He salvaged souls

Henry Kodithuwakku

“Someone’s ambition is Gold. Someone’s ambition is Art. Some one’s ambition is Fame. But my ambition is the souls of men and women”. These are the sayings of the founder general of the World Salvation Army,Rev William Booth.

Rev William Booth was born in the month of April 1829, in London. His parents were not so affluent, so his father had to toil hard to find money for the education of his son. In spite of difficulties he sent his son to a higher school in London in the hope of giving him a better education, when little Booth was almost 16 years of age, his father could no longer support his son’s education and he sent him to a nearby pawn-broker to be trained in the trade of pawning. He was disgusted at the way the pawn-broker transacted the business. He, often, criticized his modus operandi. Finally, he left the pawn-broke in utter disgust.

Young William Booth was a religious minded lad. Although, his parents did not talk much about religion, at home decided to send him to a nearby Sunday school of the Methodist Church. At the Sunday school he was the cynosure of the class. Day by day, he gained his reputation as a pious student. At the age of 19, young Booth came to the London town in search of a job. He went hither and thither to find a suitable employment. He was alone in London. He had no money in his wallet.

Nobody was there to give him a helping hand. Finally, he ended up with a pawn-broker, in London who gave him shelter and little money for expenses. He worked long hours in the pawn shop. But made it a point to go to the Sunday school on Sundays uninterruptedly. He participated in discussions and various other activities in the church. Sometime he gave his personal testimony before the congregation.

Gradually young William Booth became the centre attraction of the church. The chief incumbent of church misunderstood his ability and began to treat him harshly. He left the church and joined another church in London. The church recognised his unique abilities and allowed him to act as a preacher of the Methodist church. He went from this end to that preaching the gospel of God. At the age of 23 he became a full time evangelist of the Methodist church.

One day as he was walking along the streets of London, he saw a large number of men and women sleeping on the pavements, shivering with cold and covering their half naked bodies with cardboards. He felt sorry for those unfortunate men and women.

He, immediately hired a house and accommodated them. He also gave them each a hot bowl of soup. According to the book, ‘In darkest England the way out’ written by a devoted Christian named Mr Rabbites, nearly 120,000 destitudes had been benefitted by this soup and soul salvation of Rev William Booth. This soup and soul voluntary organisation, is, today a worldwide organisation known as the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army is well-established in 125 countries and the Salvation Army in London celebrates its 147 years of service. The Salvation Army of Sri Lanka celebrated its 130 years of service recently. The Salvation Army in Sri Lanka has a number of social institutions in Sri Lanka islandwide, including boys’ and girls’ homes, hostels for women, homes for the aged, health centres, pre-schools, industrial homes, remand homes and daycare centres.

The current international leader of the Salvation Army, General Linda Bond arrived in Sri Lanka on February 1st. She visited Sri Lanka for the first time and she met the President, Prime Minister and other dignitaries of other churches, before she left the island.