Jan 26 2010

Haiti Relief: Make your donation count

Devastating earthquake in HaitiAlready the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the devastating earthquake in Haiti has pushed this country to the very brink. As with other major disasters, governments, NGOs and people around the world are rushing to help.

Perhaps you want to help also, but wonder if your donation will be used wisely in the relief efforts underway in the country.

For several years I was privileged to serve on the board of directors of Emmanuel International, an evangelical ministry of relief and development. Without qualification, I can say that the personnel in this agency serve sacrificially and faithfully in several of our world’s poorest nations, including Haiti. I know of no agency that is more adept in making scare donor dollars stretch. If you want to give, but are unsure where to do so, I highly recommend Emmanuel International.

You can donate online or by phone. For every $5000.00 (USD) raised, EI can provide a truckload (approximately 8000 pounds) of foodDistraught woman (water, rice, beans, fish) and tarps. EI partners with an evangelical Baptist denomination in the country meaning that those who will handle the relief effort are Haitians who live in the country and will be there long after the international community has moved on.

If you act right away, the Canadian government has pledged to match every dollar registered charities raise for Haiti relief.

For thirty years, Emmanuel International has served with the people of Haiti in bringing physical, emotional and spiritual hope to those who desperately need all three.

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Dec 21 2009

How two rebuffed evangelists founded a movement

This article first appeared in ChristianWeek on December 1, 2009 (Vol. 23 No.18) 
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Not only is The Salvation Army Canada’s largest non-governmental direct provider of social services, it is arguably the world’s most trustedThe Salvation Army in Canada and respected charity. Be it a flood, hurricane or earthquake, or an ongoing need to help alleviate human suffering, it is hard to find a place of need in our world where the Salvation Army does not have a significant presence. 

Serving in 118 countries, speaking 175 languages, with more than 15,000 locations, and a force of officers and soldiers numbering close to 1.2 million, The Salvation Army is powerful example of holistic Christian ministry.

If you’ve wondered how this decidedly evangelical ministry has managed to grow so large and influential, you will want to get your copy of Christianity in Action: The International History of The Salvation Army by Henry Gariepy (Eerdmans, 2009, ISBN: 978-0-8028-4841-3). An Christianity in Action: The International History of the Salvation Armyadjunct faculty member at the Army’s Training College in London, Gariepy teaches Salvation Army history and Bible.

Gariepy, an author of 29 books and contributor to 50 others, has provided a “meticulously researched yet engaging” account of the Army’s humble beginnings and phenomenal growth into an international evangelical relief and development organization.

The Army’s founder, William Booth, himself reared in poverty, came to faith as a teenager through the preaching of an American holiness preacher. By age 17, Booth was preaching the gospel on the streets of England’s cities. However, before long, the Methodist circles in which Booth ministered grew uncomfortable with his revivalistic methods.

Matters came to a head in May, 1861, when the annual church conference voted to deny Booth the opportunity to engage in full-time evangelistic. William and Catherine, his wife, left that meeting vowing to continue their gospel work without the blessing of the Church.

As William and Catherine Booth embarked on their Abraham journey, they formed the East London Christian Revival Society. By 1867, the ministry had been renamed the Christian Mission. Readers will enjoy discovering how the movement was eventually to be known as The Salvation Army - it was the result of an off-the-cuff remark by a ministry worker commenting on the wording of a promotional pamphlet written by William Booth.

If Booth is remembered as the public voice of the work, Catharine is surely acknowledged the organizational master-mind. Her influence on the Army’s beginnings extended to the role of women - every aspect of the ministry was to be equally accessible to both women and men. In some ways, The Salvation Army is the forerunner of evangelical feminism.

In 27 chapters, Gariepy distils 144 years of compassionate gospel ministry. From the Army’s humble, holiness-centered revivalism to one of the world’s largest compassionate outreaches, the Army has become what may well be one of Christianity’s greatest stories of holistic Christian ministry - a humanitarian giant immersed in gospel truth.

