Priority! Commemorative 2014

CELEB R ATI N G 15 Y E A R S ®

Commemorative Issue 2014 November 2014

LIFE STORIES OF GOD’S PEOPLE

®

Fall 2005

‘The Marrying Church’

Planted in PuertoRico

Facing ‘the big C’

Kroc Centers Update Holy Hip Hop! The King’s Composer

Choosing Purity in San Francisco

God’s Soldiers in Iraq

®

June 2007

®

Fall 2007

Summer 2007

®

®

®

®

®

Winter 2008

Unleashing the Power of Nonstop Prayer

Calls For Fresh Fire

Grace Abounding

Melissa’s Mission

Denver Devotion Blind Trust High Rollers No More One-on-One with God

… to heal and forgive! … to repent and revive!

Detroit Deliverance Out of Zimbabwe ‘Our Kids’ in Norfolk San Diego Outreach

and most of all,

… to glorify the Lord!

TO DOLPHINS From Peace Officer To Peacebuilder New Orleans Revisited

SINGING

VETS HIDE

IIN N PLAIN SIGHT SIG IGH HT

After A fter the Great G reat Flood Looking L ooking for L Lenny enny IIn nA Akron kron

FOR HIS GLORY ‘B Clean’ Hawai’i Mission on ‘Final Frontier’ Royal Servant

Chattanooga Leads Prayer Train Mack the Music Maker From Mexico to Missouri

Fall 2008

Summer 2008

Spring 2008

DEVOTED

Cymbala

A Salvation Army Christmas

Trading spaces in S.C. Switching careers in Ohio Homeless in Las Vegas

®

Spring 2007

Winter 2007

Fall 2006

Acapulco Adventure Cincy Salvation Called Out of California

High Tea In Colorado B-101 Philly Radio Pioneer Michigan Ministry Partners Safe Havens for Kids

®

®

Spring 2006

From Venezuela To T o Chicago

R’ T FE RIS UR R CH R S FO VE ES ‘SIL SHIN INSIDE: 14–Page Feature ‘The Salvation Army’s Powerful Response’

®®

ial iss spec

Winter Winter 2009 2008

®

ue

®

Spring 2009

‘Fireproof’ Star Still Growing

®

®

Summer 2009

Fall 2010

Summer 2010

Global ConneCtions

‘Elly May’

Kroc Centers Update

A Houston ‘Heaven’ Montclair Music Man Hip-Hop ‘Blood & Fire’

Manager, Servant

After Earthquakes

Christian Radio Exec’s ‘Black Friday’

Ch ris tm as Be lls Fea tur es

The Girards’ New ‘Castle’

Joe Maddon

Standing on ‘Solid Rock’

Walks by Faith

Atlanta Kroc Team: WORD on the Street

TV’S ‘HOME EDITION’

Spirit of Christmas

®

®

®

Spring 2010

Winter 2010

Fall 2009

Caring For Mom Alaska:

Fighting Family To Choose Life

Land of ‘One’

Restored

o DOUBT UAKE o EARTHQ o Addiction o PERSPECTIVE o DEPRESSION

In Ann Arbor

SPECIAL ISSUE

Mazatlan Mission

LIVING HOLY

Nashville Testimony Time

Arts Team Turns 10

HELPING HAITI &Chile

S P E C I A L 10 t h A N N I V E R SA RY I S S U E Winter 2011

®

®

®

Summer 2011

Spring 2011

Fall 2011

L I F E ST O R I E S

Also Inside

Haiti: Year 1

FOREVER FAMILY ‘Royal Way’ in Salinas Sisters Reunited Connected to Compose

Denise Richardson

Going ‘Beyond The Bells’ In New York City Living Holy In Georgia

L I F E ST O R I E S

Florida’s Sallie House A 60–Year Love Story Witnessing on Facebook

9/11

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

L I FE STO R I E S

Foxworthy He’s Just Jeff At Atlanta Mission

Losing It All In Arizona Highly Caffeinated, Humble New Yorker Atheist Becomes ‘Good Soil’

OF

L I FE STO R I E S

G O D’S PEO PL E

R.A. Dickey Second Chances From God

‘Little Mermaid’ Sings for His Glory

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

After Sandy

Kroc Center Evangelist

L I FE STO R I E S

Beyond Willpower

L I FE STO R I E S

OF

Phil Cooke

Producer Focuses On Digital ‘Countries’

The First Year

‘Hummer’ of a Gift in South Bend Making His Second Chance Count

Max Lucado’s Message of Hope

Unlikely Angel in Florida

L I FE STO R I E S

G O D’S PEO PL E

A Father Who Won’t Leave

Southern Songbird

California Kroc Couple

Bridging Gaps for Kids

®

Summer 2014

G O D’S PEO PL E

Miracle Match

G O D’S PEO PL E

Through Deep Trial

®

OF

OF

Leaders Find Joy

No More Roaming, No More Secrets

Spring 2014

L I FE STO R I E S

G O D’S PEO PL E

OF

Stefan’s Road Back

®

Winter 2014

Filling Big Shoes In Cleveland

Offering Help And Hope For Superstorm Survivors

G O D’S P E O P L E

Couple Offers Grace to Attacker

ASON

®

Fall 2013

Summer 2013

OF

Fall 2012

Summer 2012

The Power of Forgiveness

Sandi Patty

Still Singing & Serving

We Remember ®

®

Spring 2013

L I FE STO R I E S

Minnesota Miracle

in the Morning

Spring 2012

G O D’S P E O P L E

‘TIS THE SE

G O D’S PEO PL E

Rising Up In Phoenix

TUSCALOOSA RELIEF

FOR YOUNG AF AFRICAN A FRIC RICA AN WOMAN, WOMAN, WOMA N, NIGHTMARE ENDS IN BLESSING

®

OF

Joy

NUMANA FROM HEAVEN

Ohio ‘God Girl’ Dancing Across Cultures Atlanta’s Major Doctor

Winter 2013

L I FE STO R I E S

MUSIC MAKER JAMES CURNOW

Freeman On First

OF

®

®

Winter 2012

Life Stories of Go d’s Peo ple

‘HIT LINE DRIVES, LOVE THE LORD’

®

®

‘Banquet’ In Boston

Helping ‘the Least’ In Abu Dhabi Chicago Gang Leader Finds God America’s ‘Most Inspirational Mom’

Demystifying complex social issues by bringing together thought leaders to inspire, inform and activate readers toward social good.

DO GOOD c a r i n g m a g a z i n e . o rg | fa c e b o o k : c a r i n g m a g a z i n e twitter: @caringmagazine | caring@usw.salvationarmy.org

The all new Women’s Ministries website launches this December. www.WomensMinistries-tsa.org

www.Facebook.com/WomensMinistriesUSAEasternTerritory

www.Pinterest.com/USAEastern

Reflecting on the Past, Looking to the Future

F

or the past 15–plus years, Priority! magazine has sought

to portray the Salvationist values of prayer, holiness, and evangelism as seen in the lives of people. These stories,

hundreds of them, were representative of men and women of every age, race, and culture to be found in America today.

In that respect it has been a picture of this country and her people in their search for God.

As with life itself, there have been stories of tragedy, recovery, and victory as individuals shared their unique life experiences. Always evident was the presence of the Lord in every circumstance, offering strength for that day and hope for the future.

We trust these testimonies were a source of inspiration and encouragement to many through the years.

This will be the final edition of Priority! While acknowledging the value of what

has been done in the past, the Eastern Territory now feels it is time to move in a

new direction with our communications and publications strategy. By reallocating resources, new technologies will allow us to reach a broader audience with the life–changing message of Jesus Christ. In the near future we will be announcing what these changes will be and how you will be able to access many exciting new features designed to enhance your spiritual life and better inform you about what is happening in our territory.

I wish to publicly thank Linda Johnson, who has served with great effectiveness as the only editor Priority! has ever known. Thanks to her, these life stories helped to shape our own as we faced each new day.

Commissioner Barry C. Swanson Territorial Commander USA Eastern Territory

CELEB R ATI N G 15 Y E A R S ®

Commemorative Issue 2014 November 2014

COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 2014 Volume 16 No. 3

LIFE STORIES OF GOD’S PEOPLE

®

®

Fall 2005

Planted in PuertoRico

®

June 2007

Unleashing the Power of Nonstop Prayer

Calls For Fresh Fire

IIN N PLAIN S SIGHT IGH IG HT

After A fter the Great G reat Flood Looking L ooking for L Lenny enny IIn nA Akron kron

FOR HIS GLORY

From Venezuela To T o Chicago

’ ER T RF CHRIS R SUFOR VE S ‘SIL SHINE

Spring 2009

®

®

Summer 2009

Fall 2010

Summer 2010

Spring 2010

‘Elly May’

Kroc Centers Update

Spirit of Christmas

®

®

®

Winter 2010

Fall 2009

Caring For Mom Alaska:

Fighting Family To Choose Life

Land of ‘One’ o

Restored

o DOUBT UAKE EARTHQ o Addiction o

Manager, Servant

After Earthquakes

Christian Radio Exec’s ‘Black Friday’

DEPRESSION

Joe Maddon

Standing on ‘Solid Rock’

Walks by Faith

Atlanta Kroc Team: WORD on the Street

TV’S ‘HOME EDITION’

In Ann Arbor

PERSPECTIVE

SPECIAL ISSUE

Mazatlan Mission

LIVING HOLY

Nashville Testimony Time

Arts Team Turns 10

HELPING HAITI &Chile

S P E C I A L 10 t h A N N I V E R SA RY I S S U E ®

®

®

Winter 2011

®

®

Summer 2011

Spring 2011

‘HIT LINE DRIVES, LOVE THE LORD’ Also Inside

Haiti: Year 1

FOREVER FAMILY ‘Royal Way’ in Salinas Sisters Reunited Connected to Compose

Freeman On First

L I F E ST O R I E S

in the Morning

OF

Florida’s Sallie House A 60–Year Love Story Witnessing on Facebook

9/11

L I FE STO R I E S

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

Foxworthy He’s Just Jeff At Atlanta Mission

Living Holy In Georgia

50

Losing It All In Arizona Highly Caffeinated, Humble New Yorker Atheist Becomes ‘Good Soil’

®

OF

L I FE STO R I E S

G O D’S PEO PL E

R.A. Dickey Second Chances From God

‘Little Mermaid’ Sings for His Glory

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

L I FE STO R I E S

Beyond Willpower

OF

California Kroc Couple

OF

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

Leaders Find Joy Through Deep Trial

No More Roaming, No More Secrets Bridging Gaps for Kids

Helping ‘the Least’ In Abu Dhabi Chicago Gang Leader Finds God America’s ‘Most Inspirational Mom’

®

®

Summer 2014

G O D’S PEO PL E

Phil Cooke Producer Focuses

After Sandy

L I FE STO R I E S

G O D’S PEO PL E

Southern Songbird

Spring 2014

L I FE STO R I E S

G O D’S PEO PL E

OF

Stefan’s Road Back

A Father Who Won’t Leave

®

Winter 2014

L I FE STO R I E S

®

Fall 2012

Summer 2012

G O D’S P E O P L E

Couple Offers Grace to Attacker Kroc Center Evangelist

SEAS ON

Fall 2013

Summer 2013

L I FE STO R I E S

THE

OF

The Power of Forgiveness

Sandi Patty

Still Singing & Serving

We Remember ®

®

Spring 2013

Spring 2012

L I F E ST O R I E S

G O D’S P E O P L E

‘TIS

G O D’S PEO PL E

Minnesota Miracle

TUSCALOOSA RELIEF

FOR YOUNG AF AFRICAN A FRIC RICA AN WOMAN, WOMAN, WOMA N, NIGHTMARE ENDS IN BLESSING

®

Rising Up In Phoenix

Joy

NUMANA FROM HEAVEN

Ohio ‘God Girl’ Dancing Across Cultures Atlanta’s Major Doctor

Winter 2013

OF

MUSIC MAKER JAMES CURNOW

®

Winter 2012

Fall 2011

Life Stories of Go d’s Peo ple

On Digital ‘Countries’

The First Year

Filling Big Shoes In Cleveland

Miracle Match

‘Banquet’ In Boston

‘Hummer’ of a Gift in South Bend

Offering Help And Hope For Superstorm Survivors

Making His Second Chance Count

Max Lucado’s Message of Hope

Unlikely Angel in Florida

We Were There The 9/11 terror attacks. Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Wildfires in the West, tornadoes in the South, floods in the Midwest. When they happened, The Salvation Army was there.

63

Kroc Legacy Joan Kroc first donated money to help build a corps community center in San Diego. When she died, she gave $1.5 billion to build many more around the country.

What Is Holiness?

What better way to promote holiness than to tell the stories of people living holy lives?

The Power of Prayer

®

The Girards’ New ‘Castle’

A Houston ‘Heaven’ Montclair Music Man Hip-Hop ‘Blood & Fire’

Denise Richardson

40

SINGING

VETS HIDE

Global ConneCtions

Going ‘Beyond The Bells’ In New York City

34

Fall 2008

Summer 2008

TO DOLPHINS From Peace Officer To Peacebuilder New Orleans Revisited

‘B Clean’ Hawai’i Mission on ‘Final Frontier’ Royal Servant

Chattanooga Leads Prayer Train Mack the Music Maker From Mexico to Missouri

®

ial issue spec

‘Fireproof’ Star Still Growing

L I FE STO R I E S

People who meet the Lord often want others to do the same: The saved ones often become evangelists. Evangelism is one of three major thrusts of Priority!’s mission: ‘promoting prayer, holiness, and evangelism through the life stories of God’s people.’

®

®

INSIDE: 14–Page Feature ‘The Salvation Army’s Powerful Response’ ®®

Winter Winter 2009 2008

84 15 Years Ago

Salvation Story

®

®

Winter 2008

Melissa’s Mission

Denver Devotion Blind Trust High Rollers No More One-on-One with God

and most of all,

… to glorify the Lord!

24, 48 MyTake

26

®

Spring 2008

Grace Abounding

… to heal and forgive! … to repent and revive!

Detroit Deliverance Out of Zimbabwe ‘Our Kids’ in Norfolk San Diego Outreach

o

FEATURES

Fall 2007

Ch ris tm as Be lls Fea tur es

11 Who’s News

®

Summer 2007

DEVOTED

Cymbala

A Salvation Army Christmas

Trading spaces in S.C. Switching careers in Ohio Homeless in Las Vegas

®

8 Upfront

Kroc Centers Update Holy Hip Hop! The King’s Composer

Choosing Purity in San Francisco

God’s Soldiers in Iraq

Spring 2007

DEPARTMENTS

Winter 2007

Fall 2006

‘The Marrying Church’

Facing ‘the big C’ High Tea In Colorado B-101 Philly Radio Pioneer Michigan Ministry Partners Safe Havens for Kids

®

®

Spring 2006

Acapulco Adventure Cincy Salvation Called Out of California

70

All That I Am The people featured here have given ‘all that I am, all I can be’ to the Lord and others.

From individuals’ stories to the 24/7 prayer initiative, prayer has been a strong focus.

76

Promoted to Glory Some whose stories have been told in Priority! have gone to their heavenly home.

Giving Thanks With a Grateful Heart

W

hen we receive gifts, we write thank you notes. So I must.

I am thankful to the Lord for placing

me here “for such a time as this.” When Commissioner Joe Noland came to me and said he wanted a magazine that was a cross between People and Guideposts, I audaciously said, “I can do that.” He asked for a budget by morning. I’d never created such a budget before, but I did the math, and

almost instantly, the funding was approved. It has enabled us, from the beginning, to use high–quality photography. That is no small thing; we live in a visual age in which people might not get the message if they aren’t drawn to it in a visual way.

I am thankful for the staff of Priority! Peter Hanke, our first art director, who was with us for eight years of the magazine’s 15–year run, was a truly larger–than– life man who suffered great agony in body and spirit until his death just after Christmas in 2007. I often felt that my ministry to Peter was as important as my work editing the magazine.

I am thankful for Bob Mitchell, who has been there since issue two. Inevitably, Bob would come back from an interview and say, “This is really a good one.” And

…promoting prayer, holiness, and evangelism through the life stories of God’s people

THE SALVATION ARMY Territorial Leaders USA Eastern Territory Commissioner Barry C. Swanson Commissioner Sue Swanson

Chief Secretary Colonel William Bamford

Editor Linda D. Johnson

Art Director Keri Johnson

Contributing Editors Warren L. Maye, Robert Mitchell

Graphic Designers Lea Greene, Karena Lin, Joseph Marino, Reginald Raines

it was. Because Bob loves to “tell the story” of the Gospel by telling others’ stories.

Circulation

I am thankful for Warren Maye. He is editor of Good News!, but he has also

Deloris Hansen

contributed articles for Priority! And with his designer’s eye and spiritual sensitivity, he would often call our attention to important issues.

I am thankful to our brilliant design team, with Keri Johnson (no relation!) at its heart. I never ceased to be amazed at how she and her team can bring a story to life.

I am thankful for my beloved, Lynell Johnson. He provided expert editorial advice, but more importantly, he upheld me with prayer and encouragement, even in the most difficult of days, such as when we were putting together “9/11: We Remember” (Fall 2011). That issue was wrenching emotionally, and I needed all the help I could get.

I am thankful for my friends in other territories who helped us “cover the country” from 2004 on. The indefatigable Beth Kinzie from Central was always one step ahead of me in providing story ideas and in generously allowing her staff to write the articles. For many years, Major Frank Duracher from the South

SALVATION ARMY MISSION STATEMENT The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible.

Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

Priority! will cease publication after this issue.

Volume 16, No. 3, November 2014. Printed in USA. Copyright ©2014 by The Salvation Army, USA Eastern Territory, 440 West Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10094–1739. Articles may be reprinted only with written permission.

USA National website: www.SalvationArmyUSA.org

would send me a baseball–related list of story ideas (“on deck,” you get the idea), and he would follow through and do the articles I selected. From the West, Sue Schumann–Warner often provided article ideas, and we were pleased that she agreed to tell the story of her struggle with “the big C” (Fall 2005).

4

EVANGELICAL EVANGELICAL

PRESS ASSOCIATION

PRESS ASSOCIATION

I am thankful for faithful contributors. There have been so many, but two really stand out: Bob Thomson and Daryl Lach. Bob is a retired commissioner, so when he first proposed writing an article for Priority!, I wondered whether he would be amenable to editing. I need not have worried. Bob was grateful to have someone who could make his writing better, and he was prolific in his suggestions for articles. Daryl, a Salvationist through and through and a nurse by profession, brought a unique perspective and dramatic style to everything he wrote. For me, his most memorable feature was “Caring for Mom” (Winter 2010), a touching yet humor– filled article about being a caregiver for his mom, who is afflicted with dementia.

I am thankful for the deep and moving conversations I have had with people as the Christ in me reached out to the Christ in the person I was interviewing.

Often, interviews resulted in tears—the subject’s as well as mine.

I am thankful for editorial freedom. Every commissioner, from Joe Noland to Lawrence Moretz (who was territorial leader for eight years of Priority’s existence) to Israel Gaither to Steve Hedgren to Barry Swanson, has given us the freedom to choose the stories we would write—and they have given us deep support.

I am thankful for longevity in my position. If I were an officer, I wouldn’t likely have been able to “minister in place” for 15 years.

I am thankful for being able to pursue our mission and for the privilege of showcasing our Army in all its fabulous diversity. We were able to give first–class treatment to every story, whether it was about a celebrity like Jeff Foxworthy or an addict who turned her life around.

I am thankful for the help of the Holy Spirit. Countless times, as I have been struggling with an article or an issue, I have turned to the Spirit and He has always supplied what I needed.

I am grateful for our readers, who “get it.” In a recent letter, Captain Marion Platt III, youth secretary in Florida, wrote about the Winter 2014 edition, “I don’t know what the formula was—but [the issue] was very well put together. What a perfect blend of uplifting and inspirational testimony from around the Army world! The stories, the information, the print quality … everything was excellent and God–honoring. Moreover, it served to reaffirm my calling to ministry in my church.”

I am so thankful that we were able to do that for even one person. My cup runs over with gratitude for a ministry that has touched people’s hearts and lives for 15 years. For that I thank You, Jesus!

Linda D. Johnson Editor www.saconnects.org

5

Letters to the editor On Learning of Priority! Coming to an End While we must always agree with

Priority! arrives, I pick it up to glance

to the first edition—and not one nega-

Scripture, it is times like this when we

at it and an hour later I’m still read-

tive—unheard of in this Army! From

wish that the time for the continuance

ing, savoring each article. I love reading

that first edition came a long line of edi-

of Priority! did not have a fixed time or

about staff and volunteers who have

tions that have made a real difference in

season (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Having been the

made a difference in their world. I enjoy

the outreach, mission, and fervor of this

secretary for personnel when Priority! was

reading about those who have been

Salvation Army!

launched in the spring of 1999, [I find it]

blessed by the Army ministry. The

Major Gary Miller

difficult to picture “life without Priority!”

articles are well–written, the pictures

Clearwater, FL

Marilyn and I will dearly miss receiving

excellent, the whole presentation inspir-

this extraordinary publication.

ing. Thank you for impacting my world!

