NOT CONTAMINATED
Gen. William Booth 1829-1912
"Many wicked men admire Purity. They look on it as being beautiful and desirable in others, although they regard it as being impossible to them. In their thoughtful moments, when the Spirit of God strives with them, when the recollections of the innocent days gone by crowd into their memories, and they see people who they know are clean and good, they hate themselves because of
their own impurity, although all the time refusing to submit to God, and to accept the Salvation that would make them pure.”

William Booth was the founder and first General of The Salvation Army. He saw tremendous need not being fulfilled by mainstream churches in Victorian England and felt a divine calling to serve and bear witness to the poor. Initially met with derision and skepticism, he never wavered in his vision which was best summed up by the quote, "...and this satisfying of the outer man with bread that perishes, we hope will lead on to the satisfying of the inner man with the bread that comes from heaven." Booth and his army sought to live a "practical Christianity“, and one of their more successful projects was the “Food for the Million” shops or, as they were to be more commonly called, soup kitchens.