The Sallies came as missionary speakers on Monday, minus the tambourines! Honestly, when I am asked what first comes to mind when I hear the name “Salvation Army,” my mind just jumps to tambourines. Talk about associations… Luckily someone else opened their mouth first and came out with William Booth. NB: I have an uncle in this Army.
David and Marsha are Canadians, eh, and have been working in Germany for about 17 years. They were telling about what it’s been like for them and their family – the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the adjustments to language and culture (twice within the same country!). The differences between working in the West and then the East, now back in the West. The way their hearts and home have been changed through encounters with the needy – those who crave soap, soup and salvation, not necessarily in that order or in equal measure or even knowingly. What God has done, is doing as these brave men and women in uniform, battle for the hearts and souls of those who so often don’t even realize they’re in a war.
OK, so I did open mouth. “What kind of reaction do you get to your uniform?” I ask. The answer comes: None. But we wish there was. We wish there was some form of reaction, not even response, because that would show that there was a feeling human being on the other side of that mask of lethargy. Wish the crisp white shirt, the blue jacket the dark blue tie would provoke and upset, that it would cause anger or even persecution because that would mean they cared, these needy souls. That would provide a springboard for response, a beachhead to a broken life. But instead the lethargy lames. Lames the heart in need of healing, the soul seeking a simple salvation.
Soldier on, Sallies, in the face of one of the major enemies of our time, lethargy. Soldier on and fight the good fight.
RH