We [editor Linda Johnson and I] sat

Commissioner William W. Francis

Chris Frey

together at a luncheon table at an event

Orlando, FL

Wayne, PA

held in Newark, N.J., some years ago. You shared your excitement about the new

In the early days of considering the pub-

I was saddened to learn of the demise

publication that you were going to create.

lication of the Priority! magazine, little

of Priority! magazine. For 15 years this

As they would say in my home place in

did we realize how widespread the inter-

truly American publication set the

southern Indiana: “You done good!”

est in such a publication would be.

standard for Army journalism, both

Lt. Colonel Clarence W. Kinnett

in content and in presentation. It por-

Lexington, KY

The Priority! staff has far exceeded initial expectations. The magazine has

trayed, in a remarkable way, the firmly

become a most inspirational, informa-

rooted but ever–changing ministry of

tive, and readable publication, one that

The Salvation Army, particularly as it

we have all looked forward to reading

affected for good and for God the vast

over the past 15 years. We will miss

variety of people who came under the

Priority! but anxiously await the pro-

Army’s influence.

posed new Communications Department

Commissioner Robert E.

publication.

Thomson

Lt. Colonel Albert E. Avery

Clearwater, FL

Lancaster, PA Avery was secretary for business adminis-

I was there for the birth and I

tration in the USA Eastern Territory at the

remember it well, being [respon-

time of Priority!’s founding.

sible for] Community Relations & Development in the territory at

Most magazines get tossed aside with

that time. In that position I was

a promise to read them later. When

the recipient of many responses

6

www.saconnects.org

Who’s New s

vice through the ministry of Priority!

ministry in action through the people

Sweet Joy”]. It struck

What most impressed me were the

who believe in Him, especially through

me that even though

stories of changed lives through the

the Salvation Army soldiers.

we get older, there

transforming power of Jesus Christ,

Lt. Colonel C. David Kim

is always something

and His use of servant leaders in The

Editor, Korean Good News!

we can do if we just

Salvation Army.

Florida ‘Coo Delivers Sw kie Man’ eet Joy

‘Cookie Man’ Delivers

by Frank Dura

cher

D

Duracher

been a very important record of His

Photo by Frank

Thank you for 15 years of faithful ser-

look harder for it.

on Peters is on a mission.

Actu- until ally, he is contin Marjorie suffer uing a minis ed a near–fatal try stroke begun by his in 1988. They wife, Marjorie, “We found the moved to Melmore than 10 phone numb bourne, Fla., years ago. er for the corps [church] to be near their here in Melbo The couple son.

“She had a lot urne and was active in called to ask of neurologica the Meththe captain if odist church l deficits,” Don she could use near their Michi homemade cooki said. “Eventually gan home es,” Don remem she was not able bers. “It took her about to read anym two ore, secon and she suffered from ds to [say yes], and our cooki seizures.” es have been enjoye By 1995, even d by folks staying going to churc in the Army h became extrem ’s shelters, by thrift store emplo ely difficult. yees, and [by That’s about kids and adults] during when Marjorie Sunday schoo hit upon what Don calls l.”

The couple “an idea that provided the made her feel useful.” She Army with 18 dozen cooki began to bake es every other cookies. week.

“She was a ‘peopl “[Marjorie] was e person’ and always bakin didn’t want her g,” he says. “Sometime illness to keep s, I’d wake at her the morn 2 or 3 in from doing somet ing, and I’d hear hing meaningher in the ful for others kitchen, bakin ,” Don says. g away!”

The work was By 2001, Marjo actually therarie’s dementia peutic for Marjo became aggressive. It rie. was harder for her to do “In the begin the baking, so Don stayed ning, she’d forget lovingly at if she put a certai her side—measu n ingredient, ring, stirring, chopping, or how much and packaging— . We ate a lot anything she had trouble doing of bad cooki es for a while . .

I became her The costs for assistant, and producing thous ands of cookies came our cookie qualit from their own y slowly pockets.

Otherwise, Don improved, until says, it would the cookn’t have been an offerin ies we baked g to the Lord. were not “She’d often too bad!” ask me: ‘Can we afford to do this?’ and About that time, I would tell her ‘Of course,’ ” Don a copy of The says. “Besides, War Cry this was doing so much made its way more for her into the than clinical therapies.

Peters home , and when Don Everything we did was read to Marjo worth every rie about the penny!” ministry of The Together they Salvation Army developed about , she knew where cookie 28 recipe her cookies s. Marjorie’s should favorites includ be going. ed peanut butter oat–rounds, coconut, oatmeal toffee , and almon d sandies.

Major Ed Forster

Favorite Articles

Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Having been stationed in Western

some love. In the

Forster is former national editor–in–chief

Pennsylvania when 9/11 happened, we

simple ways.

and literary secretary.

were moved by the sensitive coverage of

Colonel Sharon Tillsley

that tragedy in Priority! and the follow–

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Someone needs 10

www.priorityp

We have appreciated Priority! Your articles

up anniversary edition.

on people throughout the territory ex-

Lt. Colonels Joseph & Gladys

I especially liked the article about Briga-

panded our Army as we march together.

DeMichael

dier Clifton Sipley [Winter 2000]. He

Majors Sidney & Betty Anderson

Clearwater, FL

was truly a man of God and the article

Lititz, PA

For more letters about the 9/11 issues, see

was a great tribute to him.

the ‘We Were There’ feature.

Betty Soderstrom

Priority! magazine was always erudite with-

Jamestown, NY

out being intimidating. Each issue allowed

The article about Major Kelly Collins,

us to identify with the people who make

who had a stroke, is my suggestion [“A

Within the last 18 months, an article

up the richness of the Salvation Army

Double–Stroke Miracle,” Winter 2014].

appeared in which one of your workers

family. Thank you and your staff for your

She is now a divisional commander. She

told the story of her husband donating

professionalism and inspiration.

is a wonderful, caring Christian. She

his body to a medical school [“Regifting,”

Major John R. Cheydleur

was with me through four surgeries for

Summer 2013]. It resonated with me since

Syracuse, NY

breast cancer. I can’t tell you how much

I have decided to do the same thing.

that meant (and means) to me!

The article rein-

I would like to give my sincere thanks to

Freida J. Williams

forced my desire to

all of those who have worked together to

West Bloomfield, MA

do so since the arguments made by

make Priority! for the past 15 years.

The article I was most blessed by was

her husband were

growth in those years. We were able

about the older couple who baked cook-

so compelling.

to feel the presence and power of God

ies … for people that really needed the

Ed Mathis

working through many believers. It had

encouragement [Summer 2007, “Florida

Villanova, PA

Priority! helped us in our spiritual

www.saconnects.org

7

eople.org

Upfront: Ads with Impact Promoting More than Products Many ads have appeared in the magazine over the years. Some memorable ones made by the design team had proven impact—they educated the public about The Salvation Army and drew people into deeper service and ministry.

recruitment ads Beginning in Fall 2000, Priority! ran a series of ads to recruit officer candidates.

London bombings, July 2005

Tsunami relief, January 2005

Come worship and serve with us.

We’re Out There … And We’re in Here This series of ads, the first of

and uplifting place of worship.

such as the one that just appeared

which ran in Summer 1999, was

[We should] extend this promotion

in Priority! would begin to alter

designed to address the problem

to non–Army publications, both

that perspective and enhance …

that many people don’t know

secular and Christian. In the past,

evangelistic outreach.

about the Salvation Army’s

the majority of our publicity efforts

Christian focus. Here’s then–

have focused on social services and

Major David Kelly’s response

fundraising. While those are an

(Winter 2000):

important part of what we do, the

‘Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.’

–Proverbs 24:11

I am thrilled that we are now promoting the Army as an exciting 8

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

J O I N

T H E

M I S S I O N

public now sees us as a solely social service Army. Advertisements

For information about Salvation Army officership, speak to your Corps Officer or contact: Territorial Youth & Candidates’ Secretary

The Salvation Army 440 West Nyack Road West Nyack, NY 10994 or send an e-mail to:

USA Eastern Territory

kevin.stoops@use.salvationarmy.org

www.saconnects.org

WE NEED HEROES!

Photo by Rudi Tinga

Join the Mission

All About ads

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Summer 2001 First paid ad, about an Army hostel in San Francisco

‘Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.’

–Proverbs 24:11

For more information about becoming an officer of The Salvation Army, contact East: ivan_rock@use.salvationarmy.org South: carol_busroe@uss.salvationarmy.org Central: andrew_miller@usc.salvationarmy.org West: nancy_dihle@usw.salvationarmy.org Canada & Bermuda: beverly_ivany@can.salvationarmy.org

We Need Heroes!

if that was what the Lord was

Rudi Tinga of the Netherlands

First run in Winter 2007, this

telling me, but I came away

to run a writing conference for

ad had an immediate impact,

unconvinced. … When I got back

Kenyan soldiers and officers.

with many people—not just

home, I opened your magazine,

Host Marion Ndeta took Linda

Salvationists—calling the

and there it was. I saw my old

and Rudi to Kibera, a huge slum

Candidates Department to ask

camouflage Army jacket hanging

in Nairobi, where they met

how they could become officers.

in the background and my new

Graham, the little boy in the

Other territories asked for the

Salvation Army uniform in front.

ad, and his mom and brother.

graphics so they could use the

I know what the revelation now

Rudi took this stunning photo

ad/poster as well. It was set up

means. …

of Graham walking home from

and shot by designer David Hulfrom Ernest McGregor of Water-

Overseas Child Sponsorship

town, N.Y.

This ad, first run in 2008, was

teen. Here’s a reader response

… I kept hearing ‘Army’ in

son’s trip to Kenya, where

Army recruiter’s officer to see

she worked with fellow editor

www.saconnects.org

a Salvation Army school. The officers running the Overseas Child Sponsorship ad say it has drawn many new sponsors to the

designed after editor Linda John- program.

my soul. I even went to the local

Spring 2002 Many posters were first ads in Priority!

Spring 2004 Other U.S. territories begin running ads 9

Upfront: Ads with Impact ‘Altars in the Street’ Priority! was distributed only in the Eastern Territory in its first few years, so it was one of the primary vehicles for promoting the vision of

They’re lost.

What are you doing to find them?

Commmissioner Joe Noland, then

Try

territorial commander. This ad (left), first run in Winter 2001, was for the film “Altars in the Street,” which called attention to the plight of children in inner cities. Later For program information, call 1-800-YOU-CARE (968-2273) or visit www.HopeShare.org

ads showcased HopeShare® and

For curriculum materials, call 1-845-620-7412 (Eastern Territory Trade Dept.)

OR 1-800-334-4431 (Duden Enterprises)

SONday’SCOOL ®.

Staff Favorites Summer 2007

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Railton School

USA East Music Department

USA East Women’s Ministries

For Youth Worker Training

Star Lake Musicamp

‘Let It Rain’ Campaign

Women’s Ministries Holy Spirit

SOLOIST NIGHT Tuesday, August 18, 8PM

USA Eastern Territory Commissioners Lawrence R. and Nancy A. Moretz

Territorial Leaders

10

PREVIEW FESTIVAL Wednesday, August 19, 8PM

STAR LAKE FEATURES Friday, August 21, 8PM

GRAND FINALE FESTIVAL Saturday August 22, 7PM

AWARDS CEREMONY Sunday, August 23, 1:30PM

TO REGISTER: go to the Music Department link at www.use.salvationarmy.org or contact your Divisional Music Director or Divisional Youth Secretary

down on me You pour out rain in buckets, O God.

Psalm 68:9 (The Message)

USA Eastern Territory Commissioners Lawrence R. and Nancy A. Moretz Territorial Leaders

www.womensministries-tsa.org

www.saconnects.org

Who’s News

Where Are They Now? Priority’s First Cover Subject:

She’s Still Kicking—and Working for the Lord

by Robert Mitchell TAEKWONDOTIM ES COM -AY

L

ife has been a whirlwind for Karen Eden ever since she was the first– ever cover story in Priority! in Spring 1999. She moved to Denver in 2000 to take a position as a weather anchor and reporter with FOX 31/KDVR–TV. “As soon as I got to Denver, I hooked up with The Salvation Army because I was a soldier and offered my help in the inner city,� she says.

Karen started a martial arts program with the Red Shield Salvation Army in Denver the same year. The “Blood and Fire Federation� would eventually go worldwide with affiliates in Africa and Europe as well as the United States.

Karen got married in 2001—she’s now Karen Eden Herdman—and

www.saconnects.org

had a son the next year. When her five–year contract with FOX expired in 2005, she went into ministry full time.

She became a certified chaplain and ordained minister in 2009.

That year, her “Red Shield Warriors� group went national and landed on the cover of Tae Kwon Do Times magazine.

After The Salvation Army discontinued the program, she started another in inner–city Denver. Her “DoJo Disciple Warriors� group trains at the Denver Community Center.

Karen has also found the time to author four books. The last three—two on martial arts and a self–help book on suicide prevention—appeared after her Priority! cover.

She’s now working on a doctorate in theology and is a certified clinical pastor. Helping others has been a major part of Karen’s life and she wants it to remain that way as she puts her spiritual training to work. “I don’t mind being in pulpits,

5 + a

but I’m not necessarily a preacher; I’m more of a spiritual counselor. I just felt like I had an ability to help people and change their lives and help them find a way of deliverance and to a road of peace. “My goal, even back there in Pittsburgh, was ‘How can I help other people?’ I don’t look at myself like, ‘How can I be a big TV star? How can I be a published book author?’ It’s just ‘How can I help other people?’ In handling it that way, God really seems to bless me.�

This year has also been a big one for Karen. She was recently promoted to sixth–degree black belt (24 years of training.) And her 12–year–old son, Cody, just earned his own black belt.

Karen, who has appeared on CNN and Animal Planet, sees TV remaining part of her career. “I do hope to combine my broadcast experience in major market TV ‌ with my ministries to create a Christian reality TV show,â€? she says.

11

Who’s News

ck Looking Ba

in Faith

Salvation n 2000, in the Eastern TerArmy’s USA itorial Arts Terr the y, ritor M) Bureau was Ministry (TA it is celebratnow And . born That’s hard to ing 10 years! e of us who believe for thos lved day to invo have been also been one day, and it has gifts in our test grea the faith of for g how God has w reate lives. We kno r taught us ‌ changed us ‌ spiritually both us, ed challeng ly. not assume that and artistical l? Surely, we do been successfu ’s purposes, do But has TAM tive for the Lord exists, it is effec just because it ers and office we? work bers of success by num loyee and Do we measure n from one emp s, TAM has grow offices space? In 10 year employees in e thre to room a windowless in er offic have joined us. one s of volunteers And hundred ts and with windows.

10 years, even In ts? even success by Arts Bureau Do we measure ly involving the g ed by or integral training for youn programs birth (intensive arts Conservatory y gatherings), include TAM Arm n atio Salv gresses (large ST), con (CA two Team le), ice peop tive Arts Serv s by the Crea Arts Convoca summer program ce, a Worship chment Conferen and a Family Enri —and more, Training Day Arts s ncil Cou tion, a Youth e. s, the number more, and mor stics? In 10 year success by stati pel Do we measure performing Gos ce, and other in drama, dan d by l has increase of participants leve ps) (cor ch ton the local chur at Rail ps the grou red arts gates have ente the servatory dele have entered 55%. Eight con ning, and five th Worker Trai School for You Training. ool for Officer Sch to y on Arm reas n a is Salvatio ’s blessing and � reflects God ged All this “success is about chan much more. It ent the ministry is mom But the e. for brat cele t living for Him ged hearts, abou lives and chan .

Him in eternity and living with ions.org

I

The arts for God

Celebrat e

The second issue of Priority!, Summer 1999, featured Carol Jaudes, an actor fresh from

Hsix IStoyears ry in the Broadway musical Cats who had been hired to lead the arts ministries in thing s

the Eastern USA

G

nect www.armycon

22

od has overwhelmed me with what He desired for the arts ministries in the Eastern Territory! When I walked through the door He opened 15 years ago, I did not know what the arts for God could look like. But He did. He began gathering arts ministers to come alongside me. He knew that programs like TAM Conservatory and CAST (Creative Arts Service Team) would provide a community for people, young and old, who had a passion and

“ Arc Photogra

12

phic/John Ch

ris tin

Territory. Carol writes about how she is still happy with her choice.

gift for drama, dance, and other artistic expressions of worship. He knew that by guiding me step by step, the ministry would grow and impact more people for His purposes. He knew that the arts would grow to become a valued form of ministry that could speak to people with a power like none other. I am often asked, “Do you miss Broadway?� My answer is immediate and certain. “No. I loved that time in my life, but how can I miss it when I believe that all of those years were to prepare me for what I’m doing now?�

USA Eastern Territory ence R. Commissioners Lawr & Nancy A. Moretz

“Do you miss Broadway?�

No. I loved that time in my life, but how can I miss it when I believe that all of those years

�

were to prepare me for what I’m doing now?

www.saconnects.org

Ruthbergs ‘Nicely Retired’ Majors Carl and Hollie Ruthberg were first featured in Summer 2002 when they reopened The Salvation Army’s ministry in Times Square. They also appeared in a supplement to the Winter 2002 issue about the Army’s work after 9/11, and in the “9/11: We Remember” issue, Fall 2011. They look back on those times and talk about what they’re doing now.

P

riority! magazine found us at two of many of the high points of our officership, our time as the corps officers at The Salvation Army Times Square Ministries, and our privileged time of serving during the 9/11 World Trade Center Disaster. Both of these were life–changing experiences, and we thank God for putting us exactly where He wanted us all through the years, and for giving us the joy of reaching out to others in His name.

In our seven years in the Times Square Ministry, we met many wonderfully gifted people and developed a ministry that reached out to the neighborhood. The Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen area has always been a unique cross–section of people in theater and the arts; families tucked away in tenements; and the area’s underbelly, those caught in addiction and sexual confusion and those who prey on them. The corps sought and found innovative ways of ministering to this mix, offering hope and forgiveness through the love and mercy of God. During our time there, the Summer in the City program brought Christian college students to the area as interns, and worked among junior high actors to create a theater piece that then brought in area day camp children and families as audiences.

www.saconnects.org

Summer of 2014 finds us nicely retired on a lovely little lake in upstate New York in a cottage that has been in the family for 90 years. We are enjoying being supportive of several area corps sharing in leading worship in various divisional events. Hollie and her able assistants, Carl and her mom, have had the fun of doing costuming for Territorial Arts Ministries (TAM) events, the most recent of which have been the summer ministry production of Honk! and the TAM Conservatory experience. We love being able to

spend time with family and friends and thank God for the completion of our active officership, which allows this flexibility. We hope to do some writing and continue serving where the opportunities come—to the praise of God’s glory in whatever comes next!

Life after missionary service

Tanya Hedberg, who wrote about her call from God and experiences as a teacher with the English Language Institute China (ELIC) in a Winter 2007 article, is currently living in New Brighton, Minn., with her husband, Jared, and 1–year–old son, Jovy. She spends her days caring for Jovy and has the privilege of doing other work here and there: photography, music lessons, tutoring, and debriefing for people returning to the States with ELIC. She is excited about reaching out to the many immigrants in their neighborhood.

13

Who’s News

A Missionary Mindset

W

e were both born and raised in Zimbabwe, Africa. We stared extreme poverty, disease, and hunger in the face daily. Many nights we went to bed with empty stomachs, only to hear them growl the next morning in class.

The 19th–century missionary to southern Africa, David Livingstone, once said, “God had an only Son and He made Him a missionary.” Our Lord Jesus Christ was a missionary to our lost world, and I believe our faith and our corps function best when we are sharing that faith with others and developing a true missionary mindset. It is only then that we can truly see and appreciate how greatly we have been blessed and understand how fleeting materialism is. What we find is that our real wealth comes through a healthy relationship

14

‘We are passionate about God, passionate about saving souls.’

—Terry Masango

the mean living situation that accompanies officership.

Choosing family Meanwhile, Terry faced a choice between going to university and getting a job.

That choice was driven by the extremely high value Zimbabweans place on family.

“That means you call them, you visit them, you provide for them,” he says.

“There are no other programs to provide for your family members. If they are in need, you help them.”

So he gave up his opportunity to go to university.

