works with senior services and programs at the Army’s Camp Wonderland. In his old job, he had not dealt with people. So, he says, “I had to learn how to listen, and to speak when the Lord gives me a Word.” Orlando often feels overwhelmed with gratitude at the responsibility he now has. “I think, Wow! This is so much! I am feeding His sheep. He wants us to be 32

well–fed. There are a lot of malnourished people.” Orlando’s wife, Laura, has suffered through many physical challenges. She had breast cancer that led to a double mastectomy, and she suffers from lupus, epilepsy, and, most recently, hearing loss. “Our backs have been against the wall so many times, but the Lord has never let us down,” Laura says. When she and Orlando first came to the struggling corps two years ago, she told the pastors: “You better get ready. Even though nothing is happening now, we are going to have to move the dividing wall [in the chapel].” That hasn’t happened yet, but the front part of the chapel is verging on capacity. On April 20, after 20 years of marriage, Laura and Orlando renewed their vows in that chapel. More than five years ago, David Santa came to The Salvation Army hungry

Photo by Ernie Jiminez

Major Greg Norman calls David Santa his ‘right–hand man.’

and addicted to drugs and alcohol. But he’s now living in a sober house and testifies to being saved and delivered from his addictions. He was enrolled as a soldier last year and is also employed by the corps. Even when he’s not working, he’s at the building. “I never get tired of this place,” David says. When there’s a local disaster, it’s David who calls in volunteers to work the canteen. “He’s got the passion,” says Greg. “He loves doing it.”

No longer homeless Benjamin DeLa Cruz is one of those miracles Greg talks about. Ben was living at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans when he first came to the corps. “I had no job, no place to stay, and my wife wasn’t with me,” Ben says. At the time, he was attending both a Methodist church and The Salvation Army, and he was torn about choosing a permanent church home. “I asked Pastor Norman. He said, ‘Pray to God. He will let you know. I want you here, but that’s between you and God.’ ” Ben admired Greg for saying that, and soon after, he decided that the Army was his church. His life began to change. “I got a voucher for Section 8 housing www.saconnects.org

for vets. I took a driving course and got my CDL license. Now I’m working at Paul Revere Transportation in Chelsea. And my wife came back. Everything is coming together.” A year ago, Ben became a soldier. In

‘It’s a family business’

he praise team at the Boston South End Corps is made up of three people: Jared Norman, 23; Joshua Norman, 21; and Bethany Norman, 19. They are the children of the pastors, Majors Greg and Irene Norman. ‘This is our parents’ church; it’s a family business,’ says Jared. ‘I feel obligated to it. This church is a part of us. I love coming to church.’ ‘We love the people here,’ says Bethany. ‘They pick their lives up.’

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April, he began teaching Bible study. “For me, it’s a big thing,” he says. “I’m working for God; I feel responsibility.” Ben studies the Bible rigorously and is working to improve his English (which is already very good). He also pitches in to

help in other ways, such as cleaning up. “It’s our church,” he says. “We all help. We have the same calling.” That’s what it’s all about at the “banquet” being served at the Boston South End Corps.

Joshua and Bethany also made commitments to the Lord at a Salvation Army camp, Camp Wonderland in Sharon, Mass. Bethany was a counselor at the camp. ‘Having to deal with campers brought me closer to God,’ she says. Joshua remembers Jared (on drums), the meetings that were Joshua, and Bethany held at night at camp Norman and the activities that were offered to help The three have been part of kids find faith. He surrendered their parents’ ministry for many completely to Jesus and rememyears. But each also has a strong bers giving his testimony. relationship with the Lord. Joshua’s favorite Scripture is Jared found faith for himself Ephesians, Chapter 6, in which the when he attended the Army’s Apostle Paul talks about putting Camp Connri in Ashford, Conn., as on ‘the full armor of God.’ an elementary school student. For Jared and Bethany, the ‘I was really young,’ he says. verse is one that is on a magnet ‘I had a lot of Christian friends.’ on the refrigerator at home: He was involved with skits and ‘ … those who hope in the Lord performed a dance with other will renew their strength. They will young people. Jared realized the soar on wings like eagles; they will Lord was real, ‘and I was just havrun and not grow weary, they will ing fun with Him.’ walk and not faint.’ (Isaiah 40:31) 33

