Luke 4:16-21; Isaiah 2:4, (Isaiah 61:1-4; Matthew 25:31-46). Swords, Summer Rain, and Salvation.

Presented to the Summer Rain Christian Festival and TSA AVM on 19 and 20 July, 2025 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Last year here I spoke about Human Trafficking and the workers at San Group. They said they paid between $20 000.00 and $30 000.00 to come here to work for a wage in excess of $30/hr. They said they never received that wage. They said they were subject to unsafe working conditions: working with toxic chemicals without proper protective gear, working long hours, many days in a row. They were afraid for themselves, and they were afraid for the safe transportation of their family. They showed us where they lived. They explained to us how they lived. They asked us to help them flee.

 

fifteen of the 16 workers were taken out of town to a secure Salvation Army facility in Victoria where they could have their physical, emotional and spiritual care needs met and where they could get the legal and other counsel that they needed.

 

The years prior I spoke here about our Emergency Disaster Services work and pointing people to salvation from natural disasters. This was really on my mind lately as all those children recently died in Texas. The first international deployment I was ever on was in Texas. Those children who died recently were at a Christian sleep away camp. We just sent 33 children from here to a sleep-away camp. It has been heavy on my heart. When I spoke about our EDS work here last, I spoke about a hurricane that struck Galveston where people didn’t necessarily need to perish; people who had the chance to choose to get on a bus to escape the impending disaster or to stay and perish: some chose salvation, some rejected it.

 

I often speak about how salvation is forever and how it begins right now and we can choose to take advantage of that salvation – whether it be a bus out of town to free us from human trafficking or a bus out of town to free us from impending flood or hurricane or a metaphorical bus out of sin and death into eternal life. But…

 

Salvation, of course, is more than that. Jesus, Luke, Isaiah, the Bible speaks about a salvation society as one where the sick are healed, the captives are freed, the hungry are fed, the lonely are visited, the perpetrator is forgiven, relationships are healed. Isaiah 2:4 speaks of Salvation as where the Lord:

He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

 

In our world, in our country, in our province, in our city there is still conflict, abuse, addiction, poverty, homelessness, murder, mental illness, hate, violence, unforgiveness…and we still pick up our swords. What if we didn’t have to wait until we die to experience a world without all of this? What if Christ was right and he wasn’t lying to us? What if the Kingdom of God is actually at hand? What if the Church (and our churches) is actually the body of Christ and what if we actually do this? It has been said that poverty isn’t a matter of scarcity: God has provided more than enough for the whole world; poverty is a matter of distribution. Countries, organizations, and people with resources simply do not share. I understand that the payroll of the NY Yankees alone could feed and clothe the world – how many sports teams are there in Canada and the US alone? Baseball? Hockey? Football? I plan to watch the game today … Is that what we choose instead of feeding a starving child? America is seemingly always at war and we are when they tell us. I read an article about their recent bombing of Iran. It was a very small American attack – nothing like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. etc. They only used four planes: each plane cost one billion dollars, the missiles they launched each cost 1 million dollars. How many American children could they feed, shelter and educate for that? They (we) would rather spend money killing other people’s children than providing the needed care and education to save their (our) own children. It seems that they (we) would rather their (our) own children die in poverty than pass up the opportunity to kill their (our) enemies’ children. Isaiah says God’s nations will beat swords into ploughshares. We are beating ploughshares into swords. I only pick on the US because I read the article about them and they are the world’s only superpower: Israel, Britain, France, China, Russia, India, Canada, etc., etc. etc.… it all applies. Our countries: if we are sheep nations rather than goat nations, if we are saved, we will beat our swords into ploughshares and we will put more effort into saving people than we do in killing them.

 

Of the over 35 million people in Canada today, 35 485 of us are locked in cages, prisons. There are homeless people right here on the streets of our town today. In BC addiction is more in your face than anywhere else in Canada. I did not see as many people on the streets in Regent Park, Toronto, Canada’s first ghetto, as I did in front of the OPS here when I first arrived.