Instead, because his father couldn’t care for the family, Terry became an accounts clerk at a bank and began to pay for his siblings’ schooling and necessities. He rented a tiny room, which he shared with his siblings. They could not afford a TV, but they could sometimes watch one in the front room of the house. Terry remembers watching “Beverly Hills 90210” on many occasions, but he never imagined that

with Christ and our brothers and sisters throughout the world. We find that we are all called to be missionaries, no matter where we live, and our world is beginning to see that.

And as we stand between Zimbabwe and the U.S., we bring a developing– not only to provide for some of the needs someday he would find himfelt a call to ministry, but they could train for youth world mindset to a developed–world there, but also to show our teams that self at that famous address.

Terry still resisted officership, ministry. They didn’t have For six years, Terry contin- and Rutendo had lost her enough money for airfare, so ministry. We understand God wants us ued to work they areand also losing sisters in at the bank taste for it as well. brothers they sold and their furniture.

The progressed to assistant acfunds were still far too short, countant. During that time, Following God, but their conviction that this to link those two worlds. We are conduitshe met andChrist every day and have the power to married, in 1999, facing tragedy was God’s will for their lives fellow Salvationist Rutendo.

An opportunity arose for was very strong. Displaying of grace, linking the material blessings They weredo something about it. great faith and temerity, the able to purchase them to study at the Army’s a house, a dream most ZimSchool for Youth Leaderyoung couple sold their home babweans never realize.

Both ship in Australia, where to make up the trip differenceto of the developed world with the spiritual During our recent mission blessings of the developing world.

Zimbabwe [the third since 2009, with two While I do not stare the conditions of taken from a previous appointment in my past in the face each day anymore, my Renton, Wash.], we visited various corps friends, relatives, and former corps memengaging in huge building projects to bers do. Over the years I have lost many house all the new soldiers being enrolled relatives and friends to malnutrition, regularly. … It was a breath of fresh air hunger, HIV/AIDS, and inadequate med- watching God grow His church, and to ical care. We bring teams to Zimbabwe be a part of enabling their growth.

The Masangos have been in El Cajon The Zimbabwe team donates 76 goats to the since June 2011, where their attendance Mungate Corps Home League ladies; each received on Sundays hovers around 183. Two years a male and female goat. Says Terry Masango, ‘Goats ago, they began to emphasize discipleship. and other livestock are a source of wealth in Africa.

The families will no longer have to buy milk, and the They also have a ‘wonderful partnership’ goats will provide meat when needed. Families can with the local Adult Rehabilitation Center. sell the goats’ offspring to raise funds for school fees. The goats’ skins can be used as sleeping mats.

The Masangos’ eldest daughter was part The skins can also be used to make drums that the of the Bible Bowl team that recently won a families can sell.’ territorial competition. www.prioritypeople.org

Rutendo oversees the pantry operation.

45

www.saconnects.org

Photo by Bootsy Holler

In Spring 2007, Captains Terry and Rutendo Masango were featured in an article “In the U.S. and Not of It.” Originally from Zimbabwe, they came to train as Salvation Army officers in the United States. Now corps officers in El Cajon, Calif., they have two daughters, 13 and 7. But they have never forgotten where they came from. Terry writes about their commitment.

Called to minister overseas Majors Jim and Marcia Cocker were first featured in Priority! when they were serving in Papua New Guinea (Spring 2008, Summer 2009). Now they are serving another three–year missionary tour, this time in Indonesia (Spring 2014). Marcia writes about their work there.

O

Photo © AFP/Stringer

n the news, we watch as Christians in the Middle East flee for their lives; as conflict escalates in Ukraine, and the Ebola virus spreads in Western Africa. We watch as tsunamis race across island nations and fire, earthquakes, and civil unrest ravage communities and property. It all speaks to the constant uncertainty of life. As Christians, we are immediately drawn to do something. But this past week I was reminded that just because something has stopped being newsworthy doesn’t mean it is over.

Back in September 2013, the Mount Sinabung volcano erupted here in North Sumatra. In the early days of the disaster, 14 people died, and the local

www.saconnects.org

Salvation Army responded in force.

In February 2014, the volcano erupted a second time, killing even more.

Since then, despite living right here in Indonesia, like everyone else, I had stopped thinking about it.

This week I was reminded that a disaster isn’t over just because the media no longer cover it or because I fail to remember it. For almost a year, more than 2,000 refugees have been living in a temporary refugee camp complex 15 kilometers from the nearest Salvation Army.

Despite the tireless efforts of the local soldiers in the area, we heard today that 16 more people have died due to psychiatric and stress–related illnesses. The local authorities have now determined that the residents of three evacuated villages will never be able to return to their homes; each entire village, like the ancient city of Pompeii, is buried beneath 15 feet of grey volcanic ash.

To help these people move forward, the Indonesian government has donated valuable

land to The Salvation Army to help relocate the refugees into a new community. We will take full responsibility for 370 families and provide community services such as schools, a clinic, a pre–school center and a training center to teach the residents how to farm new and different crops from what they are used to. Each family will be given their own plot of land to farm with coffee—a great income–bearing crop for this area.

Once people have a means to support their families, we believe they can begin living their lives once again. The Army will be instrumental in this new community development with donated funds from around the globe.

One might ask why a Muslim– dominated country would ask The Salvation Army to lead the rebuilding of lives and property. The response was “because we know you will do it well as a reflection of your faith and love for God and people.” No doubt, many who are helped will come to Christ!

So the next time you see the world erupt in violence or disaster— remember that the pain will last long after the news crews go home and every scar can be an opportunity to share the Gospel.

15

Will I Stay Changed?

Who’s News

by Armida LaMarr

Captain Armida LaMarr has served for two and a half years in Kenya as social services secretary. Her work was featured in Priority! Spring 2008 (“Finding Joy Amid Despair”).

Pr

Not About Staying Changed But Being Changed

F

Sa

As Lieutenant (now Captain) Armida ast week, applied LaMarr was about Itoofficially leave Kenya afterto return to the States at the three years of service there, she wrote end a of 2009.

That decision has made piece, ‘Will I Stay Changed?’ in the Summer me think lotfeared aboutthat change my life.

2009 issue. aShe in theintransition When I’m honest about it, I find myself back to the U.S., she might ‘push down being to friends allexcited that myabout Kenyan lifeclose revealed to me.’ and family But, she and said,all ‘thethings other familiar. part of meHowever, prays this experience has changed me in a that I will remain fully changed, that my lot of ways. I’m not sure what it will be metamorphosis will build on what is diflike to be this “me” in a “first–world” ferent in me and mold me to be even more country.

Christlike.’ Five years later, Armida reflects on what change now means to her.

My needs have changed.

In the U.S., I have a lot of things, eading the newsletters I wrote to find my way.LaMarr On New Year’s expected. At the age of 35, I met the Captain Armida with someDay children in Kenya friends, and space. I lived in huge during my time in Kenya is like 2010, I fell and traumatically broke my love of my life. Actually, I had read an residences in my first two appointments, My definition of crisis has the streets because there are no other going back in time. As I remember ankle. This injury led to four months article about him in The War Cry when and I loved to fill them with friends and changed. options for them. I deal with families the children, I smile. As I remember the without walking and a year of extremely I was in Kenya, but it took some time things I found at garage sales. I preferred In my first corps [church] appointment, who can afford to eat only once a day pain poverty, am sad.

Thetosmells, painful healing and rehabilitation. for God to bring us together.

January to beand with peopleIrather than be I had a meltor everyIn other sights, sounds all come back to me, With plates 2012, I married Lieutenant alone.and I now live comfortably in three down two because I and 14 screws holding day. I Michael deal with and I cannot are allofgood my ankle together, I felt like the bionic Harper.

Marrying Mike brought me one small rooms say andthat withthey a handful close thought we had fights among ‘He is molding memories.

However, I have to thank woman (without the strength and speed of the greatest joys of my heart, which friends. I enjoy my solitude and often served week–old staff members, is me into a person God forbeing it all,alone. because my missionary and good looks being stepmom to fourcorrupt wonderful chilcrave I think, with all I see potato salad.

I and … well, you get the police or service changed me idea).

God really taught me who the meaning needs Him dren.

Sam is 26, Kaye government is 24, Aaronofis 22, and experience, I’mforever. able to process it was convinced It wasinvery intimidating totime. face my life of canjust do all things through Christ and and Nina isI18. Nina is livingand with us better my own space and I don’t we“Ihad ficials, tribdesperately, after being overseas.

I had wanted to go who strengthens me.”

(Philippians and attending Bunker Hill Community even notice how small my apartment poisoned every alism. On Satshould haveCollege realized toisAfrica for as long even as I could remember.

4:13) was God’s strength that got me in Boston. Weurday, are soI visited proud! As anymore.

I don’t remember half personIt who that a long time ago.’

When that goal accomplished, I felt through the little things in life: getting a young teenager, I always boasted about the things that was are waiting for me back came to feeding a photo exhibit this strange discouragement. wouldI up a flightHere, of stairs, taking a shower, the fact that I knew I’ddocumenting be a motherthe home in storage.

In Kenya, IWhat need God, program. encouragement, I need I deal with cenbeneed my life goal now? Would therestoration, rest of my making post–election a sandwich by myself. some day. Well, God fulfilled that promI need alone time,from and Ithe need myofone tersAt not having money to pay violence I had no imagine. idea of the time be amy decrescendo high this time,enough I was also appointed ise in a [in way2007].

I could never close friend who listens. salaries. I deal with kids living on horrors I had the fulfilling my lifelong desire? It turns out divisional youth secretary for the Mike andbeen I areshielded now thefrom corpsatofficers that God had some amazing plans that I Massachusetts Division. This meant (pastors and administrators) at The 42 never dream of. could caring for the youth in our area, includSalvation Army inwww.prioritypeople.org Cambridge, Mass.

I returned to the United States in ing running camp. It was a year and Harvard University is one mile uptown; December 2009. My spirit was a little a half of stretching myself spiritually, MIT, one mile downtown. Though I will battered and bruised from the three– physically, and emotionally. never attend one of those prestigious year journey in Kenya, but I was trying Life took another turn that I never institutions, I am getting an education

R

16

Photos courtesy Armida LaMarr Courtesy of Armida LaMarr

L

www.saconnects.org

by

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an A dire aC Sta wou ing “ from

The issu edit trip Man that pro esc follo from from sho bab

12

Fall 2012

L I FE STO R I E S

OF

G O D’S PEO PL E

Priority! Update

Finding Joy Amid Despair Salvation Army Soldiers On in Kenya

by Linda D. Johnson

W

e are starting 2008 with unrest and uncertainty,” wrote Captain Armida LaMarr, an American serving as social services director in Kenya. As she flew back from a Christmas visit to family in the United States, the first volleys were fired in what would be a long siege of violence following a questionable presidential election.

“We all held our breath [on the drive from the airport] but returned with no

incident,” Armida wrote. “It was very strange, however, because the roads were practically empty and everything was closed. It was like being in a different world, since Nairobi is usually alive with activity.”

So began a period of “lockdown” for the Salvation Army officers’ compound in Nairobi. For Lt. Colonels Kenneth and Jolene Hodder, U.S. officers who serve as chief secretary (second in command)

and president of Women’s Ministries for the Kenya Territory, it meant conducting Army business primarily by cell phone.

Brave action They learned that some Salvation Army officers were hiding members of the Kikuyu tribe in their homes. The Kikuyus were the first group to come under attack because they belong to the same tribe as Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent

®

Winter 2008

www.prioritypeople.org

here that is priceless. It is an amazing privilege to run a day care for homeless children, an emergency shelter for men, a men’s recovery program, Bridging the Gap for at–risk teens, as well as a program for senior citizens and regular social services. Every day, I get to love people that may feel lost and broken. It is the most difficult thing I have ever had to do, but it is also the most fulfilling.

My journey with God is far from over, and I look forward to seeing where it leads me. When leaving Kenya, I asked myself, “Will I stay changed?” I realize now that changing is an ongoing process. My experiences in Kenya made me more grateful for what I have, stronger emotionally, and more reliant on God. However, I continue to change. I learn and grow in Christ with every new experience. And when this race is over, I look forward to resting in heaven and praising God with some of the people I met along the way. www.saconnects.org

Commissioners R. Steven and Judith A. Hedgren were the cover subjects in Fall 2012. The article, ‘God’s Provision Through It All’ told of Steve’s struggle with multiple myeloma; his health caused him to step down as territorial commander in USA East. He writes about life today.

I

The cover story in the last issue of Priority! was about editor Linda D. Johnson’s trip to a peaceful Kenya.

Many places named in that article have figured prominently in the news of escalating violence. This follow–up was compiled from e–mails, some of them from Captain Armida LaMarr, shown at right carrying a homeless baby in a camp for the displaced.

12

God’s Provision (Continues) Through It All

still fight the battle against cancer (multiple myeloma), and there is still no cure. However, I am on a new chemo (for me) and it is working. I receive treatment every other week, manage the after–effects for about 36–48 hours, and then my normal life returns.

We plan our travel schedule around the chemo treatments, which [means that we have been able] to travel some good distances to do officers councils, territorial retreats, and corps meetings.

We have relocated to the Tampa, Fla., area to be close to the Moffitt Cancer Center. [That move] has also allowed us to also take on a special project for the Florida Division, developing corps music conservatories. Our primary role will be to meet with potential funding sources through our local corps officers’ contacts

Leaders Find Joy Th

rough Deep Trial

Helping ‘the Le ast’ In Abu Dhabi Chicago Gang Leader Finds God America’s ‘Mos t Inspirational M om’

and their advisory boards and local foundations.

Moving to Florida has also put us in close proximity to our officer children and grandchildren, who serve presently in the Florida Division. The grandchildren continue to be a great source of healing and encouragement to me. We also cherish the prayers of our friends all over the Army world, especially in USA. The prayers of others have been my strength.

God has taught Judy and me a great deal during these last four years of battling cancer, and we are both convinced He has significant work for us to do in the years ahead. Thanks for keeping us on your prayer list. Do not stop—your prayers are making a difference.

®

Who’s News

Star Witness Over the years, Priority! secured interviews with a number of celebrities.

Photo by Beth A. Keiser

Many of them were not just stars, but star witnesses to faith.

Fall 2001

Michael Tait

Photo by Phillip Jensen–Carter

Best known for his days with dc Talk and now with the Newsboys, Michael recorded a song and accompanying music video for the film ‘Altars in the Street.’ The video was recorded over two days in New York City and involved about 1,000 at–risk children participating in Salvation Army summer programs.

Winter 2005

Point of Grace This Christian group debuted its album, ‘I Choose You,’ in a live hourlong nationwide radio broadcast from Theater 315 at The Salvation Army’s Times Square Corps.

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www.saconnects.org

Spring 2007

Jim Cymbala The pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle (known worldwide simply as ‘Brooklyn Tab’) spoke at the USA Eastern Territory’s Mission Kaleidoscope Congress in Hershey, Pa. His wife, Carol, director of the famous Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, led some of the singing.

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Who’s News

®®

Winter Winter 2009 2008

‘Fireproof’ Star Still Growing

Winter 2009

Spirit of Christmas

A Houston ‘Heaven’ Montclair Music Man Hip-Hop ‘Blood & Fire’

Kirk Cameron Kirk took the Christian world by storm in 2008 by starring in the film “Fireproof.” He told Priority! that the character he played in the film, firefighter Caleb Holt, was a lot like him as a young man. Caleb is not a believer in Jesus when the movie begins. Like Caleb, Kirk was a self–described atheist until age 18.

Winter 2010

Donna, who played critter–loving Elly May Clampett on the popular television show ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ for nine years often joined other celebrities to stand kettles in downtown Los Angeles.

‘They’re very loving, caring people,’ Donna said of The Salvation Army.

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© Getty/Sebastian Artz

Donna Douglas

www.saconnects.org

Photo © Nicole Carpenter

Joe Maddon

The manager of the 2008 American League champion Tampa Bay Rays (now with the Chicago Cubs) finds expression for his passion each year by hosting several ‘Thanksmas’ meals at Salvation Army centers.

While baseball keeps him away from church on Sundays, he is a man of faith and has helped many others in his years in the sport.

Spring 2011

The sixth–generation Salvationist, now a power–hitting first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, grew up with The Salvation Army as his church. He attended the Tustin Ranch Corps in Tustin, Calif., where his family has been active for years, including with the Tournament of Roses Parade.

www.saconnects.org

Courtesy of the Atlanta Braves

Freddie Freeman

Winter 2012 Courtesy of Sherwood Pictures/Todd Stone

Summer 2010

Sandi Patty

The Gospel legend sang for The Salvation Army at the Old Orchard Beach Camp Meetings in Maine, but some people may not know that she has also stood kettles in Anderson, Ind., and volunteered for Salvation Army disaster relief work in Oklahoma City.

© Getty/Christopher Lane

Courtesy R.A. Dickey/Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club

Who’s News

Winter 2013

Denise Richardson

Jeff Foxworthy

© AP Images/Bret Hartman

The best–selling comedy recording artist in history and the creator of the ‘You might be a redneck’ jokes, Jeff is now the host of the Game Show Network’s ‘American Bible Challenge,’ a show sponsored by The Salvation Army. You also might find Jeff ministering at The Atlanta Mission, a homeless shelter.

Summer 2013

R.A. Dickey

Cour te sy Ga

Spring 2013

me Show Ne

twork

Known for her work on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ and on PBS, Denise is communications director for The Salvation Army in the Greater New York Division.

Her faith started as a young child, when she saw a vision in the sky, and continues to this day. ‘I’ve learned to live my faith, not just talk about it,’ she says.

The knuckleball pitcher reached lofty heights by winning 20 games in 2012, but he never stood taller than when he climbed Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness and money for the battle against human trafficking. That is also a prime concern for The Salvation Army.

Winter 2014

Phil Cooke

Phil is one of the few producers in Hollywood with a doctorate in theology; his mission is to help Christians engage the culture more effectively through media. In a digital age, Cooke says the church better get more effective or it will miss an entire generation. www.saconnects.org

My Take

Our Priority—

People!

by Warren L. Maye

S

ince 1977, I’ve had the privilege to serve as an editor, writer, art director, photographer, and illustrator of various secular and Salvation Army publications. I have worked on national, territorial, and divisional levels. From my perspective, Priority! magazine stands out as the only Army publication in the United States that, from its inception, was intended to be used primarily as an evangelistic tool to reach people outside the Army.

That distinction is significant because, historically, Army periodicals have struggled to define themselves as either internal or outreach publications.

However, with Priority!, the mission was clear—to promote holiness, prayer, and evangelism. Underlying goals were to provide believers with practical tools for effective outreach, to go beyond the stereotypes (Christmas kettles, clothing pickups) to showcase an Army that is rarely seen—and to reach out to people who needed to hear the Gospel.

24

Modeling it after People magazine, we set out to reach people—with stories about people—from all walks of life— who had been touched and changed by the Salvation Army’s ministry.

The magazine was Commissioner Joe Noland’s vision. And in his inimitable style, he launched it in 1999. Now, here we are—15 years later. And what a remarkable ride it has been!

Linda Johnson nurtured Priority! to fruition. One of the most skilled editors the Army has ever had, she performed “sutureless surgery” on articles in such a way that authors found it difficult to understand how and why their pieces read so much better! Robert Mitchell, who came on board shortly after the launch, was instrumental as our “boots on the ground,” an “embedded journalist” who “dug in” next to volunteers and other people who had rolled up their sleeves. Bob could always be trusted to get the “scoop” on a story—locally or nationally.

But a well–written and well–edited story needs to be presented in such a way that a reader’s attention is arrested, focused, and concentrated on it. That’s why I’ll be forever grateful to our art directors: Peter Hanke (deceased), Saoul Vanderpool, and Keri Johnson for their invaluable expertise and talent.

To fathom what it takes to build a magazine and then put it in your hands requires that you walk in our shoes.

Any words I can use to describe this process would leave much to be desired.

It’s a meticulous endeavor that requires a great deal of concentration, focus, and solitude.

But we also got out of the office and into the field. My first Priority! assignment took me to the island of Puerto Rico, where I had the privilege of traveling from town to town meeting Salvationists who were making a difference in that beautiful commonwealth.

During subsequent assignments, I was honored to interview a long list of www.saconnects.org

At Ground Zero after 9/11.

heroes of the faith. Hearing them share their struggles, failures, and exhilarating victories was a source of divine inspiration.

For instance, my interview with actor Carol Jaudes took me backstage to her dressing room of “Cats,” then one of the longest–running plays on Broadway.

There I met Chris, her husband, a Broadway trumpeter. We had an insightful conversation about her pending transition from a secular career to a sacred ministry as we sat near a window above the theater marquee overlooking the “Great White Way.” When I was invited to accompany Commissioner Joe Noland on a trip to Africa, I visited Chikankata, Zambia, where I met Salvationists Dr. Bella Carroll and Ted Carroll, her husband and superintendent of the high school; and Elvis Simamvwa, who, while recovering from malaria, continued to serve as Chikankata Hospital’s director. They were ministering to a community of www.saconnects.org

40,000 people by educating children and saving lives.