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Serving Others

Compelled To Offer Hope by Theresa D. McClellan

Photo © Adam Bird/ AP Images

hen Pat Howe was a child, she and her family would spend weekends and summer vacations with her grandfather, William Cunningham, who lived across the way from the massive Clinton Valley Asylum Center in Pontiac, Mich. In the summer the only ventilation at the asylum was open windows, and little Pat would hear the agonizing wails of the mental health patients begging to be set free or to see their families. “They didn’t want to be there, and even as young as 5 or 6, it pierced my heart,” she says. Pat’s parents told her the patients had to be there but she insisted, “There has to be a better way.” Now 52, Pat is someone who helps people find that better way.

She is the executive vice president of Hope Network, a Michigan statewide behavioral health services organization serving 14,000 people and 100 statewide mental health care programs. Pat’s passion for service to others comes both from her own family and from growing up in The Salvation Army. “The Salvation Army represents those core values of serving others, putting others’ needs before your own, and seeing the wonderful opportunity of life as a way of honoring God,” she says.

‘Knee–high’ lessons Pat says she was “knee–high to a grasshopper” when her parents, James and Jacqueline Cunningham, began to instill those values in her.

Serving Others

James was a banker who was moved by his Salvation Army background to quit that business and start a housing ministry. That program provided rooming houses and low–income apartments for the poor and people struggling with addiction and mental instability. Jacqueline came from parents who had no church affiliation or even any interest in religion. But when she was a young girl, something pulled at her, and she decided to take an hourlong bus ride to attend church services at The Salvation Army. Her determination to find something more convinced her parents to eventually join her at the Army and become active. From a young age, Pat was part of her parents’ work. She recalls accompanying her mom to pick up clients at Clinton Valley. “It was not uncommon in the conduct of their business that they served someone with severe and persistent mental illness,” Pat says. “Mom would help them into the car and take them for treatment. It wasn’t a drop–off kind of thing. Mom was right there helping them with their paperwork, talking with them, working with their Social Security,” she says. Every holiday, the Cunningham family would make meals for the women and men living in her parents’ boarding homes and apartments. The baking of Christmas cookies and treats would start in October. Pat and her brother Greg would help with (and taste) the batter and help wrap everything for the freezer. The dough would be pulled out 38

Pat learned to play cornet at The Salvation Army and surprised her high school band teachers by choosing this instrument instead of flute, which most girls played.

later, baked, and delivered to lonely war veterans, broken alcoholics, and the severely depressed. Little Pat couldn’t wait to get into the October goodies, but wait she did. And she received an even bigger thrill at Christmas as she observed the joyous reactions their treats evoked in others. All the while, Pat was taking in the daily lessons of how to care for others, how to talk to the wounded ones to make sure they still felt heard, and how to put others’ needs before her own. “It was a wonderful opportunity … a way of honoring God and really seeing

the blessing and sacred duty of seeing them as the precious souls of the Lord. That has become a sacred trust for me to this day,” she says.

Salvation Army roots Pat’s roots in The Salvation Army go way back—four generations. “When your father and your grandpa and your great–grandpa are all Salvation Army, you get it,” she says. Pat’s brother and father have served on Salvation Army advisory boards. Pat says that with the Cunninghams, there is a “family lifetime of dedication, not only to servwww.saconnects.org

‘Feeding others first’ was everyday practice for the Cunninghams.

Photos courtesy Pat Howe

proved she could play the instrument and later used her musical talents in high school and junior high school to raise money for food and presents for low–income families. During the holidays, she would grab her bandmate friends and go to wealthy neighborhoods to play Christmas carols. Appreciative residents would drop cash into the tuba’s bell. “One year we made $326; we were so excited,” she says. “We thought that was very cool.” The students bought treats and clothes and had fun wrapping presents and giving them away. Pat says she couldn’t think of a better way to spend Christmas.

