HAVING led worship and met Salvationists and friends across the USA Central Territory, General André Cox and Commissioner Silvia Cox (World President of Women’s Ministries) concluded their visit to the USA by sharing with The Salvation Army's National Advisory Board, which convened in Dayton, Ohio. Hosting the international leaders were USA national leaders Commissioners David and Barbara Jeffrey.
The General and Commissioner Cox attended a variety of committee meetings, often speaking on the issues at hand. Later they jointly addressed the plenary session of the board, sharing with its members the broad range of Salvation Army service around the world that they had been able to explore since the General took office last year.
The General opened his remarks by saying: ‘When William Booth founded The Salvation Army he could not have envisioned what it would become or that so many programmes would develop around the world. His passion was driven by the poor, who in that day were excluded from the churches. It was a day when desperate poverty witnessed people selling their children, their furniture, their clothes in order to have food and this sparked the pragmatic and practical assistance to those in need for which the Army is so well known ... If we today fail to deliver both the practical and spiritual help then we have failed to deliver our mission.’
Commissioner Silvia Cox joined the General in talking about important upcoming events in The Salvation Army including Boundless, the international congress taking place in London next year, as well as other plans to celebrate the Army’s 150 years of existence. The international leaders spoke of their worldwide travels, sharing information on each country visited and the dynamic Salvation Army ministry and programming taking place in vastly differing places and circumstances.
Finally, the General shared The Salvation Army’s response to the Ebola crisis in Africa. ‘It has impacted the Army directly,’ he said. ‘One officer has lost four members of her family. Mobility has been made more difficult as well for our people to meet together. Our resources are strained as we try to do our part to meet headlong this humanitarian crisis. The Salvation Army is partnering with other helping agencies to provide equipment and supplies as well as other basic needs to stop the spread of this dreaded disease.’
That night, the international leaders were hosted at the Dayton Kroc Center. The main feature was the retirement of Charlotte Jones-Anderson as chairman of the National Advisory Board. The new chairman is William Burke, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Nationwide Financial.
Report by Lieut-Colonel Allen Satterlee
