Army snippets

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...shared by General John Larsson (Retired)

AN ARMY WITH MORE THAN ONE GENERAL?

ALL divisional commanders were to be generals. So it seemed for a brief moment in the Army’s earliest days when, during the year 1878, The Christian Mission gradually transformed itself into The Salvation Army. In the first Orders and Regulations for The Salvation Army, published in October of that year – and, odd though it may seem, advertised in The Christian Mission Magazine – it was envisaged that corps in time would be grouped into divisions headed by ‘generals of division’ appointed to visit, watch over and regulate several corps.

Two years later, in an edict dated 18 September 1880, General William Booth announced that he was implementing the plan of dividing the Army into divisions headed by ‘district generals’. He also clarified that district generals would ordinarily take the rank of major and be known as ‘district officers’.

SENT TO DEVIL’S ISLAND

‘COMMISSIONER Albin Peyron, ‘CO territorial commander for France, terr spoke kindly but firmly to the sp young officer seated before yo him. ‘Péan,’ he said, ‘I am hi sending you to Devil’s Island!’ se For a moment everything spun round for Captain Charles s Péan as he grasped the P Commissioner Charles Péan commissioner’s meaning. Devil’s Island! Every Frenchman knew about that living grave, Frenchman knew a the infamous penal settlement in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America, where many were sent but few ever returned.

Convicts were set free after they had served their sentence but were not allowed to return to France. The conditions for the ‘freed ones’, as they searched for work and food in the jungle lands, were worse than for those who remained in the prison camps, where they were at least fed.

Commissioner Peyron was determined that the Armée du Salut should spearhead a plan for bringing them home to France and for the penal settlement to be closed. His chosen leader to make it happen was Captain Péan. He had proved himself in his appointments, and the commissioner remembered the tenacity he had shown when he wanted to become an officer, a quality he would need in abundance for the task ahead.

Aged 18, Charles, who had no Army connections, had been converted at a camp meeting conducted by Commissioner

Peyron in the south of France. Three days later he rang the bell at the training college in Paris and announced that he had come to be trained as an officer. The principal explained that cadets were not received in that unorthodox manner, but had to become soldiers first and perhaps after some months could become cadets.

Charles would not be dissuaded. He told the principal that he was called by God, had cancelled his last year at an agricultural college and must be allowed to remain. The perplexed principal phoned Commissioner Peyron asking what she should do.

‘Let him stay for three months,’ replied the wise leader, ‘and see how he shapes.’ A uniform was found for him and he joined the cadets already in training, becoming a soldier three months later.

When in 1928 Captain Péan sailed for Devil’s Island, it was the beginning of a campaign that would last for 25 years. He was horrified by the condition of the 9,000 men that he saw there, and on his return through his writing and speaking – he wrote three books and gave more than 600 lectures – he began a process of stirring the conscience of the nation to this moral stain on the honour of France.

In 1933 Captain Péan was permitted to return with three officers to minister to the ‘freed ones’ – and for the next 20 years Salvation Army officers served in the colony, often under the most trying strains.

So successful was Captain Péan in bringing about a turn of the tide in French popular and legislative opinion, that by 1936 the first of many ships bringing ‘freed ones’ to their homeland began to arrive, where they were welcomed, clothed and resettled by the Army.

Two years later, by decree of the National Assembly of France, the penal colony was officially abolished. But then the Second World War intervened and it was not until 1953 that the remaining convicts returned home, accompanied by the last Army officers.

‘It was the happiest day of my life,’ declared Commissioner Charles Péan. me

Seeking justice

Captain Marion Rouffet highlights the role of the Army’s Public Affairs Unit and the biblical basis for its work

THE Salvation Army’s engagement with public affairs is perhaps more easily understood as a concern with social justice and reconciliation, an area in which public policy meets our responsibility to speak up and speak out.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments the call for us to do justice is clear. ‘Learn to do good,’ Isaiah instructs the people of his time. ‘Commit yourselves to seeking justice. Make right for the world’s most vulnerable – the oppressed, the orphaned, the widow’ (Isaiah 1:17 The Voice). Likewise, Father Michael Marsh, a priest in the American Episcopal Church, writes: ‘If you want to know where Jesus stands, what he stands for and with whom he stands, look for the places of brokenness and dis-ease; look for love, justice, compassion, peace; look for people who are hurting, marginalised, oppressed, devalued. That’s where we see Jesus drawing a line in the sand and taking a stand.’

Standing against injustice can be as simple as supporting a vulnerable neighbour who is being taken advantage of or providing food for someone who cannot afford to buy what they need to live. As The Salvation Army we also have a responsibility to speak into public policy, locally and nationally, on behalf of those we serve. This is made clear in one of our territory’s mission priorities: ‘Seek justice and reconciliation.’

The work we do in corps and through Employment Plus, the Anti-Trafficking and Modern Slavery Unit and our Homelessness Services means that we can add our voice to local and national government decisions and change situations for the better for those with whom we work. These are areas where we can present the evidence of our daily work to support change.

That is what the Public Affairs Unit (PAU) exists to do. Through building relationships with local authority figures, it assists corps in engaging in these conversations in their own contexts. Whether it be MPs, metro mayors or district, county or borough councillors, all have a part to play in making the decisions that impact people’s lives. As such, they have a responsibility to seek social justice, whatever their political persuasion.

The shaping of public policy is a continuous series of value judgements. It is not difficult to understand, therefore, how inequality and social injustice exist

Houses of Parliament, London

in these processes. Sadly, certain groups, individuals and issues are under-represented at times and more likely to fall through the gaps in these imperfect systems.

While it is easy to stand back and criticise decision makers from afar, it is much more effective to engage with them and offer a different perspective as we strive towards fullness of life for all with Jesus.

While the question of justice will have different answers for different people, we can certainly highlight the things we see that others may not.

As part of the body of Christ, we are called not just to faith but also to action. The Army therefore has a role to play in advocating for those who struggle to be seen and heard. We can do this locally and nationally by speaking to the people who make decisions that affect us all.

As a movement we are non-partisan. However, as Christian activist and author Shane Claiborne says: ‘To be non-partisan doesn’t mean we’re non-political. We should refuse to get sucked into political camps and insist on pulling the best out of them all. That’s