As well as recording the great councils, chronicling the opening of new countries, and reflecting upon strategic advances and challenging set-backs, Gariepy provides fascinating glimpses into the front-line service of Army workers. For example, how many of us would know that The Salvation Army operated the world’s first 24/7 donut shop?

In August, 1917, following 36 days of rain, Salvation Army women served freshly prepared donuts to cold, hungry and battle-weary soldiers fighting in France. They improvised by using a wine bottle as a rolling pin and an old helmet as the frying pan. The gesture was so appreciated that other Salvation Army workers began doing the same in other battlefield locations. Very soon this became a 24-hour, daily service provided to soldiers on the front.

Gariepy’s one volume history concludes with a series of appendices outlining the doctrinal convicitons of the Army, the Soldier’s Covenant, the Founder’s song, and several statistical lists. Readers will be amazed at the many programs operated by The Salvation Army.

The book is well-written and a joy to read. It is a timely reminder that evangelical ministry can effectively meet the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of our world’s most vulnerable citizens. I highly recommend it.

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The author of this article received a review copy from the publisher.

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Nov 18 2009

Down a Country Road

Down a Country RoadDown a Country Road
Eric E. Wright
Day One Publications, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-84625-106-1

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1 ESV*).

God has chosen to reveal something of his presence and power through creation. This led the Apostle Paul to write: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20 ESV).

Eric Wright, with a life-time in vocational Christian ministry, both internationally and here in Canada - evangelism, church-planting, pastoral ministry, seminary teaching, writing and editing - brings God’s two books of revelation together in fifty-two superbly crafted seasonal readings. Down a Country Road (Day One Publications, 2008) does for 21st century readers what Jesus did for 1st century listeners - illustrate and reinforce spiritual truth by observing the surrounding creation.

Just as Jesus used “salt and light, trees and flowers, weather and sheep to illustrate divine truth”, Eric Wright draws vital spiritual lessons from observing life in the creation around him. Through fifty-two devotional readings - one for each week of the year, organized by month and following the four seasons - Eric Wright shows us how to see God’s truth in the everyday cycle of life.

Here is a sampling of what is in store for readers of Down a Country Road. A Scotch pine, toppled by howling winds, teaches a vital lesson about the importance of strong inner character. Noxious weeds which provide food for Monarch butterflies reinforce the importance of caring for this beautiful creation. The challenge of removing roots from garden soil - it added a week to Eric Wright’s work one summer - warns us of the ever-present danger of missing roots of bitterness which can grow in our lives. A picnic on the shores of the mighty St. Lawrence River recalls how Scripture utilizes the metaphor of rivers to convey rich truth about God’s relationship with his people.

Wright effectively establishes the importance of these readings in the opening paragraphs of the book:

We drive our ingenious machines along a labyrinth of asphalt pathways to vast malls, office towers, factories and sprawling suburbs. We arrive home, where, with the click of a button, our garage doors open. Inside, we have dishwahsers and microwaves, televisions and stoves, clocks and stereos. Outside, we have domesticated gardens, patios and swimming pools. Satellites orbit above us. We send probes into deep space.

We have arrived at the pinnacle of history! We are the lords of all we survey, sovereign over nature - a concept invented in the eighteenth century. We, the sophisticates of the twenty-first century, arrive in state-of-the-art hospitals and leave in elegant, gilded boxes.

Is this all there is? Absolutely not! God’s providence undergirds all of life. The operation of the created universe is so dependable that we often take it for granted: the rise of the sun in the morning, the tides that sweep our oceans, the hearts that pump life through our bodies and the kidneys that expel poison from our systems. These are not the result of blind forces, nor do we exist in a serendipitous moment in almost infinite time. We have not happened upon the luck of the draw in a cosmic game of chance.

Hebrew partriarchs, psalmists and prophets knew that the reality of God as Creator and Ruler of the universe is the most foundational fact of existence…(page 11).

I highly recommend this book to anyone desiring to see how God reveals himself, and his truth, in the everyday rhythms of life. Down a Country Road may be purchased online from the Author, at Amazon Canada, Amazon USA, or Christianbook.com.

*Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright, 2001, Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.
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A free review copy of this book was provided to the author of this review.

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