‘This is what we do’ Pat with her parents, James and Jacqueline Cunningham.

ing others but to The Salvation Army.” She remembers attending her grandfather’s Salvation Army church, called the Citadel, in Pontiac. Here she learned Bible stories as well as the history of The Salvation Army, founded by William Booth in 1865. She learned how Booth took the Gospel to the streets, where he preached to those not welcome into churches at that time—the prostitutes, the alcoholics, the mentally unstable. “I loved learning about the early movement of The Salvation Army in England and the risks they took to get www.saconnects.org

things started,” Pat says. “With the values [I learned] in Sunday school, there was connectivity and consonance in how learning and living occurred. There was no ‘disconnect.’ ” At the Citadel, Pat played cornet in the brass band, right alongside her father and grandfather. She laughs about joining band in school. When it was time to receive her instrument, the teachers assumed that because she was a girl, she would play the flute. She remembers looking with disdain at the instrument and pulling out her cornet. She said, “No, I’m playing this.” She

The extended Cunningham family— her parents, the kids, and both sets of grandparents—would open their home to people less fortunate than themselves. The whole family would make a Christmas feast of ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and desserts. They would serve the feast, pass out wrapped presents, and make everyone feel welcome. Only after everyone else was fed would the Cunningham family have their own Christmas. The family’s traditional Christmas became a first date for Pat Cunningham and Tim Howe. “I told him, now this is what we do,” Pat recalls. She watched Tim during the festivities to see how he would react. She says that if he had balked about sharing his Christmas with others, there would have been no second date, 39

Photo ÂŠ Adam Bird/ APImages

Serving Others

www.prioritypeople.org

Pat and Tim in the early days of their relationship

Photos courtesy Pat Howe

The Howes with their two sons

and she would have kept on looking for a suitable boyfriend. But Tim, raised a Free Methodist, was not unfamiliar with the concept of compassion and giving. “He loved it,” Pat says. “I knew he was going to be a keeper.” Eventually, the two married. When told that she must feel blessed to be part of such a loving family, Pat nods, a contemplative look on her face. “Indeed, I was blessed. I was adopted as a baby, part of that caring–for–others tradition,” Pat says. “No telling how my life could have turned out, who I could have been with, or if I could have been at all,” she says. By the time Jacqueline and James married, their faith and training as Salvation Army members led them to bring infant Patricia into their home. “Biblical teachings weren’t just what we learned on Sunday and left at church; it is a way of life, every day,” says Pat. Pat and Tim have two sons. The oldest Jon, 28, works in computers in www.saconnects.org

North Carolina. The youngest, Andrew, is a graduate student at the University of Michigan working on a master’s in social work. He is also legally blind. Pat, who has her own master’s in social work, knows that some with a disability can become embittered and stuck. But she doesn’t see that in Andrew, who wants to work with others struggling with disabilities. “He has the life perspective and values that have enveloped him his whole life—the worth of all,” Pat says. “He has a very powerful message, and God is going to use him to serve others in a very powerful way.”

Hope Network Some would say that Pat’s example also sends a powerful message. Because of her upbringing, she has held jobs as a social worker helping those addicted to drugs, alcohol, and even food. She had a private practice until 2005, when she became an administrator with The

Hope Network. There, not only does she help create policy, she says, but her belief system also helps instill a climate of care. While she holds an important position in the company, the office trappings and title of executive vice president are not what motivate Pat. She moves forward because of a long–held belief that all people deserve the chance to be the best God has meant them to be. She believes that if, in your role, you can step back and help someone else achieve or believe in themselves—even if they don’t feel they are at their best at that moment—you are doing God’s work. Pat describes her philosophy this way: “If everything that you do comes from the value system of, ‘What is best for this person?’ ‘Does this serve this person well?’ ‘Are we treating all of God’s children with worth and value?’ You can’t help but create a good organization.” It seems as if Pat has always been part of a “hope network.” 41

Looking Back in Faith

Called, Not ‘Grandfathered’

by Gail Wood

Looking Back in Faith

early 50 years ago, before Colonels Linda and Terry Griffin began a 42–year journey as officers in The Salvation Army, they played together in an Army band. Linda, just out of high school and working in her first job as an office secretary for the Army in Seattle, played first cornet. Terry, home on summer break from college after his freshman year at Azusa Pacific, sat next to her, in the second chair. “He didn’t take being second to me very well,” Linda says with a laugh. “He was a music major.”

