Easter Message from our Ontario Divisional Leaders

Have you ever found yourself on a road trip using a map like this one to guide your way?  It wasn’t too long ago that we would use these to help map a way to where we were going, back before Google and smartphones.

Shawn and I have been there, using maps to help us get to where we were going, and finding ourselves at a point where either we made a wrong turn or went too far and ended up “somewhere” unexpected.

For some, this is an opportunity to explore… a new place… a new adventure (assuming you weren’t in a rush). For others though, anxiety and uncertainty can begin to creep in. And if you find yourself somewhere with nothing around you; no stores, no restaurants, no houses… that anxiety can quickly grow into fear. As you keep driving, loneliness can even begin to set in, especially for those who are by themselves.

But just then, as you round the next corner, you see someone… another person. Maybe they’re out walking or running, or maybe it’s a police officer in their cruiser on the side of the road.

As you approach them and ask the question: “Can you help me?”, hope begins to find its place and the anxiety, uncertainty, the fear, and the loneliness start to lose their grip.

The Salvation Army in Ontario is responding every day to those who are asking that very same question: “Can you help me?”

A young mother who finds herself alone with nowhere to go, or a senior who has be living through this past year in isolation. Maybe it’s a person experiencing homelessness and sleeping on the streets or a parent who has experienced job loss for the first time and doesn’t know how they’re going to put food on the table for their kids.

Anxiety, uncertainty, fear, loneliness.

Your experiences over this past year, or current circumstance, may have you wondering where hope is.

The Easter story reminds us that our hope is found in Jesus, and that while the darkness can sometimes feel as though it has surrounded us, we can look to Him and find hope.

And while Jesus died on a cross on Good Friday it doesn’t end there. Three days later, Jesus rose again and in doing so, brought hope to the world. Luke 24 verse 6 says: “He is not here; He is risen!”.

The Salvation Army’s officers, staff and volunteers are serving every day in communities across Ontario, helping those who come to us in need or going out, as an Army mobilized for service to people wherever they are.

This Easter, wherever you find yourself, our prayer for you is that you would find the joy and the hope of this Easter season.

May God bless you and keep you safe.

Lt.-Colonels Shawn and Brenda Critch
Divisional Leaders, The Salvation Army Ontario Division