2 Corinthians 9: 12-15: Thanks be to God!

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 10 August 2025. (Also presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 October 2008 and Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army 28 April 2013) by Major Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2025 Alberni Valley version.

 

To view the 2008 / 2013 version, click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/10/2-corinthians-912-15-thanks-be-to-god.html

 

Bette, Travis and others have been helping this week with the Wesley Ridge / Cameron Lake Fire Evacuation Services in Parksville and Qualicum. They left here Sunday after church and have been there most days this week. They have served between 70 and 150 meals for each meal, serving 1 to 2 meals each day. Since I have been in town Alberni Valley Emergency Disaster Services has supported emergencies here (fires, road closures, pandemic, etc.) and in Kamloops and Smithers / Prince George. EDS is something that I have been involved in quite a bit in my time in The Salvation Army. This week I ran across some of my notes from my first international deployment to help with Emergency Disaster Services.

 

September 2008, Hurricane Ike struck Galveston Island. More than 1 million people were evacuated from that part of Texas and more than 72 people were found dead as a result of the storm and the flooding. I was part of the first deployment of relief workers. Bodies were still being found when I left. After I left new problems developed in the way of mould and mildew. I heard from the crews that replaced us that the smell was almost overwhelming as soon as they stepped on the Island. People also began to notice the divide between the rich and the poor: which neighbourhoods were getting their garbage picked up and who was having their power restored, etc…

 

Homes were destroyed. Businesses were destroyed. When we were there, the sewers, the water, and the phones were not working. People were housed in shelters both on and away from Galveston Island. Many still had no place to go. Power remained out for a long time afterwards in some of the parts where we were posted. The power outage means that even for families that did not lose their stoves and refrigerators – and most did. There were many refrigerators destroyed and lying on the side of the road for pick up – they were unable to keep or cook any food. They didn’t have food and they didn’t have water.

 

Food and water: this is a big part of what The Salvation Army does. We had around 30 food trucks (CRUs) from which we helped to serve around 75 000 hot meals every day and give the people water and ice. Ice was very important. It was around 90⁰ F during our time there. And the food: many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all. They wouldn’t have survived. We thank the Lord for the service that the volunteers were providing to God and this community. We prayed for them that as they continued to serve down there even after we left, the Lord continued to bless greatly the volunteers and the populace alike.

 

2 Corinthians 9:12-15: This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

 

I would like to share with you some of the testimonies and miracles that we have to be thankful for from our time on Galveston Island almost 2 decades ago.

 

I was part of the mobile Emotional and Spiritual Care team for most of my time down there. For my first four or five days I served on a canteen as an ESC Officers. I thank the Lord for all that he did through our crew. There were four of us on our canteen: myself Wilfred, John, and Jose.

 

John left his family back in Illinois to join us. Someone close to him was once an executive director of some firm but over the past few years he had been struggling with addiction. While he was away, she slipped. His children are grown and at least one of them has moved home again with his own young family. There were numerous struggles on the home front as those close to him struggled. When John heard some of the stories about the problems at home he was grieved but He prayed and experienced the Lord’s grace. He shared the testimony that his grown son called ‘daddy’ for the first time on the phone. The Lord protected John’s family. He blessed me and so many people on Galveston Island through him. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

 

Jose was also on our canteen. He came from Virginia, but he was born in Mexico. When he first came to the US, he spoke no English: now he is bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. This was a real blessing because in this part of Texas there are many people who don’t speak any English at all and they were hit very hard by Ike. In the first few days he translated prayers for me into Spanish. By the time I left, he was leading prayers for people in need. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

 

There are many stories from our time down there. I can’t possibly share them all with you today. We don’t have enough time. I want to share a couple of very significant stories however.

 

I heard more than one account of a contemporary miracle paralleling that of the fish and the loaves. Our canteens were instructed to make sure that they gave away all of their food before they came in for the night. They did not want food returned when people were going without. One canteen had some food left. It was getting late so they were seeking out someone to give their last container of food to. They prayed. One person then saw a line of about 12-18 tired and hungry looking construction workers so they headed over to offer them food. They were really appreciative.

