16 minute read
More rear-mirror views
MORE REAR-MIRROR
The Army had only been in Japan for five years, and numbered a scant 50 officers and a few hundred Salvationists. The march that morning was headed by two Brits, Territorial Commander Colonel Henry Bullard and Chief Secretary Major Charles Duce, together with Japanese Captain Gunpei Yamamuro, editor of the Japanese War Cry. Under their leadership the 50 officers marched into the Yoshiwara, a one-mile-square walled city within Tokyo that was the stronghold of licensed prostitution in the capital and housed almost 5,000 girls.
These girls were virtually slaves of the brothel keepers, who insistently told them that there could be no escape. An imperial ordinance of 1872 had ordered that no prostitute could be held against her will, but it was written in hard-tounderstand classical Japanese and the brothel owners made sure it was not communicated to their girls.
The brilliant Gunpei Yamamuro, who as a 23-year-old Christian had become the first Japanese Salvationist and then the first Japanese officer, prepared a special rescue number of the War Cry. Printed on its front page in bold characters was the operative clause of the 1872 ordinance, rendered into colloquial Japanese by Yamamuro, which told the women that they could be free if they wished and that the Army was prepared to help them.
Armed with hundreds of copies of this
A MARCH LIKE NO OTHER
General John Larsson (Retired) shares fascinating glimpses of the early Army
EARLY morning on 1 August 1900 in Tokyo, the most daring march ever undertaken by The Salvation Army set off. And no Army march has ever had greater consequences for good.
War Cry, and with banners flying, the officers marched into the Yoshiwara, proclaiming their good news from the street corners like town criers. But within minutes a taskforce of 300 thugs in the pay of the brothel keepers swung into attack. In the skirmish that followed, many officers, including Yamamuro, were wounded. The girls screamed and ran for cover. It was pandemonium. Ranged against the diminutive ‘David’ of the Army was the mega-gigantic ‘Goliath’ of some of the most powerful vested interests of the land.
The day after the march, as the Army’s leaders had anticipated, the press arrived in force at the Army headquarters and, to a man, the editors joined the Army’s campaign and gave it front-page treatment. From then on it was not only Salvationists who were assailed in the streets, so were pressmen who were writing up the story. The editorial plants of two leading papers were so badly wrecked by gangs of thugs that the papers were forced out of business. But the papers that survived issued two or three editions daily so that readers could follow the evolving story. ‘March on, Salvation Army,’ applauded one paper, ‘and bring liberty to the captives.’
The events aroused such nationwide agitation that already by October an imperial ordinance decreed that any prostitute desiring her liberty could achieve it by stating her wish at the nearest police station.
The consequences of that march into the Yoshiwara were by any measure spectacular. In the space of one year, 12,000 prostitutes obtained their release, with many of them assisted in the process by the Army. By 1902, two years later, 14,000 prostitutes had renounced their way of life and the number of brothel clients, over a million in 1900, had dropped to less than half.
Gunpei Yamamuro
In 1920 a roll of honour was prepared by the government listing ‘the benefactors of Japan’. In the roll only five Europeans are numbered, but among them, to mark a nation’s gratitude, are Commissioner Henry Bullard and Lieut-Commissioner Charles Duce. And it all began with a march!
Young Gunpei Yamamuro went from achievement to achievement. The year before the march against prostitution he had used his communication skills to write a book entitled The Common People’s Gospel. This simple story of the life and teaching of Jesus was on its way to becoming a Japanese classic. The Yoshiwara events made the author even better known and increased its sales. To date, the book has sold more than 3 million copies in more than 500 editions. It has been sold in bookstores throughout Japan and, in a country where but 1 per cent of the population are Christian, the book has been a beacon of light that has guided many to Christ.
Gunpei Yamamuro was the first Japanese person to become territorial commander of his native country, be promoted to the rank of commissioner and be admitted to the Order of the Founder. It is little wonder that Japanese Salvationists of today revere his name.
Broadcasting bles
Stuart Hall, owner of Citadel Promotions, tells Salvationist about the recently
HOW DID FORTRESS RADIO GET STARTED?
In early 2019 I acquired the running and hosting of the Regal Zonophone website. For more than 20 years Ian Barton in Adelaide, Australia, had meticulously collated more than 1,200 albums, including 78rpm records, LPs and cassettes. A fresh look was given to the website, and albums outside the copyright remit agreed with SP&S were taken out.
After the launch of the new website I started receiving calls and messages from people around the UK asking if I would like to take their collections of recordings. There were too many requests for me to deal with on my own, so a friend of mine, Austin Burn, volunteered to help. Together we met a number of former Salvationists who were happy to talk to us about their experiences and how, in some small way, they ‘missed the Army’. Visiting older Salvationists, we came across the same message: ‘I cannot get to the Army as much as I used to. I do miss it.’
Over coffee one morning Austin and I shared our stories and wondered if we could provide a service to those who could not get to a Sunday meeting as well as reaching out to those who no longer attended a corps.
