The head of the Salvation Army, General Paul Rader and his wife, Commissioner Kay Rader, arrive in Dublin this afternoon to visit the organisation's small community in the Republic.
General Rader, who is to retire this summer, has headed the organisation since his election in 1994. Commissioner Kay Rader became president of the women's organisations in the Army.
The Salvation Army in the Republic is small, with 30 "soldiers" and "adherents" but is involved in a relatively large number of social service projects in Dublin for a body of its size.
They include:
York House hostel, its best-known service, which has been providing accommodation and meals for men for over 50 years. The Army is currently seeking a new location for this project.
Lefroy House provides accommodation for 10 young women and emergency accommodation for two families referred by Eastern Health Board social workers. It also provides overnight accommodation for homeless girls referred by gardai.
The Granby Centre provides accommodation for 107 men and women in individual flats and apartments.
Cedar House is managed by the Army on behalf of Dublin Corporation. It accommodates 55 men on a day-to-day basis.
It has a small church in Lower Abbey Street.
Eighty-six students and staff from the Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas, are currently working voluntarily for four days on projects for the Salvation Army in its social services and church.
While the membership in the Republic is small, the situation in Northern Ireland is far different. There, the Army has 974 "soldiers" and "adherents". The Raders visited Northern Ireland last October.
General Rader is the first US-born (New York city) international leader of the Salvation Army. One of his earliest challenges as leader was to recover more than £6 million of which the Army had been defrauded by two businessmen, one of whom had links to the US mafia. Although the money had been "laundered" and lodged in accounts in 13 countries, the Salvation Army achieved the remarkable task of recovering all the money plus interest.
The Raders' first posting as Salvation Army officers was to Korea in the 1960s. They stayed for 22 years and became fluent in the language. The Raders' three children grew up in Korea.
During the past five years General Rader has spoken of a spiritual impoverishment and emptiness in the West, contrasting this situation with the commitment displayed by Korean Christians.