 

As they were feeding these men, a number of school busses filled with people pulled up. It is my understanding that they served over 800 meals at that location – no one went away hungry. Feeling blessed by what the Lord had done they started to clean up. (Now there was a non-believer, a Red Cross worker on their canteen with them today). Someone picked up the container from which they fed the 800 meals and read from the side of it, ‘serves 90 meals’. The Lord fed more than eight times that number and no one went hungry. The Red Cross worker who was helping them on the truck that day began to cry. He said that he had never believed in God – until now. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

 

This same canteen was used by the Lord to lead many more people in prayer to Christ. There were also some very exciting open airs that led to many more accepting Jesus’ gift of eternal life. There were many miracles in the midst of suffering. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

 

We met families who lost everything: their homes, their businesses, their possessions. I met one man who cried as he watched the machines scoop up all his destroyed possessions that he had to throw out. He praised the Lord that he just lost his things but it still hurt to see all the tokens of his memories scooped up into the back of a dump truck.

 

Parts of the city of Galveston were under more than 10 feet of water. I spoke with one Lady who lost everything on the first floor of her house but praised the Lord because all her children’s things were unharmed on the second floor – so at least they were comforted and had something to do while their parents worked to clean up the mess and fix the house.

 

Many people relayed how they had lost all their possessions but praised God that they had escaped with their lives. This is really quite something because in 1900, a similar hurricane hit this same Island and claimed 8000 lives. Many people praised the Lord for the contemporary early warning systems. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! There was plenty of warning. No one needed to die. Everyone was saved who chose to leave the Island. Some, however, rejected their salvation.

 

There is a story of one 19- or 20-year-old who stood on the waterfront, intentionally defying the storm. He was swept away to his death. I met a man who lost his home and his business and praised the Lord for his insurance, but he wondered why his brother chose to stay behind and die. How does he deal with the fact that his brother rejected salvation?

 

This is really the same for us today here. We thank God for His indescribable gift! We praise Him that the early warning for the end of times hurricane was sounded 2 millennia ago. We praise the Lord, that he gave his life so that everyone can be saved - but the sad thing is that some will reject this salvation.

 

Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that we need not perish in that eschatological hurricane. The sad thing is that some refuse to call on the Name of the Lord. Some live their whole lives without the knowledge and comfort of God. Some ignore the early warning system. Some defy God. Some refuse to be saved. Some friends and family are like that man’s brother. Some friends and family are like that 19- or 20-year-old – just awaiting death. It is sad. It is tragic. Some suffer all the things that we all suffer and more and don’t experience the peace of God that can sustain us all.

 

But there is good news. It is my understanding that though 75 may have lost their lives needlessly, over 200 have been saved eternally through this event. I have heard story upon story of people who have heeded the early warning system, who have accepted Christ and who have been saved. Praise the Lord. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

 

I want to share the story of Scott and the story of Paul. Scott was a canteen worker from central Texas who had accepted the Lord not too long before coming to Galveston and Paul is a twelve-year-old boy.

 

Scott was working on of one of our canteens.  Paul lives in an apartment with 10 other people and is familiar with the neighbourhood activities of gangs and drugs.  This boy saw our canteen near his home and wanted to help.  He approached Scott and volunteered to help.  Scott welcomed him with open arms and very quickly made an impression on Paul - he kept coming back. Scott even gave him T-shirt and hat.  The look on Paul’s face was worth a million dollars or more.

 

The evening before Scott was to return home from his deployment, I had the opportunity to give him his exit interview. During this interview we began speaking about Paul, whom I had met a couple of days previous. Scott told me that he had prayed with Paul on a number of occasions and that Paul was asking about Jesus. I asked if Paul had asked the Lord into his heart. Scott said ‘not yet’ and asked me to help him do that.

 

The next day, Sunday, Scott, Paul, and a number of other volunteers working on the canteen eagerly awaited our arrival – Paul was ready to ask the Lord into his heart.  We arrived and I encouraged Scott to lead Paul in the ‘sinners’ prayer’.  After a simple confession of sin and profession of faith, Paul was welcomed into the family of God.  We then sang a verse of Amazing Grace and Scott presented Paul with a Bible.