 

Matthew 25:31ff says that the sheep nations, the ones that are saved are ones who feed the hungry, water the thirsty, visit the lonely, sick and imprisoned, house the unhoused stranger…. Are we a saved nation or do we have unhoused, hungry, lonely people in prison and on the streets? Do you care? Are we as the church doing our part? Are we members of the Kingdom of God fighting to overthrow the powers, principalities and systems of this world?

 

Who here professes Christ as our saviour? When we look at Matthew 25:31ff – even the goat nations that don’t go to spend eternity with our Lord do that! Matthew 7 says that not everyone who calls Jesus Lord is saved. Salvation is more than that. I recently read a poem that was shared at a ‘poor persons conference’ in Albergue years ago. Here is a modified excerpt:

I was hungry

and you formed a … club

and discussed my hunger.

Thank you.

 

I was imprisoned

And you crept off quietly

To your chapel in the cellar

And prayed for my release

[Thank you]

 

I was sick

And you knelt

and thanked God

for your health

[Thank you]

 

I was homeless

And you preached to me

Of the spiritual shelter of

The love of God

[Thank you]

 

I was lonely

and you left me alone

 to pray for me.

[Thank you]

 

You seem so holy;

So close to God

But I’m still very hungry

And lonely

And cold…

 

Liberation Theologian Albert Nolan asks, “How can one speak about the church as the body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth when church people are so healthy, well-fed and have no broken bones?”  Are we complicit with the systems of this world or are we fighting to expand the Kingdom of God? What can we do? How can you and I at least, beat our swords into ploughshares? How can you and I, at least, act like sheep? First we must advocate for real change! (to de-commodify the world for starters) Then we must do it!

 

Now there is a glimmer of hope even here. This Thursday, as every Thursday, there was I prayer meeting at the Bread of Life Centre. Friends who eat with us there, friends who sleep there, friends who live and visit us there – they pray. You should see the tears. You should hear the testimonies. The Spirit is moving (preaching Good News through the poor); God is transforming lives.

 

When I was in the Cypress Heath region, people were dying in the hospital without the congregations or their pastors even knowing they were there. People were not getting any support. The Lord used His people to set up a hospital chaplaincy program where a pastor would do the rounds everyday and visit everyone in the hospital and reach out to the pastors of the other churches when their congregation members were in the hospital.

 

When I was in Southwest Saskatchewan it was put on hearts, the number of people who were going to prison over and over again – and the number of victims of crime who never had the opportunity to face their accuser and never had the opportunity to be free of unforgiveness. Before my time, God used TSA set up restorative justice in SW Saskatchewan where the victim and offender were able to see each other, the victim would be able to have their questions answered and the victim would be given the opportunity to be freed from unforgiveness which can kill us all.

 

During my time there, God used His people to set up a transition through incarceration program where we sat with the offender (and victim) in court, kept in touch with them in prison, set them up with a place to stay, a job, a social group that was different than the one they had when they went into prison. Of all the people we sat with only one person ever re-offended. Societies can be changed. God does transform lives and He will transform the world. (We do need to get rid of prisons altogether! In the Kingdom of God people aren’t locked in cages!)

 

Since I have been in town, I have seen God use His people to set up the shelter at the Bread of Life centre, and provide food and shelter 24 hours a day, seven days a week through staff, volunteers, soldiers, and community partners (including the ministerial association and various churches) past and present. (We do need to provide supportive housing; there is no homelessness in the Kingdom of God)

 

My friends, this is what the kingdom of God looks like; this is what Salvation looks like. It is people being transformed as they come to know our Lord and Saviour; it is societies being transformed as they come to follow our Lord and Saviour. Are you a part of God’s transformative church in our society? Do you want to be? Do you want to offer food and prayer to people on the food truck? You can. Do you want to serve people at the food bank or the soup kitchen? You can. Do you want to lead a Bible Study at the shelter or the Bread of Life? You can. If service, study, or hospitality are not your gifts… maybe you would like to organize a food drive? Maybe God has given you two coats and you can donate one to the Thrift Store - so that it can either be given to someone in need, or sold to someone in need so that they can have the dignity of selecting and purchasing it themselves, and/or sold to generate funds for services to those in need? Maybe you don’t think that you have anything to offer but maybe beyond your tithes to your local congregation, God is leading you to feed the hungry in your own community by writing a cheque. There are a million ways or more to serve and be used by God as part of transforming our whole society into a salvation society and everyone is welcome to participate!