But with their common background, marriage seemed inevitable. Both Linda and Terry are fifth– generation Salvation Army officers. William Booth, the Founder of The Salvation Army, conducted meetings in the home of Linda’s great–great–grandparents in Cornwall, England.

Early call—and struggle Early in their lives, both Linda and Terry felt a calling from God to serve as officers. But despite their heritage, each struggled to make that commitment. Four of Linda’s siblings went off to

training school before she did. So she wondered whether her own calling was real or if she was just strongly influenced by her family. “But I really came to realize that it wasn’t a family package deal,” Linda says. “God specifically called me. Even though I put it off for a while, I did eventually answer [that] call.” She did that after some prodding from a friend. “Our divisional youth secretary at the time pinned me [down] one day and said, ‘So what are you doing about your call to officership?’ ” Linda remem-

Photos courtesy Terry and Linda Griffin

Left to right: The young man in the back row, far right with a guitar, is Terry Griffin’s grandfather Herbert Hugo; Eliza Hodge Rogers and Alfred Rogers, Linda’s great–great grandparents, who began the family’s connection with The Salvation Army in Cornwall, England; Linda’s family includes (back row, l–r): K. John Bawden, her father, who was a Salvation Army officer for 43 years, William Bawden, her grandfather (whom Linda never met), her uncles Stanley and Harold Bawden (who was an officer for a time), (front row, l–r), her uncle Thomas Bawden, her grandmother Annie Rogers Bawden, her uncle George, and her two aunts, Lucille and Audrey; The ‘Family Band’ includes Terry, Linda, Todd on trombone, Troy on snare drums, Tim on bass, and Melissa on cornet.

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bers. “I said, ‘Hmm, I’m not sure.’ He said, ‘I think you need to talk about that.’ ” It was the push the couple needed. In 1968, a year after getting married, they became cadets at the Army’s two–year training school in San Francisco. “It just took somebody to say it’s time to make the decision,” Terry says. Before he met Linda, he had felt his own calling to become an officer. “We each did our part to run from that calling,” Terry said. “But it became very evident that was what God wanted us to do. And we would not be happy doing anything else.” Even though his great–great–grandparents, great–grandparents, grandparents, and parents were officers in The

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Salvation Army, Terry never felt pressure to follow them. But he was involved with Army activities from an early age. He started playing in the corps (church) band when he was in third grade. Terry’s best friends, his baseball and fishing buddies, attended the same church. “No matter where my parents were stationed, the Salvation Army group was a family,” Terry said. “So that was the heritage I grew up in. I enjoyed it. When I was called to be a Salvation Army officer, it was a chance to keep doing the things that I enjoyed doing.”

Kids face same question When Linda and Terry’s children came along, the Griffins realized that their

kids would face making a decision about whether to become officers. With a fifth–generation link to The Salvation Army, their three boys and a girl did feel pressure to follow suit, not from Linda and Terry, but from the family heritage. The Griffins made it clear to their children that becoming Salvation Army officers was a not a tradition. “Honestly, one of my greatest joys would have been seeing one of our children following in our footsteps as officers,” Linda says. “But we always stressed that this was not a ‘family business’ that they were expected to to step up and take over. It was a calling from God.” The kids didn’t follow in their parents’ footsteps, but they are Christians who walk and talk their faith.

Header Here Looking Back in Faith

(Top) Terry and Linda get ready to board a float plane, the only way to get to some of the small village corps in Alaska. Bottom: The Griffins have an ‘ohana’ (family) reunion in Hawaii following their retirement.

“I’m happy to say that all four children have grown into remarkable young adults who live and serve God,” Linda says. “Two of our four families are still Salvationists [members of the church] and the other two are active in the churches of their choice, as it should be. I’m just so proud of them all. I’m so glad that they are saved and that they are in church.” The Griffins do have three nieces who, with their husbands, are serving as officers today. “So it continues through the family,” Linda says.

Photos courtesy Terry and Linda Griffin

‘Why God put me here’

Over the 42 years he served as an officer, Terry learned an important lesson. When he started out in ministry in 1970, he had ambitious goals. “You have this idea that you’re going to change the world,” Terry says. “I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to change the world, but I could have some influence on individuals to bring Christ into their lives to transform [them].” “As I look back on each one of my appointments,” Terry says, “there was always one person I can look back on and say, ‘That’s why God put me there.’ ” Terry remembers Glen, an older man living in a nursing home after a stroke. “He could hardly put three words together without stuttering,” Terry says.

