Burrows, Eva (1929—)

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Burrows, Eva (1929—)

Australian-born general of the Salvation Army. Born Eva Evelyn Burrows on September 15, 1929, in an Australian mining town; daughter and one of nine children of Salvation Army officers; granted degrees in history and English and a graduate degree in education from Queensland University.

In 1986, Eva Burrows was appointed 13th general of the Salvation Army, the first woman elected to that high office since Evangeline Booth in 1934. Chosen over six male nominees by the denomination's 48-member high council, the second "General Eva," at 56, was also the youngest worldwide commander of the evangelical Christian group, founded in London by William and Catherine Booth in 1865.

On the day Burrows was born in 1929, one of nine children in a Salvation Army family, her father held her aloft and offered a prayer "dedicating her to the glory of God and the salvation of the world." After a brief period of rebellion in her teenage years, during which she viewed the Army's discipline as too rigid and refused to go to church, Burrows fulfilled her father's high expectations. While in college, she experienced a "divine compulsion" to rejoin the Army and, after finishing her university education and training, she spent 17 years at Howard Institute in Zimbabwe as a teacher and administrator. During this time, she also acted as an advisor to the Zimbabwe government on planning curriculums for African colleges. Leaving Africa in 1969, Burrows was an administrator at the International College for Officers in London and, in 1975, served as leader of Women's Social Services in Great Britain and Ireland. From 1977 to 1985, she was a territorial commander in Sri Lanka, Scotland, and southern Australia.

During her tenure as general, Burrows traveled extensively, commanding the Army's social-welfare operations in 86 countries and working to add to the organization's dwindling ranks. Her greatest concern, however, was to reinvest the Army's evangelical side. "In The Salvation Army, our social work is not a hook by which to angle souls," said Burrows. "It grows out of our compassion and love as an explanation of the Gospel. While we are speaking and helping people with their social needs, we also deal with the whole person, which includes their spiritual

lives." Eva Burrows retired in 1993, while remaining active as an international speaker.