PREVIEW
VOL 10 NO 1
JANUARY-MARCH 2018
MISSSION:
IMPOSSIBLE? Serving the world around me
MISSION: Serving the world around me
E Q U I P P I N G
W O M E N
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M I N I S T R Y
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M I S S I O N
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Ser ving arou M
Sonia Bouzigues ission impossible reminds me of a television series that I watched as a girl when I was fascinated to see how the team received its mission and carried it out by sharing tasks. Despite the challenges they faced and the risks they took, they always successfully finished the mission to the sound of background music that soon became familiar to me. Rather like that team we have a great mission with many challenges, risks and difficulties and we hope to achieve success for the glory of God. The mission I have in mind is the fight against human trafficking, Mexico has the second highest number of trafficked people in the world and it seems like an impossible mission. For the past few years the territory has been working with certain officers in each division to raise awareness of the evil of trafficking and encourage feedback. A community project was initiated where
one of the objectives was to prevent mothers with small children and schoolage children from becoming victims of trafficking. Women’s Ministries placed a strong emphasis on promoting the International Day of Prayer for victims of human trafficking and with the materials provided, officers enthusiastically joined in using the resources at corps (churches). They shared the message with soldiers (members) stressing the urgent need to be aware of trafficking and to pray for the victims. Concern for the victims of trafficking has been on my heart for some years. In my home territory (South America East) Women’s Ministries camps in each division focused on learning about human trafficking and domestic violence. Although it seems a ‘mission impossible’ something must be done and I am reminded of the words of William Booth: ‘Something must be done and somebody must do it. Thank God The Salvation
‘Seeing the HAPPY FACE OF A RESCUED her testimony makes
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the world nd me Army never sees an evil without asking this question – what can I do to change it?’ In 2016 the territory established a collaboration agreement with Consejo Ciudadano (Citizens Council), a civil organisation that defends the rights of Mexican citizens. This agreement involves collaboration in the dissemination of measures to prevent trafficking and defend victims. The Council hoped that while they worked on the rescue of victims, The Salvation Army would collaborate in their rehabilitation, yet we lacked experience of this and had no shelter for trafficked women and girls or the funding for such a great mission. I spoke to Lieut-Colonel Sara Chagas (former Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries) and explained that to prepare for this mission we must first receive training. Ideally we needed to see others working with victims of trafficking and learn from them, which would mean travelling. The Southern Africa Territory agreed
to assist and provide us with all the training we needed and so in April, 10 officer representatives from across the country travelled to Johannesburg. I have scarcely the words to describe this experience, as it opened our eyes to so many possibilities in the work against the cruel scourge of trafficking. We learnt about campaigns to raise awareness in the streets and having a rescue shelter for the rehabilitation of victims. We were greatly encouraged by the testimonies of trafficking victims and how their experiences are vital to the rehabilitation of others. We returned to Mexico grateful for the teaching and support of the Southern Africa Territory and prepared to face the great challenge with courage, trusting in the infinite resources of God. The Lord once again confirmed to my heart that when sincerely preparing to work for the vulnerable and suffering, he opens the way and gives opportunities. We discovered a young woman at a corps
VICTIM and hearing me see the beginning of many victories’
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feature Salvationists in Mexico take to the streets to raise awareness of trafficking
whose family benefited from the terrible sexual abuse she suffered. We literally had a trafficking victim in our congregation and hadn’t realised it. Today this young woman is a happy person living in a Salvation Army refuge in another city. She wears uniform and plays in the tambourine brigade, and in her testimony thanks the Lord for the opportunity that he has given her of a new life with hope for the future. Each division now has trained teams who bravely take to the streets to raise public awareness. We are making plans to open a shelter for victims’ rehabilitation and the Lord has opened our eyes to the possibilities of a place and the resources to carry it out. There are thousands of victims in our country who need to be rescued, which really seems like an impossible mission. However, I see the example that Jesus gave in preparing followers for his mission and how he taught them and helped them to see the opportunities, training them to be the ones who would spread his gospel and be soul-winners. This mission continues to
be shared from one generation to the next. Although the task of rescuing and rehabilitating so many trafficking victims seems an impossible task, I am not discouraged because seeing the happy face of a rescued victim and hearing her testimony makes me see the beginning of many victories, with people committed to the task of rescuing women from suffering and helping them to rebuild their lives and look to the future with hope. God is helping us to make the impossible possible.
