Interview: Aaron White
Original Publication - JAC #46, December 2006 – January 2007
JAC
interviewed soldiers from five territories regarding battle
issues that we all face. We expect that most of you will learn
much on what the problems and solutions are in this great
salvation conflict. We esteem the interviewees as those
fighting hard and committed to glorifying Jesus as they
capture, train, and deploy on very different fronts.
JAC: Quick bio:
AW: Aaron White, along with his wife Cherie
and their 4 kids, live and minister in
Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside, labeled
North America’s poorest postal code. He serves as
the Youth Cell Coordinator and co-CSM at Vancouver 614, and spends most of his time working with
at-risk teens and children, visiting schools, writing cell
outlines, and helping lead the 24-7 prayer movement in Canada. He loves Jesus, loves
authentic Christian community, loves reading, and loves
eggnog.
JAC: Tell us, about your salvation and
sanctification.
AW: I was brought up in a Christian home,
and made my first public commitment to Christ at a Cub camp at
the age of six. My first act after “praying the prayer” was to
ask my friend why he wasn’t doing it too. Might have set a
pattern for my life.
In university I realized that I really only
had my parent’s faith. This was not entirely a bad thing; my
parents love me, and I trust them, so at the very least it
gave me the tools with which to make an informed decision
about faith. But I did have to know the reasons for my own
belief, especially in the face of peer and Prof. pressure at
the University of Victoria. After a great deal of
intellectual, moral, and spiritual struggle I made a
recommitment to Christ.
Though I had been brought up in The
Salvation Army, the mission to the poor had never really been
brought home to me. I had stood on Kettles and been thanked
for “all the good work I do”, but I had really no clue what
good work The Army was doing.
It was only when I got a summer job working
at a men’s shelter and halfway house that I began to
understand the mission of The Salvation Army.
It was during this time that I started
trying to figure out holiness. I began reading a bunch of
spiritual classics, and everyone seemed to be all on about
holiness, like it was something important. Then I started
reading about the early Army stuff, and again, holiness,
holiness, holiness. They wouldn’t shut up about it.
So I started praying for holiness, primarily
in terms of intimacy with the Holy Spirit. I remember reading
a C.S. Lewis book late one night after I got married, and he
was describing the love relationship that exists inside the
Trinity. He suggested that at the end of it all Jesus wanted
to present His bride to His Father, to show Him how beautiful
she was, kind of as a gift. I put the book down and began to
pray for that beauty, to pray that I could be a art of that
precious gift between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. At that
moment, I lost control of my head.
I know it sounds weird, but my head started
tilting backwards, until it was positioned back as far as it
would go, and my face was pointed towards the ceiling. At the
same time my mouth was opening up as wide as it would go. Not
painful, but definitely odd.
I remained stuck in that pose for awhile,
hoping that Cherie wouldn’t come out, because I looked
ridiculous. Then it ended, and I regained control of my head.
I thought, “Hmmmm. That was strange. Thanks God for that,
whatever it was.”
I looked down and continued reading. The
very next line I read was a quote from Psalm 81:10, which
says, “Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it with
blessings.”
It was a moment of incredible Holy Spirit
intimacy, the promise of His goodness and righteousness in my
life, and that has been a touchstone in my life ever since.
JAC: What engages your passions and energies
these days.
AW: Authentic Christian community, and
through that community, prayer, justice and mission. I work
mostly with kids and teens, and my desire is for them to come
to know Jesus and to build just, missional communities that
impact their families, communities and schools. I love
introducing kids and teens to the concept of justice as it is
presented in Scripture, and then watching them catch hold of
it and run with it. You can’t beat kids and teens for passion
and idealism.
My passion and energy is also engaged by my
family. I have a phenomenal wife, and four awesome kids whom I
love to bits and pieces. They teach me more about God’s
Kingdom every day.
JAC: What is your role with The Salvation
Army?
AW:
My wife and I serve as CSMs for 614 Vancouver, and I am also
responsible for kids and youth cells at the Corps. I work part
time for Vancouver Family Services as well, and help teach at
The War College. I am a soldier.
JAC: What is your mission/calling?
AW: To be a revolutionary for Jesus. To
teach others, especially kids and teens, to be the same. And
to build community in desperate places, right now (and for the
long foreseeable future) in the Downtown Eastside of
Vancouver. To be a good Dad and Husband.
JAC: How does The Army support your
war-fighting?
AW: With oodles of cash! Or, slightly more
realistically, with some financial support, with the freedom
to try things, and with the support of leaders and workers who
are prepared to throw it all away after Jesus. It is a pretty
ideal missions environment.
JAC: How do you influence people?
AW: With passion, lifestyle, prayer,
encouragement, presence, and large, blunt objects.
JAC: What are your dreams for the next
several years?
AW: I dream of four schools in particular
being turned upside down for Jesus. I dream of
Oppenheimer
Park (nicknamed Needle Park)
becoming a place where children can come and safely play (it’s
happening!) I see a community in which people aren’t just
evicted from their homes. I dream of drug rehab that actually
works because people have community to support them when they
are out. I dream of a Salvation Army that takes on injustice
and sin and isn’t afraid to get dirty or scandalous. I see me
still living in the DTES with my family, but our community is
a lot tighter, hopefully bigger, more abounding in love (every
day) and I have decent left-handed lay-up shot in the low
post.
JAC: What are the keys to successful warfare
on your front and the larger salvation war?
AW: Holiness, Compassion, Prayer, and
Presence.
JAC: How are you and your comrades
strengthening The Salvation Army?
AW: I am personally bringing up four
children who will know (and already do know) what Blood and
Fire means. And I’m trying, along with my comrades, to teach
it to all those whom I influence.
Teaching and mentoring at The War College is
also key here. I believe it is a model for training and
missions and leadership that actually works, is cost
effective, is reproducible, and that people are drawn to.
JAC: What are some of the dangers we have to
face in the coming
years? (and how?)
AW: Huge danger of apathy. Always. Do we
have endurance in this fight? Will we last? Or will we get
world-weary, bored, too busy looking for the next interesting
shiny bauble? We have to keep it before us that we are in a
fight, the enemy is real, and the fight matters for our world,
for the people around us. We need to stay hungry, and
desperate for God. We can’t stop praying.
JAC: What final exhortation have you for
this audience?
AW: If you are finding Christianity to be
boring, then you are probably doing it wrong. Live lives of
Holy risk for the King, put it all on the line, every day.
Follow Christ’s model of compassion, love and grace for the
unlikely and hurting, but also do not forget that we are also
called to be dangerous to the dark things of this world.
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