7 minute read
Interview
Running the division
Simon Gash (Bexleyheath) tells Salvationist why he’s running to every corps in South London
THE longest distance will have been to Addlestone. The shortest will have been to Camberwell. The long and the short of it is that Senior Music Editor Simon Gash (Music Editorial, THQ) is running to every corps in his division – South London – before taking on the London Marathon at the beginning of October.
‘By the end of my challenge, I will have covered more than 250 miles,’ he explains.
‘Each run begins at William Booth College. Each runs ends at a corps, where, thankfully, someone is always there to give me something to drink and where often corps members and friends also gather to welcome me and do their own piece of fundraising, staging a quiz night or a concert – because all this running has a goal.’
At the end of 2020, Simon’s family received some devastating news. Nicky – who is now Simon’s sister-in-law – was admitted to hospital with an obstruction in her bile duct. It was quickly resolved, but doctors carried out scans in order to investigate. They found that the blockage was cholangiocarcinoma, a rare form of cancer.
Despite having had no symptoms, Nicky, at the age of 42, received the news that the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes and the doctors could offer no treatment that would cure it. Instead, the doctors recommended chemotherapy to slow its growth.
During the six months of her first course of chemo, Nicky still managed to plan her wedding to Simon’s brother, Nathan. They married at Bexleyheath Corps on 22 May last year.
Almost a year to the day later, Simon set off from William Booth College on his first fundraising run, which ended 8.5 miles later at Bromley Temple Corps.
‘When I began speculating about whether it would be possible to run to every corps in the division, it wasn’t a fundraising idea – it was just something I had begun thinking about during the Covid-19 lockdowns,’ he recalls. ‘Then I decided I wanted to take on a challenge to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, because the charity has supported Nicky a lot.
‘The nurses have been amazing from day one,’ says Nicky. ‘They have answered my questions, helped me sort out appointments and supported me emotionally. And I know they will be there for me and for my family when we need them.’
‘So I combined the two ideas,’ Simon continues. ‘I would raise money by running to every corps in the division. And as a bonus, I added in the London Marathon, which I have always wanted to take part in.’
Something happened on that first run to Bromley Temple. The corps had put on a coffee morning to welcome Simon and further boost his fundraising – and two or three of the mums from its parent-andtoddler group turned up and, in the course of the event, were mingling with other people.
‘It got me thinking that these end-of-run events were an opportunity not only for fundraising but also for a corps to invite people who have links with it but who don’t necessarily attend Sunday worship,’ says Simon. ‘I saw that they could also provide a good excuse for a get-together, perhaps prompting people who had not yet returned to the corps since the beginning of the pandemic to reconnect.’
‘The Salvation Army has been my church since I was young and my employer for the past 18 years,’ Simon adds. ‘Nicky also has many Salvation Army links. She was born to officer parents and grew up at Croydon Citadel. She then spent many years at Raynes Park Corps.’
At the time of writing, Simon has raised more than £6,700 via his fundraising page at crowdfunder.co.uk/p/simon-gash.
‘Some of the runs have been more of a challenge than I envisaged,’ he admits. ‘On the advice of a member of the family who is a nurse, I decided not to run on one of the UK’s hottest days on record, but I did run at the tail end of July’s heatwave when the temperature was still about 28C.
‘One of the runs was longer than I expected – on the day of a strike, the only train I could get went to London Bridge station and I had to run from there to William Booth College before beginning my run down to Wimbledon. What was initially a 7-mile run suddenly became an 11-mile run!
‘But I stay motivated by Nicky’s courage and positivity, which she has shown as she makes the most of each day, enjoying holidays, theatre shows, meals with friends and special family times. And I want to do something for the wonderful charity that has supported her.
‘And that’s the long and the short of why I keep running.’
Worship the real God
Major Nigel Bovey says there’s no need to settle for replica faith
NUMBERS 21:4–9
‘SNAKE!’ yells my daughter, grabbing me by the arm. Adrenaline bolts into the soles of my feet. We freeze. I look down. There, a half-step away – half-hidden from carefree Dartmoor explorers – it waits: snake-eyed, zigzagged and forked-tongued. Viper!
‘Stamp your feet!’ I order. As one, four booted feet pound the peat, forcing our intruding companion into beating a hasty retreat.
In all the years that my daughter and I have wandered through the Dartmoor wilderness, this is our closest encounter with Britain’s only venomous snake.
A similar encounter is the subject of this week’s study passage. The story so far: The children of Israel have escaped Egyptian captivity but the journey towards the promised pastures of freedom is not going well. For every spiritual step forward, there is a retreat. Through the covenant of the Ten Commandments, God gifts them a golden opportunity (see Exodus 20) but they worship a golden calf (see Exodus 32). Spies observe the Promised Land but the people rebel (see Numbers 13 and 14). Korah stages a coup (see Numbers 16). Moses disobeys God (see Numbers 20).
As often happens when things aren’t going well, the congregation overlook their own shortcomings and blame the leader. They grow impatient, speak against God and start to drip poison about Moses – ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?’ (vv4 and 5).
QUESTION
l How easy is it to blame others, including those in leadership roles, for things that are partly or wholly your fault?
God has heard enough. He sends ‘venomous snakes among them’ (v6) and many of the people die. Being confronted by death brings the children of Israel to a new perspective. They acknowledge their sin and plead with Moses to ask God to remove the snakes.
QUESTION
l In the light of the brevity of life and the eternity beyond death, how important is your displeasure with the spiritual direction – or lack of it – in your corps?
God’s solution is more interactive than the simple removal of the snakes. God instructs Moses to make a bronze snake and mount it on a pole. Anyone who is subsequently bitten and looks at the replica reptile will live.
QUESTION
l What toxic influences – and influencers – do you need to distance yourself from?
Through the week with Salvationist
– a devotional thought for each day
by Major Lynda Levis
SUNDAY
I have no claim on grace;/ I have no right to plead;/ I stand before my maker’s face/ Condemned in thought and deed./ But since there died a Lamb/ Who, guiltless, my guilt bore,/ I lay fast hold on Jesus’ name,/ And sin is mine no more.
(SASB 463)
MONDAY
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. (Psalm 103:10 and 11)
TUESDAY
Though you have failed him, and how you’ve failed him!/ Though you have failed him, God loves you;/ The proof is Jesus, so look at Jesus,/ And learn from Jesus God loves you. (SASB 439)