In Philadelphia, I visited the home of Lt. Colonels Abraham and Louise Johnson, who shared their amazing story of triumph in the face of tragedy and adversity while serving as corps officers during the 1960s civil rights revolution.

Other people who come to mind are Beryl Grimes, a doll maker; Lt. Colonels Lyell and Elaine Rader, oracles of Salvation Army theology; Envoys Steven and Sharon Bussey, youth ministry leaders; Corps Sergeant–Major Edward T. Gooding, O.F., a legendary evangelist in Boston; James ”Bumpy” Garro, honored for his witness in the Cambridge, Mass., community; Lt. Colonel Dorothy Purser, a fearless hospital administrator and children’s advocate; and Eric Dina, an accomplished musician and music director.

And of course, I’ll always remember producing the 9/11 10th anniversary special edition. We received more inter-

est from readers than at any other time in the history of Priority! magazine. I also felt honored to have several of my photographs that were in that issue included in a 9/11 exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Throughout my career, I’ve always been cognizant of the potential impact the stories I wrote could have on readers. For story subjects, being in the spotlight can be daunting; being pictured on a magazine cover can literally change a person’s life. So I was always sensitive, not only to how a story would be perceived but also to how it could affect the person featured.

Thank you, Priority!, for giving us an opportunity to make a difference by showing how Christ transforms lives.

Now, we look to the future for the next great adventure He has in store for us!

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Promoting Evangelism

iStock

Salvation Story

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www.saconnects.org

The mission of Priority! is to ‘promote holiness, prayer, and evangelism through the life stories of God’s people.’ Under the category ‘Salvation Story,’ we have run many articles about people who have been saved by the grace of God. Interestingly, most of those people, introduced to Jesus by someone else, in turn had a burning desire to introduce Jesus to others. So, in telling stories of these evangelists, we were ourselves offering Jesus to our readers. And we do so again, in these ‘short takes.’

Winter 2000

Street Vendor for Jesus

by Cindy Brown–Austin

J

James Morgan preaches on the sidewalk.

www.saconnects.org

ames Morgan of Bronx Tremont Corps (now Bronx Citadel Corps) once had a $350–a–day heroin habit. But one night in 1989, he accepted Jesus as his Savior and got a new “weapon” to battle his addiction. As the recruiting sergeant of the corps, James transformed into a “street vendor for Jesus.”

He confronts violence every day in his open–air ministry, where he has been cursed, punched, doused with water, and threatened with knives.

Yet, in the heart of crack territory, he has planted the Salvation Army flag.

On one particularly drug–infested block, he recalls, “I prayed for a dealer out loud so he could hear me. I prayed for the lookout. For the buyers. For the man who had taken his rent money to get high. Of course, that got their attention because

there was somebody who understood their system. Here was somebody who had been there. … Pretty soon, the dealers began saying, ‘Amen.’ They had really gotten into it. They were feeling something.”

One day, Jim and his fellow workers returned to one of their usual sites to discover that the area, typically crowded with addicts and pushers, was overrun with children at play.

“The police, with the help of some fed–up residents, had somehow gotten together and cleaned up the place,” Jim says triumphantly. The power of the Gospel had changed not just one soul, but a neighborhood.

“Such victories,” Jim says, “are accomplished by prayer, evangelism, but especially by holiness. The Scripture says, ‘Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ ” 27

Promoting Evangelism

Winter 2004

From Pitiful to Compassionate

by Robert Mitchell

D

omingo Rodriguez was in the gutter in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his own children were begging for food on the streets. Because he had stopped paying alimony, he ended up in jail, sleeping on the floor. He promised the Lord that if He freed him, he would go back into prisons to minister.

Domingo not only visits inmates in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but he also holds Bible studies and meetings, offers inmates a Bible correspondence course, and counsels them. He often calls on his favorite Bible verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

“I’m a new man,” he says. His message

to the inmates is that they too can become new. About 15 to 20 inmates accept that offer each month and begin new relationships with Jesus Christ.

While many would be afraid inside a maximum security prison, Domingo carries himself with confidence. God has not given him a spirit of fear, he says.

“I have security. I have confidence in the Lord. I know where I’m going.

They’re my brothers.”

Domingo acts on his belief by treating inmates as he would family members. He befriended one inmate whose wife was about to give birth. Domingo visited the wife and gave her food; he later delivered the happy news to his “brother” that he now had a baby girl. The inmate has

since accepted Christ, and his family is attending church.

“That’s my goal,” Domingo says. “I don’t only want to reach the convict, but the family.”

Summer 2006

In Darkest Russia and the Way Out

by Anne Urban

S

ergey and Tanya Katchatnov (they have since changed their names to Sergii and Tatiana Kachanov) were born in the Soviet Union to atheistic parents. When Sergey was 8, his mother told him he was a Jew. One evening in the late 80s, Sergey saw an ad for a Messianic Jewish festival. He became involved, much to Tanya’s dismay. But she began to see changes in her husband.

Gradually, Sergey’s changed attitude

28

made Tanya begin to investigate faith for herself. “I began to think, How powerful is this God that He can change my husband? I began to secretly read the Bible and, about a year later, also received Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord.”

Sergey recalls vividly how his life became radically different after he gave his life to the Lord.

“My anger decreased and my behavior changed,” he says. “I stopped using swear

www.saconnects.org

Spring 2007

‘William Taylor, Come Forth!’

by Linda D. Johnson

Taylor’s story was part of a feature, ‘God Is in This New House,’ about the Southeast Michigan Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) in Detroit. illiam “Billy” Taylor, once a fifth–round draft pick for the Atlanta Falcons, was injured in the first pre–season game, then learned his girlfriend had been stabbed to death.

He began drinking and drugging to numb the pain. For 30 years, he was a hard–core addict.

Billy was invisible to most people, just another scrawny addict. But as he sat on the steps of an abandoned building with a liquor bottle in a brown paper bag, this addict heard someone call out to him in a loud voice:

“William Taylor, come forth!”

Billy jumped straight up in fear. He ran through an alley and through some high grass looking for the man who had called his name. Then he realized that the voice may not have been human.

“God, is that you?” he cried out.

Then, trembling in fear, he ran out into traffic on busy Jefferson Street.

Miraculously, no one hit him.

“I haven’t had a drink or a drug since that day,” he says.

Within eight hours of hearing that voice, Billy Taylor had a place to live, which included board, and a job at Family Ties, a group home.

Billy was more than qualified for that job. A former three–time All–American

football player from the University of Michigan, he also held a master’s degree from his alma mater. … Today, he has a doctorate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. But he says it’s his “street doctorate” that makes him credible with the men at the ARC. In his life–coaching clases, he tells the men, “This is spiritual warfare, and we’re losing. … We have got to have Christ to overcome.”

Taylor now runs a comprehensive residential recovery facility called Get Back Up, Inc., in Detroit. For his story, go to www.perseverancefilm.com.

words and dirty phrases. God dealt with my fears and worries. More often than not, I had a big smile on my face. Other people noticed the change … ” Both Tanya and Sergey had a great desire to serve God. They were invited, in 1999, to come to Chicago to start an outreach program to the Russian Jewish population there. One day, Tanya saw a building with the words The Salvation Army on it and

thought she would like to work there.

But she said nothing to Sergey.

Then, in late 2003, the Katchatnovs met Captain Ilona Schaal, a young Salvation Army officer from the former Soviet republic of Georgia who had been appointed to do evangelistic work with Eastern European immigrants.

The Katchatnovs decided to become part of the Army themselves. They became soldiers and soon were con-

victed that they should become officers.

In the fall of 2004, they entered the training college; their son, George, did the same in 2005.

“We’re so glad we decided to join this Army in the spiritual battle to reach Jews and Gentiles for Christ,” says Tanya.

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29

Promoting Evangelism

Bernie Koizumi (front row, right) started ‘B Clean.’

Spring 2008

Cleaning Up in Honolulu

by Daniel de Castro

B

ernie Koizumi was addicted to crystal meth. The lure of “ice” was so strong that she would ignore her children’s cries and pleas not to leave; instead, she would head out the door to get her next fix. A judge told her that Women’s Way, a Salvation Army rehab program in Honolulu, was her last stop.

If he saw her again, he said, she would lose custody of her three children.

The Women’s Way program was entirely different from anything Bernie had experienced. For the first time, she could live with her children while undergoing treatment. It was also a time when she had a spiritual awakening. … “I was desperate for help. So for the first time in 30

my life, I sought God’s help.”

Right afterward, she saw a rainbow. “I looked at the rainbow and I told God: ‘If this is your promise, I’ll do it your way.’ ” Fast forward to today, seven years later. Bernie is a successful entrepreneur, the founder and owner of “B Clean,” a janitorial and building maintenance company. Her husband, Evan, also a recovering addict, is her partner.

As her company grew, she needed more workers, and a friend asked her to think about hiring more people like him who were recovering addicts.

“I knew right away that God was speaking to me to tell me that the company was meant to help people

like me,” Bernie says. So the B Clean moniker took on an intentional double meaning.

Bernie’s company became very successful, providing regular janitorial and maintenance work as well as restoration of public school bathrooms.

“I have big dreams,” Bernie says wistfully. “I want to open another company—a clothing company, a hair salon, even a nonprofit—to find ways to expand the opportunities and help the recovering addicts out there.”

And Bernie’s faith is still rock solid. “I have so much faith in God now that it’s hard to shake my foundation,” she says. www.saconnects.org

Summer 2010

Buddhists Find ‘The Way’

by Robert Mitchell & Central Connection

B

ounlouane (“Bruce”) and Champathong (“Betty”) Keobounhom were born in Laos. Bruce’s parents, unable to afford public school, sent him off to a Buddhist monastery at age 9. He spent the next 13 years learning to be a monk. But he became more and more convinced that something was missing. When communists swept through Laos, Bruce joined tens of thousands fleeing for Thailand. He ended up in a camp with 70,000 other Laotians.

Bruce accepted an invitation to attend church in the camp. He tried to hide in the back row as 500 people sat in the grass and listened to a preacher from Thailand present the Gospel. He preached from Romans 10:9 (“That if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus Is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”)

This was the “something missing” Bruce had been longing for—salvation that is found only in Jesus. The Holy Spirit stirred his heart as the lies of Buddhism were exposed.

“There is one way,” Bruce says. “There is only Jesus. Only He can save you. …”

Bruce started spending day and night in the church and became a lay leader. He even attended Bible college.

“I knew I wanted to be like the preacher,” Bruce says. “I wanted to tell people the truth.”

Bruce also taught English at the church, and one

www.saconnects.org

night, Betty came in with a friend.

Back in Laos, Betty had caught Bruce’s eye when they were together in an English class.

“I recognized her smile immediately,” Bruce says. “And this time I wasn’t a monk! We started talking, and I invited her to church. She accepted and kept coming!”

Betty says, “I wanted to know more about the Bible, so that’s why I met him there. We just came back to each other.”

The couple married in the refugee camp and later felt a call to ministry, which brought them to the U.S. They were leading a Nazarene church in Nashville when they met a Laotian Salvation Army officer at a conference.

“They saw us work hard and want to serve the Lord, so they asked us to come to the Army to be together, husband and wife, to serve together,” Betty says.

The couple, now Salvation Army captains, opened a Laotian corps in Nashville and three others across the country. They transferred to Rockford, Ill., in 2003, where they started out ministering to a Laotian congregation but have reached out to a new wave of immigrants from Myanmar (also known as Burma).

“We meet them and help them,” Bruce says. “We help them settle, find a place, a house, and then they come to the Army. … When they see the way we help them and we love them and care for them and then talk about the love of Christ … they just want to follow Christ.”

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Promoting Evangelism

Fall 2012

‘Son, You Don’t Have to Live Like This’

by Daryl Lach

A

lex Velasquez, born in 1958 on the South Side of Chicago, became a drug runner in middle school. His father skipped town in 1965, and Alex and his siblings rebelled.

Alex stole supplies to become a shoeshine boy at the Criminal Courts building and learned from his attorney clients how to beat a rap. By age 13 Alex was a gang member and full–blown addict hooked on pot, cocaine, and heroin.

For the next 27 years, Alex continued his descent into hell. His status increased among gang members as he worked himself up the ranks to become “President.” On his watch the gang grew from 2,000 to 5,000 members. Alex was in and out of jail for possession, assault, and aggravated battery but beat most of the raps because of his knowledge of the system.

32

Alex’s life began to deteriorate at an accelerated pace by his late 30s. Living in a basement apartment, he took in his dying, regretful father, who had lung cancer. A seed was planted in Alex’s mind. Did he really want to end up like his dad?

Arrested for possession again, Alex spent four weeks in jail. When he got out, he found that his father had died. By October 1998, he had lost contact with his family—and his gangland status.

Tired and shivering on a street corner, Alex felt a hand on his shoulder and heard these words, “Son, you don’t have to live like this.” The elderly man (a Chicago Salvation Army Advisory Board member) drove Alex to the Army’s Harbor Light.

One Sunday morning Major Geoffrey Allan preached about a man crippled for 38 years lying by the pool of Bethesda. Jesus told the man to “get up and walk.” This story had a profound effect on Alex. Two Sundays later, he says, it was as if a supernatural power shot through his being and led him to the mercy seat. He cried in public for the first time.

Today, Alex Velasquez is a new creature in Christ, transformed by the grace of God. He has reconciled with his once–estranged mother, son, and two daughters. In 2004, he became a Salvation Army officer and married Captain Jennifer Poore. In 2005, Captains Alex and Jennifer were blessed with the birth of a little girl, Jaqueline.

“She and Jennifer are the joys of my life,” Captain Alex says.

“I never knew love could be so intoxicating. … My life was once only about satisfying the five senses. Since the Lord saved me there’s now an eternal dimension transcending everything.” www.saconnects.org

COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

GET CONNECTED STAY CONNECTED

The rewards start with $100.

For a limited time, get a $100 Visa® Prepaid Card for each new line you activate. Then continue saving each month through the Sprint Discount Program.

100

$

Claim your reward at sprint.com/promo/ILVT81221

Visa® Prepaid Card

After activating your line, you must visit sprint.com/verify within 30 days to confirm your eligibility for the Sprint Discount Program.

for each eligible newly activated line of service, for a limited time.

May req. new 2-year agmt/activation.

Act now! Offer ends 12/31/2014

Samsung Galaxy S ® 5

20%

Discount for employees of

The Salvation Army

Applies to select regularly priced Sprint monthly service.

Use this code for the Sprint Discount Program.

Corporate ID: NASVA_ZZZ

*NASVA_ZZZ*

Call: 866-639-8354 Visit a local Sprint Store: sprint.com/storelocator

sprint.com/salvationarmy

SACONNECTS.ORG

Activ. Fee: $36/line. Credit approval required. Early Termination Fee (sprint.com/etf): After 14 days, up to $350/line. SDP $100 Visa Prepaid Card Offer: Offer ends 12/31/2014 .

Available only to eligible SDP accounts with valid Corp. ID. While supplies last. Excludes tablets. Device requires activation at point of sale. Visa Prepaid Card request must be made at sprint.com/promo or Visa Prepaid Card will be declined. New-line must remain active and in good standing for 45 days to receive Visa Prepaid Card. Subject to CL corporate gifting policy. Allow 10-12 wks for delivery. May not be combinable with other offers. Other req. may apply for installment customers. See store or sprint.com for details.

Visa Prepaid Card: Cards are issued by Citibank, N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and managed by Citi Prepaid Services. Cards will not have cash access and can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. SDP Discount: Avail. for eligible company or org. employees (ongoing verification). Discount subject to change according to the company’s agreement with Sprint and is avail. upon request for monthly svc charges. Discount only applies to data buy-ups/add-ons for Unlimited, My Way and Framily plans, Talk 450, and primary line on Talk Share 700. Not avail. with no credit check offers or Mobile Hotspot add-on. America's Newest Network: Visit sprint.com/network. Coverage not available everywhere. Other Terms: Offers and coverage not available everywhere or for all phones/networks. Restrictions apply. See store or sprint.com for details. © 2014 Sprint. All rights reserved. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. Other marks are the property of their respective owners.

N145253CA

You’ve reminded us to seek holiness through the stories of God’s people.

Well done, Priority! magazine.

You will be missed.

NEW FRONTIER PUBLICATIONS Priorityhalfpage.indd 1

www.saconnects.org

NEW FRONTIER CHRONICLE • CARING • VIDA • FRONTIER PRESS

9/12/14 10:33 AM

33

In Pursuit of Holiness

Wha Is Holiness? he Salvation Army, coming out of Methodist tradition, is part of the “holiness” movement. The Army’s 10th doctrine is, “We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In the early years of Priority!, readers met Salvationists who testified to receiving “full sanctification,” or the “second blessing” of holiness. Those features were labeled “Heart Talks,”

after a book by the Army’s “holiness apostle,” Samuel Logan Brengle. Several people featured in “Heart Talks” bear the initials OF after their names, which means that they have been inducted into the Order of the Founder (OF), the highest honor that can be bestowed on a Salvationist.

In Fall 2010, Priority! devoted a special issue to “Living Holy,” in which several more Salvationists—officers and soldiers alike— shared their views on holiness.

Spring 1999

Drawn to Holiness in East Harlem ‘Sanctified. August 20, 1947.

Evening service.’

That notation is written in a Bible Brigadier Mary Nisciewiz (OF) still treasures.

It was the one she carried to the first– ever Brengle Institute in Chicago. …

‘For me, it was a special opportunity to give myself again to God and The Salvation Army and the people we serve. Sanctification is faith in God’s Word and not emotion.’

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www.saconnects.org

Summer 1999

The Man Who Holds God’s Mirror ‘For me, holiness is the precious privilege of walking and working with God. It is giving yourself fully to a wholehearted love relationship. It is wholehearted in that it is exclusive, without rivals, and in that you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength because He is supremely lovable.

The closer we get to Him, the more we are captivated by His own love and beauty.’

—Lt. Colonel Damon Rader (OF)

Summer 2000

‘Sarge’: The Man With a Holy Smile’ ‘Holiness is the state of one’s spiritual life where the Holy Spirit has done a complete work. … it means that one is made free from former habits.

And we get an awareness that all that counts in this life is doing the Lord’s will.’

—Corps Sergeant–Major Edward Gooding (OF)

In Pursuit of Holiness

Fall 2000

Holding Hands With Jesus ‘I’m always thinking of Jesus Christ sitting or standing near me. He’s holding my hand.

Then, I can think rightly. I can speak rightly. I can walk or act rightly. I do not want to walk the wrong way. I always want to walk the right way.’

Photo by Rich Dunoff

—Colonel David Kim

Winter 2001

Holiness Is as Holiness Does Holiness has allowed Major Mary West to be ‘absolutely honest.’ She doesn’t believe it has changed the essence of who she is; instead, she says, God has chosen to use her admittedly feisty, aggressive personality for His purposes.

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www.saconnects.org

®

Fall 2010

Fall 2010 Special Issue:

Living Holy

A Path to a Perfect Match ‘Sure, we can teach holiness, but what if we don’t live it? That makes no sense at all. So we have to teach it and live it. Walk the talk.’

—Captain Joanna Louangamath

SUE SPECIAL IS

ance, anybody can do that. To seek the higher level in understanding what holiness is, is to begin to see His heart.’

—Captain Bob Louangamath

Photo © Michael McDermott

LIVING HOLY

‘Following Him from the outward appear-

37

In Pursuit of Holiness

Fall 2010 Special Issue:

Living Holy

A Life Poured Out ‘It’s not about me; it’s about what God wants to do in and through me. … I ask God for my roots to go deep and branches to droop heavily with the Fruit of the Spirit.’

(Galatians 5:22–23) —Dr. Linda Burkle

At 20, She Wants to Live Holy ‘Holiness is God sifting out our impurities and our sin so that He can be seen in us and through us in every aspect of our lives.’

Photo by Robert Mitchell

—Allison Ward

God’s Perfect Plan for Their Life ‘Holiness is a whole reorientation in the way I look at life.

It’s not, “Can I do this and still be a Christian?” It’s “If I do this, if I say this, if I participate in this, will this contribute to or detract from my relationship with God?” ’ —Major David Antill

‘I’ve prayed, “Do not let anything come out of my mouth Photo by Robert Mitchell

that is not uplifting or pleasing.

I don’t want to say anything that is not of You.”’ —Major Jean Antill

THIS END UP F U R N I T U R E

C O M P A N Y

Congratulations on your commemorative Priority! issue (800) 979-4579

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thisendupcontract.com

39

Prayer Making a Difference

r e w o P yer a r of P the

In just about every issue of Priority!, there has been a Prayer Power section.