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Uniform: Like Carrying a Bible

I “He had a lot of trauma in his life, and God sent me to Glen. I can look back and say that’s why I was there. Glen needed me and he needed Christ.” By the time Terry moved to another city for a new assignment, Glen was praying with others. He was also handing out a religious magazine put together by people in the nursing home. “He became my replacement there,” Terry says. “So, don’t think about changing the world. Just think about changing it one life at a time, or influencing one life at a time.” As Linda reflects on her career in The Salvation Army, she’s amazed at all the lives she’s been able to touch. “Over a period of 42 years as officers, it’s staggering to think of the number of people we had under our influence,” Linda says. “Sometimes we learned far more from them than they learned from us. But we were definitely given a love for those people. We know that God used our willingness to be used by Him to impact lives.”

Advice for beginners To someone just beginning a journey as an officer with The Salvation Army, Linda says to expect it to be a day–to– day walk with God. She leaned on her favorite verses, Proverbs 3:5–6. “Trust God from the bottom of your heart,” Linda says. “I’d say you have no idea what you’re beginning now. But it’s going to be a grand adventure, and God is going to be with you all the way. It’s been an amazing ride.”

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t’s a moment Linda Griffin will never forget. While waiting in an airport to catch a flight to St. Louis, a stranger came up to Linda, reached into her purse, and gave her a handful of bills. It wasn’t because Linda had asked for money. It was because she was wearing her Salvation Army uniform. After a few minutes, the woman returned, wanting to give Linda more money. ‘She said she felt God told her to give me more money,’ Linda says. ‘She trusted me because I was wearing my Salvation Army uniform. She knew of the work we did.’ In 42 years of service in The Salvation Army, Linda and her husband, Terry, saw again and again the impact of the uniform. Terry remembers walking through downtown Olympia, Wash., while assigned there in the 1970s. ‘They’d say, “Hello, Captain. Nice to see you,” ’ he says. ‘I knew the people. People identified me. But when I walked down that same street out of uniform, they didn’t recognize me.’ Terry also remembers walking through the airport in the

From the start, the Griffins were careful to keep a healthy balance between ministry and family. When your job can impact whether someone eats or not, or whether someone hears the

South not long after a hurricane devastated New Orleans. In addition to sending relief groups to that city, The Salvation Army also counseled Delta Airlines staff. ‘We’d walk through that airport and the Delta people would say, “Thank you for what you do and what you’ve done for us,” ’ Terry recalls. For Terry and Linda, wearing the uniform is like carrying a Bible. It helps identify who they are. ‘When people see a Salvation Army uniform, they know what that person does and what that person believes,’ Terry says. ‘They understand that this is a person I could trust.’

message of salvation, it’s easy to become consumed and forget family. “I think we got good advice early on from people who said you’ve got to take time for yourself,” Terry says. “You don’t

The Griffins in Florida with their ‘kids’ (l–r): Tim, Todd, Troy, and Melissa

want to forget family. I can’t say we were perfect at it. There were times when things just did consume us. But we tried our best.” Terry and Linda have devoted their lives to sharing the Good News, feeding the poor, and lending a helping hand. In September 2012, they retired. But after a couple of leisurely months of reading, golfing, and fishing, Terry and Linda both “un–retired,” taking on part–time jobs with … you guessed it … The Salvation Army. “God doesn’t expect you to just sit in a rocking chair for the rest of your life.”