 

I often think of Randall from my time in Toronto. He is blind. I think he grew up in quite an abusive home. He lived in 220 Oak, the worst building in one of the worst areas of Toronto. Randall is a soldier in our Salvation Army. Randall played music. He was a blind man carrying a tuba (or baritone) on his back, his white cane in his hand, finding his way on subways, busses, and through the roughest most crime ridden areas of Toronto by himself to play music at churches, funerals, Christmas kettles, anywhere he went he shared the gospel in music. And every Friday morning at 7am he would join me and others as we walked around regent park and prayed for people living in the neighbourhood that was once North America’s first ghetto. This is Salvation and it begins now and continues on forever. I have friends of mine from my time serving at Stoney Mountain Penitentiary in Winnipeg who, even though they were behind bars, led people to a saving relationship with our Lord who then brought that Salvation they found behind bars to the outside world. God can use each and everyone of us to change this world, to grow His Kingdom!

 

We posted a picture recently on social media of a child who donated his birthday money to the Bread of Life Centre – most of our employees at The Salvation Army are what in contemporary vernacular we call ‘piers’ or people with ‘lived experience’ – most of us come from backgrounds of addiction, abuse, homelessness. I can’t tell you the number of people we have working with us right now who have their first ever jobs and they are in their 30s 40s and 20s, parents, people who God is using to do wonderful, amazing things.

 

God will transform Our world – He promises whole new heavens and a whole new earth. The question for us is will we be a part of it? We can. He wants us to be.

 

So, let us ask to the Lord where and how He would like each of us to live out our salvation, to be a part of His Kingdom? Let us ask Him how He can use each of us to point our neighbour to salvation both now and forever? As the Lord is leading you to help out in your church, go talk to your pastor today while it is still on your heart. As the Lord is leading you to help at the soup kitchen, shelter, foodbank, food truck, or other ways, you are welcome to chat with me today. As we all share the Gospel of Christ in word and deed, then the Lord can and will save us all and He will use even us to transform our society into His Kingdom, to make our whole world anew.

 

Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com

2024 Hope in the Valley Address (Romans 12:15, Matthew 25:34-40)

Presented to the Alberni Valley Community at Italian Hall, 16 November 2024, on the occasion of the presentation of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries 'Hope in the Valley' Gala to Launch the Christmas Season, in the presence of the MP, MLA, Chief Councilor of Tseshaht First Nation and Chief Councilor of Hupacasath First Nations and other gathered guest, by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Two very important things to do before we start today are: to honour the Nations who’s traditional and un-ceded territories we are meeting on and to honour the Creator.

 

Many of you who know me here, know that this is a very important picture to me. It is a poster of a Roy Henry Vickers painting entitled’ Easter 1985’. A few years ago, Remi and Ruby Tom presented it to me with the words Haatapi Hawit (Creator) written underneath.

 

It is on the door of my office for everyone to see and whenever my door is open and I lift up my eyes from my desk there is an image of Haatapi Hawit (Creator) in front of me.

 

It is the Creator that we serve in everything we do.

 

With that in mind, let us pray:

Haatapi Hawit (Creator). Lord, thank you. We know that you have provided everything that there is in the world and you have tasked us to take care of your creation and all of your creatures. Thank you for all the people present here who have been faithful in that regard. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to serve one another. Amen.

 

I would now like to honour the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations and the Nuu-chah-nulth people for welcoming us and allowing us to work alongside you and in these your traditional and un-ceded territories.

 

I have such a deep respect for both of you Brandy and Ken personally, your councils, your families, your teams and all that you do - not for only members of your nations but for so many others in the Valley here. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention your father Ken, George Watts; for George was a good close and personal friend to my father-in-law and Susan’s family.

