Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries, 19 February 2023 by Major Michael Ramsay
This has been a tough week or two. I am so thankful for DHQ and THQ support. These past couple of weeks we have been working on budgets. I am so thankful for Oxana, who works at headquarters, she has been doing an amazing job coordinating our budget because – as you may know – it is more complicated than ever before as we may be officially folding the Bread of Life into The Salvation Army and we have a new contract with BC Housing to provide a shelter for 25 people in the Bread of Life building and we have a lot of renovations, and we still have all of our other departments to budget for, as well.
We have also had a risk
management assessment this week – this is an audit of sorts – and I am sure we
have a lot to work on when we receive the completed report. All this work will
actually be a good head start because this coming year we will need to be
accredited because of our shelter – I am very thankful for all the help Terri
Thompson from THQ is offering through this process.
I am so thankful also for
Derland, Michaela, and Captain Sharon Tidd through all of this because – just like
Oxana know things about accounting that I have no idea about and Terri knows
things about accreditation and shelters that I have no idea about, Derland and
Michaela know a lot about buildings and permits that I know nothing about. And
Captain Sharon has been amazing at guiding me through all of these processes.
This has all been on
top of year-end stats and receipting that needs to done, employee reviews and
everything else. All of which has added to the workload of our relatively new managerial
and administrative staff at the corps: Lisa, Carol-Anne, Nancy, Laurie. I am so
thankful for them!
Carol-Anne, our TS
manager, gave me this cup a while back: it says ‘worry less, pray more’. It is
a good reminder for me.
Another very important
reminder for me is why we are doing all this anyway: We are doing this all for
the Gospel of Christ. The Good News that Jesus, lived, died, and rose again so
that we can all have life abundantly both forever and for now. It is our role,
to share this Good News with all we meet and to stand up for the poor, disenfranchised,
marginalized, and those who have no voice.
A number of you have
verses that we handed out prior to the service, I invite you to read them now…
Psalm 82:3-4:
Defend the weak and
the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 140:12:
I know that the Lord
secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
Proverbs 14:21:
It is a sin to
despise one’s neighbour,
but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.
Proverbs 14:31:
Whoever oppresses
the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honours God.
Proverbs 19:17:
Whoever is kind to
the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will reward them for what they have done.
Proverbs 21:13:
Whoever shuts their
ears to the cry of the poor
will also cry out and not be answered.
Proverbs 22:22-24:
Do not exploit the
poor because they are poor
and do not crush the needy in court,
for the Lord will
take up their case
and will exact life for life.
Proverbs 29:7:
The righteous care
about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern.
Proverbs 31:8-9:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy,”
Isaiah 61:1:
The Spirit of the
Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
1 John 3:17-18: If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Matthew 25:40: “The
King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
This week and a couple
of weeks ago I had some Psalm 82 experiences. I don’t know how regularly you
each have Psalm 82 experiences. I will read again from verses 3-4:
Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.
Protect
the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.
Save those who are weak and needy.
Save
them from the power of sinful people.
On January 23rd
I went before City Council with the thoughts of this and Proverbs 31:8-9, “Speak
up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy,” with me.
As you know we have had
people staying at the Warming Centre and The Salvation Army EWR shelter at the
Bread of Life building off and on for a couple of years now and since we have
now received the good news that it will be an ongoing BC Housing-funded shelter,
we need to have some renovations done so that we can provide a safe, secure,
and healthy environment for the most vulnerable in our community. In order to
do this, we needed someplace for the people who were staying overnights with us
at the Bread of Life to stay while we do the work.
We made many phone
calls to see what buildings we might be able to use while we are doing our
renovations, just overnights, and just for a short period of time, and in the
same area as those suffering homelessness and housing insecurities are already
living. We found the perfect place in the Eagles Hall (a five minute walk from
here). It is right in our neighbourhood, right by the trailers, right by the
OPS, right where people are living in doorways and on sidewalks. It is the
perfect place that will not add any new vulnerable people to a community but on
the contrary will bring many inside, out of the cold. Providence provided even
one more piece: Mary Anne and Wade are both Eagles and so they were able to
help us make this work.
