Sending out the troops

The Salvation Army in Grafton has produced its fair share of outstanding Salvationists who have gone on to ministry in other locations. Samuel Bacon (pictured right with his family) is a soldier at Grafton Salvation Army who lives in East Timor with his family, helping locals who are continuing to rebuild their lives after years of Indonesian occupation and a brutal civil war. For them, being part of The Salvation Army meant more than sitting in a church pew on Sundays. They had to do something. East Timor’s reconstruction was their something. It has been sometimes dangerous work with occasional social unrest. East Timor, says Samuel, is still a fragile state. Poverty is everywhere. Road travel can be perilous because of landslides. Disease is ever present. Independence from Indonesia is still in its infancy. They are currently building a ministry centre in the capital, Dili, to assist with the accommodation of vulnerable people and to provide training to locals in social enterprise. They also distribute and set up micro-business activities, delivering appropriate technology to communities including water filter systems, hand-cranked machines and efficient cook stoves. Samuel wears an Army t-shirt when “on mission” to show the East Timorese people that The Salvation Army and God care for them. As a result of Samuel’s work, discussions are now being held about officially starting The Salvation Army in East Timor. Already, an East Timorese Salvation Army cadet is in training in the Officer Training College in Indonesia and hopes to one day serve as a Salvation Army Officer in East Timor.