 

Thank you so much Ken, Brandy, Tseshaht and Hupacasath for all that you do and for welcoming us and allowing us at The Salvation Army to work alongside you in these your traditional and un-ceded territories.

Major Michael was presented the King Charles III Coronation Medal for making significant contributions to the community specifically relating to bringing community groups together for a common purpose.

Major Michael Ramsay's written comments:

Thank you so much for this recognition of the work that has been done through the people working with and alongside the Salvation Army. It is a real privilege for us to be honoured alongside other people and organizations in our community that do so much such as

·        Marlene Dietrich of Abbey Field

·        Grace George

·        Jeanette Watts

·        Cyndi Stevens & Friendship Center

·        David Wiwchar and the Toy Run

In the Salvation Army we have a salute to recognize that all good that is done is really done by the Creator through us. – SALUTE. Thank you

The Salvation Army and all that we do here is a team sport. I was thinking what are some of the ways that we are like various sports teams? – and immediately it came to me that there is one way that The Salvation Army is NOT like a sports team. We are not like a baseball team… there is no crying in baseball.

 

There are lots of tears in The Salvation Army. There is not a week that goes by without staff, volunteers, soldiers, congregants, and / or community members crying. And there is a lot to cry about.

 

Jennifer Osbourne, one of our friends at the Bread of Life Centre, has made this wonderful graphic of a tree. The leaves on that tree each have the name of one of our friends there who has passed due to addiction. The tree has way too many leaves. The tree has new leaves way too often.

 

There are lots of tears at The Salvation Army. We have been touched by more than one suicide since we chatted at the Christmas Kick-off last year.

 

·       We have lost many friends from overdoses.

·       We have lost friends through violence.

·       We had one friend recently die from burns.

·       We have seen many friends slip back into addiction.

·       We have seen friends experience homelessness – for the very first time this year.

 

We have seen more seniors than ever before needing to eat at the soup kitchen and get their groceries from the food bank – for the first time ever.

 

There are lots of tears of sadness at The Salvation Army.

 

Romans 12:15: says, weep with those who weep; rejoice with those who rejoice

 

And there are also tears of rejoicing at TSA

 

There are lots of success stories we hear and celebrate with our team.

 

People have already thanked me saying that they wouldn’t have a Christmas without The Salvation Army. This brings tears to my eyes.

 

This year we were able to provide food hampers to more than 1500 people – on top of the 1200 people we helped with Christmas hampers last year. And we expect even more this year.

 

In 2024, you, through your support have provided more than 112,500 warm meals through the Bread of Life kitchen

 

In 2024, you, through your support have provided a safe place for 2000 people to sleep plus another almost 500 more during extreme weather

 

And - this brings real tears of joy to me too – as well as providing a safe place for folks experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity – ten of the people who stayed with us this year, we were able to help find stable permanent housing.

 

We are also so thankful to partner with the Friendship Center to provide meals for their guests at the Tiny Homes Village and the Shelter. There we have provided more than 90 000 meals for our friends.

 

We are so grateful also to all the organisations that partner with us on the Salvation Army food truck. Elim Tabernacle (Bruce, Belle, and team) has been partnering with us on The Salvation Army food truck on Mondays for many years now, as has Khalsa Aid (Kim, Raghbir and team) on Tuesdays. They also recently provided some much-needed bedding for our shelter. Kinsmen (Barb and Steve) take meals out on the food truck every Wednesday, and Arrowsmith Rotary has been serving people in need on Thursdays for a very long time now as well. With the support of these groups, we have served more than 7000 meals to people in need this year.

 

You, through all your support, have also provided so much clothing to those in real need this year. 

In 2024, you through your support, have helped so many children as well. You sent 33 kids to camp who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to go to camp – Some for the very first time.

 

You, through your support, have also provided 144 children with backpacks full of school supplies so that on the first day of school they have new items to help them learn – just like their friends.

 

You, through your support, have also provided 1152 litres of milk for children and families in need.

