Joseph John Booth: A Light of Christ in the Trenches

Title: Joseph John Booth: A Light of Christ in the Trenches
Artwork by: YMI
Description: Imagine if God called you to leave home and set sail for the war front, where death is as common as life. 

You are to act as a spiritual guide for the Australian soldiers fighting in the trenches, and to also conduct mass funeral services for those killed in action. Life is hard on the war front, and your superior has reminded you that your job’s to be a “servant of Christ”, to comfort others even if it was you who needed it the most. 

Australian Joseph John Booth was that person when he set sail for France more than 100 years ago to serve as an army chaplain in World War 1. Thousands of young able-bodied Australian and New Zealand men also answered the call to serve their country. Unfortunately, thousands of the soldiers never returned home. 

Their valiant efforts, along with the many others who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacemaking operations, are remembered in an annual national remembrance day, Anzac Day, held on April 25th.

Today, we honour Joseph John Booth by taking a short walk through his life.

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Anzac Day: Lest We Forget – Eric Harding Chinner Would you pack your bags to leave your comfortable home, set sail on a ship that’ll take months to reach a  foreign destination, live in frigid trenches filled with mud that were infested by rats, wear uniforms laced with lice, and fall asleep (if sleep were to come) to the sound of falling bombs filling the night air?