Photo courtesy of Terry and Linda Griffin

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My Take

My First Hero by Greg Tuck

money in my life. I figured I would deal with that problem if I lost. The game started with a flurry. I fell, got up, and chased him around, kicking the ball and his legs as hard as I could. The more he laughed, the more determined I became. With the score tied, I forced my sweaty little body in my Buck Rogers T–shirt down the sideline and along the back porch of the chapel, the site of many victories of other kinds. My final exhausted kick reached the wall and I declared myself the winner. I would have done a victory lap if I hadn’t been so tired and he hadn’t had

to leave to load soup into the van for a late–night run for homeless people. And then the moment came. After a short speech about “ambition being made of sterner stuff” or something like that, he laughed, patted me on the back, and handed me two heavy coins. I had won! I was rich! The 45–minute session on that field was childish fun. But it was far more than that for me. As I look back, I think of a busy young man, pulled in many directions, taking time to befriend a little boy. Heroes reach out in relationship, often down to others whom

Greg Tuck, age 11

Photo courtesy Greg Tuck

ay back in the 70s, my parents moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, as leaders of the Salvation Army’s training college for cadets. Because life for a 4–year–old on his own can be tough, I decided to go with them! I don’t remember how long we lived there before I met my first sporting nemesis. He was a tall, loud man who wore a beard like a South American revolutionary and three sergeant stripes on his uniform sleeve. I believe those were either an early sign of his leadership or his showing a sense of style. His skin was darker than that of most people I had met up to this point, and he apparently loved to laugh—a lot and loudly. After a few weeks, he challenged me to a game of soccer. Now, by the time I was 5, I was pretty good—I could dribble from my mouth and with my feet! And I was fiercely competitive. A soccer challenge against an old man on my home field? I’m in! The rules were set; the goal he defended was the full side of a pale green prefab building while mine was two shoes spaced two feet apart. The first to 10 goals would win two rand in South African currency. To be clear, I didn’t have two rand and had never seen that much

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Greg and his adopted son, Jordan, from South Africa

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Heroes make things fairer for those not as gifted as themselves. equal opportunity, or even the choice of where to live or whom to marry. He had known deep injustice, but in those playful minutes, he leveled the playing field for me. Real heroes fight injustice at every turn, creating opportunities for success for those around them. Life was serious for him during his two years of training, but in the midst of classes, theological studies, and endless additional duties, he found time for fun. And time to ensure that a little boy got to enjoy himself. Heroes look for opportunities to bring joy. Today, the dark man—without his beard—is the leader, with his wife, of The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom, the Army’s birthplace. He oversees ministries and programs that positively affect millions of people. I assume he is leading from a place of relationship—caring for those around him. I’m sure he’s keeping his word,

even when times are tough. I’m sure too that he’s fighting for justice for the poor, for minorities, and for the oppressed—knowing firsthand what it is to be bound, then liberated. And I’m sure even in tough times, he’s bringing joy and laughter to the Army he leads. I have a lot of heroes—from liberation movements, sports fields, and executive offices. But I will never forget my first hero, who let me win on my home field—Commissioner Clive Adams. Editor’s note: Greg and his wife, Keren, are administrators of the Army’s Star Lake Camp in New Jersey. They recently adopted a little boy from South Africa.

Photo courtesy UK Territory, Salvation Army

Photo courtesy Greg Tuck

our society says are beneath them. For those two years, he never earned a cent as he trained to be a Salvation Army officer and prepared for a life of living with very little. And while those two rand probably didn’t change his life, they impacted mine. The heavy coins in my hand told me that heroes keep their word. He was a great athlete. He knew it was hardly fair for us to have the same size goals, so my target was 10 times wider than his was. Heroes make things fairer for those not as gifted as themselves. He grew up with dark skin in a society that, at the time, denied him the basic privileges of fair education,

Commissioner Clive Adams

Used with permission from the Rockford Register Star and rrstar.com

Prayer Power

Laotian Church Born of Prayer by Robert E. Thomson

he year was 1997. Major Dan Sjogren was the corps officer (pastor) of the historic and flourishing Rockford, Ill., Temple Corps, a Salvation Army church. One day he was approached by a group of immigrant Laotians who wanted to be a part of the Army. Only one man, Khampa, spoke English; and that, at best, was broken. The leader of the group, he had attended some Army meetings in Minneapolis. Dan said he would discuss the proposal with local leaders. A few days later, he and retired Major Walt Winters met 52

again with the Laotians. Dan explained the doctrines and the structure of the Army (which they gladly accepted), then asked Major Winters to pray that God’s will would be done. The next day the Laotian leader asked Dan, “Where did Major Winters learn to speak Laotian?” Dan chuckled. “He doesn’t speak Laotian.” “But yesterday, when he prayed,” Khampa insisted, “he prayed in Laotian. I heard it, and all the other men in the group understood every word.”

