Mesquite Service Center reaches hospice patients

BY KRISTIN MARGUERITE DOIDGE

When Shawnanna “Starr” Flores went through a recent loss, she became inspired to help ease the pain of other hospice families in need. Flores, a case worker at The Salvation Army Mesquite (Nevada) Service Center proposed the new idea to her supervisor, Bill Ennis, to which he simply replied, “that’s brilliant.”

“We’re 100 miles from anyone,” explained Ennis, Director of Social Services. “We’re really out here by our lonesome, and nobody else here in Mesquite does this.”

Drawing on existing resources in the Army’s food pantry, Flores suggested putting together personalized care boxes for families with hospice patients— those who have been given less than a year to live—shortly after she came on board in December 2022.

“It had only been two months since the loss of my father,” she said. “I have a large family, and getting to the grocery store to get necessities became difficult. I thought to myself, ‘What would I do to help ease some of the pain for someone watching a loved one slip away?’”

She started by reaching out to a nurse who’d taken care of her father, who then

What would I do to help ease some of the pain for someone watching a loved one slip away?

—SHAWNANNA FLORES

connected her with a social worker at Mesa View Hospice, a multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers that serves more than 162 families in the local community, which has a population of about 22,000.

“Mesquite is largely a retirement community,” Ennis said. “The average age is

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Colonel

It was the fall of 1899 in my hometown of Monkstown—then known as Paradise Sound, a tiny, isolated community accessible only by boat in Newfoundland, Canada. The town had no church building and no regular full-time minister. In faith, the men of the town built a church. They called it the “Whosoever House,” and they said that the people of the town would adhere to the denomination of the first minister who came and was willing to stay.

During that time, The Salvation Army in the province of Newfoundland, Canada, operated a boat called the “Glad Tidings” that sailed along the coast, visiting tiny communities and sharing the gospel.

In the Spring of 1900, just a few short months after the men of the town built the Whosoever House, the Glad Tidings sailed into my hometown with officers and uniformed Salvationists on board. They held a meeting at the Whosoever House.

The following week, the people of the town sent a wire message to divisional headquarters and asked for an officer. Weeks later, an officer arrived, and for the last 123 years, The Salvation Army has remained the only church in the town.

The gospel message started with a few faithful Salvationists in a boat called the Glad Tidings and the good news and love of God have been faithfully shared for over a century in that small community.

It was here I had my spiritual beginnings, receiving love, support and encouragement from faithful, godly people. It was

New Appointments

TRANSFERRING OUT OF TERRITORY: here, in this Whosoever House—now The Salvation Army—that I gave my life to Jesus as a 7-year-old in a Decision Sunday in Sunday School. It was here, in this small church, as a young child, that I felt God speaking deeply into my life.

I am grateful for godly people and faithful, godly officers who recognized that God was calling me, and like Eli in the story of Samuel, nurtured me in giving my “yes” to God.

In my hometown for the last 123 years, the glad tidings of God’s love have been shared in many ways. It has been faithfully preached from the pulpit—but even more effective have been the practical acts of kindness shown to family, friends and neighbors who never come to the church.

Over the years, this small corps has produced many officers—every one grateful for our humble, yet God-ordained beginnings.

My attraction to this church was not because of its décor; it was simple and plain. My attraction was not about its many offerings of video and technology; there were none. My attraction was not of its crowds of people; it was a small congregation.

My memories that I hold dear, and helped mold and shape me, were the godly people, some educated, some not, who gave testimony to God’s work in their lives. It was the officers who showed an interest in a child who God was calling and nurtured me in my childlike faith. It was the singing and preaching that I remember, and the weekly

Lt. Colonels John and Lani Chamness, currently serving respectively as Divisional Commander and Divisional Director of Women’s Ministries in the Southern California Division, are appointed as Chief Secretary and Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries, Canada and Bermuda Territory. They will take up their new appointment responsibilities Aug. 1 with the rank of Colonel.