Re-Generation

by Captain Terry Camsey – 

One of the most exciting developments here in the UK has been the establishment of a 20/20 Vision Action Group…10 young (and not so young) adults selected for their skills to help the territory develop an action plan for the future. They are all in the Boomer and Buster generational categories, linking at both extremes the Echo-Busters and the Seniors.

They represent the Army who will inherit the Army and are seriously interested in the shape of the organization they give this creative time to. We feel that, if we are to effectively impact the government and business as well as the unsaved, we need to involve people who understand their times and who have a passion for reaching their generation(s).

It is exciting to see them identify and grapple with the challenges… to see how they can start off with, perhaps, different perspectives on an issue, yet be quite willing to listen to others and talk it through until solutions emerge. After a very busy couple of weeks traveling the length and breadth of the UK Territory (arriving home late last night) it was refreshing to spend the better part of today with these exciting people.

I find it very interesting that their aspirations reflect (although not specifically stated as such by them) a desire to recapture the spirit and activities of Booth. A desire to see the Army “stand up and be counted” on ethical and moral issues… to be known as a movement that fights for social justice as well as performing social and community services… to see a return to the inner city… a passionate desire to win their peers who, without Christ, are lost.

It reaffirms my belief that organizations go through a life cycle that is only rebirthed through a new vision for the future… a vision that may well be a return to the founding vision which proved to be so attractive to the people looking for a cause worth fighting in its day.

I’ve suggested before that it can signify–to present observers–a phase that seems like chaos, yet is a bone fide part of the growth process. Hence remarks like “It may be growing, but it’s not really Army!” Yet, in reality, what we see may be more like Booth’s “babies” than the “elderly” corps those babies grew up into.

It’s not unlike human families. At a family reunion, how long do the various generations stay in the same room together? Not long! It’s not that they don’t love each other. Just that their interests are so different that what one generation likes is anathema to the others.

Families are made up of several generations from babies, to toddlers, to teenagers, to young adults, to middle-agers, to elderly, to…fail to reproduce and the family dies out within a generation.

There’s a challenge there for the Army, isn’t there? We can’t just be content to grow old together…well, we can. But there is a consequence, albeit one that we ourselves don’t have to suffer.

A good man provides an inheritance for his children’s children, says Proverbs. It’s good advice…

Isn’t it?