AWAKENING OTHERS TO A NEW LIFE

A Former Self-Admitted Hellraiser Is Now A Major In The Salvation
Army Thanks To A Conversion Experience

SPOTLIGHT: HARVEY JOHNSON -- Maj. Harvey Johnson was high on cocaine
when he had what he calls a spiritual awakening.

That's when he decided to quit dealing drugs, flush his last $800
worth of coke down the toilet and turn his life around.

More than 30 years later Johnson, 53, heads the Salvation Army
Peninsula Command, a post he took on in July. Little more than a
month after taking over on the Peninsula, Johnson packed up the
command mobile canteen and drove to Biloxi, Miss., to help the
victims of Hurricane Katrina. He still gets tears in his eyes when he
talks about his experiences there.

Now, in addition to helping the more than 200 families who settled on
the Peninsula after fleeing Katrina's destruction, the Salvation Army
has started its major 2005 fundraising campaign. The familiar bell
ringers started manning their posts in malls and at retailers' doors Tuesday.

It's been four months since he took over the post but boxes from his
move from Texas to Virginia still line his office in the Salvation
Army building on Big Bethel Road in Hampton.

"I just hung up the pictures wherever there was a hook," he said.

One picture shows an elephant standing on one leg on a beach ball in
the middle of a desert. "I often ask people to look at the elephant
and tell me how that speaks to you," he said.

Q: How does it speak to you?

A:

I look at the beach ball, and I think the impossible might be possible.

Q: How did you decide to go into the Salvation Army in the first place?

A: I was going to college, and I was raising hell. I'd left church
and all. And then I had a spiritual awakening. That's when I turned a
corner, started getting involved with better things. And then I had a
sense of calling from God to the ministry and specifically in the
Salvation Army.

Q: Tell me about your spiritual awakening.

A: At that point I was going to college, and I was also working full
time. Of course you have to remember when that was: it was the late
'60s. I got involved with experimentation. I was doing drugs. I
started dealing cocaine. You know, if you use it, you've got to find
a way to pay for it. I was partying, and I was sitting on the arm of
the couch and it was as though somebody was talking to me. I heard a
voice that said 'You are never going to be happy pursuing your life
like this.' As a matter of fact, it was so audible to me that I
looked around to see who was talking to me.

Q: So what did you do?

A: I was moved. I shared the apartment with a couple of guys and I
had to leave the apartment, and I went down to this hamburger joint.
And they had a security guard. It was noticeable that I was impaired.
And he said 'You've been out enjoying yourself, haven't you?' And I
said 'Yeah, you wanna come get high with me after you get off work?'
And he looked at me and said 'No, sir. I get high on Jesus.' And I
said, 'I need to talk with you.' "

Q: Do you think that perspective helps you in your position here with
some of the people you work with?

A: Oh yes. But not just that. People who go through struggles. I'm
not very good at pity parties. That doesn't work for me very well.
But I have a lot of empathy for people who go through struggles.

Q: How did you wind up here in Hampton Roads?

A: We don't have much say in where we go. We're appointed. As a
matter of fact, our divisional commander in Texas said, 'If you want
to stay in Texas, you need to let me know.' I had had three
conversations with him about staying in Texas. And here we are. I
left my grandbabies and my daughter there in Texas.

Q: Just weeks after you made the move, you packed up and drove to the
Gulf Coast to help the victims of Katrina. What struck you most?

A: I remember going to this one section of $2 million homes. And the
homes are gone. There's people going through all kinds of rubble, and
these people have money. But one of the things that got to me about
this, I was talking to a man and his daughter. She says, 'See right
over there, see that slab? My cousin's house was there. We grew up
together. We have lived together like sisters. And now it's gone.
She's not going to rebuild. See this house over here. My brother just
put $1 million into remodeling my grandma's home. It has to be
bulldozed.' And so, I get emotional about it because I guess I don't
have this in my life. For generations their families have lived
there. And now it's gone.

Q: Are you worried that all the generosity after Katrina is going to
leave people less likely to contribute to your Christmas campaign?

A: You know, that's where you kind of get in a bind, because you know
that every penny that anyone can send to that area is needed. At the
same time we have needs here. Post-9/11, most organizations still
haven't recouped. We still haven't gotten back to the funding levels
we were at prior to that.

Q: What happens if you don't get the money you're expecting? Can you
service all 2,500 families this Christmas?

A: Christmas doesn't bother me. That will happen. But we raise money
that we use throughout the year. Energy costs are going up. Oil heat
is going to be really expensive this year. Suppose you've got an old
lady on Social Security. How is she going to pay that? That's what
I'm concerned about not having the money for. I know there's going to
be a greater demand for service this year. And I'm concerned we're
going to have less money.

Q: What if someone gave you $1 million, what would you do with it?

A: I would do some things that we're not doing. Like we don't have
our gym open. We just don't have any money for it.

Q: What if someone gave you $1 million personally?

A: The prayer of St. Francis has a line, that in giving you receive.
I guess that's why I do what I do. There's no greater joy then when
you're helping somebody else. And it's not about stuff. I mean,
you've got to have some stuff. But the one who has the most toys when
he dies still dies.