The only two issues that didn’t have one were ‘9/11: We Remember’ (Fall 2011), and ‘After Sandy: One Year Later’ (Fall 2013), and those two issues were shot through with prayer. The intention of Prayer Power articles was to lift up the power of God and encourage our readers that prayer makes a difference.

Here are a few excerpts from the scores of Prayer Power articles that we have featured over the years.

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Special Prayer Edition

Unleashing the Power of Nonstop Prayer Major Janet Munn, ambassador for prayer and spiritual formation, spearheaded a yearlong 24/7 prayer initiative in the USA Eastern Territory that ended in June 2007. Priority! produced a special issue to look at the impact of 24/7 prayer. Munn wrote an article, ‘One Year from Now,’ to celebrate the year of prayer in the East and look forward to efforts around the nation.

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hat a year it has been! Nonstop prayer across the USA Eastern Territory: 220+ Prayer Rooms established, with many, perhaps most, continuing indefinitely. There has also been a united call from individuals and divisions across the territory to continue—and so we are! This month, June, the USA Southern Territory is starting its own 24/7 year; the USA Western Territory will begin in September.

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“As we look ahead to one year from now, the Lord God, who alone can do more than we can ask or imagine, knows for sure what will happen, but let’s try to dream God’s dreams, inspired by the Holy Spirit.”

Munn looked forward to continuing intentional and intensive prayer in the East; prayer rooms being used by people of every age and background throughout the territory; countless stories of healing and reconciliation; fresh and creative ministries, flowing from prayer, to the marginalized; a significant increase in reaching people for Jesus; Salvationists involved in intentionally growing in Christ; and a whole nation praying as a united Salvation Army on its knees.

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Prayer Making a Difference

Summer 2000

‘Fresh Wind’ Hits Mount Vernon, Ohio When Jim Betts was a lieutenant back in 1999, he brought Pastor Jim Cymbala’s book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, along with him on a band trip to Scandinavia. He was so impressed with Cymbala’s story of revival at Brooklyn Tabernacle that he wanted it for his own congregation.

“I

basically preached the book when I came home …

Cymbala says that you will no longer be judged by your Sunday morning meetings but by your prayer meetings.”

Following Cymbala’s model, Betts and his wife, Lieutenant Sue–Ellen Betts, moved their Sunday morning prayer time— which had a typical attendance of three—to Wednesday nights. Now 30 or more people come each week. A group called Prayer Warriors, again about 30 people, slip out in pairs to bathe the Sunday service in prayer. When the 15–member worship team meets on Wednesday nights, half of the time is devoted to prayer. And any weekday morning at 6 a.m., people

are praying in the chapel.

Sunday morning services were transformed; people were coming to the altar even before praise and worship was over. After the message, the altar was lined with people. What excited Jim was what he had seen happening in young people. At a “rave” at the corps, two girls went outside to pray and weep together.

“I just stood there watching. Someone else came out and laid hands on them and began to pray. Soon the whole staircase was jam–packed with people praying. Someone started singing, ‘I love you, Lord.’ The foyer is [dark], and the song echoed through the staircase.”

Summer 2001

Presidential Prayer Circle Then–Captain Richard Munn tells of an opportunity that came for a small prayer circle to pray with President George W. Bush.

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he idea to pray came on the spur of the moment. The formal welcome of the President and his entourage had taken place. The visit with the seniors and the rapid–fire questioning from the press was over. The room was beginning to empty. There was a pause in the momentum.

“Would you mind if I prayed with you?” I cautiously offered.

“Let’s do it!” was the ready answer from the President. With that, he reached out and formed a spontaneous prayer circle that also included my wife, Janet, and our community services director for Northern New England, Barbara Plimpton. …

That Friday morning in a Salvation Army gym, four people gathered in a prayer circle. One happened to bear the “crown” of earthly leadership. But I am sure that each of us felt equally privileged to gather together before the throne of the one and only King.

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Fall 2002

A Macaroni Miracle Majors Bonnie and Lester Bussey were on missionary service in Zimbabwe with their three children, 9, 11, and 12. At the end of the month, they ran out of both money and food. Bonnie wondered how she could tell her children there would be nothing for dinner, and she wondered how this could happen when God had promised to supply all their needs.

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ll of a sudden it was as if God said, “Your answer is in the post office.” I ran across the street, very excited because I knew I would receive my answer. … I looked at the box, and it was empty.

As I turned to go, I saw a little colored disk in the box.

I handed it to the postmaster with a questioning look. He said, “Oh, there’s a package for you.”

My imagination worked overtime in the next few moments. Each second, the parcel grew and grew, until I was sure I’d have to get a bigger car to get it home. Can you imagine my despair when I was handed a tiny package about 8” x 3½”?

Sadly, I headed toward the car. However my curiosity made me start to tear the brown paper off the package. As I saw what was inside, tears filled my eyes.

God had not forgotten us! He had heard our prayer weeks before because back at our last corps, Montreal Citadel, an elderly lady had been led by the Lord to send us two boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese®. She mailed the package before we even left Canada, and yes, it arrived just on the day we needed it!

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Spring 2003

Isaiah Intervenes Then–Auxiliary Captain Patricia Niedermeyer writes about a mighty intervention for her son, Mike, by his son, Isaiah, just a small boy. Mike was working on a roof when he reached for a bundle of shingles that was slipping off.

He was pulled off with it.

H

e quickly realized that he was going over the edge. At that moment, he prayed, “Jesus, help me.” … He just calmly accepted that he was falling and waited to hit the ground, where there were piles of boards with nails in them, old shingles, the huge steel lift, and a set of cement steps.

There was only one clear spot in the yard, and that is where he landed. …

When Mike (pictured above with his family; Isaiah is in the front) went to the emergency room to be checked after his 25–foot fall and had only a sore foot (not even sprained), the doctor and nurses were so amazed that they said there must have been “divine intervention.”

Later that day, we found out who called for that intervention. Mike’s son, Isaiah, was praying with his mom, Susan, and sister, Sadie, as he does each morning. Typically, Isaiah is quickly “antsy” and wants to be released to run and play. That morning when Mommy said, “OK, we are done praying. You can go play,” Isaiah said, “I need to pray for Daddy.” Mommy and Isaiah bowed their heads and held hands as Isaiah prayed, “Jesus, keep Daddy safe today. And keep Him warm.”

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Prayer Making a Difference

Spring 2005

A Walking, Talking Miracle Nearly 10 years earlier, Major Donna Israel was returning home with her three sons. A tornado suddenly crossed their path and threw their 15–passenger van off the road. Matthew, 13, was killed. Tim, 7, escaped life–threatening injuries. Nathan, 5, was thrown from the vehicle and sustained critical injuries. Doctors said Nathan would not likely survive, and if he did, he would probably not walk or even talk again.

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s news crossed the Southern Territory, prayer vigils began.

“Officers from all around the territory came in shifts to spend long nights with Nathan at the hospital, giving us much–needed rest and reassurance,” said Major Travis Israel, Nathan’s dad.

He says the family has learned a great deal about faith in the months and years since.

“When we heard the doctors say this was going to happen, or that was not going to happen, or these are the

“

Fall 2005

The Bridge to New Ministry: Prayer GOD HAS OVERWHELMED US WITH HIS GOODNESS. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO LIMIT TO WHAT GOD CAN DO WHEN WE PRAY. —Major Marc Johnson

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limitations we should expect, it was like God then said, ‘OK, now stand back and watch this!’ ” Nathan lay in a coma for 40 days before he woke up. Over 60 more days in the hospital, much to the amazement of the doctors, he continued to improve. Except for a slight limp, there are no visible signs today that Nathan was in an accident that nearly took his life.

“God has helped me through this nine–year ordeal,” Nathan said on the day of his enrollment as a senior soldier.

Major Ronnie Raymer, a close family friend who had been at Nathan’s bedside when he woke up from the coma, conducted the ceremony. She gave glory to God for Nathan’s recovery and challenged him to seek the Lord’s will in his life.

”

Majors Marc and Karen Johnson were in charge of starting a new Army ministry called ‘The Bridge’ in Hanover Park, Ill. Officers for more than 20 years, including six as missionaries in Chile, the Johnsons had always relied on prayer. But starting a new work from scratch made them even more dependent on God’s strength, not their own.

Spring 2007

Being There in Milwaukee Tragedy Majors Judy and Mike Mills received the call: an explosion had ripped through the Falk Corporation warehouse, and they were being asked to provide chaplaincy.

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ina was the first person Mike encountered. She was there with her husband’s best friend, Tim, and she told Mike she was sure her husband had survived.

Mike took a few minutes to pray with Tina and Tim. Busload after busload of survivors arrived. Hour after hour passed.

“I kept coming back to see how Tina and Tim were doing,” said Mike. “It was so difficult to see the change in Tina’s eyes—every time, a little more fearful.”

Word began to trickle in about the explosion. A list was posted of those

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he moment the Johnsons heard about their new assignment, they began to spend a fervent hour each day on their knees.

They went on prayer walks through the neighborhoods and surrounded themselves with prayer warriors.

Says Marc, “Initially, I contacted 35 people and asked them to pray for us every day, and the team has grown from there” to nearly 100.

Covered in prayer, the Johnsons stepped out in obedience to God to find people. With 50 percent of Hispanics in the Chicago area living in the suburbs, English as a Second Language classes provided many opportunities for community contacts. They held preview worship services, vacation Bible school, community events, and home Bible studies—all without a permanent location.

Then it was time for the official launch, on Easter Sunday.

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hospitalized. Still no word of Tina’s husband.

Mike noticed Tina slipping out a back door and followed her.

“She told me how they met and that she had had a crush on her husband for most of her life,” said Mike. “She was trying to stay strong.”

After four hours of waiting, Tina learned that her husband had been one of three people killed.

Mike and Judy were with Tina and Tim when they got the news.

“The Lord gave us the right words to say so they could feel his comfort,” Mike said.

“What really struck me in all this is that we as Christians, as Salvationists, have the ability to minister in ways others can’t because we share a God who brings peace no matter the circumstances,” Judy said.

“When a rocket launches, everybody in the area knows it.

The whole community shakes. That’s the impact we wanted to have when we launched this ministry,” says Marc.

Twice, they had sent postcard invitations to 7,000 households with Hispanic last names. Then the team began praying for each family by name. “ … Three days before the event, God had taken away our worries. Now, it was up to the Holy Spirit to draw people to Him.” More than 350 people came that day. The upstairs room overflowed with 275 people who stayed for worship; 23, including two who had never been to church before, gave their hearts to the Lord.

“God has overwhelmed us with His goodness,” says Marc.

“There is absolutely no limit to what God can do when we pray.”

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soldier (member), is the son of Army officers in its India Western Territory. There was a time, he says, when he never would have guessed that following Christ could take him half a world away, far from his loving family.

But that is exactly what happened. Before he arrived here nearly three years ago,

Prayer Making a Difference

Photos by Fran

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young Salvationist from India no longer fears living and ministering in an urban American neighborhood.

Ashish Pawar is a “Firecrest missioner” (evangelist) assigned to the Magness– Potter Community Center in downtown Nashville, Tenn.

Ashish, a Salvation Army

Ashish Pawar in his office

he knew two things: he would then I’d be at Home with be assigned to some type Him,” Ashish says. of urban ministry, and the On the day he moved into neighborhood would most his apartment about three likely be very dangerous. blocks from The Salvation “I was right on both Army, Ashish saw a group of counts,” Ashish says with a seven men hanging around in Winter 2008 nervous laugh. “But it wasn’t front of the house. long until I realized that I “They were glaring at me Ashish Pawar came from to obviously be an evangelist, had to surrender my fear to Indiaand wonderinga ‘Firecrest missioner,’ at theMagness–Potter Lord Jesus, who promised whatCenter I was doing there,” he Tenn. He said he had to the Community in Nashville, to protect me if I just trusted says. ‘ratchet up’ his prayer life and surrender his fear of urban ministry to the Lord in Him.” Ashish simply smiled at Jesus. One of the things he did was to participate in Prayer Walkers. the men and said hello; for Ratcheting up prayer life the next three weeks, he kept heysays walk the and stopping, as the Ashish hisaround prayer life wasneighborhood, doing that eachsinging time hehymns left always “good,” but he had to thewitness. day and came home.

Holy Spirit leads, to prayforand “ratchet it up a few notches” And he prayed that the Lord “Prayer Walkers has become something of a fixture to people around from the first day he arrived. would not only protect him here,” Ashish says. “At first they were curious about what we were doing, and Since that time, prayer has but also help him establish reabout thehim Salvation we takesowith us. But most are not so curious delivered over and Army over, flag lationships he could spread anymore andGospel. what we are!” he added. … they know who the “I simply reasoned that After three weeks, Ashish says his prayer life has sustained himAshthrough several tense if God wanted me here, He ish said he felt the Lord encounters in the crime–ridden community. … was going to have to protect encouraging him to stop and “My dad often reminds me that he held me when I was a baby and gave me—or if something bad speak to the young men. “So me back totothe for His service. whyand today I can walk down any of happened me, Lord then that I walked That’s up to them wouldstreets be OK too to be cool, talking to these andbecause actually feeltried God’s presence all around me, protecting me!”

Prayer Shields Against Urban Dangers

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ayer Power

Prayer Shields Against Urban Dangers

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Photos by Frank Duracher

Ashish (left) and a circle of ‘Prayer Walkers’ Frank Duracher

young Salvationsoldier (member), is the son 46 ist from India no of Army officers in its India longer fears living Western Territory. There ministering in an urban was a time, he says, when he Ashish Pawar in his office erican neighborhood. never would have guessed he knew two things: he would then I’d be at Home with Ashish Pawar is a “Firethat following Christ could Robin Melvin’s husband, Jeff, was about to be deployed to a war zone. be assigned to some type Him,” Ashish says. t missioner” (evangelist) take him half a world away, of urban ministry, and the On the day he moved into gned to the Magness– far from his loving family. neighborhood would most his apartment about three er Community Center in But that is exactly what e lingered … in silent and embraces.

Knowing it might be our likely betears very dangerous. blocks from The Salvation ntown Nashville, Tenn. happened.

Before he arrived “I wasmade right on both Army, Ashish saw a group of seemed ish, a Salvation Army here last nearly moments three years ago,together words seem urgent, yet they counts,” Ashish says with a seven men hanging around in so weak in expressing ourit wasn’t heartsfront already knew: commitment, nervouswhat laugh. “But of the house. long until I realized that I “They were glaring at me fidelity, endurance. had to surrender my fear to and obviously wondering theaLord Jesus,from who promised what I was doing there,” he As we sat … Jeff pulled book his backpack.

It symbolized his to protect me if I just trusted says. grandma’s prayers. She was a Salvation Army officer fighting in a different in Him.” Ashish simply smiled at the meninto and said hello; for of our fears: war. He opened the tattered, red hymnal and sang the face Ratcheting up prayer life the next three weeks, he kept My Jesus I love thee.Ashish I know thou mine …that each time he left says his prayer art life was doing always “good,” but he had to for the day and came home.

I will love thee in life; I will love thee in death, “ratchet it up a few notches” And he prayed that the Lord And praise thee as long asfirst thou me breath; from the day helendest arrived. would not only protect him Since that time, prayer has but also help him establish reAnd say, when the death–dew lies cold on my brow: delivered him over and over, lationships so he could spread he added.

If ever I Ioved thee, my Jesus ’tis now. the Gospel.

“I simply reasoned that After three weeks, Ash… As we sang together, ourwanted Comforter usfeltwith complete peace. if God me here, He wrapped ish said he the Lord was going to have to protect encouraging him to stop and worst fears.

We knew, no matter what, we’d be OK. Even in the midst of our me—or if something bad speak to the young men. “So happened to me, then that I walked up to them and would be OK too because tried to be cool, talking to

Spring 2010

At Ease in the Face of Fear

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ish (left) and a circle of ‘Prayer Walkers’

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Summer 2010

‘Prayer Dynamo’ Comes in Small Package Tralena Davis, a 23–year–old nursing student from Jonesboro, Ark., is known for ‘praying in the Spirit.’

“I

pray from my heart,” Tralena says. “I’m not so much concerned about what’s being said as I am about allowing the Holy Spirit to just overtake me. When I pray, I want God’s power to take over.” …

Tralena describes her public prayer style as “being careful what words I choose at first—but after a while I feel that God is using me as a mouthpiece to proclaim whatever it is He wants me to say to His people.” …

To say that her prayers are intense may be an understatement. One soldier exclaimed, “When Tralena prays, Heaven trembles!”

“

When Tralena prays, Heaven trembles!

”

Winter 2013

Taking Prayer to Detroit Streets A Bed & Bread truck stopped every Saturday at the Detroit Harding Corps.

Captains Javier and Kelsie Moreno, corps officers, saw it as an opportunity to offer snacks and prayer to those waiting for the truck to arrive.

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e minister in a rough neighborhood where you don’t see many smiles on the streets. So, to see a group of people with smiles and friendly faces—well, it’s happily received,” Kelsie says. …

“Our soldiers have really stepped up to the challenge to be involved in intentional outreach,” says Javier. “People are moved when we ask how we can pray for them … ” Everyone from homeless people to business professionals have approached the outreach group for prayer.

“We’ve had people come by the corps and ask if any of those ‘praying people’ are here,” says Kelsie. “They know we’re a place you can come for prayer!”

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MyTake

15 Years of

Fulfillment

by Robert Mitchell

I

had worked the daily newspaper grind for 15 years since graduating from college, but I was growing more disillusioned by the day.

I covered government and politics—a prestigious beat at most papers—but suddenly, nothing I wrote seemed to matter.

I didn’t get excited about big stories anymore and I couldn’t understand why. It all seemed so trivial and tedious. I was frustrated because I wasn’t using my talents for God, and it gnawed at me every day.

Then I saw a job opening to work for an evangelistic magazine being started

by The Salvation Army, an organization I have always felt represented the very best of Christianity. Since I was involved in evangelism at my church, this seemed perfect. I was ecstatic when I actually got the job.

Before leaving my old newspaper, a 48

local radio host wanted to interview me.

She made the comment that going to The Salvation Army must seem boring after all of the exciting things I had covered in my career, including interviewing the President. I didn’t quite see it that way.

“Actually,” I said, “I’m going to be writing about people crossing over from death to life. To me, there’s nothing more exciting than that.”

For the last 15 years here at Priority!, that’s exactly what I’ve done, and it has rekindled my spiritual life and, hopefully, the spiritual lives of our readers.

When I showed up in the summer of 1999, Priority! had put out just one issue.

I worked with editors Linda Johnson and Warren Maye and art director Peter Hanke, who tragically died about halfway through this journey. I like to think Peter would be proud of what he helped

start and the excellence that has continued with art director Keri Johnson and our graphic design team.

I had written many feature stories as a newspaper reporter, but for the most part I was a straight news writer—short sentences, no extraneous words, no nonsense, no fluff, no frills, just the facts. Linda was a huge help as I transitioned to writing longer, more nuanced feature stories.

I would generally fly or drive to cities big and small and interview people. I always wanted to know what made them tick. What motivated them? Why did they get out of bed in the morning? What was their devotional life like? What was their relationship with Christ like?

The people in The Salvation Army have blown me away with their spiritual maturity, their commitment, their fidelity to Scripture, their sacrificial love for

others, their kindness, the way they give up their lives for others, and their concern for lost souls. It wasn’t uncommon for me to leave an interview and say, “Wow. I wish I had their spiritual life.”

The story I wrote after spending a week in Honduras on a medical missions trip with the Raymond family remains my favorite. I thought I had “seen it all” during my newspaper days, but witnessing unimaginable poverty was life–changing; I ended up with tears in my eyes more than once. I’ve never quite seen the world the same way since.

Over the years, I’ve interviewed lots of celebrities: Christian singers, artists, athletes, and other famous people. (See “Who’s News: Star Witness”). That’s been fun, but some of my favorite interviews have been with the non–famous—those who toil for God quietly behind the scenes.

Like the nights I went with Salvationists to feed the homeless who live under bridges in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland, Akron, and many other cities. … The time I interviewed Salvationists praying against spiritual darkness in Puerto Rico. … The time I interviewed a man who, while begging for food on the streets of San Juan, saw his own children begging as well.

Every story I wrote I tailored to fit our mission statement of “promoting prayer, holiness, and evangelism through the life stories of God’s people.”

The reason I wanted to know what motivated my subjects or the details of their devotional life was very simple. I wanted to inspire others in their faith. I wanted them to read our magazine and find Christ. I wanted them to say, “If this person can overcome, I can too.” I wanted

them to say, “If this person gets up at 5 a.m. to read the Bible, maybe I can too.”

