The General’s Easter Message

For those of you that don’t subscribe to / follow the General of The Salvation Army’s Facebook page. You can watch the General’s Easter Message below as he shares that ‘We will never be the same again if we claim this same resurrection power’ exhibited by Christ on the first Easter.

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Adaptation is critical…

I listened with interest to the latest devotions from our International Leaders as they shared that adaptation is critical to the future of The Salvation Army as part of their Pandemic Reflections. General Brian Peddle and Commissioner Rosalie also ask a series of questions around what adaptations we need to make…

 

 

“As we anticipate the future, it is clear that our world will come out of this pandemic looking quite different. We will not, and we should not, return to the old normal. This has important implications for us and for our mission.“

We can be the change, but first we need to embrace it!

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Sustainable Development Goals

Since May of this year we have started to promote around the Corps and within our monthly newsletter the International Social Justice Commission (ISJC)

The ISJC are The Salvation Army’s strategic voice to advocate for human dignity and social justice with the world’s poor and oppressed.

This coincided in part with the reimaging of Women’s Ministries earlier in the year where they released an International Women’s Ministries Vision Statement which incorporates; “Engaging in social justice and action to positively impact the world.”

Also the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which ‘provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.’

The United Nations explains that the 17 SDGs are ‘an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

Recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.’

The Salvation Army General Brian Peddle has also issued a global call to pray for women and girls. He describes ‘probably the greatest injustice of our age’ – the fact that half the world’s population start life at a disadvantage simply because they are female.

Prayer is the most important action a Christian can begin their journey with.

So will you join us as we intercede for women and girls through each of the Sustainable Development Goals? Our ‘War Room’​ (Prayer Room/Caregivers Room) has been set up with information and images to help assist us all in this urgent call to prayer.

On Friday evenings at 6pm each week we have a prayer meeting in which we will feature the SDGs among other prayer topics, as we make prayer a regular part of our faith journeys – You can attend in person @ the Corps, or online (contact Annette for the link if you wish to join in this way).

We hope and pray that you will be encouraged to live out your faith in such a way that people will be able to say that by your actions and words “you demonstrate the same love that Christ has for you by loving one another, and that everyone will know that you are one of His true followers.”      John 13:35

Additional Resources:

We have created some resources in-house which are well worth a read, so why not set aside some time and come in and check them out.

Women’s Ministries designated website that has been set up to help engage women, empower mission and ignite action in New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

The International Social Justice Commission website.

“2020 Cry For Justice” prayer initiative.

Previous blog entry about ISJC May 2020 and a follow up blog entry about ISJC June 2020

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International Social Justice Commission

The International Social Justice Commission (ISJC) is The Salvation Army’s strategic voice to advocate for human dignity and social justice with the world’s poor and oppressed.

They seek to promote a vision of justice based on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. To advocate and advise on social, economic, political issues and events which lead to the perpetuation of injustice in the world. And to amplify the voices of poor, marginalized and oppressed people and translate their real life insights into policies, practices and life-giving opportunities.

‘God is still leading and blessing the Army. With that comes a clear call … to link who we are with the very essence of what we do, the mission that is ours. It is a call to be a justice-focused Army.’ The Officer: July-September 2018

The ISJC do this through the following means:

COMMUNICATION: By various means of communication, the ISJC will broadcast the plans, goals and practices relative to ISJC mission, values and progress, with a particular emphasis on the use of social media.

ADVOCACY: ISJC will actively partner with others (including the united nations) in the pursuit of justice, with the intention of effecting changes in policies, attitudes, and behaviours.

RESEARCH: The ISJC will investigate issues and questions, providing tools for measuring and documenting social justice.

EDUCATION: ISJC will produce resources to inform and equip others with knowledge to seek justice together.

We are blessed at The Salvation Army Wellington City to have Dr Laurelle Smith as part of the ISJC team. She is based in New York and is the Research Analyst.

Laurelle completed her undergraduate and Master’s studies in Neuroscience and has a PhD in Medicine from the University of Otago in Dunedin.

Her PhD studies focused on improving the health, development and future outcomes of New Zealand children with a particular focus on sleep and aimed to increase children’s quality of life, potential, growth, education and development.

Laurelle has a passion for transforming lives through the eradication of social injustice and her role at the ISJC combines this passion with the research skills she acquired during her Master’s and PhD studies.

General Brian Peddle has declared 2020 as the Year of Prayer for Women and Girls and the International Social Justice Commission has released a prayer initiative called “2020 Cry For Justice”.

You can read about the prayer initiative and many of the other projects that the ISJC are doing here, or keep up to date with the latest information on their Facebook page, or Instagram account.

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