As is the legal
procedure for this kind of thing – because we would never want to flout the law
– we went to the city staff, and they worked diligently to make sure that
everything is above board. One city staff member, ironically named Marianne
Wade, really went above and beyond making sure that all of the I’s were dotted and
T’s were crossed – and I was sure glad of that!
We appeared before
council for what should have been a formality as all the leg work was already done
by the city staff including building inspectors, fire department, Marianne, all
kinds of folks and our people as well. But there was one city counsellor who it
appeared was determined to bully the city staff, The Salvation Army, me
personally, and/or the vulnerable in our community through us. No reasonable person
could possibly have expected such a thing.
This was doubly strange
for it seemed to be an intentional abuse of authority by the councilor to scourge
someone publicly. I will often swing by the offices of local Executive
Directors – as you know it is important for me to work well with community
partners. In the days prior to appearing before council, I swung by one local non-profit agency to talk
to their ED but she wasn’t there; so I was going to leave. One of the city councilors was there – he is the president of the local branch of this non-profit – and he invited me in
to chat. I thought we had a pleasant enough chat but in the whole conversation
he never did once ask me about our shelter, he never did once ask me about the
Eagles Hall or the people at the Bread of Life. He had every opportunity to
raise concerns with me when we were speaking face-to-face. God provided the
opportunity for any legitimate concerns to be addressed right there in a
non-threatening productive manner. This councilor, however, inexplicably declined
to do so – which would have been honourable. Instead, days later, at a publicly
broadcast city hall meeting, he seemingly preferred to ambush city employees,
me, those with me, others present, and by extension all whom we represent, in a
public forum where he was provided the opportunity to abuse authority, bully others,
malign the Army and demand that people be thrown out on the street. Psalm
82:1-5a, seems to refer to leaders like this:
1
God takes his place at the head of a large gathering of leaders. He announces His
decisions among them.
2
He says, “How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others?
How
long will you show mercy to sinful people?
3
Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.
Protect
the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.
4
Save those who are weak and needy.
Save
them from the power of sinful people.
5
“You leaders don’t know anything.
You
don’t understand anything.
I was obviously thrown
for a loop by the councilor’s behaviour. I did not expect an attack on myself
and the vulnerable in our community. A number of city council members, who let his
interrogation continue publicly, approached me later to extend their support,
as did many community leaders here – we have so many good leaders in our
community. I expressed to the councilors and community leaders that I wasn’t
as much concerned about myself as I was about the staff and the members of the
public that need to appear before council as this how they are treated. And later
I realized that this one councilor really does seem intent on finding some way
to throw the people we are housing out on the street. (You are welcome to view
the video of the 13 February 2023 council meeting for evidence of this and make
up your own mind) for I did speak to council about this abuse of power and the
bullying. When I did, it was obvious to people present that I was met with even
more bullying.
Now, at the end of the
day I did receive public apologies from City Council members for not protecting
the public from this abuse. I received assurances from the Mayor that Council
should be a safe place for members of the public. Nonetheless, myself and
others were put through the ringer and I don’t think this is done yet. Therefore,
it is important for we, as children of God to continue to, Proverbs 31:8-9, “Speak
up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” And to,
Psalm 82:3-4, “Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died. Protect
the rights of people who are poor or treated badly. Save those who are weak and
needy. Save them from the power of sinful people.”
This our responsibility
to the Gospel of Christ. The Good News that Jesus lived, died, and rose again
so that we can all have life abundantly both forever and for now. It is our
role, to share this Good News with all we meet and to stand up for the poor, disenfranchised,
marginalized, and those who have no voice.
This can be tough!
When I could have been tempted
to be discouraged in my efforts to do just this, God gave me this word from Galatians
6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.” And this my friends, is my encouragement
to us today, that no matter how much power over us, the enemies of the poor and
the needy may seem to have, in
our own lives and in our own context, Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary
in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give
up.”
Let us pray.
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