If our stories inspired people, I’m happy. I know they have because we’ve received letters from prisoners and others telling us how much Priority! has blessed their lives.

As we transition to a new publication and in a more digital direction under Lt. Colonel Cheryl Maynor in the new Communications Department, I’m looking forward to telling more stories about our amazing God and the way He moves in our lives.

I left the newspaper business—actually, God called me out of it—and I’ve never looked back. The last 15 years have been extremely fulfilling, and I get excited about every new story I begin, always wondering what God is going to show us next.

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We Were There Header Here

Upfront: Long hot summer A (Red) Shield from Storms, Fire, Heat power to millions in the mid– many Salvation Army centers Atlantic, and record–breakopened their doors to become ing heat gripped the nation. cooling stations. In Fort And everywhere, The Sal- Lauderdale, Fla., the Army vation Army was on the job. gave out ice cream cones to Following Debby, Emerhomeless people. gency Disaster Services For the people who receive on from The Salvation (EDS) teams from Standing all over help ‘Solid Rock’ Florida brought mobile Army, it’s about much more After Earthquakes canteens to help flooded–out than the tangible. The Newresidents with basics like ark, Ohio, Advocate reported food and water, hygiene and on an 75–year–old woman, HELPING HAITI cleanup kits.

Clara Roshon, who came to &Chile In Colorado, where wildan Army cooling station to fires raged in Waldo Canyon recharge the battery on her and High Park, EDS workers oxygen tank. from as far away as Montana “I have been treated like and Wyoming came to proroyalty here,” Roshon said. vide shelter, clothing, food, “I didn’t know what to do. and comfort and counseling Everyone down here is so to evacuees. helpful. I appreciate them so During the heat wave much. Thank the good Lord and sustained power outages, they have places like these.”

INSIDE: 14–Page Feature ‘The Salvation Army’s Powerful Response’

®

Photo by Advocate File Photo

Spring 2010

‘We want to be an oasis for people who need to get out of the heat,’ said Doc Bartlett, a caseworker in Victoria, Texas.

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on south Florida. Wildfires caused mass evacuations and destruction across the West.

A string of fast–moving thunderstorms knocked out

Photos by Associated Press

ummer had just begun, and already, the U.S. had seen its share of disaster. Tropical Storm Debby dumped 20 inches of rain

Kelly Berggren holds up a fan at The Salvation Army in Medford, Ore. The Army distributed many fans during the heat wave.

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WE Were There

Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton speaks with Christina Pontow, who is homeless, about shelter information. He joined Salvation Army and City of Phoenix Homeless Programs volunteers delivering water and information during a weeks–long period when temperatures were 100–plus. www.prioritypeople.org

On the Job

‘ # ) ' ’

, # ( () '

()' (

Photo by Jon Bragg; all others courtesy Jerry Larsen

by Robert Mitchell

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I

n news coverage of disasters, large and small, The Salvation Army is seldom seen. But anyone who is part of the Army knows that we are always present, delivering physical sustenance and supplies, emotional support, and spiritual care to victims and first responders. In Priority!, the Army’s work has been front– and–center from our very first issue. In Spring 1999, “Raymonds Bring Hope and Health to Hurricane–Ravaged Honduras,” told of a family of doctors and other medical professionals who brought their skills to that nation. Two more articles, a cover story in Spring 2006, “Healing Hands in Honduras” and a Who’s News article in Summer 2012, “Triage in Honduras,” let readers know that the Raymonds’ commitment was long–term.

That has been another theme of Priority!’s coverage of the Army’s help following a disaster—whether natural or human–caused. We are there for the

long haul. After Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2006, we provided immediate coverage (Winter 2006, “In the Eye of the Storm”) and follow–ups in Spring 2006 (“SATERN Rings True”), Winter 2007 (“Habitat Partners with Salvation Army in Biloxi Recovery”) and Summer 2008 (“Resurrecting a Rehab Center”).

Likewise with the earthquake in Haiti, starting with a cover story, “Helping Haiti: The Salvation Army’s Powerful Response,” and following up with “New Manna for Haiti” (Summer 2010) and “Year 1: After the Quake” (Winter 2011).

Priority! covered the Army’s international disaster work: helping after the 2004 tsunami (Spring 2005); after violent unrest in Kenya (Spring 2008); in Kosovo and Iraq (Summer 2008); after an earthquake in Peru (Spring 2009) and Chile (Spring 2010), the earthquake and tsunami in Japan (Winter 2013), and a typhoon in Philippines and volca-

nic eruption in Indonesia (Spring 2014).

We also made readers aware of the Army’s presence closer to home: after Hurricane Jeanne (Winter 2005), California wildfires (Winter 2008), Midwest floods (Fall 2008), shootings in Pittsburgh (Fall 2009), tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Summer 2011) and Moore, Okla. (Summer 2013), and the I–35 bridge collapse in Minnesota (Winter 2008).

Readers were most touched by Priority!’s coverage of two major disasters, the 9/11 terror attacks and Hurricane Sandy. A special issue, “After Sandy: The First Year” (Fall 2013) provided full coverage of the Army’s immediate and long–term response (continuing to this day). For 9/11, right after the event, Priority! ran a supplement, “An Abiding Presence in ‘The Pit’ ” (Winter 2002). Then, 10 years later, Priority! released a special issue, “9/11: We Remember” (Fall 2011).

Opposite page, clockwise from top center: Haiti earthquake cover; praying following Katrina; Haiti earthquake relief; delivering water in drought–ravaged Kenya; Jerry Larsen, longtime Salvation Army disaster coordinator; at Minneapolis I–35 bridge collapse; serving first–responders; medical work in Honduras; teaming with Habitat for Humanity to build new homes in Biloxi; delivering water during a heat wave. Center under headline: Offering comfort after tornado in Moore, Okla. Below: The ‘cross’ found at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terror attacks; Salvation Army volunteer and firefighter overlook the end of the work in ‘the pit.’

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We Were There: Around the World 速

Spring 2006

Trading spaces in S.C. Switching careers in Ohio Homeless in Las Vegas

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Priority! Update

Finding Joy Amid Despair Salvation Army Soldiers On in Kenya

by Linda D. Johnson

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e are starting 2008 with unrest and uncertainty,” wrote Captain Armida LaMarr, an American serving as social services director in Kenya. As she flew back from a Christmas visit to family in the United States, the first volleys were fired in what would be a long siege of violence following a questionable presidential election.

“We all held our breath [on the drive from the airport] but returned with no

incident,” Armida wrote. “It was very strange, however, because the roads were practically empty and everything was closed. It was like being in a different world, since Nairobi is usually alive with activity.”

So began a period of “lockdown” for the Salvation Army officers’ compound in Nairobi. For Lt. Colonels Kenneth and Jolene Hodder, U.S. officers who serve as chief secretary (second in command)

and president of Women’s Ministries for the Kenya Territory, it meant conducting Army business primarily by cell phone.

Brave action They learned that some Salvation Army officers were hiding members of the Kikuyu tribe in their homes. The Kikuyus were the first group to come under attack because they belong to the same tribe as Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent

®

Winter 2008

the corps an One Salv in Ica full–ti three childre Lucia and Ka and home in

The cover story in the last issue of Priority! was about editor Linda D. Johnson’s trip to a peaceful Kenya.

Many places named in that article have figured prominently in the news of escalating violence. This follow–up was compiled from e–mails, some of them from Captain Armida LaMarr, shown at right carrying a homeless baby in a camp for the displaced.

12

www.prioritypeople.org

Conducting a worship service outdoors

One summer later…

A joyful 2008 WUM Mission Team returned from 10 days spent in Peru this past July. They had seen firsthand the Army’s work in Ica. While the impact of the earthquake is still seen and felt, The Salvation Army has forged a strong spiritual bond with the people.

Today, just over a year after the earthquake, a new corps is in the making in Ica. A crudely constructed tent that stands in the center of a neighborhood called Juarez has become a place of worship. The people, who have not forgotten the grace–filled service of The Salvation Army, gather in the humble tent for Home League (a women’s group), “Hour of Joy” youth activities, Sunday services, and other meetings.

The vision is that this corps will soon be able to raise the funds needed to not only build a solid structure for the corps but also attach a “panaderia,” or bakery.

The bakery is a practical choice. The people of Ica now have to go a considerable distance to buy bread, so it would provide a necessary service. And the bakery would provide jobs for the people of the corps. Proceeds will in turn support

Jerry holds a baby in a Ugandan refugee camp.

(Right) A Salvation Army relief team in Kuwait before leaving for Iraq

A New Day in Iraq?

J

erry Larsen, who has twice been to war– ravaged Iraq, says the familiar red Salvation Army shield shines brightly in that dark part of the world.

‘The Salvation Army name is on a lot of schools, a lot of facilities, some medical clinics,’ he says. ‘I was quite amazed that, in a country that is by far Muslim, they would put anything on the gate of a school to say that this was made possible through the work of The Salvation Army. It was very exciting for me.’

Jerry says the Iraqis he met had no problem praying with Salvationists and taking part in devotions. ‘They know their Bible,’ he says.

He also says he believes Iraq has a bright future.

‘Having been there a couple of times and seeing the good that’s being done … I do have a good feeling about it,’ he says. ‘It’s not something that we can let go of and just keep our fingers crossed. It’s going to take persistence to make sure that they’re stable enough to make it.

‘All of the Iraqis that I dealt with directly had a very positive attitude about moving forward, about its being a new day in Iraq and hoping for a peaceful country and some form of democracy so they wouldn’t have to live in fear anymore.’

Jerry with an Iraqi family www.prioritypeople.org

www.saconnects.org

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53

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We Were There: Around the U.S.

Upfront: After the Twister Salvation Army on the Scene in Moore Her husband, Lieutenant John Autry, was already serving as part of The Salvation Army’s

How you can help

planned tornado response.

Mobile canteens from Oklahoma and Arkansas have been deployed across a wide region affected by the tornado. Other Lieutenant John Autry

practical help included providing kits containing brooms, mops, buckets, and other cleaning supplies.

Major Steve Morris, the Sal-

Gearing up to serve

vation Army’s Arkansas–Oklahoma divisional commander, says, ‘The Salvation Army is honored to serve and provide sustenance to first responders involved in search and rescue, coordination efforts and more.

And, of course, all survivors

T

will be provided spiritual and he Salvation Army

immediately, on the spot, at a

was on the ground in

time of need.”

Moore, Okla., right after

a huge tornado wiped out most of the town.

Oklahoma’s Gov. Mary Fallin expressed gratitude to Salvation Army officers, volunteers,

Oklahoma City Salvation Army officer Lieutenant Sharon

emotional care.

“Many of these impacted communities will take months or even years to recover. The

Autry was at home with her

Salvation Army is committed to

children in Moore when the

being there with them through-

tornado struck.

out and providing aid wherever

“We got in our minivan and

it’s needed. We are calling on

and donors for their effective

outran it,” Autry says. “We saw

everyone to pray for all of those

response. She remarked, “The

it headed for us as we left the

impacted by these devastating

® will be there Salvation Army

driveway—indescribable!’

tornadoes.”

www.armyconnections.org

Donating money to the relief effort is the best way to help.

$10

Food for one day for one person To donate $10, text STORM to 80888.

Confirm with “YES.”

$30

Box of food for family of four

$100

Snacks and drinks for 125 for one day

$250

One hot meal for 100

$500

Keeps mobile canteen operating for one day

What

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Rehab Center

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racher

Serving Together

SATERN Rings True

ww w.p

by Robert Mitchell

sometimes they are the only form of communication that remains up and running.

After the Gulf hurricanes last year, SATERN helped many people find loved ones.

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8. (Left) fer New equson Highw ipment ay, should be is ready to be Major Patrick McPherson on duty

15

Katrina connections

It was the 1970s, when CB–radios were hot and most people had never heard of a cell phone. Patrick McPherson, a Salvation Army officer and pastor, had been transferred from Illinois to Michigan, and he wanted to keep in touch with his brother in Missouri.

So he decided, instead of racking up high telephone bills, to buy a CB radio.

Pat soon bought a much more powerful ham radio, which he set up in his house.

Little did he know that his love for radio would grow so much that it would one day birth a worldwide network of volunteer ham operators called The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network, or SATERN. Even today, in the cell–phone and computer age, ham radios remain vital; in an emergency, 36

54

was eventually found in a Mississippi shelter, and SATERN arranged for her to talk to her son and tell him that his family was safe.

Pat says he also received 1,000 requests to join SATERN from radio operators who heard the back– and–forth during Katrina.

“I get applications virtually every day,” he says.

“People from all over the world want to be a part of it. Since Hurricane Mitch in 1998, not one week has gone by without someone joining. People come to you who just want to help. It’s happened so much that I’m not surprised. Here’s God making it work again.”

Drills and God’s help

Photo by Ron Londen/Journey Group

In the Eye of the Storm

That was the case when Hurricane Katrina hit last fall. With most cell towers down and electricity out, SATERN went to work, handling 58,000 “health and welfare” requests from people who hoped to find loved ones. Until then, the most requests the network had ever handled at a time was 1,000; SATERN received 3,000 requests in just the first two weeks after the hurricane.

“You had a huge area that was devastated,” Pat explains. “No one could get hold of their loved ones. We found 25,000 people.… We participated in literally scores, hundreds of rescues. It was absolutely mind–boggling.”

Pat is particularly proud of SATERN’s efforts to help a U.S. soldier in Iraq who had lost contact with his family during Katrina.

SATERN operators made radio contact with a mobile radio unit in the Gulf Region that searched for information. The soldier’s mother

Pat cites both down–to– earth and supernatural reasons for SATERN’s growth and success.

“We run practice nets every day,” Pat says.

“SATERN is the most consistent [at] disaster preparation because we’re working every day at it.”

But he says there is another important ingredient that makes the network so effective.

“I view what has happened with SATERN as the moving of the Holy Spirit,” says McPherson, now the network’s national director and still pastor of a local Salvation Army church in Midland, Mich. “To see the things that have dynamically happened over the last 18 years … is just a tremendous thing. I know Pat McPherson as a man could not do what was necessary to make this thing work. It’s exploded.”

Back when Pat began as an amateur radio operator, he says he would often hear different agencies and networks communicating with one another. That gave him an idea that would provide his own organization, The Salvation Army, with a way to help people in times of disaster.

While pastoring a Salvation Army church in Springfield, Ill., Pat and another ham operator, 37

www.saconnects.org

After the Haiti Earthquake

Doing the Most Good

Helping Haiti

Photos (pages 28-31) Yves Montobon

The Salvation Army’s Powerful Response

by Linda D. Johnson & Robert Mitchell using Salvation Army sources and interviews

of sev era e to enj l places oy do wn

ted jus t ne west stands on most oth er on, the ve bee n rtail

28

hout the ere want

in

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We Were There: Hurricane Sandy

Fall 2013

L I FE STO R I ES

OF

G O D’S PEO PLE

After Sandy The Fir st Year

Offering H elp And H ope For S uperstorm Survivors

56

®

Letters TO THE EDITOR We thought that the edition of the review of Hurricane Sandy a year later (Fall 2013) was the best, but we think they all have been great, and we have looked forward to them all with such anticipation! We are sorry to see Priority! finish, as we enjoyed it so much.

Commissioners David & Alice Baxendale Clearwater, FL

®

The [Sandy] issue touched me in several ways. My husband and I served in many of the areas struck by the storm and [were] mentioned in that issue. Many of the contributing writers were friends and officers with whom we served.

We lived in Freeport, Long Island, before our first appointment [as officers] in Newark, N.J. Two other appointments were in Trenton and Atlantic City. When we were stationed at the ARC in Bridgeport, Conn., we lived in Milford, Conn.

All of these places were mentioned in that issue. Therefore, so much of the issue stirred special memories, such as serving on the canteens in various places, providing food on the streets when residents of Atlantic City were evacuated to the mainland during another hurricane, and so on.

But I was especially moved by the article featuring Brenda Beavers Simpson (opposite page, top left). We first met Brenda when we were stationed in Newark in 1973. We enjoyed a beautiful friendship with her even when our appointments took us out of New Jersey.

From her pictures I can’t believe it has been 10 years since I last saw her. It was refreshing to read of her continuing efforts in promoting God’s work through The Salvation Army. I can see her outward and inward beauty have not changed. The article indeed is a “Life Story of (one of) God’s People.”

Captain Marilyn Chapman Boone, NC www.saconnects.org

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We Were There: 9/11

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We Were There: 9/11

S P E C I A L 10 t h A N N I V E R SA RY I S S U E ®

Fall 2011

Life Stories of Go d’s Peo ple

9/11

We Remember

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Letters TO THE EDITOR What a great run Priority! has had. I think for me the [issue] about 9/11 was definitely one of the best. As devastation unfolded around us, the Army was at the forefront of meeting needs at the point of need. Your staff has done a wonderful job and I look forward to see what is new in the future.

Major Earline May Columbus, OH It is difficult to pick a “special” issue since all have had a quality of sensitivity, spirit, and class, but I would have to lean toward the special issue regarding 9/11. Being involved for the full nine months of the Army’s participation, it holds a special spot in my heart. Once again your sensitivity in the production of that one issue brings together the real quality of every issue: “Others.”

Major Gary Miller Clearwater, FL Wow, the end of an era! I always enjoyed the Priority! magazine. Part of the reason was because I am a “visual person,” and it was always well done. Thank you. Of course the issues that I appreciated, not necessarily enjoyed, were those that related to September 11 and Shanksville [Pa.] in particular. Thank you for always being sensitive to those articles, as well as others that had to do with emotional & spiritual care in disasters!

Major Claranne Meitrott West Nyack, NY While each issue has maintained the high standards set by the editor and staff, my favorite issues were those carrying the heroic stories of those involved in ministry at Ground Zero following the devastation of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. The Lord used Priority! to chronicle and celebrate the true heroes of 9/11. The 10–year anniversary coverage in 2011 was a moving reminder of God’s continued working through the lives of those working at Ground Zero a decade later.

Commissioner William W. Francis Orlando, FL www.saconnects.org

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ILD SPO CH ORSHIP NS

OVERSEAS

Graham, 5 years old, walks home from school in K ibera, Africa’s largest slum. He is fortunate. Most of the children in his school are AIDS orphans. Graham’s mom is HIV–positive, but she is healthy. She is grateful that The Salvation Army helps with Graham’s school fees. You can help children like Graham all around the world through Overseas Child Sponsorship.

Call Today!

Eastern Territory: (845) 620–7435 • overseaschild@use.salvationarmy.org 440 West Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994

Kroc Centers Spread Throughout U.S.

Joan Kroc’s Legacy “J

ust Who Was This Generous Woman?” asked a headline in the Spring 2004 issue. The answer?

McDonald’s heiress Joan Kroc. She died in October 2003 at age 75; in January came the blockbuster news that she had left at least $1.5 billion to The Salvation Army.

Joan, known as a “stealth philanthropist,” didn’t grow up wealthy, so she had a particular interest in helping the downtrodden. In 1998, she went on a driving tour of San Diego with the mayor and was deeply disturbed by the blight she saw in one east San Diego neighborhood.

“I was touched particularly by the children, as I realized that they desperately needed a safe gathering place— a place with facilities and trained professionals to nurture and develop their www.saconnects.org

social skills, art appreciation, and athletic potential.”

Months later, Joan began working with The Salvation Army to build the 12.5–acre Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center in east San Diego.

Just weeks before her death, Joan visited the center and liked what she saw—a revitalized neighborhood and a well–run operation, supported by her money ($92 million) as well as by additional funds raised by The Salvation Army.

Joan decided that upon her death, the Army would receive the largest share of her fortune, to be divided among the Army’s four U.S. territories. She set up the legacy so that half the money would be used to build 25 to 30 community centers. The other half would be in endowments to help support the centers.

Joan knew that this money would not be nearly enough to maintain the centers. The Army estimates that $40 to $70 million will be needed annually to support their operation. The Army spent some time “counting the cost” before accepting the gift.

Commissioner W. Todd Bassett, national commander at the time, said Joan was comfortable with the Army’s Christian emphasis.

“She fully understood the importance of the spiritual life of a person and knew that was integral to The Salvation Army,” Bassett said.

In the pages of Priority!, features about the new Kroc centers continued throughout the years. On the following pages are excerpts from some of those stories.

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Kroc Centers Spread Throughout U.S.

Summer 2004

Flagship in San Diego

J

oan Kroc’s vision was to “have a facility in which people could develop their skills to the full extent of their potential,” says Major Cynthia Foley, administrator in San Diego. “She didn’t want a child to ‘outgrow’ the facility, so everything had to be at the highest level possible.”