 

You, through your support, have also provided 1120 lunches for children who eat at the schools during the school year but don’t have access to those meals during the summer.

 

All of you in this room, in some way, have contributed to this and so much more. This really does bring tears of joy to my eyes; so, while there may be no tears in baseball, the love and work all of you provide for those in need in our community really does bring tears to my eyes. Well done team!

 

I am now going to speak a blessing over us. This blessing is from  Matthew 25:34-40:

³⁴ “Then the [Lord] will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 

⁴⁰ “The [Lord] 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.’

 

My friends this is your blessing; for this is who you are, in all you do.

 

Thank you.

Remembrance Day Address 2024 (Romans 5:7-10 and Isaiah 11:6)

Presented to the Alberni Valley community at the Community Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Glenwood Centre by Major Michael Ramsay, Padre, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 293, on 11 November 2024

 

August 4^th,1914 Canada, as part of the British Empire joined World War One. Four years later, when the fighting ceased on November 11^th, 1918, there were 888,246 Commonwealth soldiers who never returned home – over 18% of them, 160 000, were Canadian, Newfoundland, and First Nations soldiers.

 

Then from September 10^th, 1939, until August 14^th, 1945; 1,159,000 Canadian, Newfoundland and First Nations service people served in World War 2 and when the war was over, a further 44,090 Canadian, Newfoundland and First Nations service people had laid down their lives.

 

Robert (Robin) Watson was just 14 years-old when he joined the Army. On Thursday, at the Field of Honour. we held a memorial service for him; he was 96 years old. He was, I believe, the Valley’s last surviving Word War II veteran.

 

Many people marched out of the Valley to serve God, King, and Country in the first world war, the second world war and the conflicts that followed. In past years here I have shared many of their stories.

 

Today I would like to add to those stories, remembrances of George (Bud) Hamilton, James George, Eduard Clutesi and others. They were among the Nuu-Chah-Nulth soldiers who left the Valley here offering their lives for us, our ancestors, our descendants, our families, our friends and our allies.

 

George, 'Bud' Hamilton, as he was known, was the youngest boy in his family. He was a young Hupacasath man. He was a residential school survivor. Even so, he volunteered to serve with the Canadian forces during the second world war. He was a bright and resourceful young man. On his tests before entering the military, it is recorded that he was above average intelligence.

Letters he wrote home, to his dad Clifford, still exist. He wrote about how he applied to transfer to the navy. He wrote about how he looked forward to going fishing with his dad when he returned home from the war.

 

Bud Hamilton landed at Juno beach with the Canadian Forces on June 6th, 1944. Canadian forces on that day alone suffered 1,096 casualties, 381 of whom were killed in action. By the end of the Battle of Normandy, Canadian casualties exceeded 18,700. George, Bud Hamilton experienced all these horrors and Bud Hamilton survived to fight another day. But then...

 

as fighting continued into Belgium, in one particular small town, an enemy artillery shell exploded very near to him; it severed his spinal cord, and he slowly succumbed to his injuries.

 

He would never go fishing with his dad again.

 

Bud had a daughter whom he never knew. She was born after he died. I understand that she is living today in Idaho with a large family of her own - whom Bud never met.

 

There is also James Goerge. He was the son of Cecil George (George Hamiliton's brother). James was his only child. James survived the war; James made it back and with the money he made, he bought a commercial fishing boat.

One night he tied his fishing boat at a sandbar near where the orange bridge is today. There was an explosion, and he died in his boat that he bought with his pay from serving in the war.

 

I have mentioned Eduard Clutesi before, hereditary chief of the Tseshaht First Nation. [Josh Goodwill, I believe, sits as heredity chief in this seat today.] I will now share a little more of Eduard Clutesi’s story as I have come to understand it.

 

Eduard Clutesi was of superior intelligence, his military tests showed. He was a genius. He taught himself to play violin. He could draw your portrait perfectly. He was very quiet. He did not say much.

 

He served with a mortar unit. This was precise work. It involved intricate mathematical calculations. He served well. He was killed with his mortar unit in the battle of Caen and he was buried with his military comrades in Europe. He never did return.