That was only the first of many “miracles.” The new soldiers joined the Temple Corps, where translation equipment allowed them to hear in their own language. But within four years their numbers had increased to the point that they needed their own building. When a local church building went on the market, the Laotian Salvationists organized a prayer walk at the site. They circled the building, praying on each side that God would make it available to them. www.saconnects.org

But it was the wrong structure! The building they really wanted was a block away. Not unexpectedly, Dan received a call from the pastor of the “wrong” church, wanting to know “what all the people in Salvation Army uniform were doing marching around our church?” Dan explained the error. But several weeks later, the pastor called to say that a problem in the church was resolved soon after the prayer walk. Eventually the corps, now named Rockford Tabernacle, was able to purchase the “right” church, which they used for several more years. Later, due to some rearranging of Army programs, a Salvation Army– owned building became available, and the church occupies it today.

Impressed with mission During the formative years, there was a need for a bilingual person to translate soldier (membership) preparation classes into Laotian. In answer to the prayers of Dan and the lay leader, Corps Sergeant– Major Norma Baker, God provided a young pastor from a local congregation to translate. The pastor and his wife were impressed with the mission and ministry of the Army, and they decided to become Salvationists. “This is just what we were looking for,” they said. Today Captains Ting and Vong Luangkhamdeng are themselves pastors of a corps in Minneapolis. www.saconnects.org

As attendance increased and new programs were added, the Laotian Salvationists felt the need for a commissioned officer to lead them, but no Laotian–speaking officers were available. So, of course, they prayed. Just about that time it became known that a Laotian–speaking officer couple in the Southern Territory might be available for transfer to the Midwest. Then–Colonel Philip Swyers, second in command of the Army in the central U.S., wrote to his counterpart in the South asking that the couple be transferred to Rockford.

Answering his own letter But before an answer was received, Swyers was appointed to be second in command in the South. One of his first duties was to respond affirmatively to his own letter! In June of 2003, Majors Bounlouane and Chamathong Keobounhom (known locally as Majors Bruce and Betty) were transferred to the Rockford Tabernacle Corps, where the Lord has blessed them and their growing, praying congregation. Today there are 65 senior

soldiers (members) and 45 junior soldiers on the roll, and attendance at Sunday meetings averages in excess of 120. One ministry of the Rockford Tabernacle soldiers is sponsoring immigrants from war–torn countries of Asia. The soldiers provide shelter and meals until the newcomers get established, and many of the immigrants choose to attend Army meetings. The corps also provides breakfast five days a week to schoolchildren from underserved families. And after school each day, the corps building is open for computer classes, ESL classes, and Bible studies. Needless to say, prayer continues to be a major focus of the Rockford Tabernacle.

Prayer Power

‘It’s just nice to know you’re not alone … ’ by Robert Mitchell

Photo by Robert Mitchell

alvation Army Major Deborah Lugiano says that before her cancer diagnosis last year, she wasn’t one to tell people how much she cared or how much she loved them, from her heart! Like many Christians, she also would tell people she would pray for them and then not follow up. In a public letter of thanks, Deborah, the assistant territorial trade (supplies and purchasing) secretary in the USA Eastern Territory, says “Prayer has sustained me throughout this long health journey, which continues even today.” “I got prayer cards from people all over the country and even outside the country,” Deborah says. “I got prayer cards in Spanish, which I couldn’t even read and I had to have translated. I still have people sending me notes of encouragement and without that …” Deborah, who recently returned to work, choked up before explaining how the experience has changed her life. “It’s just nice to know you’re not

alone and you have people that really care about you,” she says. “Unfortunately, we don’t tell people that until we go through things like this. “We always say these off–the–cuff comments, you know, ‘I’m praying for you.’ But until something like this happens, you don’t really realize how deeply somebody takes that to heart. Just the thought of the mass of people that were praying for me was overwhelming.” Deborah’s ordeal began last July when she was diagnosed with oral squamous carcinoma. She underwent major surgeries and was bedridden for six months. There also was radiation treatment

and a weeklong stay in the hospital when she suffered dehydration. “I’m now just waiting it out and praying that all will go well and [that] the radiation did its job,” Deborah says. Over the course of the treatment, Deborah has lost two–thirds of her tongue. “I have lost some of my vocabulary,” she says. “It’s ‘tongue–twisting’ sometimes. I’ve lost my vocal [ability]. I can’t sing anymore. I used to be able to sing. I can’t sing. “There are some drawbacks from it all, but praise God, right now I’m healthy and I’m holding on.” www.saconnects.org

