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The General and Commissioner Silvia Cox take a moment for a picture with (from left to right), Mrs Gene Jones, Mr Jerry Jones (owner of the American Football team Dallas Cowboys) and Charlotte Jones-Anderson, retiring chairman of the USA National Advisory Board.
By Allen Satterlee, Lt. Col. –
Following a visit to the Central Territory, General André Cox and Commissioner Silvia Cox, the world president of women’s ministries, concluded their visit to the U.S. by sharing with The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board, which convened in Dayton, Ohio.
The General and Commissioner Cox attended a variety of committee meetings, often speaking on the issues at hand. They jointly addressed the plenary session of the board, discussing the broad range of Salvation Army service around the world that they have explored since taking office last year.
“When William Booth founded The Salvation Army he could not have envisioned what it would become or that so many programs would develop around the world,” Cox said. “His passion was driven by the poor, who in that day were excluded from the churches. It was a day when desperate poverty witnessed people selling their children, their furniture, their clothes in order to have food and this sparked the pragmatic and practical assistance to those in need for which the Army is so well known … If we today fail to deliver both the practical and spiritual help then we have failed to deliver our mission.”
Silvia Cox talked about upcoming events in The Salvation Army including Boundless, the international congress in London next year.
Finally, the General shared The Salvation Army’s response to the Ebola crisis in Africa. “It has impacted the Army directly,” he said. “One officer has lost four members of her family. Mobility has been made more difficult as well for our people to meet together. Our resources are strained as we try to do our part to meet headlong this humanitarian crisis. The Salvation Army is partnering with other helping agencies to provide equipment and supplies as well as other basic needs to stop the spread of this dreaded disease.”
The Coxes visited the Dayton Kroc Center that evening, which featured the retirement of Charlotte Jones-Anderson as chairman of the National Advisory Board. She will be succeeded by William Burke, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Nationwide Financial.
