Helping 'hands'

Our relief team in Peru have been running camps for 100's of families who lost their homes in the earthquake. Running the camp is one thing, but helping them rebuild their home and leave the camp is another thing altogether.
Obviously, the long term solution is a full rebuild. But there are many obstacles to that - not least the cost.
As a temporary measure, the Army are setting up small wooden homes on the sites of original houses. Families can take their tent and pitch it next to their wooden home. This gives them a little more space than before, takes them back to their own area and encourages them to start working on their plot.
The hardest bit of the process is clearing the rubble from the old house and emptying the plot. The Army have created a partnership with an organisation I'd never heard of before - 'Hands On Disaster Response'. They are a group that offers volunteering opportunities. People pay their own way to the disaster area. Once there, Hands On provide dormitory style accommodation and food, then coordinate their work experience. Most of the team members I met were in their 20's. Some were just backpackers who had stopped off to do something interesting. Others had paid their own way especially to help families in Peru. They weren't doing staggering work - just lifting, shifting and cleaning. They were all filthy from days of hard work in awful conditions. But they were smiling, joking and generally making families in Peru feel good that others were standing alongside them. Speaking to their team leader he told me, 'often people who have lost their home feel overwhelmed - they just don't know where to start. We come along and offer a helping hand - all of a sudden the task doesn't seem so daunting'. Perhaps that's something we can all learn from. We might not be able to do anything fancy or grand, but sometimes just being there and helping is enough.
Hats off to 'Hands On' - I say!
I've uploaded a video (shot with my phone - so apologies for the quality) - showing the first of the Module homes being erected by SA and Hands On team members.

Who do they think we are?

Arrived back from a quick trip to Peru yesterday evening. It was very interesting - I'll probably blog something about it later. The journey home was really long. I left the place where I was staying in Lima at 7am on Monday and arrived home at about 5.30pm on Tuesday. Where on earth did those 2 days go?

On the long flight I found myself sitting next to a young British woman, probably in her mid 20's. She was just returning from a 2 month trip to Brazil - turned out her family had Brazilian links. She was video editor - very bright, personable and chatty.

When I replied to her question, 'what do you do, then?' by telling her I was with The Salvation Army, her response was, 'I thought that had died out long ago. When I think of the Sally Army all I picture is women in bonnets and long Victorian skirts'.

Once I had told her something about us and what we are now she was really staggered. 'Why don't you advertise?- put something on the telly'.

She was obviously worldly-wise but knew nothing about us. Perhaps our advertising and PR departments need a wake up call.

Just one other thought - I spent 11 hours on this flight, mostly sleeping. We wouldn't go into a hotel and say, 'do you have any people only using half of their double bed - if so, I'll sleep in the other half'. It crossed my mind that it's an odd thing that we are happy to get on a plane and curl up to sleep next to someone we've never met before - even a pretty young woman. Still, life has it's sacrifices, eh?

Somebody or nobody?

Today finds me in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I arrived this morning after a fairly long (11.5 hours) flight from Heathrow. as you know, air travel is a normal way of life for me. I suppose I fly long haul about once per month. I try to fly with the same airline - it's good for the air miles and means I am now a gold card holder in their frequent flyer programme. It's a great perk - it means you can use the business class lounge when you fly, even when you are on the cheapest economy ticket (as I usually am!). 'My' airline also has a policy of sending one of the cabin crew to greet gold card holders by name once you are on board, just to be sure you are happy and know you are valued!

But the best perk is that you don't have to queue up in the economy line for check in but can go straight to the First Class (or Gold) desk. You avoid the delay, get treated line you are important and don't have to line up with the riff raff.

But here's the problem. It can lull you into thinking you are more important or valuable than other people. You start to expect special treatment. I confess I have used this to my advantage when I turned up late for a flight one day and was told the flight was already boarded. Without getting upset I smiled nicely and said, 'you wouldn't leave a gold card holder stranded at the airport, would you?' It worked - I was whisked through and the person in charge of boarding the flight even held the flight up in order to come onto the plane to tell me my bags had been safely loaded and all was OK!

Last night I wasn't travelling with 'my' airline. I had to queue with everyone else - and it was a full flight and really chaotic. No one came to whisk me past the economy line to a dedicated 'Gold' check in. There was no free drinks and canapes in the lounge - I had to wander around the terminal like all the other poor souls. When I boarded no one greeted me as an honoured guest or came to make sure I was comfortable. Can I confess something awful? I felt frustrated. I felt bad that no one seemed to value me or treat me as significant. What a terrible thing to feel, eh?