 

Our First Nations, in many cases, were forced to renounce their status, in order to be enfranchised – until as late as 1960. Yet many, I am told saw the greater good and thus served and found true friendship with their Canadian Comrades and many died for us. Thank you. Thank every veteran who lived fought and in some cased died for us.

 

This week as well as laying to rest a veteran who signed up to serve in the war as a 14-year-old child, I also got news that my sister’s only child passed away suddenly at 22 years of age and it dawned on me that of the 200 000 soldiers who died fighting with the Canadian forces in the World Wars, the majority of them were children – no older than my niece. Canada’s youngest soldier was 10 years old.

 

Our service people, our family members who fought and died; their parents never saw their 22-year-old children, their 26-year-old children, their 17 or there 12-year-old children again.

 

The veterans who served and survived those wars weren’t in their 90s then, like they are now, if they are still around. Mostly, they were children in their 20s or even younger.

 

Our service people who died for us and the veterans who lived and saw them die. Please let us remember them.

 

And in remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice, Let us be better men and women, and give us peace in our time.

Lest we forget.

 

We will remember them.

SUMMER RAIN 2024: Saved a lot (James 2:14-17)

Presented to the Alberni Valley Community, 10 August 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay at the Summer Rain Music Festival at Russell Field.

 

Summer Rain. How many years has Summer Rain been going on now? We lost a couple to Covid, right? My first time joining you here was in 2019 when Major Stephen Court, Evangelism Consultant for The Salvation Army – among others – spoke.

 

I think most, if not all, of the messages have been about Salvation. I know mine have. So... how many people here already know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour? How many people know Jesus as our corporate Saviour? How many people would call themselves Christian? How many people would say that they are not or not quite yet or haven’t fully decided yet to be Christians? Anyone?

 

So for those of us who are ‘saved’? Why are we saved? For what purpose? What does it mean to be saved? In the Bible we have salvation mentioned in a number of different ways – salvation in the future for all of the cosmos, salvation held for us in heaven, salvation in the here and now and salvation from daily calamity. I submit that each of us who are saved for eternity have a duty to point everyone to that salvation; to be available for God to use to help save others for eternity but also for the here and now. Because there are real things that people need saving from here and now while we are awaiting the culmination of our ultimate salvation.

 

James 2:14-17: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

 

Since San Group has seen fit to sue the city and as we have just had the international day to highlight human trafficking, I thought that I would like to share with you a little bit about some people that the Lord has used us to save in the here and now that hopefully he will use others to save for eternity. {Note: unbeknownst to me when I was preaching a Vietnamese womAn whom I did not know, who is in relationship with these workers has been sharing her faith with them, was present during this presentation. It was a miracle of God. We spoke after and met later to follow up}

 

Genesis 37:17b-28 and 36:

17b So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt...

...36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

 

We know the story of Joseph being sold into domestic slavery in the Bible. These things and things similar still happen today. Jun 26, 2024, 10:18pm, I had a text from David Wiwchar of the Peak Radio Station: "Are you aware of the Vietnamese men who are about to be made homeless by san group?"

"No. Not at all...but we can help" I replied.

 

I immediately set to work to try to find out what was going on. David’s wife works for Kuu-us Crisis Line, so I texted her boss, and asked him what he knew about all this. He told me that the RCMP and the City were aware of the workers and that it was one of our employees at the Army who brought this all to light: I followed up with the employee and let them know that this really is something that is better left confidential rather than pulling in other agencies. But since the cat was out of the bag I went to work. I then contacted my boss and the Modern Slavery and Anti-Human Trafficking department of The Salvation Army seeking help and passing on the information that I had. At 3:35pm I received this reply:

Hello Michael, my name is XXXXX and I'm the Manager of Propel Anti-Human Trafficking Services. I'm trying to get a hold of you and your case worker XXXXX because I was asked to help support the 16 [alleged] human trafficking survivors that I heard presented to your staff yesterday. … With the information I have received so far I have secured a Vietnamese translator/counsellor who is on standby, a shelter on the island that can house all 16 survivors (at least temporarily), and I have an HT specific budget to help with whatever their needs are including transit to the shelter and clothing. I would love to speak with you further to get more information and support your team in whatever ways needed! My number is xxx-xxx-xxxx, hope to speak soon!