As a result, at the Kroc Center, the swimming pools are Olympic–sized, the basketball court has an NBA– quality maple floor, the ice rink meets NHL standards, and the theater is larger than most on Broadway. There’s also an 8,000–volume library and education center; fitness, music, arts, and day–care centers; a natural grass soccer field; and a kitchen that can serve 3,000.

And every Sunday, there’s church. Large banners at each end of the 12–acre campus invite people to “Worship This Sunday” at the University Avenue Corps, a Salvation Army congregation that meets at the Kroc Center. Joan Kroc wanted the center to “meet the needs of the whole person,” says Foley, by providing programs to addressed people’s physical, social, and spiritual needs.

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Kroc Center Locations 2014 Coeur d’Alene

WASHINGTON

Notes: Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are part of the USA Eastern Territory.

Alaska and a number of Pacific Islands besides Hawaii that are part of the USA Western Territory are not shown because no centers will be there.

Map not drawn to scale.

NORTH DAKOTA

MONTANA

MINNESOTA MAINE

Salem

SOUTH DAKOTA IDAHO

OREGON

Green Bay

WYOMING

VERMONT

MICHIGAN

WISCONSIN

Grand Rapids

NEW YORK

Eastern Territory

IOWA NEBRASKA

Chicago

Omaha

South Bend

Ashland

ILLINOIS

Suisun City

UTAH

NEVADA

COLORADO

Central Territory

San Francisco

Philadelphia

Dayton

KANSAS

MASSACHUSETTS

Camden

NEW JERSEY WEST VIRGINIA

MISSOURI

Boston

CONNECTICUT RHODE ISLAND

PENNSYLVANIA

OHIO

INDIANA

Quincy

NEW HAMPSHIRE

DELAWARE VIRGINIA

MARYLAND

KENTUCKY Norfolk

Western Territory

CALIFORNIA

OKLAHOMA ARIZONA

NORTH CAROLINA

TENNESSEE

Memphis

ARKANSAS

NEW MEXICO

Greenville

SOUTH CAROLINA Atlanta

MISSISSIPPI

Phoenix San Diego

TEXAS

Southern Territory

Augusta

ALABAMA GEORGIA

Biloxi Kerrville

LOUISIANA FLORIDA

Honolulu

PUERTO RICO & VIRGIN ISLANDS

HAWAII

Winter 2007

Kroc Centers Update

E

very center will be different, tailored to its community. But all will be true to Joan Kroc’s vision. She said each center should be a “beacon on a hill” for all, regardless of income or background.

“She wanted future Olympians, Academy Award winners, world–class sports figures to get their start and training at a Kroc center,” says Major Susan Bukiewicz, who with her husband, Major Ralph Bukiewicz, is coordinating Kroc plans in the Army’s Central Territory. “I believe God gave her a vision, and that He intended that vision [to] become ours.”

All Kroc centers will have another feature in common: A Christ–focused mission.

“As we keep the mission foremost, as we will in the South, we will not migrate from our root values,” says Jack C. Getz, the point person for Kroc

www.saconnects.org

development in the Southern Territory.

Major Hugh Steele, spearheading the Kroc effort in the Eastern Territory, says that Salvation Army mission will be at the heart of every Kroc center there.

“We build from the corps out,” he says.

Likewise, in the Western Territory, the corps will be at the heart of every Kroc Center.

“From the beginning, the territory has emphasized that the worship center had to have central prominence,” says Lt. Colonel Don McDougald, who is heading up Kroc planning.

Architect’s drawing of the Boston Kroc Center.

About 35 centers are on the drawing board.

Prayer is at the heart of the planning process.

“Ralph and I didn’t begin the project without weeks of prayer beforehand, asking God for the best way to do this, and seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit,” says Major Susan Bukiewicz Eastern Territory leaders recently discovered that concentrated prayer makes a tangible difference. On June 5, with an application deadline 10 days away a proposed Boston Kroc center seemed doomed. On June 9, the territory stared its yearlong 24/7 prayer effort, and many prayed for a breakthrough in Boston (drawing at left). On June 12, negotiations for properties were complete; by June 13, all 59 parcels were secure.

“God truly works miracles,” said Major Warren Smith, secretary for business administration.

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Kroc Centers Spread Throughout U.S.

Fall 2009

‘Behold! I Am Doing a New (Kroc Center) Thing

Photo by Hugh Steele

N

either Joan Kroc nor Salvation Army leaders could have foreseen the recession that stalled, scaled back, and even scuttled some communities’ plans to build Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers. Progress has been slowed, but not stopped. In June 2008, the San Francisco center—in the heart of that city’s Tenderloin district—was the first new one to open. Over the past year, Kroc Centers have begun to open around the nation.

This article provided a glimpse at three unique centers in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Ashland, Ohio (photo of chapel at left); and Atlanta, Ga., and a look ahead at a world–champion tae kwon do master’s hopes for a new center slated to open in Omaha, Neb., in January 2010. Other Kroc mushrooms that would pop up soon were in Salem, Ore.; Dayton, Ohio; Kerrville, Texas; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Boston, Mass.

Finding a Calling

Spring 2012

Gospel outreach in a kroc center

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by Anne Urban

PAUL LUHN HAS AN INFECTIOUS ENTHUSIASM FOR EVANGELISM .

‘There’s no greater joy in life than leading someone to Christ,’ he says. ‘We’ve been called to be ambassadors for Him and messengers of reconciliation with God.’

Army Central Territorial Headquarter

An Evangelist at Heart

Photography Courtesy The Salvation

“I

t’s too easy to slip into a business mindset with membership and money concerns,” says Paul. He constantly challenges staff members to examine the purpose of the things they do and emphasizes relationship– building as the key to leading people to Christ.

The Kroc Center officers and leaders are encouraged to see both staff and center members attending worship services. “We’re seeing new faces every week,” says Paul.

“When people see the joy of the Lord in you, it’s attractive.

They want to be with joyful people and want joy for themselves.” That’s the heart of an evangelist speaking.

s

Paul Luhn, a soldier who had been on the staff for years with the Salvation Army’s National Seminar on Evangelism, became outreach ministries director at the Quincy, Ill., Corps, then the Kroc Center there. Paul, who has an infectious enthusiasm for evangelism, kept the center focused on outreach.

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YMCA converted into California Kroc Center Captains Jonathan and Vickie Harvey thought they would be converting a YMCA into a community center in Suisun City, Calif. Six months after they arrived, they were told the project would now be a Kroc Center.

S

Photo © Melissa Barnes

uisun’s community center is literally in the middle of town—“You can throw a rock into the yard of the person across the street,” Jonathan says. “We’re right in the middle of this amazing neighborhood.”

Amazing but not always pretty. That’s why he is happy that the Kroc Center will offer social services. “People around us are hurting in multiple ways,” he says.

“We have a lot of clients who are heartbroken who have come through our doors and ask for help,” says Vickie. “A lot of people don’t want to. They can’t believe they’re in our building. But they’re here because they have a family to feed or [are about to have] electricity turned off.”

In the Kroc Center, Jonathan sees two spots that will City, Calif.

What God Is Doing in … Suisun be his favorite locations: the auditorium, “where I get to share the Word of God on Sunday,” and the café, “were I can’t wait to sit in a comfortable chair and just talk with people.”

Photo © Blair Bunting/Getty Images

Summer 2012

Winter 2013

Rising Up in Phoenix Ted McClure first met The Salvation Army when he was a young person in a basketball league. He also met the Lord, through the influence of Lieutenant Lewis ‘Bud’ Fuqua. Ted is now on the South Mountain Advisory Board for the Kroc Center in Phoenix.

“H

e would take us to the chapel and tell us about Jesus Christ and how He loved us, how He died on the Cross for us and shed His blood for us, and how important it was to have a relationship with Christ,” Ted says. “It was the touch of Christ in Bud that guided me to get closer to him.”

Ted earned a basketball scholarship and received a degree in business.

He returned to South Phoenix and opened a 7–Eleven store, a laundry, and a restaurant, Speed–D–Tees Bar–B–Q. He was soon sponsoring teams in the Salvation Army’s basketball league, and it wasn’t long before he was coaching and asked to serve on the South Mountain Advisory Council. He was instrumental in building the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Phoenix, a shining new 147,000–square–foot facility.

“We have been planting the love of God through His Word throughout the N entire facility so that people can feel safe.” Ted says he hopes the Kroc Center will strengthen families.

“I get so inspired when Building a New Instant assignment I see a full family walk Kroc Center through the doors or a little kid who was lost and didn’t have a place of refuge …” he says. ot many people get a shot at spending $44 million.

Captains Jonathan and Vickie

A Welcome Challenge:

Harvey of The Salvation Army in Suisun City, Calif., welcome the challenge.

And the burden that comes with it.

“My stress level is pretty high right now,” says Jonathan. “It’s a good stress because the end results will be huge.”

Those end results include the transformation of the Suisun City YMCA into a Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, built with $44 mil$22 lion—$22 million for construction, million endowment for operating costs.

Joan Kroc, widow of MacDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, left The Salvation Army $1.5 billion to construct 27 such centers nationally. Each Kroc community also has to raise funds for ongoing operations.

by Rich Freedman

The Harveys recently left an appointment in Yuma, Ariz., and found themselves the go–to duo for this mammoth project, scheduled for a Memorial Day

opening.

When the couple left Yuma in 2010, they initially expected the California appointment would be a short one, and

Captains Vickie and Jonathan Harvey in the YMCA gym in Suisin City, Calif. The Y is being transformed into a Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center.

they would return to Arizona.

“Then, literally the day after I got appointed, we were told things were changing on the project,” Harvey says.

The YMCA center was already going to be converted to a Salvation Army the community center. Six months after told Harveys arrived, however, they were

37

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67

Kroc Centers Spread Throughout U.S.

The Advisors

Summer 2013

from cornet to Kroc

D

eb Cafiero, who met The Salvation Army as a child, later reconnected and became very active with the Army in South Bend, Ind. The community needed to raise $9 million in “good faith” funds for a Kroc Center there; they had come up $1 million short. Deb, who worked for AM General (the “Hummer” company), shared the story with the owners. “What a remarkable day of my life when my boss let me deliver the message of a million–dollar donation to The Salvation Army because that meant we could start digging.”

t

hat’s just what happened at the The Salvation Army’s Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Com munity Center in South Bend, Ind.—with the help of Deb Cafiero and a reconnection to The Salvation Arm y of her youth.

Born the 10 th of 11 children, Debbie grew up in Sout h Bend. Her life revolved around the Salvation Army corps (church).

“We practically lived at The Salv ation Army. It provided our socia l activities on a daily basis,” Deb says. “We attended meeting s at the Army every night except Satu rday.” And of course, there was wors hip.

“On Sunday mor ning, my dad wou ld begin playing religious music early in the morning to let us know it was time to wake up and prepare for chur ch,” Deb says.

32

www.priorityp eople.org

www.priorityp eople.org

Each week, she listened to the sermon by the corps offic er (pastor), Lieu tenant Ray Wert, and often went to the front of the sanctuary to pray. She says her faith began there and continues to this day.

A life–changing day in Deb’s life had to do with an old cornet.

“The day I rece ived a loaner corn et was pretty rema rkable. I had wait ed for my front teeth to grow in befo re I could start play ing, and then there was no stopping me.

It seemed to give me purpose, and it was something I was good at.

“When other girls were goin g on dates and havi ng parties, I wou ld find comfort in prac ticing my mus ic. I sincerely believe that music is wha t kept me grounded duri ng my teenage years.”

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Winter 2014

Kroc odyssey

B

ill Bihlman was doing a cross–country bike ride for O’Connor House, a crisis pregnancy center in Indianapolis. He got the idea of partnering with The Salvation Army to stop at Kroc Centers along the way. He pedaled 7,045 miles and visited 27 states, starting at the San Diego Kroc Center and ending at the Kroc Center in Norfolk, Va. Then he continued his journey northward; in all, he made nine stops at Kroc Centers.

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Serving Together

Finding a Home At Chicago Kroc Center

Photos © John Konstantaras/AP Images

by Major Darlene Harvey

their 4–year–old son, Jonathan, is cared for and learns much in the Kid Zone. They are amazed at how they have seen their pre– schooler grow in his prayer life and talk about his Bible lessons at home.

“My children have fallen in love with the Kroc Center,” Anne says.

Anne and Saeed are leading the couples ministry, where God is using them to help people grow stronger in their relationships. Anne is part of the praise team and uses her gifts in praise dancing. She loves prayer ministry and working with women, and she teaches preteen Sunday school.

Winter 2014

Chicago kroc meets Richardson family’s needs Saeed and Anne Richardson had relocated to Chicago in 2012 and were looking for a church that would be right for their whole family. Saeed came to the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center for a ‘Real Men Cook’ event. When he read the Salvation Army’s mission statement, he felt confirmed in his heart that this could be the church for his family.

Saeed leads Bible studies and Sunday school. In addition, he works with the boys in a “stepping” class.

The Richardsons are now interested in becoming Salvation Army officers.

“Being engaged in full–time ministry with my wife has been a long–lost dream since we were in college,” says Saeed. “To realize that dream brings joy and excitement to my heart and our relationship.”

S

ince being at the Kroc Center, Anne and Saeed have seen how God has brought each one of them to The Salvation Army to become a part of ministry. Anne and Saeed were enrolled as senior soldiers. Jeslyn, 8, who was enrolled as a junior soldier last December, takes pride in her new role and wears a uniform; she says she feels as if she is representing God to the world.

Anne and Saeed are grateful that

www.saconnects.org

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All That I Am

SALVATIONIST

S T N A V R E S Priority! showcased people who found the Lord against all odds. But we also featured many people who were already dedicated Christians. The feature category ‘All That I Am’ is the title of a song by Bandmaster William Himes, who wrote it when his wife was terminally ill. The chorus expresses Himes’s total surrender of himself to the Lord. The people featured under ‘All That I Am’ are Christians who can sing this song with him:

All that I am, all I can be, All that I have, all that is me, Accept and use, Lord, As you would choose, Lord, Right now, today.

Take every passion, every skill Take all my dreams and bend them to your will My all I give, Lord, For you I’ll live, Lord, Come what may.

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www.saconnects.org

Spring 2002

Captains Josh & Cat Lyle On a new ministry, The Summit, they began in Derry, N.H.: ‘It’s not this particular place that’s important. It’s because I know we’re in God’s will. When you know that, there’s nothing like it.’ —Captain Catherine Lyle

Fall 2002

Delilah Collier, Order of the Founder

Photo by Al Ferreira

‘We don’t know the full joy of the Lord until we can fully surrender all to Him. If we can just be faithful. If we can just be willing. If we can go in the power of the Spirit, God will take care of everything for us.’

Summer 2007 Photo courtesy of the Budry family

Beth Budry

‘Even though I’m blind, God gives me that inner peace because I trust Him in all things.

Each step I take, I know He will guide me to higher ground.’

www.saconnects.org

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All That I Am

SALVATION ARMY

SERVANTS

All That We Are

Winter 2011

Majors Kris & Camie Potter

On their appointment in Salinas, Calif., which was part of El Camino Real (the ‘Royal Way’) that dates back to the 1700s: ‘We really believe that God has brought The Salvation Army to the people here to show them the “royal highway” to God.’ —Kris Potter

Finding the ‘Royal Way’ in Salinas, Calif.

Photos by David Paul Morris / Getty

by Linda D. Johnson

www.prioritypeople.org

37

All That I Am

Struggyling to Sta Close

by Linda D. John

son

Summer 2011

Solimar Lugo–Machado ‘I want to obey Jesus, and I’m not looking back. … He’s my best friend!’

ng officers, I was movi “As the child of knew ,” she says. She all over the place ts y told her paren Arm the that when that , she had to do it was time to move ’t easy. too. But it wasn ar is so close to It helps that Solim a Norm rs Andrés and her parents, Majo Lugo. use my parents beca “I’m thankful to s call.” they followed God’ s received yet anIn 1998, the Lugo them took one ent; this other appointm to the e in Puerto Rico out of their hom United States. .I time I was alone first the was “It hard.” was 19. It was really

chado knows she olimar Lugo–Ma mar she’s happily maris blessed. At 31, as a baby, fulfilled ried, expecting d school and sacre ay Sund es she teach dance. ct of expe t migh That’s what you 6 age at Lord d the someone who foun but she Salvaer was around, the church with Solimar’s broth and grew up in was ts. But where everything rs as her paren was in college, tion Army office .

Lord, ds weren’t there who knows the frien one her some and for new even she says. me,” for easy gles. ’t “It wasn there are strug rial ip me ill with a bacte ys had a relationsh Then she beca “As I grew, I alwa a mismy on r, while Savio d my racte Father, infection she cont with God—my Him dor. relationship with sion trip to Ecua Friend—but my to Puer ” ge, which hit what it is now.

Hurricane Geor hasn’t always been d into emo, Solimar had emo plunged the islan Even as a child Rico that year, ual battles. spirit and l tiona

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www.prioritypeo

ple.org

20

Viki Payton

On her ministry to fellow ‘MKs’ (missionary kids): ‘I knew this was the ministry that made me feel truly alive, like I was doing what I was created to do.’

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Photo © William Koechling

Winter 2012

www.saconnects.org

All That

We Are

Getty Imag

es

Mitchell

Summer 2012

Amanda Thompson On her ministry to teens in the ‘Bridging the Gap’ program: ‘It’s amazing how God can take all your thorns and all the horrible things that have happened to you and totally make them make sense in one job.’

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hey laugh easily and fit in wel their Cor l with nell Univer her, “You’re sity classma But the roa going to tes. d Jeremy take all thre them?” lings Xav March and e of ier and Java sibil Bourne “I said, ‘Yep the Ivy Lea took to , that’s righ gue was an see t.’ I couldn unl breaking ikely one All three ’t them up. . were rais I just cou see it. The ed from an early age ldn’t y have eac by their gra h other and have. I real ndmother, Bourne, always ly felt sorr Susan in Ithaca, y for them,” N.Y. says.

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“We had father figu res in The tion Arm Salvay who we could go to about to and talk certain thin gs,” says Jere who lear ned to play my, the piano Army. “Big at the Ben Payton example.” was a grea t Xavier, who learned the corps, des tuba at the cribes Ron ald Lugian “amazing” o as and “aweso me” and influence. a major “They wer e aware of our situatio and they were not n, like our surr fathers, but ogate , in a sen se, [they accommo were] ver dating in y providing knowledge their for us as fath Xavier says er figures, ” .

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Photograp

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Ivy League Siblings Music and

mentors

Jeremy March & Xavier & Javail Bourne

15

The three were ‘Ivy League Siblings’ at Cornell University. ‘You want to have a relationship with God no matter what you do … It will come back to you in the long run. God will bless you when you seek Him first, and then everything else will come after.’ —Xavier

She’s Been There

by Robert Mitchell

Summer 2014

Major Holly Daniels

Major Holly Daniels claps along as children from the Cincinnati Citadel Corps sing during a Sunday service.

Photos © Tom Uhlman/AP Images

W

hen Major Holly Daniels looks into the faces of the hurting and homeless in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, she sometimes sees herself as a child.

“For me personally, I’ve been there,” Holly says. “My family is the product of Salvation Amy services. We were often homeless.

“I can understand how that makes a child feel because I was a child in that same setting when I was growing up.

I know the potential of what can take place in the lives of the clients that we serve because I was there at one time.”

Holly is the personification of 2 Corinthians 1:4, which says “[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

‘Christ is my new identity. I’m not what the world tries to say I was. I’m not all of those horrible things that happened to me in my life. So Christ, to me, means newness.’

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All That I Am

DEDICATED

DOCTORS Winter 2000

Norman Raymond ‘I am totally sold out to the Lord. My life is nothing short of that. Everything I do is to His honor and His glory— from when I get up in the morning to when I finally lay my head to rest.’

Spring 2001

Martha Jenson

Photo © Rich Dunoff Photography

On witnessing: ‘There are many opportunities, such as looking in a child’s ear and saying, “It’s amazing how God put us together and how this tiny little structure produces hearing for us.” I’ll witness like that.’

Spring 2001

Cindy–Lou Drummond ‘I really feel that first, I’m a Christian; second, I’m called to preach the Gospel; and third, I’ve been given the privilege of practicing medicine.’

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Winter 2001

Susi Burton ‘Many people, when they become Christians, soon settle into a comfortable pattern.

But Susi’s not doing that. She’s willing to open herself up and venture out of her own comfort zone and take chances, and so God uses her in [surprising] ways.’ —Betty Lathery

www.saconnects.org

& MUSICIANS Spring 2001

Ken Burton, Order of the founder On his work as a banker: ‘I try to see through things and where people can work things out. … I think God has placed me here to help.’

Summer 2002

Eric Dina

‘I try not to hide from being a Christian. I am a Christian first, then a trumpeter or pianist, whatever the case may be.’

