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Denmark—General Shaw Clifton and Commissioner Helen Clifton participated in the recent Denmark Territorial Congress in Copenhagen. Echoing the congress theme, Clifton encouraged Danish Salvationists to “seize the day”: “…be the one who seizes the day for Christ, and be someone who is seized by Christ!”
At the women’s brunch, Commissioner Clifton spoke about the Army’s “Dear God, Make it Stop” campaign against sexual trafficking and the call to prayer for its victims.
During the all-age family festival, Clifton quoted General William Booth on the importance of children in the Army’s mission: “Don’t just pay a thousand times but ten thousand times more attention to the children than the adults!”
On the final day, delegates gathered to celebrate the Army’s main emphases—holiness and salvation.
Malawi—The Chief of the Staff, Commissioner Robin Dunster, recently visited the Malawi Command where she saw examples of integrated mission and attended the command congress celebrations; the theme was Vision for Mission—Enabled and Empowered. More than 3,000 delegates attended. The Malawi command leaders are Lt. Colonels David and Jean Burrows.
On a visit to the Semu Corps, Dunster witnessed the results of an adult literacy program and met a group of women frying chicken and cooking local vegetables under the Let’s Care for One Another program. She also met an orphan who received a goat from The Salvation Army so he could raise money for his education and other needs. Another 40 orphans supported by the Army presented gospel songs.
At the Nguludi Corps, women learn cooking and knitting and obtain micro-credit loans to set up their own businesses. Another initiative feeds orphans and vulnerable children by bringing them together once a week at the corps, where they are also taught the gospel.
During the congress, the 3,000-plus soldiers participated in a march of witness, led by a joint Malawi-Zimbabwe band. Dunster visited as many gatherings as possible, speaking and sharing in the rallies.
South Africa—While in South Africa for The Salvation Army’s Second International Theology and Ethics Symposium (see New Frontier, Vol. 24 No. 16, Sept. 27, 2006), General Shaw Clifton and Commissioner Helen Clifton also took part in territorial events and visited Army programs in the Johannesburg area.
A highlight was the Women’s Day march of witness against the abuse of women and children, arranged by the Women’s Ministries Department and held in Soweto on National Women’s Day—a public holiday in South Africa. The event culminated in a meeting at the Regina Mundi Church, where Commissioner Clifton shared a greeting.
The itinerary included visits to territorial headquarters, the Apartheid Museum, and the Carl Sithole Center, home to five programs: the Bethany Girls’ Home, Bethesda House (Zodwa House) for abandoned or orphaned toddlers infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, a combined primary school, a community HIV/AIDS program and the recently-established Wellness and VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) Clinic.
The Cliftons also went to Ethembeni (Place of Hope), which provides a home for 60 babies or toddlers who have been either abandoned or orphaned because of HIV/AIDS.
They shared a meal with retired officers from the area at Emmarentia Eventide Home and attended an Appreciation and Recognition Dinner with the National Advisory Council and guests.
Before returning to the UK, the international leaders spoke to local media. In a recorded radio interview Clifton appealed to the South African authorities to avoid sex trafficking, which was an element of this past summer’s soccer World Cup in Germany; South Africa will host the next World Cup in 2010.
India—In the July issue of the Salvation Army publication All the World, Berni Georges, a member of the International Headquarters Communications Section, tells in words and pictures how the Army is using various methods to bring together communities ripped apart by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
In her story, “More Than Words,” Georges describes her time of volunteering in India.
Her moving account may be read online at the Army’s international website, www.salvationarmy.org, under “publications.”
Compiled by Karen Gleason from material on the Army’s international website, www.salvationarmy.org.