T
he year was 1881. Captain Catherine Booth
and three intrepid lassie lieutenants hoisted
The Salvation Army's flag on a makeshift
pole. Together they dreamed of conquering
France for Christ, and the surest way to
victory was to attack at "the very center
of free-thought and unbelief," Paris.
They knew the going would
be tough, but they believed
their faith was more than
enough to sustain
them and would
overcome all
obstacles.
But the dream
very nearly ended within
a fortnight. The Gospel was
preached in the open-air and in their hall in
a seedy quarter of Paris known as Belleville.
Day after day they paraded and preached
on the streets. Night after night they held
meetings and preached their hearts out before the
crowds of roughs and laborers to no avail. There wasn't
a single convert or a hopeful break, until one memo-
rable meeting, which started out as unpromising as any
before. That night, the pendulum finally swung in the
Army's favor in France.
The facts that led to that drastic reversal of fortune is
an iRony for us to consider some 135 years later.
The Founder wrote a tender letter of encouragement
to his daughter soon after Catherine arrived in Paris:
"Oh, my heart does yearn over you! Nevertheless, I
know you won't be easy in your mind until you have
seen a few French sinners at the Penitent Form."
After several weeks and scores of meetings without
visible results, the small band of lassies opened the
hall for yet another meeting.
This meeting would be historic. The usual crowd
shuffled in: derelicts, drunkards, prostitutes and a
large group of ouviers (laborers) who showed up night
after night as though they had nothing else to do. The
"congregation" heckled and derided the Salvationists
relentlessly. Someone in the rowdy crowd even got up
and began to dance. The meeting seemed lost and out
of control, until Captain Booth cried out above the
din, "Mes amis! I will give you 20 minutes to dance if
you give me 20 minutes to speak. Are you agreed?"
A tall, dark and handsome ouvier named Emile,
who seemed to be the leader, jumped up and said,
"Citizens, it is only fair!"
And so they danced. True to his word, Emile stood
with his watch in hand, and when the 20 minutes ex-
pired he shouted, "Time is up, citizens! Now it is the
captain's turn!"
The bargain was kept. Everyone sat down and lis-
tened to Captain Booth as she preached the sermon
of her life, perhaps on which the hopes of the
Army in France depended.
The crowd listened intently for an hour and
20 minutes!
Now, it should be noted that despite
their attentiveness, no seekers came for-
ward to the altar that night. But one ouvier
remained after the meeting, and Captain
Booth, sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading,
went to the back of the hall where Emile waited and
spoke with him.
"Thank you for your help tonight," she said. "Have
you understood what I've been saying?"
"I believe that you believe what you say," Emile replied.
"Oh! Of course I believe what I preached," she said.
"Well, I was not sure before," Emile confessed, and
added, "Have you time to listen?" He poured out his
heart before the young captain, shedding his rough ex-
terior and revealing a delicate soul in need of Christ's
forgiveness.
That night, Emile gave his heart to Christ, becom-
ing The Salvation Army's first convert in France. He
was thereafter indispensible to Captain Booth and the
Army.
The Army in France grew. Within 15 years the Army
had 200 corps and outposts, 400 officers, headquarters in
five cities, and four weekly papers. That night was the
turnaround the Army had been praying for, and the an-
swer to those prayers came in God's perfect timing.
What miracle are you praying for?
iRony
............
36
The War Cry | JANUARY 2016
by
MAJOR FRANK DURACHER
France's First Convert
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