Founder's Day

The first week in July The Salvation Army celebrate Founder's Day. I've read a lot about The Founder General William Booth, truly a great man of God. How exciting to live in that era, but it is God's will that I live at a time such as this. We cannot choose the place or the time of our birth or death.

He was converted in his teen age years at the Methodist Church.. After his conversion, he had a strong conviction to engage in evangelical mission with his compatriots. They held home and street meetings and one day he marched his bedraggled band of 'gutter' people, the so called 'down and outs' into the chapel and sat them in the nice seats much to the disgust of the elders and the congregation.

Fast forward to 1865, Sunday night and William Booth was returning with his 12 year old son Bramwell. They had left Mile End Waste and gone a few yards along the road he pushed open the door of a drinking saloon.

What he saw shocked him - filth, noxious fumes of drink and tobacco. There were men bearing marks of brutishness and violence, drunken women with dishevelled hair.

Both father and son surveyed the scene and William Booth said to his son, "Son, these are our people. I want you to live your life for them and bring them to Christ."

Fast forward this time to 1898. It was late at night and William Booth was waling up and down in his room, "Dad, what are you doing at this hour?' William Booth had a headache and was trying to find comfort from the wet towel worn as a turban. William looked up and said, "I'm thinking about these people and their sins. What will people do with their sins?"

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Matt. 9: 35-36

We cannot live in William Booth's time. But we can be Booths of today followers of Christ.
Here's a quote from William Booth for our reflection.

“While women weep, as they do now,
I'll fight
While little children go hungry, as they do now,
I'll fight
While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now,
I'll fight
While there is a drunkard left,
While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,
While there remains one dark soul without the light of God,
I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end!”