But What Can I Do About It?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
(By Anwar Smith) - Are those your sentiments when you hear someone mention the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa? Have we become so calloused to the ills of this world that we completely ignore the plight of people not in our immediate circles? Young men and women of God, this cannot be. I recently read an article written by Commissioner Helen Clifton, entitled “What Will This Child Be?”. In it she spoke of her travels all across the world and the work that The Salvation Army is doing to meet the needs of children. One place that she mentioned in particular caught my attention. It is in Soweto, South Africa and it is called the Carl Sithole Centre; a place of refuge, solace and hope. This Centre founded by The Salvation Army in 1998 contains residential homes, a school and a community center.
What makes a place like the Carl Sithole Centre so special? I am so glad that you asked! Starting back as far as the mid to late 80’s, South Africa has seen a dramatic increase in people affected by HIV/AIDS. In 1990, the number of infected individuals was approximately 120,000. This number was truly staggering at that time because, unlike today, there was no anti-virus available to help suffering patients. And, on top of that, there was no education about the virus, and there was very little intervention done to prevent the spread of the disease. By 1995, The South African Ministry of Health reported that the number had swelled to 850,000 people infected with HIV. If we skip ahead 10 years, that number had grown to an astonishing 5.2 million people infected with HIV in South Africa. That is nearly 10% of the entire country. If you need to put that in perspective, that number would be the equivalent of every single person in the state of Minnesota being infected with that horrible disease. For further comparison, in 2006, the Center for Disease Control estimated that there were 1.1 million people infected with the HIV/AIDS virus in the United States. This number is staggering in and of itself, but based on a total population of 305 million people, it is a problem that affects less than 1% of the U.S. population. By contrast, South Africa has a total population of only 47.9 million people. It is unbelievable to think that 1 in every 10 people in the entire country is infected with the disease. I am sure you can imagine the problems that are created by this epidemic, but one of the biggest issues is the number of children orphaned because of this tragedy. According to the United Nations AIDS Report, in 2007 there were an estimated 1.4 million children orphaned because of deaths to their parents due to HIV/AIDS. Not to mention the additional 280,000 children under the age of 15 that live with the disease themselves.
So again, the question remains, why is a place like the Carl Sithole Centre so special? The answer is simple: because children are suffering from diseases and homelessness and The Salvation Army created this Centre to look after and care for them. Ladies and gentleman, it is of utmost importance that we get involved in this cause. The projected number of children that will be orphaned by this disease by 2015 is too great to comprehend. Now is the time to get off the sideline and get into the game. Every prayer and every dollar given towards World Services, makes a difference in places like Soweto, Kenya and the Congo and other places around the world.
On February 6, at Youth Encounter 2009, you will be challenged to identify one luxury that you can give up for the entire month of March for “No Buy Month”, a special Change In, Change Out push. The money that would have been spent on that item should go directly into your Change In, Change Out jug. So, when you are in line to buy another video game that you don’t need or another pair of shoes to go along with the 10 pair you already have, think about the children that will wake up to no one. Children that are on the streets, alone and abandoned, being taking advantage of and forced into the sex trade or the militia’s and trained to kill. Then think of places like The Salvation Army’s Carl Sithole Centre that provides hope, love and safety all in the name of Jesus Christ. The money you spend on shoes or a video game could provide a bed for one more child, food for more children, staff to look after more children. More children can be off the street and cared for, given medicine and taught about the God that is at work in the midst of the trouble. It can’t be enough to simply know the issues plaguing the world; we must be moved to act.
"On September 4, 1886, an appeal appeared in the War Cry to get soldiers to raise funds for the Army’s work overseas because they were struggling to make ends meet. The article read:
DENY YOURSELF
Some Little Luxury,
Some Pleasant Article of Food,
Some Ornament,
Some Pleasure,
In short, sacrifice something which, without inflicting bodily harm, will get some money, send the money thus saved into this Fund, and the effort will be completed right off."
The Salvation Army is already there, all we need to do is make a few sacrifices that can then be sent to help expand the Army’s reach.
Let’s give our change to help God change the world!