Testimony
My name is Janeth, I am 20 years old and a Mexican from the Chiapas State. I first met The Salvation Army when I was six years old when some of my friends told me to go there because the Army was giving out food and helping children with various items so that they could go to school. This appealed to me because my dream was to be able to go to school. I found that the Army was a beautiful place, full of love where people not only shared things with us – it was there that I was given my first toy – but also the love of God. Unfortunately, I come from a family that had many needs and I was rejected and treated badly by my mother. Soon after I started to go to the Army I was sexually abused in my own home, and began to deny that God existed. I thought to myself, where was
‘I was raped time and time again and IF I RESISTED I WAS BEATEN with chains, sticks and wire by my mother’
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feature ‘I have even moved to a Salvation Army centre where I CAN BE SAFELY CARED FOR with my youngest child’ God when this happened to me? I felt ashamed, and didn’t tell anyone because I was afraid that I would be rejected. However, this was not the worst that I was to go through. When I was 10 my mother sold me to men. She used to lock me in with them and charge them for the time they spent with me. I was raped time and time again and if I resisted I was beaten with chains, sticks and wire by my mother, who told me that I had to do this because it was the only way I could pay back all that she had done for me. She said this so many times that in the end I began to think it was true, and that I had to do this for her. This was how I became pregnant with my first son when I was 12 and my second son at 13, not knowing even to this day who the fathers of my children are. I continued to deny God because these things were happening to me. Apart from all that my mother had already done, she wanted to take my children away from me – she actually managed to keep the older of the two. I pray that God will look after him and want to be able to have my two sons with me. During this time, I kept going to the Army, but never told anybody what was going on. I pretended that I was happy and said that everything was fine. My mother used to let me go wherever I wanted to and do what I wanted so that nobody would have any suspicion about what was really going on. When I was 14, I was enrolled as
a soldier of The Salvation Army then, on the day of prayer for victims of human trafficking, God spoke to me through the words ‘Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me’ (Psalm 27:10). It was then that I began to see life differently and understood what my mother had done to me. This woman who had given birth to me had made me into a prostitute and I had become a victim of human trafficking. I opened my heart to the corps officers so that they could understand what was really going on. From that day on they helped me all they could. I have even moved to a Salvation Army centre in another city where I can be safely cared for with my youngest child. I am thankful to God and The Salvation Army that I am in a place where I have been shown the love of God and have also been given the medical attention I needed, as when I arrived I had many health issues. I am still working on the serious consequences of being trafficked. I am now able to fulfil my dreams and finish secondary school and I want to prepare myself to serve God as an officer and help women who are being trafficked. The desire of my heart is that no woman will be abused as I was.
Colonel Sonia Bouzigues
SERVED AS TERRITORIAL PRESIDENT OF WOMEN’S MINISTRIES BEFORE RETIREMENT MEXICO TERRITORY
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my story
Do you love me? Vivien Banks
W
hy? is often the reaction I receive when I say that I’m a member of Nishinari Corps (church), in Osaka, Japan. The reason for their response is because Nishinari has the largest homeless community in the country as well as older people dependent on welfare, poorly nourished children and many people on low incomes. There is a red-light district that is full of young adults on a Saturday night and the area has high crime rates fuelled by drug and alcohol addiction. In a country where less than one per cent of the population is Christian, people are often surprised when I tell them about what I do at The Salvation Army. My first association with the Army was through my officer-parents Bill and Muriel Banks. I was born in Tokyo and grew up to be involved in the corps and was in the 20 Revive
band and songsters. When I was 17 my parents returned to the UK, having served for 20 years in Japan. I decided to stay but within five years I had stopped going to the corps as my life took a new direction. I married a non-Christian, and we lived in a lovely residential area to the north of Osaka. During the next 20 years I grew far away from God and only went to the Army if I had to – that was usually because my parents were visiting – and when asked if I was a Christian I would say ‘absolutely not’. I thought that when my parents died I would be free of the Army forever, but God had other plans. My daughter Kay, who went to a protestant girls’ high-school, needed to
attend a church and wanted to go to the Army. I took her to the youth fellowship at Tenma Corps where I also started attending Sunday meetings and my son Ryo was dedicated to God. I learnt that there were two other corps in Osaka at Izuo and Nishinari. When I heard about the work being done at Nishinari, I went to see for myself and helped with the outreach to people in need when corps members distributed packed food (Obentou) – a rice-ball (onigir) a boiled egg and a can of tea – together with a copy of The War Cry. I had never experienced anything like that before. With the exception of corps officer Major Tateishi Seiner and myself, everyone who helped
‘Will you LOVE AND PRAY for those who may not have anyone else?’
my story
Nishinari Corps mobilises by providing meals for needy people in the community
had once been on the receiving end of the food distribution and some still needed a meal to get by. The major would give the men helpers a ticket for the public baths so that they could clean up before attending the meetings on a Sunday, reminding me of ‘soup, soap and salvation’. What I experienced that night completely changed my life and I just couldn’t sleep. In the morning I phoned the major to say that I wanted to help and would be willing to do anything. That was 14 years ago, just 18 months after my dad had been promoted to Glory. Although the corps at Tenma had always prayed for me and my family, I knew that I had to go to Nishinari with its old wooden hall just like the places I had been with my parents. I had really never appreciated my Christian upbringing, but now aged 45 I realised how much I was loved by God, my parents and all the
people who had prayed and supported me. I felt so ashamed and thought about how Jesus reinstated Peter (John 21:15-17). This was why I had to go to Nishinari, as Jesus was asking ‘Do you love me? Will you love and pray for those who may not have anyone else?’ At that time (18 years ago), Nishinari Corps was dwindling and the officers also had to oversee the work at Izuo as well. Close to the hall there was a park packed with people living in tents and even though resources were limited the officers knew that something must be done. To raise funds they started a weekly garage sale and opened the hall at 6am on a Sunday for coffee and chat and then provided a meal after the meeting. Clothing and toiletries were handed out and some people who volunteered their help later became soldiers. Even though most had never read the Bible or prayed
before, they took part in meetings. Many people now support the outreach programmes including Izuo Corps and teenagers at Kiboucan children’s home. Donations also help to keep the feeding programme going with a poultry plant supplying eggs, a women’s group sending packages for Christmas and a friend who collects paper bags to use for the packing. Japan is a country that is frequently affected by natural disasters and The Salvation Army is always there with so much to do and not enough people to do it. Some may think that what we do is unnecessary but I am reminded of the challenge ‘Do you love me?’ and the response I knew I had to make.
Vivien Banks A SOLDIER AT NISHINARI CORPS JAPAN TERRITORY
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