THE OTTAWA CITADEL C*o*n*t*a*c*t Vol. 9 / No. 7 Published to Share News & Views at Ottawa Citadel Corps December 31, 2017 A NOTE FROM CAPTAIN GRACIELA’S DESK “I will pour out my Spirit on all Greetings in the name of our Lord and people. Your sons and Saviour Jesus Christ! It is hard to believe that daughters will prophesy, your 2017 has drawn to a close. And what a year old men will dream dreams, your young men will see it has been! For both my family and the 28 visions.” Joel 2: Ottawa Citadel family, it was filled with new opportunities and wonderful experiences as God lavished upon us his infinite blessings. The Ottawa Citadel Contact My heart rejoices as I think of God’s goodness and kindness, His mercy and compassion, His forgiveness and grace, His presence A bi-monthly publication of and comfort, His patience and provision, His faithfulness and Ottawa Citadel Corps unconditional love. My all overflows with gratitude for my A Church of The Salvation Army 1350 Walkley Road Saviour – our Saviour! It brings to mind the chorus: Ottawa, ON K1V 6P6 Telephone: 613-731-0165 All through the years his providence has led me, E-mail: [email protected] His abounding goodness has been all my song; All through the years I tell his love and mercy, Ottawa Citadel Corps Officers Captains Jeff and Graciela Arkell Singing Ebenezer as the years roll on. SASB #147 Corps Sergeant-Major Linda Colwell As we begin 2018 let us continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ; continue to give our all to God; Youth Coordinator Sonya Wessel continue to experience His presence and share His love with many. Web Site http://ottawacitadel.com/ Web Master “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust Derek McKinnon in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Editor Holy Spirit.” ( Romans 15:13) Jim Ferguson From our family to yours, Happy New Year 2018. Today’s Smile Captains Jeff & Graciela Arkell Gabriela, Joshua, Graciela, Josiah ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the Letters: Graciela Arkell MOON STARER (Captain) The Ottawa Citadel Contact Page 2 TALES OF A TRAVELLING TEACHER item had been individually wrapped in cellophane, Anecdotes and experiences from my time including each sock. This was something so as President and CEO of the 240,000- unexpected in the middle of Africa! member Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) (A series by Allan Bacon) Robert and I managed to have quite fruitful discussions with ZIMTA executive members relating to the organization’s Credit Union, the new building, in-service On October 26, 1993, Robert Barker and I arrived in training programmes, increasing membership fees, Harare, Zimbabwe and were met at the airport by reorganization and the need for ZIMTA to maintain its leaders of ZIMTA, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union. independence of the government if at all possible. At From the beginning of our visit it was clear that the the same time, we stressed that ZIMTA should attempt main topic of discussion as far as ZIMTA was to ensure that it had membership on any committees concerned was the request for large sums of money set up by the Ministry of Education dealing with the to pay for its new building. Already the availability of professional interests of ZIMTA’s members. None of money was a major problem in the country, with bank these were issues that had easy solutions. We also interest rates at 46%. Like their colleagues in other had lengthy discussions regarding Harare as the African countries, teachers were poorly paid. As Civil possible location for the World Congress of Education Servants they were very much subject to the whims of International. EI had been formed in January 1993 government, and already in 1993 salaries were not (more about this in a later article) and had 401 member being paid, causing unrest (a precursor of Phoenix?) organizations in 172 countries with a total membership As readers will know, inflation in Zimbabwe was to of over 30 million teachers and educational workers at peak in 2008 at 231,150,888%, when the cost of a school and university levels. Robert and I had been banana was as much as a house had cost 15 years asked by EI to carry out this assessment as to Harare’s earlier and prices were adjusted several times a day. suitability for the Congress. Significantly, we did not The large white-owned farms that were the mainstay have any meetings with the Ministry of Education. of Zimbabwe’s economy were still operational, but all this was to change as whites were dispossessed and We did, however, make arrangements for Canadian driven from the country and the economy collapsed teachers to visit Zimbabwe in the following summer as a ruthless and corrupt Mugabe imposed his (1994) to provide in-service training, and promised to dictatorship. provide much needed educational materials from CTF member organizations. We were taken to Meikles Hotel, perhaps the most luxurious in the city, and expensive, as we discovered After an intense four days we were relieved to board an when we checked out! It was a beautiful hotel and aircraft en route to Swaziland. contrasted starkly with the astounding poverty visible everywhere in the streets. I must admit to a sense of guilt, but the accommodation had been arranged for us by ZIMTA. The view from my room window was incredibly spectacular, with boulevards of jacaranda trees in full blossom. A most amusing incident occurred while at Meikles. Late one afternoon I was in my room when there was a knock on the door. On opening it, there paraded into the room a line of five men, the first of them in a full tuxedo, the other four in white shirt, bow tie and black pants and shoes, each of them carrying a wicker basket containing my laundry items. The baskets were laid out on the bed. Have You Noticed that Ottawa Citadel’s New Van Has When I put the clothes away I discovered that every Been Lettered Including Contact Information? December 31, 2017 Page 3 In Our Song Book by Ed Wicks WHEN JESUS WAS BORN IN THE MANGER - TO SAVE A POOR SINNER LIKE ME When Jesus was born in the manger The shepherds came thither to see, For the angels proclaimed that a Saviour was born To save a poor sinner like me. Based on the verse of song # 156 provided above, one could conclude that this song is a Christmas carol. Indeed, some writers and some Officers have characterized it as such. But the song is much, much more than that. In successive verses, major events in the life of Jesus are referenced and always end with the reason for it all - “To save a poor sinner like me”. It can, without reservation, be sung at any time throughout the Christian year. 2. 4. He was wounded for my transgressions, But death and the grave could not hold Him, Acquainted with sorrow was He; He burst them asunder for thee. In the garden he prayed, On the third day He rose, and sweat great drops of blood, in spite of His foes, To save a poor sinner like me. To save a poor sinner like me 3. 5. He was brought to Pilate for judgment, I'm fighting my passage to Heaven, He was sentenced to hang on a tree. O'er death I shall conqueror be, “It is finished!” He cried, Then to Glory I'll fly, when He suffered and died and shout through the sky: To save a poor sinner like me. “He saved a poor sinner like me”! Nothing much is known with certainty about the origins of the song, except that it was written in America where two other gospel songs using the title “To save a poor sinner” were also written in roughly the same time period. It was published anonymously by the Salvation Army in The Officer and in The War Cry in 1893 and over the years has undergone many revisions. Lyrics have been modified, some verses dropped and new verses added, but in one form or another the song has withstood the test of time and has appeared in every song book of the Salvation Army since 1899. From the beginning, the song was one of the favourites of the Army’s Founder, General William Booth. It was used frequently in the Founder’s evangelical meetings by Colonel John Lawley in the altar call following the sermons. Often, as the General finished his sermons, he would say “And now, Colonel Lawley will bring you to Jesus”. One reference concludes that the Colonel moved thousands in the General’s meetings while singing To save a poor sinner over and over again. Later in life, when General Booth was no longer able to participate in revival services, he is reported to have remarked “Oh, if I could only hear dear old Lawley sing ‘To save a poor sinner’ and oh if I could only hear him say ‘General, there’s a poor drunkard coming right down from the back of the hall – he’s coming to Jesus’, that would be the sweetest music I could hear”. A resounding testimony indeed for a gem in our song book predicated on the Scripture’s text in 1 Timothy 1:15 (JKV): “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”.