The Salvation Army and the United Nations – Being Good Neighbors Written by Bram Bailey
By Bram and Carolyn Bailey On the morning of December 26, 2004, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful in 40 years, hit under the Indian Ocean causing a tsunami which killed tens of thousands of people in 11 countries and left untold damage in its wake. The Salvation Army was active in several of those countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India. In India, local Salvation Army officers (ministers) and soldiers (members) went to the areas of greatest damage, although those areas were outside their usual circle of influence. When The Salvation Army first arrived, the people in the community did not immediately embrace them. They were strangers from a different part of the country and from a different faith. But The Salvation Army had come to help its neighbors. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, The Salvation Army provided food, clothing and temporary shelter. As time passed, The Salvation Army provided counseling, helped to rebuild homes and income generation activities. Most importantly, the people from The Salvation Army sat and listened to people’s stories and helped them process their grief. When some other relief groups left, The Salvation Army stayed. Only then did the people trust that The Salvation Army really cared. Then they began to ask, “Tell us about this God of yours.” This is the two-fold mission of The Salvation Army, as indicated in its International Mission Statement: “to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.”
The complete mission statement says: “The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” It is this last part which most closely connects the purposes of The Salvation Army with the purposes of the United Nations.
The purposes of the United Nations, as expressed in the Preamble to its Charter are: to work for world peace, to support fundamental human rights, to affirm the dignity and worth of the human person, and to work for the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, for justice, for social progress and for better standards of life for everyone. To achieve those ends, members commit “to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours.”
What is the definition of a neighbor? Is it only those who live in close proximity to us? Is it only those with whom we feel an affinity?
This very question was raised in the 10th chapter of Luke when an expert in the law asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” As He often did, Jesus answered with another
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