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The War Cry | DECEMBER 2012
It was almost Christmas. Michigan City, Indiana,
whispered winter. Cold. Snow. Why would any-
one be out on such a night?
Lieutenant Ray Wert had to go out. The
Salvation Army corps held its Salvation meeting
Sunday nights. Before each meeting he and a
few faithful soldiers would go to the usual
corner and offer an invitation to attend. Salva-
tionists call it an Open Air meeting.
As usual, the small contingent would an-
nounce that Jesus saves lost sinners, then
invite anyone interested to follow the Army
band into the corps or church and hear an
unabridged message from the pulpit. Afterward,
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the lieutenant would record information about
the evening in his book of statistics.
A small group of Salvationists marched to
the corner the week before Christmas. They
sang, spoke and played dilapidated brass in-
struments.
No one stopped. No one even passed.
Another one for just the statistician, Lieu-
tenant Wert thought.
A few months later a woman approached
lieutenant during an Open Air on that same
street corner. It was springtime, and many
stopped to listen or to mock the fanatical people
in their funny uniforms. The woman waited until
the 15 minute service ended.
"Excuse me, sir. Are you the officer here?"
"Yes, my name is Lieutenant Wert."
"Were you at this same street corner the
week before Christmas?"
"I haven't missed a week in the last two
years," he answered. "Yes, there were a few of
us out that night. Why do you ask?"
"My father lived in that apartment above
the store there." She pointed to a dingy building
just up the street. "He'd been in a coma for the
last six months. My father's body was there,
but he was not." She wiped her nose on a stiff
handkerchief and tucked it into her white purse.
"We heard the strains of the band music as
it played hymns. Daddy sat straight up in his
bed and said `That's God's music!' And with
that, he lay back down and died. Thank you
Lieutenant Wert. You'll never know how much
that meant to me. Thank you so much!"
As the little band of Salvationists marched
back to the corps, there was a spring in their
steps and thanks in their hearts.
--Pauline Hylton lives in Clearwater, FL
That's
God's Music
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"I am not alone at all,
I thought. I was never
alone at all. And that,
of course, is the
message of Christmas.
We are never alone.
Not when the night is
darkest, the wind cold-
est, the world seem-
ingly most indifferent.
For this is still the
time God chooses."
-- T
A Y L O R
C
A L D W E L L
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FAMILY MATTERS
National Ar
chiv
es and R
esear
ch Department
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