A week later I was in conversation with someone in the Music Editorial Unit at THQ and they mentioned how they loved listening to Regal Zonophone but asked if the site could play tracks continuously rather than one track or album at a time.
Investigating this option, and keeping in mind how we could provide a ministry to the housebound Salvationists we had met, we hit on the idea of launching a radio station. We had more than enough albums to get started and, since launching, we have received complimentary albums from corps who would like to hear their sections featured on the station.
DO YOU HAVE PREVIOUS RADIO EXPERIENCE?
Frankly, no! However, I have appeared on radio shows, for example I was on Radio 4’s Midweek promoting the International Staff Band album Together. So, hours of research were undertaken as well as meetings with some current and retired BBC radio presenters, who helped immensely.
THE SUNDAY FORMAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE WEEK. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
During my childhood, Sunday was a full day at the Army. As we lived some way from the hall it was normal to take a picnic with us and stay all day. Thinking of those Salvationists that could no longer attend meetings, we wanted to provide a mixture of music throughout the day. The format of three meetings and three open-airs became the basis for the Sunday schedules.
WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED?
Since starting live broadcasts we have built a small group of regular presenters. Most of the schedules are self-running, with suitable music selected from the database. However, on Sundays we currently have three meetings led by presenters. The news on the hour is centred around the news pages from that week’s Salvationist and are read by my wife, Lorraine. Major Keith White hosts Knee Drill (the prayer meeting) at 9.30 am before War Cry Editor Major Andrew Stone (THQ) and Captain Alison Stone (Regent Hall) present Holiness Hour at 11 am. Later, at 6 pm, Bandmaster Marc Harry (Lincoln) hosts the Salvation Meeting. Other people who have provided recorded messages or presented programmes include General Brian Peddle, Territorial Commander Commissioner Anthony Cotterill, Lieut-Colonel Judith Payne (William Booth College), Stephen Poxon and Major Malcolm Westwood.
HOW IS THE STATION FUNDED?
The main cost for setting up the station was time that both Austin and I were happy to invest. The financial costs to get started were initially met by a major donor. When Fortress Radio went live, we had enough funds in the account to keep the station ‘on air’ for three months. We prayed that God would find a use for this service. We believe the Holy Spirit was working on this with us from the start. Revenues from advertising and donations via the website are keeping the station operating.
ARE THERE COPYRIGHT ISSUES?
Before launching we took advice from a lawyer who specialises in music copyright and registered with PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited), which licenses radio stations and TV broadcasters.
sings every day
launched Fortress Radio
HOW CAN PEOPLE ‘TUNE IN’?
Because we broadcast online, people can listen on any computer, iPad, tablet or smartphone that has internet access. Listening via Amazon Alexa is also an option and we recently launched an app for Android and iOS devices.
WHY ISN’T FORTRESS ON NORMAL RADIO AIRWAVES?
The simple answer is cost. To host a radio station on the FM channels would cost upwards of £15,000 a month, including licence costs. An internet station is significantly more cost effective.
WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE?
Our initial plan was to run some test transmissions in the lead up to Easter, using Easter itself to launch the new station. However, circumstances changed in February and we went live. We were not quite ready, and in the first couple of weeks we learnt some valuable lessons, fast. With a few weeks of broadcasting completed we booked a meeting with key personnel at THQ to see how we could work together.
Little could we have known when we arranged to visit THQ that the day of our meetings was the day after the prime minister implemented a lockdown. Suddenly, the number of people now in a position where they ‘couldn’t get to the Army’ was significantly higher.
In our first few weeks we were pleased to see the number of listeners rising into the hundreds. Then on the first Sunday of the lockdown 5,774 tuned in and from there the figures have been gradually rising.
We’ve received quite a number of messages from listeners. They can be read at fortressradio.online/ messages.
ARE THERE PLANS TO DEVELOP THE STATION FURTHER?
We are conscious that after lockdown we will be living a ‘new normal’ and, while we don’t know what that will look like, we shall be continually reviewing the format and content to fit in with this new lifestyle. We are currently planning new programmes that will also be provided as podcasts. Some of those programmes are focused on music sections – sections of yesterday as well as today – and others are interviews with a variety of Salvationists and friends who will share their stories.
WHAT IMPACT HAS RUNNING FORTRESS RADIO HAD ON YOU?
I could not have guessed the significance of the timing of Fortress Radio. The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on how we worship, and God is certainly using the station to bless and comfort many people. I feel like the little boy who turned up with a small basket of food, then this man Jesus has taken my basket, blessed it and is feeding the thousands who are listening. I feel humbled that he should take my small offering and use it to comfort his people.