Sources:
"HIV And AIDS In South Africa"
"U.S. Census Bureau"
"U.S. States, Population And Ranking"
"What Will This Child Be?", Commissioner Helen Clifton
"Project Report, Carl Sithole Children’s Centre, Soweto"
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Solidarity, Not Superiority
Monday, January 26, 2009
(By Andres Villatoro) - Care about them as much as you care about yourselves and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought: Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Philippians 2.4-7
Some of my favorite people to read about in Salvation Army history are the Slum Sisters. These women were regular soldiers who had such a heart and compassion for the lost and for the poor that they purposefully moved into some of the worst neighborhoods and slums of cities like London and New York. With “a Bible in their pocket, and prayer on their tongue,” their job was to be useful in anyway possible in their neighborhood putting on old clothes (instead of their uniform) and going to about 30 homes everyday as well as going into bars, brothels, even drug houses. They would help with cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the sick and of children. They would go into horrible and dark slum dwellings to bring a little of the light of God in and often had the opportunity to pray with the people they were helping and lead them to salvation. These women were daily living out the word and the love of God. They were not considered Christian radicals who wanted to live alternative lives, but just Christians who were doing their duty. To them, the love and work of God came first, their personal interests second.
As Salvationists, we feel either an obligation or a desire to work with the poor and with anyone else who needs help because it is present in our corps or in our community all the time. I often have felt the need to personally go out to the poor to show my version of the love of God to them. A lot of the times though, I feel that what I do is not enough, or that I am somehow very disconnected and very uncomfortable with someone who has no home or no food. I end up discouraged feeling that I can never really make a difference, and I even get to the point of not wanting to go out and help anyone anymore. You may have felt like that at one point or another, as though you were not meeting your obligation as a Christian. I happened across an article about the Salvation Army that caught my attention.
“The Salvation Army's ministry was never one of condescending charity, in which the rich and cultured went "slumming" with baskets of food and lessons on home management and hygiene. They ministered to the destitute out of solidarity, not superiority…with a handful of exceptions, the Army's early leaders had been poor. They knew poverty, its terror and futility, and they knew how little the light of the Christian gospel had penetrated the vast, dismal acres of city slums in which they had passed their lives. They now felt called to return there with the Good News that God and The Salvation Army loved all people alike.”
I realized that I was going to the lost and to the poor with my pride. I realized that I was the “rich” and the “cultured” who was going out to the poor wanting to give them something I had that they didn’t. I wanted to give them charity, not love. Is this really the way we should be looking at Christian service though? The Salvation Army did not begin like this. As brothers and sisters they helped each other out. It was their neighbors, their friends and their families that were the poor and needy. Today, it is hard to imagine that our own family would be ones who are in need. However, as Christians, it is in this way that we must minister to other people. As if they were our own brothers and sisters, not feeling like we are better than them or anyone else because the truth is we are not. We must look at them with the compassion and love of Christ, who ate with tax collectors and sinners. Christ was one of the people and though he was God, he did not “try to remain equal with God.” Philippians 2.6.
We can learn from people like the slum sisters who, out of compassion for people, dressed in rags and became the people they wanted to minister to. This is what effective ministry looks like. We need to keep the mindset that we are no different than the people that we are helping. We are all made in the image of God. You help not out of charity but out of brotherly and sisterly love. So go to your communities and your neighborhoods and “care about them as much as you care about yourselves” (Philippians 2.4). Come to them not with the mindset of superiority, but with solidarity, having a connection and helping them out of agreement and love. If Christ became like one of us then let us become like one of them.
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Impermanence
Friday, January 23, 2009
(By Erica Johnson) - Have you ever stopped to think about the impermanence of things? The food in my house disappears pretty fast, and when there are cookies around they go even faster. The snow on the ground will eventually melt (even though it doesn't seem like it), and school will finish for the summer in a few months. Even the hair on our heads isn't permanent, as any balding male can tell you.
I've never actually seen a house burn down before, but I can imagine it to be frightening. Think about it: all of a family's earthly possessions consumed, gone, in a matter of minutes. Even something we think is strong and permanent can be gone in a short amount of time. Our houses, jobs, possessions, even our lives can be taken from us quite easily.
A couple of weeks ago my friend Chris Chung's life on earth ended. Chris was a member of the Mayfair corps and had been struggling with cancer for two years before he was promoted to glory at age 18. None of us knew Chris was going to die when he did. Then again, none of us know when we are going to die, either. If I didn't have hope in Christ all of this would sound depressing and hopeless, but the beauty in those facts is that even though we live with uncertainty and impermanence all around us, we can live certain of the fact that we serve a permanent God.
I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Chris is in heaven right now. The Bible says we get new bodies there, and that there will be no more crying, sadness, or pain. Also, heaven is forever! The Bible says God is the same yesterday, today, and forever in Hebrews 13:8. The world around us is someday going to be gone, and the only thing in our lives that will really last is our relationship with Christ. If you believe the Bible to be truth, then you believe in this fact.
The way we can be sure of God's permanence and faithfulness is by looking in his Word. The same God who split open the sea of reeds so his people could cross is the God who is here with us today. The same God who raised Jesus, his Son, from the grave is answering us when we pray and comforting us when we are hurting so that we can comfort others. The same God who made the mountains and the stars is the God who will be with us when everything else is gone.
