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Reach out to the suffering

4th May 2009 by Julia Hosking

Meet Sean

By the time Sean* was 15 he had been expelled from three schools and was addicted to drugs and alcohol. His addictions resulted in him constantly losing his temper, which made life a daily struggle for Sean's family. Living a ‘normal' life for his three siblings and their mother, Katrina*, was near impossible.

One day Katrina packed Sean's belongings into a few bags and drove him to a youth shelter. There she told him that although she loved him, he needed to give up his addictions before he would be allowed to return home. She then, with her heart breaking, drove off.

Although it was very difficult to remove themselves from their brother and son, Sean's family have grown stronger since he left and have attempted to recover from the affect of his addictions.

This was possible because Katrina and her family had been attending a Salvation Army support group for families of people with addictions. They realised that in order to live their lives in a positive direction, they had to remove Sean from their immediate environment.

The centre that runs this support group offers similar groups for individuals battling addiction, parents of addicted children (of all ages), and siblings and children of addicted individuals.

Whatever you did...

The Salvation Army is committed to serving suffering humanity. "Suffering" does not necessarily always mean someone who needs food, clothing and shelter. "Suffering" can also mean internal, emotional suffering. Suffering caused by a drug addicted son or brother. Suffering caused by sending your beloved son away from you. Suffering caused by two days without heroin or vodka. Volunteers and employees of The Salvation Army come alongside people experiencing all sorts of suffering, and serve them. Help them. Counsel them. Guide them. Support them. Strengthen them.

Jesus says in Matthew 25: 40 (NIV) "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." He calls us, as his people, to help those who need our help. He references prisoners, the sick, the hungry and the naked in this chapter as the needy. But he also wants us to help those who are struggling from addictions, people who are lonely, individuals who are feeling hopeless, and Jesus wants us to help those who others have abandoned and rejected.

Your chance to help

Collecting for the Red Shield Appeal on 23-24 May is a good opportunity to help out fellow human beings who are suffering. Drug and alcohol addiction is a very real problem. And for every one person who is an addict, 46 people around them are affected.

The funds raised from the Red Shield Appeal are used to help people like Katrina and Sean who are dealing with addiction in different ways at Salvation Army rehabilitation and support centres.

So grab a few friends and sign up for this years doorknock appeal. For more information, check out our Red Shield Appeal page.

*This is a true story, however the names and some minor details have been altered to ensure the privacy of people involved.

Julia Hosking is a journalist with The Salvation Army, writing for the MORE website and Pipeline Magazine. She is a perfectionist at heart and loves eating chocolate, drinking coffee and chilling out with her husband, Michael.

Julia and her husband worship at Menai Salvation Army, and during their honeymoon they discovered a passion for lying on Thailand beaches.

Comments

Nathan Moulds

May 06, 2009 at 4:48pm

Thanks for these articles Julia, they are definitely inspiring and challenge us all to take the Red Shield Appeal as seriously as deserves to be taken, not just another wasted weekend, but a significant event that has ongoing impacts on the lives of the poorest and most disconnected people in Australian society, count me in!

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Andre

August 13, 2010 at 7:46pm

Hi Julia, I am reading your articles from Sweden and a thought struck me, you should put your organisations works at http://www.thegooddeedssite.com/ to inspire others to make good deeds and like rings on the water help make a better world.
Regards,
Andy

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