RETURN TO BATTLE IN RUSSIA
AND BEYOND
VOLUME II
“RUSSIA!”
The road is finally open for The Salvation Army's advance. The Russian Prime Minister sees no reason why we should not enter.
So far the Tsarist-Russian Empire has remained forbidden to The Salvation Army. But at last it’s evident that that which was once a hindrance is not impossible to overcome and as a consequence a vast new mission field is now open to us. Surely, much has led to this favorable, from our viewpoint, reversal.
One of these is the Army’s general acceptance. Little do we know when or how this will be expressed, or how far it extends. Notices of the Army’s development, of the General’s travels around the globe and his motorcades, have time and again been seen in the Russian press. Russians travelling to different parts of the world have encountered those who belong to, in their eyes, this outlandish blood and fire Army. The results of their questions and impressions has been shared with friends at home, yes, and has in the light of day, been seen in books and periodicals.
__________________
Dr. Ross Wilcock, a Canadian Salvationist, presented a paper on
Russians near the border of their own country have even come in contact with our northerly-located corps in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Some have entered into God’s great salvation, freedom and joy through The Salvation Army. They then shared here and there about these people with outlandish uniforms, happy faces and a joyous religion.In Switzerland and other countries the resident Russians have studied our work and then informed relatives and friends in their homeland of their impressions. In Paris scores of Russians, students, lawyers, physicians, actors, etc. kneeled at our penitent form, sought and found God’s great gift: peace of soul, and then disappeared from our sight, remaining only as a statistic in our reports. However, it has eventually come to our attention that many of them subsequently in their homeland, unconsciously paved the way for The Salvation Army.
Among these was even a woman of the court, a childhood friend of the current Tsar, who came to know the Army in Paris. She embraced our faith, and when she returned to the court in St. Petersburg, she testified about the blessing she received. She acquired our literature and circulated it among her friends. Until the week she died, she regularly bought the French War Cry, ‘En Avant’. She visited London several times, and participated in our “Two days with God” in the Exeter Hall. The best of all was, she thought, the altar call section of the meeting when crowds poured forth to seek forgiveness and purity. Filled with enthusiasm, clapping her hands and waving her handkerchief – yes, she even went so far as to foretell that the day would come, even if she didn’t live to see it, when in Russia’s capital one would witness similar scenes. And surely, no one, with the ability to read the signs of the times, could read the interviews and doubt, that the Russian noble-lady’s prophecy is being fulfilled.”
Quite naturally the General’s oft-repeated visits to Germany and Scandinavia, and in all likelihood his audiences with the nobility of Sweden and Denmark, opened the eyes among many highly placed, discerning and forward-thinking Russians’ attitude with respect to The Salvation Army’s moral and social relevance. A story that almost sounds incredible could be told of how Russian officials, through these and other visits, had a completely different view of the Army. But it is not yet time to tell you this. However, these facts, do remain a strong contributing factor, when it’s a question of achieving an opening in Russia for The Salvation Army.
We could even present other factors, and foremost among them is our work and expansion in Finland. Our work in this country has been the subject of repeated inspections and official reports to St. Petersburg. Among those who have supported the Army have been representatives of the Russian state, including governors. The story of how the Army’s first territorial leader in Finland – Brigadier von Haartman – turned the resistance of one of Finland’s governors into friendship, is told in the small book, Hedvig von Haartman.
The Army’s work, with its corps, crisis centres, slum stations, and hostels in Finland’s best known cities has, we believe, spoken in an eloquent language of its enhancing and regenerating capacity among society’s poorest, illiterate and lowest classes.
No comments:
Post a Comment