 

While we were celebrating Paul’s proclamation of salvation, two apparent ‘good-ole boys’ rolled up in a pick-up truck with their radio blaring Hank William’s “I Saw the Light.”  They were angels. They were messengers of God who had come to celebrate with us, then they were gone.

 

In the midst of all the turmoil and all the suffering God was there. In the midst of all our troubles and all our sufferings, God is here. He offers this same salvation to us here on Vancouver Island today that he offered to them on Galveston Island in Texas in 2008.

 

So today we all here have the same choice that faced the people of Galveston Island. We can either defy the storm and perish like the nineteen-year-old boy or we can heed the warning; we can see the light, choose to be saved, turn our eyes upon Jesus, experience everyday of our life with him, and celebrate with the Angles sent from God in Heaven. We can all experience the comfort of Christ for now and forever through whatever storms come our way. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

 

Let us Pray.

 

www.sheepspeak.com

Genesis 37, 39,41; Beat the traffic

Presented to TSA Alberni Valley Ministries, 28 July 2024 by Major Michael Ramsay

 

Read Genesis 37:12-36, 39:1-20, (Later 41:9-14)

 

These things and things similar still happen today. They happen here. 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 common law wife works for Kuu-us Crisis Line, so I texted her boss, Colin, who used to work for us, 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: It appears that they came to the Army for help but the information was not kept internal. It was shared with Kuu-us and not with myself and The Salvation Army. I followed up with the employee and let them know that this really is something that I need to know and it would be way better if this was confidential. I then contacted Sharon, my Area Commander, and the Modern Slavery and Anti-Human Trafficking departments 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 out to see the workers. He asked me to join him. I hopped in his car. We met a translator, Kimmy, who knew the people, just over the orange bridge. We then 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 that the Port Pub that the city had just recently closed down because it is 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.

 

The following day I followed up with David Wiwchar, who was kindly waiting on releasing his story about the migrant workers until we could get them to safety. He brought all of this to light and hopefully many people were and can be helped because of it. When David Wiwchar broke the story other media followed up as well. CHEK 6 News toured the site with the San Group[1]:

It is where approximately 15 migrant workers who were under contract to the San Group were living until the Salvation Army’s anti-human trafficking unit moved them out on June 29.

The building reportedly did not have running water, and the men were allegedly forced to wash dishes in a small trickle of a stream out back and drink from it.

When CHEK News visited the Hector Road site Thursday, a small stream was still full of pots and plates in it. “This is where they were washing their dishes?” asked CHEK 6 News

“This is where they chose to wash their dishes,” said San Group’s general manager of terminals, Joe Spears.

“If someone chooses to use water, maybe in Vietnam that’s an acceptable practice, that’s normal housekeeping,” said Spears.

Inside the trailer was a very different scene from the video shot there one week earlier. San Group insists it was untouched.

“I didn’t touch it,” said Spears.

 

There were also previous accusations relating to San Group and where and how they housed foreign workers. Recently the fire department investigated their offices as San Group had a fire order issued by the Port Alberni Fire Department in September 2022 after there were accusations of them keeping foreign workers housed in their offices. The letter orders that no structures at the property “be utilized as sleeping quarters for any person effective immediately.” The PAFD checked to make sure that that was not happening there now. I believe they found beds there – even after the other workers had been rescued.

 

I don’t know that any of the people were trafficked – nothing has been proven in court – or who may have been behind it if they were. I do know that the conditions these people were living in were terrible.

 

“The Salvation Army is currently assisting several migrant workers who required urgent support,” said Gavin Randhawa, manager of marketing and communications with the Salvation Army. We ask the public and the media to respect their privacy”

 

The future of the 15 or so men that were being cared for in Victoria remains uncertain.

 

These sorts of things still happen today. The stories of Joseph and human trafficking and slavery are not just tales from a far a way place and a far away time. Canada’s laws are seemingly favourable to human trafficking. I was concerned about this even last century when I worked in international education. It seems just as bad now,

 

Shelly D’Mello, with the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, told CHEK 6 that when it comes to the care of temporary foreign workers, the onus is on the company…Food, health, nutrition, housing in some cases, safety. When it’s a closed work permit, that employer becomes responsible for those pieces,” said D’Mello.

