On Sunday, December 6, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale launched a series of tidal waves along the coast of Asia.  Nations such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were left completely devastated. 

 

Residents and tourists were literally enjoying a day at the beach when these giant Tsunamis made landfall.  After sorting through the destruction, it was announced that over 150,000 people were killed.  Millions more were left struggling to find food, water, and shelter.

           

As unbelievable as it may seem, it could have been much worse.  The entire world stepped in to lend a hand to the victims of the tsunamis.  Over $4 billion was donated worldwide, and hundreds of doctors and volunteers flocked to the damaged towns to lend a hand.  Within days, much needed food and supplies were arriving to the disaster zones.

           

There are dozens of charity groups that have made the relief efforts in Asia so successful.  Groups like the Salvation Army, Red Cross, CARE, Doctors Without Borders, and many others have donated millions of dollars (as well as manpower) to the cause.  Even smaller groups—and many individuals—have assisted in the worldwide effort.

           

Fortunately, whenever a disaster has struck in recent years, there has seemed to be a number of charity groups willing to help out.  The disaster doesn’t have to be tsunamis, or other massive events that have an impact on hundreds of thousands of people.  These groups are willing to step in and help out even when an isolated tornado, fire, or flood damages a small town with only a few hundred residents.  Let’s try to get the “historical perspective.”

           

One of the most known charity groups is the Salvation Army.  Aside from donating large sums of money to the relief effort in Asia, the Salvation Army has also sent in special teams to assist the victims.  The group has the distribution of help and support down to a science.  Aside from providing obvious items like food and water, the members of the Salvation Army also focus on the details.  They bring in supplies like bed sheets, towels, gloves, masks, water bottles, first aid kits, etc.  All of these are vital to helping out the thousands of victims.

           

How do groups like the Salvation Army and others know the proper procedure for handling an emergency situation?  For starters, they’ve been doing it for over 150 years.   The Salvation Army was started by William Booth, a Methodist preacher living in England during the mid-1800s. 

 

Like other preachers, Booth used his sermons to preach about the importance of helping the poor and desolate.  However, he realized that much of this was just fancy talk.  In reality, many churches resented the idea of bringing in sick and shoddy individuals; most people would rather just enjoy the security of the usual congregation.

 

Booth also noticed that, even out of the churches that would offer help, few of them ever went out in search of people who were down on their luck.  The first initiative usually had to be taken by the people who were hit with hard times.

 

William Booth knew that this tradition left too many people abandoned.  He quit his job as a preacher in a single church to become more aggressive in helping the poor and unfortunate.  He began to go out onto the streets of London and give his sermons to the general public.  His message was aimed more directly to the lower classes, and he called it the “Christian Mission” (the name “Salvation Army” came along later).

 

The area that Booth focused on was the East End of London, an area that had suffered from hard times and had a heavy population of poor people that needed help. Before long, Booth’s reputation had spread throughout the area.  Local missionaries heard about how effective his message was, and asked William Booth if he would consider leading a series of meetings dedicated to helping the poor.  Booth said that he would.     

           

Of course, William Booth wasn’t the first person who had ever had the noble idea of helping people less fortunate than he was.  But he did have a unique idea.  He realized that the organization and arrangement of the military was highly effective for getting things done during wartime.  Why, then, couldn’t the same concepts be used for peace?  Booth envisioned a “war against evil,” only using guns and weapons was not going to be the best way to fight it.

           

Booth set up his followers by rank, similar to a military unit.  He was the general, and his full-time workers were the officers.  Volunteers, which constituted most of his helpers, were the foot soldiers.  The actual title “Salvation Army” came about in 1878.  Booth heard of his movement being referred to as a “Volunteer Army.”  However, since it was much more extensive than just that, he replaced the word volunteer with the word salvation.

           

Because of its unique concept, the Salvation Army grew quickly.  It came to the aid of people by providing them with food, housing, medicine, counseling, as well as drug rehabilitation.  The group played a major role in World War I and World War II, focusing on taking care of the soldiers that had gone off to fight.

 

Today, the Salvation Army is present in over 100 countries, and it still springs into action whenever there is a disaster.  Of course, the Salvation Army is currently working to aid the victims of the tsunamis in Asia, but at the same time it is working on other causes at literally hundreds of sites around the world.