While Women Weep

By

Pauline Banks

Associate Representative in Scotland of the

Territorial Commander for the United Kingdom with the Republic of Ireland.

An article to mark the centenary of Women’s Ministries in The Salvation Army

1907 – 2007

Imagine the scene.  It’s May 9, 1912 and in the vast auditorium that is the Royal Albert Hall in London a weary, white-haired, white-bearded man prepares to speak to a vast crowd.  The man is old but he is still ‘the General’ of an Army birthed by God.

It will be William Booth’s last public speech before his promotion to Glory (death) and one that will be remembered for as long as his Army wages war.  Without any amplification he addresses the thousands who have gathered.  His mind is still clear and his voice strong. He delivers a powerful testimony to his passion for serving Christ and humankind.

Of all the memorable words spoken that evening, the text which describes his great desire to continue fighting is of paramount importance.

Said Booth: “While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight. While children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight. While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight. While there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight. I’ll fight to the very end!”

Notably, he did not overlook women at a time when, in the culture of early 20th- century Britain, women were not well placed on the social ladder.  In spite of the very strong matriarchal Queen “Victoria who had died 11 years earlier – and in spite of William having a strong and hugely influential wife – it would still take some time to raise the profile of women.

Booth’s voice boomed out to his audience.  It was strong, challenging, emotive oratory, yet laced with sensitivity and emotion.  “while women weep’ – little did he realize that the initial letters of those first three words, www, would in the latter part of the century become synonymous with worldwide vision.  In fact the “World Wide Web has given millions of people instant access to the challenging needs of the world.  It instantly brings information on every imaginable subject right to a person’s desk, assuming they have the facility of a computer, telephone line and electricity.

Unfortunately the World Wide Web can be used for evil as well as good.  How telling is the world ‘web’!  Flies and other small insects can be trapped in a spider’s web by the sticky substance that is part of its construction.  Similarly the World Wide Web can ensnare people in activities with the potential to pollute their mind, strangle their spirit and destroy their body.  It can bring disenchantment to families and societies worldwide.  Women are particularly vulnerable. So in these early years of the 21st century, William Booth’s worlds should still be heeded; ‘While women weep….’

When the Founder gave that inspired speech he did not have much time left to continue his fight. But those of us who comprise the Army of today should – must – continue his work with passion. Economics and ecology have changed the world enormously in the past 100 years.  Global communication is now so easy and so quick. W even travel through space. But women still weep.

So with www – ‘while women weep’ – as the background image to our thoughts let’s consider how they can be developed.  Maybe we should ask some basic questions and insert the answers applicable to our personal situation and cultural circumstances:

? Where are women weeping?

? Which women are weeping?

? Why are women weeping?

? What can we do for those women who weep?

These are serious questions and need careful thought. They need to be considered prayerfully and responded to with commitment to a practical outcome.  But without over-simplifying the seriousness of the subject they can be answered just as powerfully with sentences which use the same three letters – www.

For example:

?  While women are in want we will work for them.

?  Where women are wronged we will protest on their behalf.

?  While women feel weak we will support them.

?  While women feel wretched we will comfort them.

?  While women worry for wayward sons and daughters we will cry with them.

?  While women long for water we will dig wells with them.

?  While women suffer from war we will bind their wounds.

?  While women long for self-worth we will struggle with them.

?  While women wait for the dawn of a brighter day we will watch with them.

There will be many other ideas that can be pursued.

There is a weakness in these examples because they apply only to the English language. Most languages would not have the same chance of alliteration so there is a limit to this way of dealing with the subject. However, this should not detract from the mission.

There is no easy way to surmount the things that make women weep, yet it is not totally impossible. When our son was a small boy we suggested to him on one occasion that what we were looking at was a lovely view. He replies, ‘Where? I can’t see because the mountains are in the way.’  We must not let any mountain cloud our vision of what the women of the world need.

Today’s generation of Salvationists, as never before, have unprecedented access through the World Wide Web to a ‘World Wide Window’ through which we can see the needs of the world, which can in turn bring enlightenment and stimulate our vision.

So let us join hands in this resolve;

We will work for and with them

We will try to walk in their shoes.

We will welcome them into the family of God.

We will witness to the sufficient grace of God.

We will win!