Deborah, in her letter, said she also has learned a lesson about the use of her tongue. “Having lost the ability to speak for many weeks, I am determined from this point on … [to] always speak with words of love and kindness to everyone!” she says. “Psalm 19:14 resonates in my mind … ‘Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer.’ ” Deborah admits that in the initial days after her diagnosis, she found it difficult to pray. “I kind of shut down,” she says. “But when you see your friends and family come around you, upholding you, it makes you realize that the only thing

that sustains you through any of this is your prayer life. “It’s amazing knowing that God—no matter how bad you feel, or when you don’t even have the right words to say— you can just feel His presence. Some days I was just angry and I still knew He loved me, and my prayer life has grown since then. “I know God has something special not only for me but also for those who have prayed.” Deborah says she once took things for granted, but no more. “We wake up and start the day and we’re grateful for the next breath or the next time we see our whole family,” she says. Deborah says her husband, Major Ronald Lugiano, the USA’s East trade

secretary, “has been my rock.” The couple has been married for 42 years. “It really makes you understand what love and the love of God means in a relationship,” Deborah says. ‘When you think of the years we’ve been officers and the number of people who have crossed our paths … it makes us wonder, did we do all we should have done? The answer always comes back from God, ‘Yes, you did, and be thankful every day for those people.’ So that’s what I try to do. Every day I’m thankful for the littlest of things.” She also has a new attitude about that off–the–cuff “I’ll pray for you” comment. “If I tell somebody I’m going to pray for them, I’m sure going to pray for them!” she says.

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100 117 Years Ago

1914 Congress Of Nations

ower Manhattan woke up to a joyful extravaganza on the morning of May 31, 1914. Salvation Army National Commander Evangeline Booth, riding on horseback, led 700 of her fellow officers and soldiers in a parade from National Headquarters on 14th Street to the wharf where the SS Olympic was berthed. With flags, banners, and handkerchiefs wafting in the breeze, the marchers embarked on the Olympic for the Salvation Army’s Congress of Nations, to be held in London June 11–26. For an Army at work in 58 countries, it was to be the fourth and largest international gathering since 1886. The happy throng, including a contingent of “negro” Salvationist Gospel singers from Massachusetts, wore cowboy hats and had sashes with stars and stripes draped over their blue uniforms. Songs of salvation rang out, aided by the New York and Chicago Staff Bands and two corps (church) bands from

Worcester, Mass., and Flint, Mich. Former President Theodore Roosevelt, an Olympic passenger, was impressed by what he heard from the four American bands. Months later, he requested that the Flint Citadel Band perform during a civic function in Detroit where he was to be guest speaker. Sadly, the congress would be marked by tragedy. The Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence Seaway on May 29, killing 167 of 176 Salvationist delegates from Canada. The disaster decimated the Canadian Staff Band. Prayers and tributes were offered in London, and the remaining Canadian delegates wore white ribbons and sashes. Yet the spirit of celebration for God’s boundless salvation could not be dampened. At the opening ceremonies at Royal Albert Hall, General Bramwell Booth led the packed–out audience in singing, “Come Let Us All Unite and Sing, God Is Love!”

The meetings, with many events open to the public, were the rave of London. The London Times noted: “The meetings … have been crammed … and on Tuesday the gathering at the Crystal Palace (50,000 in attendance) was equal to anything that the palace has ever known.” Little did anyone know that the fifth congress wouldn’t take place until more than 50 years later. Two days after the 1914 celebrations ended, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo, and World War 1 began. A great economic depression, another world war, and post–war reconstruction periods kept the worldwide Army from gathering until its centenary year in 1965. Fifty years later, in 2015, delegates from around the world will converge on London once more, this time to celebrate the Army’s 150th anniversary.

Photo courtesy USA East Territorial Heritage Museum Art by Warren L. Maye in Soldiers of Uncommon Valor

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