If you know that Christ is the only lasting thing in this world, are you living like it? Does the way you spend your time show that you believe in a sovereign God who reigns forever? How much value do you place on impermanent things (school, computer, video games, shopping) over God?
Our lives on earth are short compared to eternity – let's not waste them! Let's live heaven-minded lives, looking forward to the day where we can rejoice with our brothers and sisters in Christ forever.
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One Year
Friday, January 09, 2009
Justin Rose, from the Salvation Army Mayfair Community Church (pictured above), is leaving in a few weeks (God willing) for Kenya to train youth leaders for the Salvation Army. We got a chance to ask him a few questions about what it's like to get ready for a one year commitment half way around the world.
You are leaving for Kenya with the Central Territory's Mission's department hopefully in the next few weeks. Can you talk a bit about what led up to your decision to want to do overseas missions?
God has been placing overseas missions on my heart for the last 4 years. I come from a mission-minded family, went to a college that focused heavily on missions, and even had a chance to do three trips myself, to Ecuador, India, and Chicago. Throughout my experiences with missions, I have felt God leading me and saying that this is something that he wants from me. I decided to go right after college because I can often be all talk and little action, so I decided that God wanted me to attempt it right away before I allowed life to hold me back.
Can you describe what the process of applying to go overseas was like? What has it been like working with Chris Shay, applying for a visa, etc?
The process involved me first praying it over while talking to my Mom, family, and friends about it. I then talked to Chris Shay about it and filled out an application to go overseas. We then worked on finding a place for me, and eventually settled on Kenya West.
Working with Chris, Kristin, and Sarah has been great. They really do good work and have my back, even though they are so busy. Right now we are waiting on my visa from the Kenyan government. This has been kind of difficult and right now it just involves sitting back and waiting.
Can you describe what you'll be doing in Kenya, and how you've been preparing yourself here in the States? Explain a bit about the problems and challenges the Army/church is facing in Kenya, and what your role is going to be in helping overcome/solve them.
In Kenya I will have a territorial youth worker position. My main responsibility will be to train youth leaders. I will teach leaders in the corps how to effectively and positively work with the young people in their corps.
I have been preparing here by learning as much as I can about Kenya. I have been reading about the culture, the news, asking people who have been there about it, as well as attempting to learn the language (but it's really hard). I have been preparing by going back over my college classes and text books, since I was a youth ministry major, and trying to think about what exactly to teach and what would be beneficial for the leaders to learn.
Some of the problems that the church is facing is that there are so many people and little resources. The church is growing so much numerically but the spiritual maturity level is still low. The saying goes that "They are a mile wide and an inch deep." rings true. They need spiritual maturity. Another problem is broken families, sickness, and unemployment. These hardships are evident in the country and in the church. My goal is to help present the youth of Kenya with a hope in the Lord and to promote community among believers, especially between adult leaders and teenagers.
What is your number one fear about this whole thing, if there is one? Or, as you get ready to leave, what do you anticipate will be the hardest part of this experience?
My fear is that I won't be able to return if something big or important happens in my family or among my friends. I am scared because it is going to make me feel so out of the loop. I also anticipate that being stared at will be hard, I don't like that.
How have you seen God's faithfulness/hand most in all of this?
I was supposed to go in August. But God knew that I shouldn't go then. There was some responsibilities here that I needed to continue to do and finish up before I left. There have also been several good relationships that I have developed in the last five months that I never would have had if I had left in August when I had originally planned.
What type of practical things can people start doing now, no matter where they are in life, to start preparing themselves for overseas missions if that's something they'd like to look into doing after college? What are some tips that you can give to prospective missionaries?
1. Pray
2. Ask questions
3. Start hanging out with people of different cultures around you. Missions is all around us, you don't have to go to Kenya, etc. to make that happen.
4. Learn the Bible really well (I wish I did)
5. Look into doing a short term missions trip (Band of Survivors, SMT, YWAM, etc.)
6. Talk to your parents and officers about it
This is my only tip: If you think overseas missions is in your future then work hard at it starting now. Start preparing for what God has in store now! We often push things aside until the last moment; don't do that!
Besides the obvious (clothes, your Bible, etc), what are a few things that you'll be taking that you cannot live without? Any music, books, etc?
I'm taking books, tooth paste, and gummy worms.
How can someone keep up with you while you are in Kenya?
While I'm in Kenya I will still have the internet, praise God! So you can reach me through email (justinarthurrose@gmail.com) or facebook. I will also be keeping a blog to update what I am doing and learning while I'm away (JustininKenya.blogspot.com).