 

And then after he had contacted me earlier in the day, at 8:30pm that same night, our Member of Parliament, Gord Johns, reached out to me. He was on his was to see the workers. He asked me to join him. I hopped in his car. We met a translator who knew the people just over the orange bridge. We followed her out to the San Group property on Hector Road. The conditions the workers from Vietnam were living in were deplorable. There was sewage backed-up. It soaked the carpet. The men slept on mattresses side by side on this sewage-soaked carpet. The smell was terrible. There was no heat in the building. There was apparently no running water. The people bathed and washed their dishes in a ditch with water running out of a pipe outside. Gord, who has been in derelict buildings in town – maybe even more times than I have – said that these living conditions were even worse than the Port Pub that the city had just recently closed down because it was dangerously unsafe.

 

We spoke to the people through a translator. They said they paid between $20 000.00 and $30 000.00 to come here to work for a wage in excess of $30/hr. They said they never received that wage. They said they were subject to unsafe working conditions: working with toxic chemicals without proper protective gear, working long hours, many days in a row. They were afraid for themselves, and they were afraid for the safe transportation of their family. They showed us where they lived. They explained to us how they lived. They asked us to help them flee. I told them we could get them out tomorrow.

 

On Saturday, June 29^th, 15 of the 16 workers were taken out of town to a secure Salvation Army facility in Victoria where they could have their physical, emotional and spiritual care needs met and where they could get the legal and other counsel that they needed. I checked up on them on Sunday. They were happy. They were free. Now they were saved for the here and now. Hopefully they can be saved for eternity as well.  As Christians it is our duty to point people to salvation for both now and the future.

 

James 2:14-17 again: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

 

 

This week we had a funeral for one friend and another friend had a car accident that write off their car. I have thus  been thinking about Salvation and our spirit and the Spirit of God. The word for ‘spirit’ both in Hebrew and in Greek has the same range of meanings. Hebrew, ‘Ruach’; Greek, ‘pneuma’ bith mean ‘wind’ and ‘spirit’; therefore, we can think of God the Holy Spirit as the Holy Wind or the very Breath of God.[5]

 

John 20:21-23: Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven...”

 

I remember when I lived in Toronto and was thinking about this very topic- the Spirit of God and Eternal Salvation- the phone rang. There was a man in the hospital who had a terminal respiratory illness. He was going to die from not being able to breathe the air, the wind. I was told he might not live until tomorrow. I was told he needed a minister and I was told his family wanted a Salvation Army Officer. I was told he might be ready to accept forgiveness for his sins and receive eternal life. I ran downstairs, I told my staff, asked for prayer and someone drove me to the hospital, prayed and I headed upstairs to see the man and his family. And to make a long story short, this man who was dying of a lack of breath, accepted the Breath of God, the Holy Spirit and eternal life; so that even as he dies, yet shall He live. This man accepted eternal life, God’s Holy Spirit, even on his death bed. Praise the Lord!

 

What about us here? Is there any in this place who have never asked Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit to come into our lives? Are there any of us here who are dying of an eternal respiratory disease? Are there any of us here who are going through the struggles of life without taking hold of the comfort God offers? Is there anyone here who hasn’t prayed to receive the Holy Spirit yet? If so, you don’t need to wait until your death bed; you don’t need to wait until your dying breath; you can accept forgiveness for sins and live forever today.

 

Is there anyone here who has not asked God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus into their lives yet? Would you like us to pray for you? If so come up to the front here and we will pray for you.

 

Let us pray

 

And for those of you who have the Spirit of God inside of you already – listen to Him. He wants you to forgive others and help them and point them to salvation for eternity and also for now.

 

James 2:14-17: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

 

Let us pray.