O You can listen to Fortress Radio on
fortressradio.online, which also has instructions on how to listen via Amazon Alexa or download the smartphone app
STUART IS A SOLDIER AT MAIDENHEAD AND MEMBER OF THE INTERNATIONAL STAFF BAND
Knowing Jesus more
Major Graham Mizon reminds us that faith needs to be worked out in everyday life
2 PETER 1:3–11
THERE is a modern parable about the owner of a manufacturing company whose main machine had broken down. An engineer was called out and, after a brief examination, took a hammer and hit the machine with one sure blow. The owner was delighted and relieved when it burst into life, but shocked when he later received a bill for £1,000. He asked for an itemised invoice, which duly arrived: £100 for the call-out to fix the machine, and £900 for knowing where to hit it.
A little knowledge is not always a bad thing, and in the second letter of Peter we read that knowing Jesus is a very good thing indeed. For starters, and before we get to more challenging parts of our Bible passage, consider this statement: ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness’ (v3).
Or, to turn it around: through knowing Jesus, who called us, we can tap into his divine power, which will give us all we need to live a life that more resembles God than us.
QUESTIONS
O What is your understanding of ‘knowing Jesus’? O What is the difference between knowing him and knowing about him?
Knowledge is associated with the mind, the place where we store information and gain understanding. In his recent book The Body: A Guide For Occupants, Bill Bryson claims that ‘you could travel through every inch of outer space and very possibly nowhere find anything as marvellous and complex and high-functioning as the three pounds of spongy mass between your ears’.
The wonder of our brain allows the Christian faith not only to be something that we feel and experience but also something that we can think about, rationalise and make sense of. Coming into a transformative relationship with Jesus not only changes our hearts but also renews our minds (see Romans 12:2).
A Pharisee, who was an expert in the law, asked Jesus a question about the greatest commandment. Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’ (Matthew 22:37).
The apostle Paul writes: ‘Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2:5 New Revised Standard Version).
When we become believers, we grow into new creations in Christ, which transforms our thinking, attitude and motives (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
QUESTIONS
O Why is it so important that we are renewed in our minds? O How can we ensure that we feed the mind with the things that are encouraged by Paul (see Philippians 4:8)?
Through the week with Salvationist
– a devotional thought for each day
by Lieut-Colonel Ray Oakley SUNDAY
MONDAY
It is Jesus I need, it is Jesus indeed/ Who can make it all possible in me;/ Without Jesus I find I am so often blind/ To the truth he is wanting me to see./ O Jesus, Jesus,/ You are the one who can make my life complete./ O Jesus, my peace restore./ It’s Jesus I need, Jesus indeed,/ Jesus in me, more and more. (SASB 499)
TUESDAY
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4)
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank you for your teaching and example on how to bring glory to God, the Father. Thank you for sending us your Holy Spirit to guide, empower and enable us to grow more like you each day.
In 2 Peter 1:5–7, we are given a list of virtues: goodness, knowledge, selfcontrol, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. We are told that knowledge of Christ is ineffective and unproductive unless it goes hand in hand with a life that demonstrates these qualities. This is not to say that works are a prerequisite for salvation, rather that faith needs to be worked out in everyday life.
I experienced this quite vividly, as a young adult, not long after becoming a Christian. I took the Salvation Army papers around the public houses, and one of the regulars I got to know was a man whom I always found at the bar. Although his speech was slurred, he always quoted a Bible verse to me. Then he would challenge me to quote a verse back. It became a weekly challenge, to the point where I would memorise a Bible verse before setting out on my round. I never got to know where his knowledge of the Bible came from, but it was certainly greater than mine. And I struggled with why a man who was so well versed in Scripture would drink so much and present himself in such an unkempt way. His knowledge of the Bible did not translate into a transformed life.
QUESTION
O Consider your spiritual journey. Can you identify areas of maturity and growth in terms of fruit and qualities that have come from knowing Jesus better?
As our knowledge of Jesus grows, our relationship with him matures and our nature and actions become more like his. The consequence is that we leave more of the human, sinful nature behind as we ‘participate in the divine nature’ of Jesus (v4).
Paul warns the believers in Colossae about the knowledge and wisdom offered by false teachers there (see Colossians 2:4, 8 and 16–23). He also prays that they may be filled with God’s knowledge ‘so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God’ (Colossians 1:10).
As Paul prayed, let us pray that we will have a hunger to know Jesus better, and that this knowledge will lead to a life that is fruitful for the Kingdom of God.
Now my heart’s desire is to know you more, To be found in you and known as yours, To possess by faith what I could not earn, All-surpassing gift of righteousness. (SASB 565)
MAJOR MIZON LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN BIRMINGHAM
WEDNESDAY
Set forth within the sacred word/ The path of life is plainly shown;/ The ways of God its lines record,/ For every soul of man made known./ The truth, of all our hopes the ground,/ Is here within its pages found. (SASB 810)
THURSDAY
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Peter 1:5–7)
FRIDAY
But how shall we that truth declare,/ Thy grace, thy love, thy beauty show?/ Only as we thy nature wear/ Shall men that nature truly know;/ And as we walk with thee abroad/ They shall perceive the mind of God. (SASB 810)
SATURDAY
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:10 and 11)
