ONE hundred and fifty-five years to the day since William Booth preached in an open-air meeting in east London, making the first step in forming the movement that became The Salvation Army which now ministers in 131 countries, an international group of Salvationists, employees and volunteers has been brought together to share an adapted version of Booth’s most famous speech.
The rewritten speech is released at one minute after midnight in the UK on 2 July – known throughout The Salvation Army as Founders’ Day, and celebrated with special meetings, marches, open-air celebrations and other events. Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic means that many plans for this year’s celebrations will have had been put on hold.
I’ll Fight 2020 takes the thinking behind the ‘I’ll Fight!’ cry for social justice that General Booth gave in the early 20th century and reimagines it for 2020, as COVID-19 and the renewed fight for racial equality dominate the headlines and have a bearing on people across the world. The final version features input from people linked with The Salvation Army in 20 countries, with the last word given by General Brian Peddle.
Countries featured are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Guyana, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Romania, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA and Zambia.
Subtitles are available in English, Danish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, Sinhala and Spanish, with other languages being prepared.
The video can be downloaded from sar.my/fight2020 and is available on IHQ social media channels.