 

A closed work permit creates a dangerous state of dependency; as a closed work permit, versus an open permit, means the temporary worker’s visa is tied to a specific company. Closed permits make a worker much more vulnerable. For instance, the workers don’t qualify for MSP, so any injuries on the job are the employer’s responsibility to deal with. “And we’ve got to be careful that we don’t slide or slip in that obligation, that duty of care for those who are helping us,” said D’Mello.[2]

 

Canada’s reliance upon temporary foreign workers is growing. This is scary. This creates an environment where this sort of thing can happen all the time. I have heard of domestic servants and human trafficking in Vancouver. I have spoken to my Member of Parliament with another TSA Officer about human trafficking of farm workers when I lived in Saskatchewan. We have worked with trafficked, prostituted people in various cities across this country.

 

This is real life. This is happening. Here in Canada. Here in Port Alberni. This is scary stuff. So, what do we do? Well, if you know anyone who needs help let The Salvation Army know! We can get them out of there and get them the supports they need! Also, write to your Member of Parliament: tell them to stop enabling human trafficking; tell them to end unsupervised, closed work permits where an employer has that much control over a person’s life. Make the government check in on foreigners under their care (in their own language), make them protect those they are duty bound to protect.

 

Pray for people who are trafficked. Pray for people who are trafficked in this country, around the world, and here in this community. Pray for the underprivileged: the poor, the family-less, the immigrant. And help us help them.

 

And trust God. God was with Joseph when he was a trafficked domestic servant in Potipher’s household. God was with Joseph when he was sent to a prison in a foreign land. God was with Joseph in his hour of need and the scriptures say that in that he prospered.  And then God used a cupbearer to the king to deliver him and God used Joseph to deliver many other people in turn. We remember in when Joseph was in the depths of prison, Pharoah’s cupbearer, encountered him, there and though for a long time he did nothing, eventually he did something – two full years later – Genesis 41, reading from verse 9:

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”

14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

 

Thanks to God using the cupbearer, Joseph was delivered from captivity as Joseph was earlier delivered from slavery. May we each be like that cupbearer. Even if we have been slow to help those in need thus far, even if we have forgotten, even if it has been years. Even if we have delayed in helping out those in need for both now and eternity, may we now be encouraged, may we now be faithful. May we now be spurred to action; so that like those workers we can be saved in the here and now. And may we also be faithful in sharing the Good News of Salvation so that we and all those we love may be saved for eternity as well.

 

Let us pray.

---

[1] https://www.cheknews.ca/new-details-emerge-in-case-of-alleged-human-trafficking-in-port-alberni-1212632/

[2] Quotes from: https://www.cheknews.ca/port-alberni-temporary-foreign-workers-await-their-fate-local-provincial-and-federal-officials-meet-1212611/

SB 370: I Want to Sing it, I Want to Shout It (TB 685)

There was a time when one could access The Salvation Army Songbook online. Not only could you copy the words and the tunes easily to make slides, you could also download actual PowerPoint presentations with the lyrics. Now the words are hidden? Certainly not easily accessible.

It is more difficult to find the lyrics to Salvation Army songs than almost anything in our internet age. Other denominations have their old songs readily available for the public to sing praises to God. I guess The Salvation Army does not want the public to use their songs in worship? Are they ashamed of the Gospel? Do they despise the writers of some songs and so want to destroy their legacy? Do they just despise the songs and hope they are forgotten? Do they want to (and think this secrecy will help them) make money from songs that were written to praise God? But even for current Christian pop songs, from songwriters who write music for a living, I can easily find lyrics... 

I wonder why The Salvation Army is suppressing it's own poets, song writers and musicians?

 

 SB 370: I Want to Sing it, I Want to Shout It (TB 685)

I want to sing it, I want to shout it,
I want to tell you all about it;
The love of Jesus, the love of Jesus;
It brings the glory to my soul!

I can't compare it, I want to share it,
I feel I really must declare it,
The love of Jesus, the love of Jesus;
It bring the glory to my soul!

I want to sing it, I want to shout it;
It brings the glory to my soul!
I want to sing it, I want to shout it;
It brings the glory to my soul!

- Joy Webb (c) The General of The Salvation Army