SALVATION ARMY Majors Marie and Sinous Theodore have made enrichment of the lives of the less fortunate their life’s mission.
Today, Christmas Day, this couple, who head the local Salvation Army Corps, will be busy seeing that men, women and children at the bottom round of the social ladder enjoy some Christmas cheer.
Divisional Commander Sinous says after that has been done: “We will have a good afternoon. We will go home, take some time and relax, go to church, call friends.”
The two Salvationists have been a team throughout their 34-year-marriage, supporting each other in a calling to which they both believe they were guided.
Their meeting as young people at a Salvation Army campsite in their native Haiti several years ago was coincidental and when they were both accepted to go to Jamaica for training to become Salvation Army officers, they travelled on the same plane, recognising each other’s presence, but taking no special notice of each other beyond that.
“We spent that first year together as students, as friends talking, but we never knew we were going to be wife and husband,” Sinous said last week, while taking a breather together with his wife in their office at the Salvation Army’s Reed Street headquarters.
It was the day after the tired couple had assisted with the distribution of hundreds of Christmas packages to the needy, but Sinous said: “I felt good knowing it was a work of love – God’s love. I recognise it could have been me. But God blessed me and I am blessed to bless.”
Like the other soldiers of the worldwide Christian organisation, the Theodores open their “hearts to God and hands to man” daily and they tell you they would have it no other way.
Marie grew up in the organisation and was taken to church in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince from an early age, by her three Salvationist sisters. Her husband on the other hand was “born Anglican” and though he admits “Anglicanism is still in my veins”, being an Anglican priest is no longer his big ambition. He has found his true calling in the Salvation Army.
Years ago, an Army “sister” exposed him to the doctrine and tenets and from then he committed himself to the service of mankind, aided by the grace and favour of God. He was attracted by that part of the doctrine that spoke to outreach to improve the human condition.
“I believe that everybody should be able to have their basic needs met every day. Everybody should have a meal every day,” Sinous said. “With that, I have found my destiny in the Salvation Army. The best hours and days and weeks and months of my life have been when I have been able to assist someone who was facing some kind of difficulty.”
And the demand appears never-ending to Sinous, who first worked in Barbados from 1997 to 2003. Since returning here two years ago, he has observed an increase in need among that sector of Barbadians who reach out to the Salvation Army.
On average, about 150 people receive a hot meal daily, Monday through Friday, through the Army’s feeding programme. On Saturdays and Sundays other goodwill groups in the community may assume that role, using the same Reed Street feeding centre facilities.
However, Sinous said the needs are getting greater “and we find it difficult at times for the number of people that turn to us for help. Unfortunately, we are unable to help a lot of them because of our limit in funds”.
But even at those times when resources are stretched to the limit, his wife finds it difficult to turn away the single mother who turns up at her office in desperation, seeking assistance with clothing or lunch snacks for her school age children.
It is because, as she said in the soft, calming voice that is so often a reassuring melody to someone in need, “I love people. I love to serve.”
Marie is in charge of the Salvation Army’s Women’s Ministries, a grouping of about 400 female members of the Salvation Army Corps. They meet on a weekly basis and talk about “anything that pertains to women and their home – how to treat children, how to operate in their homes”, while also worshipping and sharing fellowship and education.
With his eyes trained intently on his wife as she spoke, Sinous interrupted to say: “I consider her as God’s gift to me not only in my life but also what I am doing for God and in my service to mankind.”
He said: “After God, she is next. I don’t think I can manage what I am doing without her. Without her I could barely be as successful as I have been, and I thank God for her.”
There is no mistaking this couple’s shared passion and love for the work they are doing. Sinous is concerned that children do not follow the cycle of poverty and need that drives their parents to the Salvation Army doors.
The father of two grown-up children, neither of whom has elected to follow their parents into Salvationism, Sinous explained: “We don’t want to see any schoolchildren coming to receive hampers. We don’t want to educate them that way. We want to show them that they go to school and get an education so they can help themselves tomorrow.”
The Theodores have also worked in Guyana and Trinidad, countries where the experience has been “more stressful” than in Barbados, where the Divisional Commander is high in praise for the generosity of Barbadians who continue to respond to the Army’s cause. Though there has been a steady decline in the level of giving, the Barbadian response remains heartening.
At the end of the day, when this couple finally goes home, personal stress takes over as together they find themselves milling over the mountain of challenges that must be met to fulfil their mission of catering to that needy constituency.
“By the time we put our heads on the bed at night, when we wake up the thoughts will come back because we are thinking about what needs to be done; what was not done; how to improve on what you are doing. So really it is very stressful,” Sinous said.
But “the word of God is a good remedy” he added, continuing to say: “God’s word tells you…” Here he paused to search for the biblical quotation which his wife immediately recited: “You will get the strength of an eagle and you can soar.”
Supporting her husband’s statement, she said: “We don’t do it alone; we get help from man and God.”
Relaxation for the Theodores comes during those moments when together they are able to take a breather from work, just long enough to reflect and bask in the joy of being able to serve mankind.
When do these two Samaritans find time for personal life? Simultaneously they broke into laughter as Sinous replied: “Life for us is work. We have become addicted to it.”