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Curses And Identities
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
(By Jonathan Bukiewicz) - A little while back I heard a teaching on the curses in Genesis. It wasn't the most uplifting message I've ever heard, but it did reveal some really interesting insight into the human condition as a result of the choices of Adam and Eve in the garden. See, after they took the fruit and ate it, and hid from God and all of that, the story recalls a conversation between God and Adam:
But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
Genesis 2: 9-11
From there, God explains what the consequences will be of their disobedience. Among other things, he specifies:
To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you." (Genesis 2:16)
(To Adam he said),
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return." (Genesis 2:19)
The teacher drew out a couple of observations based on these curses. The one that has stuck out to me is the way in which Adam is addressed in the curses. He is told that "by the sweat of his brow, he'll eat his food until he returns to the ground".
Now, I don't have to grow food or sweat much at work (the central AC takes care of that pretty nicely in the summer). But, I do understand what it means to work for money with which to buy food and to support my family. Unfortunately, and this is one of the points in the teaching, too often the work that I do becomes, in my mind, what I'm worth. The things that I accomplish, or the position I have can easily become my identity.
The teacher talked about how these curses set men and women apart from each other, as they each were going to find their self-worth and identity in separate things. For men, and I think for many women too, the thought of what we are going to do with our lives, or what we can accomplish, actually ends up being what we let define us. The titles we have, the opportunities we have to do things that are recognized by people, etc - these things can really become empty gestures in an attempt to find our own identity, or find our own worth. Similarly, the teacher said that it can be read throughout those verses that because of a woman's desire for her husband, the reality of finding an identity can too often be found in what her husband, or what those around her, think of her.
Can you see this in the world today? How much time is spent trying to better ourselves for that perfect position, or salary range, or status - so as to possibly give us a greater sense of worth or identity in the world? Or how much time do we spend finding identity in what others think of us? How many of us 'submit' to those around us by following ways that we know are wrong or self-destructive in order to somehow gain their approval? Is our identity found in something besides a child of God?
There's much to be unpacked there, and I'm sure my interpretation of the teacher's original reading isn't the most sound theology (sort of like playing telephone), but the themes are worth exploring. I pray that God can help all of us to find our entire worth and identity in being his children and living our lives in full awareness of His love.
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The Character Of God
(By Meghan Labrecque) - Have you ever known someone you could trust completely? Or someone who had never let you down? Or someone who has never lied? It is hard to imagine there is such a person out there. It almost seems impossible to think that there could be such a being that would never hurt you or lie to you. The world is filled with many surprises, one being that there is someone out there like that, God. God, surprisingly, will never let you down. He will never lie to you. He will never tell you He will do something and turn around and not do it, or forget about it!
If we look in the Bible we see that it is filled with promises from God. Starting all the way in Genesis, one well known promise is the one He gave to Abram and Sarai (God later changed their names to Abraham and Sarah; read Genesis 17). All throughout Genesis, starting around chapter 12, God promised Abram that he would be a father of a mighty nation, and that his offspring would be more numerous than the stars in the sky. Abram, when he received this promise, was pleased and excited, but soon after thought that God would not follow through with His promise. So, Abram got so anxious that the promise wasn't going to be fulfilled that his wife's maid servant bore him a son (don't worry this was normal back than). After that God assured Abram that He would fulfill His promise, and that He hadn't forgotten. Long story short, Sarah and Abraham (names changed in the process) had a son even in their old age. They didn't believe it, and the older they got the more they doubted, but God fulfilled His promise. (Genesis 12-21).
That is just one story in the Bible of how faithful God is. There are many more. If we were to look at each of them (which, for your sake and mine, I am not going to do), we would see that God does not let down the ones He loves. We do see in the Bible a few instances where God promises wrath, but does not follow through with it because of His mercy (look at Numbers 25!). So, think about this: God is someone who promises good things and gives them, and He is one who promises wrath, but will show mercy; unfathomable!
Isn't it amazing to think that God wants us to have good things. He wants to give to us. In the new testament, God makes promises to everyone. He promises us eternal life (John 5:24), He promises us freedom (Galatians 5:1), He promises us peace (John 14:27), He promises us love (1 John 4:10), He promises us adoption into His family (Romans 8:16-18), the list goes on and on, but look at how great these promises are! Who wouldn't want to receive these things! God wants to give them to us; He wants to show us His love. We need to realize that God is not like our friends, or our teachers, or our parents, or siblings. He is perfect and He will never let you down. God is faithful even when we are not (Romans 3:3).
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