I remember watching Will Smith's recent film 'the pursuit of happiness'. It's a fantastic film based on a true story. Will Smith plays a single father of a young child. He's trying to make his way in life, but everything seems to conspire against him. He and his son end up sleeping in the public toilets on the subway. The sense of hopelessness really comes over strongly. Despite all attempts to make something of his life, there seems to be no way out of poverty and desperation. At one point he remembers that a friend owes him a few dollars - so he goes to his home, wakes him up in the middle of the night demanding his friend cough up - even though he's no better off either.

I've watched the film a few times and every time I see it I am reminded that for the vast majority of our world's population life is like that. The poor and vulnerable far outnumber the rich and famous. Many families struggle through life surviving on less than one US$ per day. Even in our work (emergency management) we find ourselves distributing a bag containing 15kgs of rice and 2 kgs of Dal to a family in India who have just lost everything and think somehow we are doing them a favour! Is that really all they are worth? I think it's time for a reality check, don't you?

I remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man - how the values of the kingdom of heaven turn upside down the values of this world.

God, help me remember that the destitute family reaching out in humble gratitude for the meagre ration of rice will one day be the 'Gold card' members in the Kingdom.

'They shall come from the east, they shall come from the west,

and sit down in the kingdom of God.

Both the rich and the poor, the despised and distressed,

and sit down in the Kingdom of God.

And none shall ask where they have been, provided that their robes are clean.

They shall come from the east, they shall come from the west,

and sit down in the Kingdom of God' (John Gowans)

Throwing caution to the wind?

I've had my first e-bay experience today and it's not been a good one. I bid for some motorbike leathers and was pipped at the post at the last minute. Perhaps my cautious (some might say 'tight fisted') nature was my undoing. My natural inclination is to be cautious; I'm not natually bold and confident. I offered a couple of pounds more than the last offer, but another bidder snatched the prize from my hand just as the deadline arrived.

Rather than trying to sneak in with a bid just slightly above the competition, should I have gone in with a big bid and blasted the others out of sight? I don't know, but the result is that I feel disappointed and cheated that someone else got what I wanted - especially when I discovered the winning bid was an absolute steal and well within the price I would have been happy to pay.

There's a time for careful consideration - but, just like e-bay, there's often a time-out limit. It's got me wondering - what else in life we might miss out on, simply by not having the courage to step out and claim it?

I'm off to Brazil this evening and then on to Peru to check out what's been happening with the recovery efforts after the terrible earthquake. We have been blessed with a very positive response to the international appeal for funds to help. We will be meeting with civic leaders, government officals and UN personnel. Many of the big agencies who arrived shortly after the quake have left already. It's down to folks like The Salvation Army to stand alongside the impacted communities. In our meetings over the next few days I'm relying on Him to bless me with wisdom and 'sensible boldness!' I'll let you know how I get on.

Words of the famous

A few months ago I received a very unusual gift. A former soldier of ours at Ilford invited us to visit her home as she wanted to pass into my possession something which had belonged to her husband. It sounded a little cryptic and I spent the day wondering what on earth it would be.

Lyn and I arrived and after sharing a cup of tea the gift was unveiled - an old, red autograph album. It looked fairly insignificant - until I started browsing through it. Names of famous Salvationists who have forged our heritage jumped from the pages. Lesser known names were there, too. Verses from scripture, pithy quotes, all written in flowery script with old-fashioned fountain pen.

As I took in the names the significance of the names began to dawn on me. I took it to work the next day, got out a copy of the Salvation Army Year Book and some post-it notes. The first few pages of the Year Book have a chronological list of our previous leaders. I worked through the list of former Generals and tagged them in the album. Starting with the Founder, General William Booth, through Bramwell Booth and through to the present day - General Shaw Clifton. It became evident that this small book, seemingly insigniicant, contained autographs and messages not only from every General but also every Chief of the Staff.

I don't know if there's a market for Sally Army memorabilia on e-bay, but if there is then this would make a fortune.

Reading the book is a moving experience - to think that its pages have been turned by every single leader in our Church's history. Each of the men and women who have led our church have paused for a few moments to pen some thoughts into this small book. The handwriting sometimes takes some deciphering (!), but to read the thoughts or mottoes that have inspired godly men and women is challenging.

Through the ramblings of this blog I'll share some of them in coming weeks. But as a starter I share the thoughts of Arch. Wiggins, writer, poet and author of some of our best loved hymns. His entry to the autograph album, penned on the 8th September 1930, simply reads:

When the one Great scorer comes

To write against your name,

He writes not that you won or lost;

But how you played the game.

A good thought to encourage us, I think. More to follow.