Army snippets

u Burnin ninrniB b g, burnin ning, ning in ning, g, wayays always lw burning, g, , Holy S oly Holy HolySpirit, stayy wit withh me; ; To y To you y r will i my my willli will is turn s tur ing, , Wh Whathaty What y u wilouw ou will I l l want t w want o be.. o .

...from General John Larsson*

IN THE HEIGHTS OF ECUADOR

AS the 21st century dawned a Salvation Army medical team working in the high Andes of Ecuador left a pamphlet about the Army and its mission. ‘A Salvation Army corps is just what we need here,’ said Benjamin. So he rode to the capital city of Quito, located the Army and asked the divisional commander to send officers.

The DC regretted that he had no officers to send but, with inspired insight, said to Benjamin: ‘Look, you are a Christian. If you are prepared to enrol full-time in a soldiership class for two weeks, I will then enrol you as a soldier and you can

AS return to your people and start the Army.’ Benjamin agreed da and, after a fortnight, he was made a soldier and returned to Ar the mountains. wo Soon afterwards the DC received a message asking him to A come and enrol the converts Benjamin had made. The corps le prospered under his leadership, funds were acquired to build a a hall and the soldiers wanted to go into uniform. However, a there was an issue. The women of that part of Ecuador traditionally wore large necklaces and a culturally relevant said Benjamin. SoThree new Ecuadorian soldiers with Benjamin uniform was designed for them that included the wearing of necklaces. But was that acceptable to the Army’s authorities? The issue reached the desk of General John Gowans and, capital city of Quito located the Army and a as the Chief of the Staff, I presented the matter to him. In the best spirit of Army adaptability he readily agreed to make an exception but, with his characteristic smile, added: ‘Make sure the authorisation about necklaces applies only to that corps. We don’t want to set a fashion for women soldiers everywhere!’ agreed d

BRANDED A CHRISTIAN

MAJOR Frank Duracher, in his book Now You Know: The Rest of the Army’s Story, tells the story of Paulo, who was a gang member in one of Brazil’s largest cities and found Christ at the Army.

Becoming a soldier, he wore two ‘S’s on his white shirt. The next day he said to the captain: ‘My former gang saw me and told me that if they ever saw me wearing my uniform again, they would beat me up. What should I do?’

Breathing a silent prayer, the captain answered: ‘You have three choices. First, you can take the ‘S’s off. Second, you can stand up to them and fight back. Or, third, you can do what Jesus did – he let his enemies do their worst to him and went on loving them!’

Late that night there was a knock on the captain’s door. There stood Paulo, his uniform torn and his body and face bloodied. ‘I did as Jesus would have done,’ he announced. ‘They beat me up, and I told them I loved them just the same.’

‘How did you get that slash on your face?’ the captain asked. Paulo replied: ‘One of the gang took a knife and said: “If you’re going to wear those ‘S’s, I’ll cut an ‘S’ on your forehead that you will wear until you die.”’ And that is exactly what happened. Paulo wore his ‘S’ proudly and used it as his testimony.

A LIFE-CHANGING CHOICE

IN the early 1890s a group of young Swedish officers were ushered into William Booth’s office at IHQ. They were on their way to New York in response to an appeal made in Sweden for officers to help with the emerging Scandinavian work in the USA. Among them was Lieutenant Mathilda Byden.

Wishing them well, William Booth told them about the work that had just started in South America and asked whether any of them would be prepared to head in that direction instead.

With delightful spontaneity, Mathilda said: ‘North America or South America, it is all the same to me!’ And so, instead of New York, she travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina. There she met English Captain Alfred Benwell and they married in 1897. Among their children born in Buenos Aires was a daughter they named Flora. Flora Benwell became a cadet in London and, after she married Swedish Captain Sture Larsson, she gave birth to a son they named John.

Mathilda’s choice of destination was a brave one. Life for the Army pioneers in South America was tough. But I am glad Grandma Mathilda chose as she did, or I would not be writing this note.

Pictures: Andrew King Photography

Some of the SATCoL award winners

SATCoL delegates encouraged to ‘dare to care’

BIRMINGHAM

DELEGATES from all sections of the Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) gathered at the annual conference to hear about recent developments and plans for the future, and to learn more about The Salvation Army, reports Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts.

The theme was Dare to Care, so it was fitting that Charlie Green (Droitwich Spa) opened the conference with the song ‘Someone Cares’, accompanied at the piano by SP&S Music General Manager Richard Phillips.

Territorial Communications Officer Captain Jo Moir, who introduced each conference session, welcomed everyone, making special mention of territorial leaders Commissioners Anthony and Gill Cotterill, SATCoL board members and guests.

Managing Director Trevor Caffull began his keynote address by giving examples of staff members who had helped people in unusual ways and had inspired the conference theme. He presented the annual results of the three SATCoL divisions – SP&S, the Clothing Collection Division and the Charity Shops Division – which

Trevor Caffull Captain Jo Moir

enabled SATCoL to covenant more than £10 million to the UKI Territory in the year ended March 2022.

Trevor introduced an updated statement of SATCoL’s core purpose: ‘Enabling mission and providing resources to help the work of The Salvation Army.’ He said this was a recognition that SATCoL employees not only helped finance and resource the Army’s work but were also its ‘mission partners’.

He also outlined a revised set of core values: compassion, accountability, respect and equality – making the acronym ‘Care’ – which he said ‘describes our culture’.

Trevor concluded by outlining a new strategic plan for 2022–2027, underpinned by the foundational pillars of ‘mission and values, our colleagues, our customers, growth, environment and digital’. Each of these were explored in more detail during a series of 15-minute breakout sessions.

The second main session featured staff