Winter 2003

Stephen bulla Bulla was staff arranger for ‘The President’s Own’ U.S. Marine Band. ‘… it was Salvation Army music programs that gave me so many early opportunities and ultimately led me to find Christ at the center of my life and eventually all my work.’

www.saconnects.org

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Cloud of Witnesses

Promoted to J

ust before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed to

Auxiliary Captain David Pate was featured in Spring

the Father that those who believed in Him

1999, Priority’s first issue. At the time, he was serving with his wife, A/Captain Betty Pate, at the New Hope Recovery Corps in Albany. David had had his own 10–year struggle with addiction to alcohol; Betty said in the article that she got through that time with plenty of prayer and the support of a strong Christian family. The New Hope Recovery program was the fulfillment of David’s long–held dream to have a ministry that would serve whole families, not just individual recovering addicts.

David first found the Lord at age 14. Before joining The Salvation Army, he traveled with an evangelist and later conducted revivals himself. In 1970, he was ordained as a minister in the Church of the Living God, where he served for 10 years.

David and Betty became auxiliary captains in 1995.

In 2001, Captain David Pate was diagnosed with a fast–moving cancer, and within two weeks, he was taken home. The day he died, Dec. 3, his wife, Lt. Colonels Néstor and Becky Nüesch, and several others were singing by his bedside. Knowing he had only a short time to live, David said, “My work must be done.”

Major Betty Pate continues as an officer; she serves as director of the Mission and Culture Department at Eastern Territorial Headquarters.

would see His glory. Peter, James, and John

had had a glimpse of it when Jesus was transfigured before their eyes. But they would not see it again until their deaths.

So, when Salvationists die, we say they are ‘promoted to Glory.’ On these pages, you’ll be reminded of those featured in Priority! who have earned that distinction, some at a very young age and some after a very long life.

For all of them, the next thing they would see would be their Lord—in all his glory.

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Glory Major George Evans was featured in the Prayer Power section of the first issue of Priority!

(Spring 1999). At the time, he and his wife, Major Carmen Evans, were corps officers at the Philadelphia Temple Corps. George had been diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer the previous year and had undergone several surgeries and long periods in intensive care. But even while he was in the hospital, he would counsel and pray with others online as part of an initiative of the Army’s Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division.

Born in Harrisburg, Pa., George was commissioned as an officer in 1957 and served in corps appointments before marrying Carmen Garay in 1972. The two went on to minister together until his promotion to Glory on Jan. 20, 2000.

In the Priority! interview, George said, “God is the nearest and dearest part of my life. … When I am at my lowest, I need a source of strength that is beyond who I am. That is when God lifts me up and helps me to stand.”

Just before George was promoted to Glory, Carmen became finance officer in the Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware Division. After three years in that appointment, she has been in the Audit Department for 11 years, where she ministers to both employees and officers. Most recently her ministry has included being a friend and caregiver to Major Darlene DeGroate, who had a heart transplant last year, and an LVAD (left ventricle assist device) before that.

Carmen says, “I try to live my life according to St. Matthew 5:16: ‘Let your light shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.’ ” www.saconnects.org

Brigadier Mary Nisiewicz was featured in a “Heart Talks” article, “Drawn to Holiness in East Harlem” (Spring 1999). She served in this appointment at Manhattan Citadel for 17 years until her retirement in 1981. James Solomon, a soldier there, said of her, “It didn’t matter that she was a single, white female officer.

People just loved her because she loved them.” In a place where prostitutes hung out on street corners, drug deals took place in the open, and armed gangs roamed the streets, the Brigadier walked without fear, even taking a full Christmas kettle to the bank on foot. “Everyone knew who she was,” said Solomon, “and they respected her. It wasn’t just that she was a Salvation Army officer; it was her they respected.

Born to Polish immigrants, Mary met the Army at an open–air meeting in Rome, N.Y., and accepted an invitation to Sunday school. She gave her heart to Jesus at age 11 but left The Salvation Army when significant people in her life disapproved. After a move to Asbury Park, N.J., at age 17, she reconnected with former Rome officers and again surrendered her life to God. She entered training in 1935. Under her leadership in Marion, Ohio, where she served for 15 years, the first–ever Army–owned building was erected, and she started summer day camp and senior citizen programs. She attended the first Brengle Institute (1947), the International College for Officers (1953), and in 1979, was admitted to the Order of the Founder. She was promoted to Glory in 2003 at the age of 87.

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Cloud of Witnesses

Corps Sergeant–Major Edward Gooding was

Brigadier Clifton Sipley

(Winter 2000), who died at age 94 on Oct. 9, 2010, was featured in an article under the “Heart Talks” category, which refers to Samuel Logan Brengle’s book on holiness. Young Clif Sipley accepted the Lord at his corps in Glen Falls, N.Y. He learned about holiness there too.

So when he heard the call to become an officer in The Salvation Army, he believed strongly that he needed to receive the “second blessing” of sanctification. At age 23, he knelt and prayed for it to come. He didn’t feel any different, but his wife, Jessie, noticed an immediate change. He accepted on faith that it had happened. Then, two days later, when he was witnessing to another cadet about this experience, Clif said, “a warm feeling came over me. It started at the top of my head and went through my whole body. I felt a real, deep joy.”

It was joy that characterized Clif’s life and ministry. The Sipleys retired in 1981 but soldiered on at the Asbury, N.J., Corps, serving another 15 years as evangelists. In 1996, at an Eastern territorial congress, General Paul A. Rader admitted Brigadier Clifton Sipley to the Order of the Founder, the highest honor any Salvationist can receive.

One of Clif’s favorite choruses was “Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me.” C. Ronald Bush, former corps sergeant–major at the Jamestown, N.Y., Corps, said in a 2000 Priority! interview that he saw that beauty of holiness in Brigadier Sipley.

“He lived it, the way he acted, no matter what he did, he lived it.”

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featured in the Summer 2000 issue in a “Heart Talks” feature: “ ‘Sarge’: The Man with a Holy Smile.” Gooding immigrated to the U.S. from the Panama Canal Zone. During the Civil Rights era, he and his wife joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As production manager at the Gorton Corp. in Gloucester, Mass., he faced resistance from some employees who resented being supervised by the only person of color among 500 workers. During this challenging time, he never lost sight of his purpose as a witness for Jesus and began a War Cry ministry at the plant.

A gifted evangelist who modeled Christlikeness, Gooding was named to the Order of the Founder in 1980; he served as a faithful soldier of the Boston (Roxbury) Corps for 78 years.

Said Bandmaster Bill Rollins, “I have had few gentlemen [like Gooding] … be significant role models for me, possessing wisdom, spiritual insight, biblical prowess, humility, and encouraging concern.”

CSM Gooding was promoted to Glory on Aug. 30, 2014, at the age of 93.

www.saconnects.org

Major Angelo Rosamilia, promoted to Glory at age 61 on Jan. 25, 2013, was an auxiliary captain at the time he was featured in “Queens Temple Unites a Community” (Fall 2000).

The article describes a vibrant church operating in a converted Christian Science building. The congregation came from many cultures and socio–economic groups. One key to the success of Queens Temple was that it met people’s needs: there was summer school for kids, youth ministry for teens, language classes, recreation and fellowship for the elderly, ethnically sensitive music ministry, and food for homeless people and those who were ill and unable to leave home.

When asked, “What’s next?” Angelo said, “More programs,” like job placement and help with immigration paperwork.

The second key to the corps’ success was Rosamilia himself. Unlike most officers, Angelo had just one appointment, Queens Temple, and after his death, his wife, Major Antoinetta Rosamilia, continued the work they had begun.

Colonel Frank Payton wrote in a tribute in Good News!

(April 2013), “How many corps officers in the [Eastern] Territory can say they have more than 400 soldiers and almost 100 junior soldiers? … Which other officers in the territory can say that they have sent 70 candidates, including three of their own children, to the School for Officer Training from one corps?

“Major Rosamilia was a visionary, musician, entrepreneur, and gifted evangelist, and he knew how to use his gifts for His glory.”

Payton also wrote, “The tendency of successful pastors is to focus on their own ministry. But the major encouraged the formation of others.”

Fred Honsberger, longtime Pittsburgh TV and radio talk show host known as “The Honzman,” was featured in the Summer 2001 issue of Priority!

Fred first met the Lord at age 7 or 8 at a U.S. Navy base chapel in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was stationed.

At a Sunday invitation to accept Jesus, Fred’s hand shot up, and he immediately felt a change come over him. “I still remember that day as the clearest, most beautiful day,” he said.

As a young teen, Fred became a soldier of the Chester, Pa., Corps. When a new officer, Major Leo Wittenberg, arrived, he brought with him what Fred described as a “gazillion” kids; Fred would end up marrying one of the daughters, Christine.

At 22, Fred collaborated with Damon Rader, a Salvation Army officer, on a radio program, Summit Scene, that mixed Blood, Sweat, and Tears–style music with ministry. Summit Scene led to work in radio. When Fred did a story on the local Salvation Army, the officer, who was familiar with the Honsberger name in Army circles, asked why Fred wasn’t attending the corps. He soon was. Two radio jobs later, he landed at KDKA and another Army church, Pittsburgh Temple, where he took up E–flat tuba again and joined the band.

At his memorial service following Fred’s promotion to Glory on Dec. 16, 2009, at age 58, the announcement echoed through the Pittsburgh Temple sanctuary: “The Honzman has left the building.” Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, who conducted the service, said, “KDKA’s voice is silenced, but the man behind the voice is not forgotten.”

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Cloud of Witnesses

Major Barbara Jean Kelly was first featured in a 9/11

Colonel Lulu Sehl was 97 when she was interviewed

special supplement in 2001 for her work as World Trade Center disaster services coordinator, then in Fall 2013, “After Sandy: Year One” for heading up, in post–retirement service, New Jersey’s long–term recovery efforts. Even as she went through cancer treatments, she continued to serve until September 2013; she was promoted to Glory on Nov. 4, 2013.

At age 14, Barbara Jean found the Lord for herself, and when she applied to be an officer, she said that she was earnestly seeking holiness. She said she was thrilled beyond measure to receive this blessing after the Lord sent a woman to her who explained holiness to her very clearly. Commissioned in 1967, Lieutenant Barbara Jean Oliver married Lieutenant Charles (Chuck) Kelly in 1969.

Blessed with the spiritual gifts of administration, leadership, and teaching, Barbara Jean served in various leadership positions throughout her officership. Her straightforward witness, direct approach to getting ministry done, and strong love for people drew thousands into her heart and spirit.

She felt truly blessed in her ministries, but some of her deepest joys were found in spending time with her family, especially her seven grandchildren.

More than 500 people came to her celebration of life service, held at Montclair Citadel Corps.

for the Fall 2002 issue; she had vivid memories of her youth and years as a young officer. She talked about going to the altar as a young child to accept Jesus into her heart. When she stood up, she said to herself, “I have this feeling, I’m going to be a Salvation Army officer.” She entered training at 18 and became an officer in 1923.

At 20, she was appointed to the Willimantic, Conn., Corps, just in time for a major strike by the American Bread Company. The corps sergeant–major worked at the company. He came to ask Lulu what he should do. “Here I was,” said Lulu, “a 20–year–old captain, having to tell a man who’d worked for the company for 30 years what he should do. So I prayed about it and told him he should do whatever his conscience told him to do.” The man went back to his job. Workers boycotted The Salvation Army and vandals nearly burned down the corps. But Lulu still held her weekly open–air meetings.

One summer, Lulu helped Commissioner Samuel Logan Brengle, guest speaker at the Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Camp Meetings, to read through galley proofs of a biography of Brengle by Clarence Hall.

“I lived his life,” Lulu said of her time with Brengle. “It was a very wonderful, blessed experience …”

After that, Lulu became a statistician and worked in the Legal Department. While she was taking a Women’s Law Course, she became the first woman from the USA Eastern Territory to attend the International College for Officers.

She rose to the rank of colonel and department head during her 30 years in Legal. She also soldiered for more than 30 years at New York Temple, where she served in many roles.

Commissioner W. Todd Bassett, about to become national commander, called Lulu “a spirited, one–of–a–kind salvation warrior.”

Colonel Sehl was promoted to Glory on Dec. 9, 2002, shortly after the article about her appeared in Priority!

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Steve Diaz, profiled in a Fall 2004 sidebar about the Salvation Army’s work in Haiti, was promoted to Glory in July 2014 at age 48. In 2004, he was working at a children’s home, La Maison Du Bonheur, located in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Port–au–Prince. He was about to be married to a Haitian woman, Ketsia Augustin, but as the wedding date approached, so did armed rebels from the north. Roadblocks set up outside the gates of the children’s home blocked access to the outside world for two weeks.

During this time of fear and unrest, Steve did the only thing he could do: He left everything in God’s hands. “I can’t say I was never afraid or that I never succumbed to worry. All I can say is that God got us through.”

Steve had been involved in The Salvation Army since his family moved to Oak Park, Ill., when he was a teen. There, he learned to love the Chicago Cubs and brass music. In 1999, he left everything he knew to move to Kingston, Jamaica, and become music director for the Caribbean Territory.

It was on a trip to Haiti that he met and almost immediately fell in love with Ketsia, and through the prompting of the Holy Spirit, moved to Port–au–Prince to marry her and direct the children’s home. While the couple was in Haiti, their son, Kyle, was born. In 2009, they were appointed to be in charge of the St. Louis Temple Corps and later became auxiliary captains. Four years later, Steve was diagnosed with MDS, a form of cancer that affects bone marrow and blood. A year later, he was promoted to Glory. www.saconnects.org

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Cloud of Witnesses

Peter Hanke, the art director of Priority! from its inception until his death, wrote his testimony in the Spring 2002 issue. He told of experiencing kidney failure in August 1998. While he was in crisis, he got the job offer at The Salvation Army in West Nyack, N.Y. He was up–front about his need to be on dialysis three times a week; nevertheless, the Army accepted him.

Three years later, bathed in prayer from members of his church and the Army staff, he received a kidney transplant. Another crisis came as his body started to reject the kidney. “During the entire time I was out, I received so much prayer support from everyone at work; that power totally eclipsed anything I have experienced before. Now I can tell anyone firsthand that prayer power does exist.”

Peter died of a heart attack just after Christmas in 2007.

He was 51. In her letter from the editor in Spring 2008, Linda Johnson remembered Peter as “a man greatly loved, not just for his creative genius, but also for a heart worn on his sleeve.

He was full of bluster, but at his core, Peter was a man of deep humility and caring who drew many to his side.

“He often openly doubted whether the Lord could love such a man as himself. But the ‘sorrow and love’ that drained Jesus of his lifeblood was as much for Peter as for every soul who ever lived. And that sacrifice, I know, ushered Peter into eternal life.”

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Raymond Jay Livingston, an extraordinary contributor to the arts and music ministries of the USA Eastern Territory, was featured in an article about then–Captain Margaret Davis (Spring 2008), just months before his death on Sept. 15, 2008, at age 38. At that time, he was creative arts director for the Greater New York Division.

His promotion to Glory notice spoke of his dedication as a soldier and as a multi–talented musician. A member of the New York Staff Band, Raymond served on the staff at Star Lake Musicamp, a training ground for young musicians, and the Territorial Arts Ministries (TAM) Conservatory, an intensive program for young Salvationists. But Raymond was perhaps known best as a singer with an engaging style. Priority! later (Summer 2012) featured an album, “I Will Rejoice,” that was released posthumously, with the subtitle, “Raymond Jay Livingston and Friends.”

Margaret Davis was one of those friends. She said, “I was amazed at the resonant beauty of his voice, and the way our voices blended was very special indeed. It was evident that God was blessing our musical connection.”

Christianne Livingston, Raymond’s wife, participated on the CD on “Man after Your Own Heart.” She said of that recording, “This is for him—and for Him.” Raymond’s legacy lives on through his music and his family, including his son, Ryan, a budding artist and actor.

‘I Will Rejoice’ is available through the USA Eastern Territory Trade store. Call (888) 488–4882.

www.saconnects.org

Emma Tillman was featured in the Who’s News section of the Winter 2007 issue because she had made the Guinness World Record Book for that year.

At 114, she was listed as the sixth–oldest person in the world. By the time the book came out, two of the people on the list had died, and she had moved up to fourth–oldest.

Emma Faust Tillman was born on Dec. 22, 1892, to sharecroppers in North Carolina. Emma’s father, the son of a female slave and a plantation owner, and her mother, of Native American ancestry, were both born into slavery.

Emma was one of 23 children, some of whom died at birth or in their early years. At her high school in Glastonbury, Conn., Emma was the only black student. She didn’t encounter prejudice, however, until she started looking for a job. She and her sister, Ava, became housekeepers, earning as little as 50 cents a day.

More than 70 years later, John B. Stewart, Ava’s grandson and Emma’s grandnephew, became the first African– American fire chief in Hartford, Conn.

Emma, a member of the African Methodist (AME) Church in the city for 80 years, was known as the “mother” of that church and the whole AME Conference. “She always loved the Lord and prayed me through my bad times,” said John L. Stewart III, Emma’s great–grandnephew. When John wanted to be a Salvation Army officer, Emma was thrilled.

“If I come and visit her and I’m not in Salvation Army uniform, she wants me to go put it on,” said Major Stewart.

When anyone asked the secret or her longevity, Emma would say, “Ask the Man upstairs!” Emma hoped to reach the landmark age of 120, but she died at 114 on Feb. 19, 2007.

www.saconnects.org

Commissioner Lawrence R. Moretz, promoted to Glory on May 16, 2013, was territorial commander for eight of Priority!’s 15 years (2002–2010). In an open letter in the Winter 2003 issue from Commissioners Lawrence and Nancy A. Moretz, the two talked about the “joy and privilege” of returning to their home territory after years away as territorial leaders in South America West and USA Central.

“My mind races in these days to the pilgrimage to Bethlehem made by the Holy Family, Mary and Joseph, going home to be counted as members of the larger family of the world,” Commissioner Lawrence wrote. “There in Bethlehem, Jesus is born—Son of God, son of man, Redeemer of the world—to bring us all into the family of God.” Larry had known that truth since the age of 9, when he gave his heart to Jesus. “It was not until I became a senior soldier that I realized the need for not just giving my heart to the Lord—but my whole being. It was while attending youth councils in 1958 that I surrendered my all to the Master.”

His call to become an officer was not dramatic. He just knew he needed to do more. That calling came in the Word of the Lord, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

Larry did that all his life, even after he and Nancy retired.

They continued to soldier on at their local corps and at the Philadelphia Kroc Center.

Because of his devotion to mission, the commissioner was always a strong supporter of Priority! In one of his “leader letters” (Summer 2003), he wrote, “As you read these stories, perhaps the Spirit of God may say something to your own heart that will help you to discover where healing begins or stretch your imagination to support the work of the Army with your time, your talent, or your treasure.”

For Commissioner Lawrence Moretz, mission always mattered most.

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15 Years Ago

Spring Brings

’NEW THING’ To Salvation Army Publishing

In the spring of 1999, the year John Gowans was elected the 16th General of The Salvation Army, the USA Eastern Territory began producing a new Christian “people” magazine: Priority! Here’s what readers had to say.

I think it’s a truly excellent magazine.

You have captured the culture and dynamic of your territory so that Priority! is not just another Army magazine but one which really reflects your market and makes us want to read it.

Lt. Colonel Peter Farthing Editor, The Officer It was wonderful for me to take the first reading of the first edition—Wow! That was too much! In fact, you’ve made my day.

Essienekak Sunday M. Nigeria What a wonderful concept! How great it is to read personal stories of those who have been touched by the Army’s ministry and in turn are reaching out to others.

Major Betty Goodliff Griffin Retired officer My wife and I brought Priority! home from the corps today. We both have read it cover to cover and will read it again.

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… it is a magazine that will be a blessing to anyone who reads it, both Christians and non–Christians.

Hilda and Bill tar ‘Fireproof’ S Boone, received g Still Growin via email Priority! is beautifully presented and the features catch the attention of all ages.

Spirit of Christmas One disappointment is that we in the West did not think of it first!

Commissioner David Edwards Territorial Commander USA Western Territory It is great to see those on the front line honored in this way and giving testimony to the reality of the Living Lord in their lives.

Major Terry Camsey USA Western Territory

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2008 Winterr 2009 Winte

And on Priority!’s 10th anniversary in 2009, congratulations came from the Army’s international leaders.

Happy Birthday! … You have our unwavering support eaven’ A Houston ‘H and prayers for the ic Man Montclair Mus d & Fire’ loo ‘B p Ho pHi second decade.

Let holiness, prayer, and evangelism remain your top priorities.

General Shaw Clifton Priority! holds the clue to a successful magazine—real life stories about ordinary people living extraordinary lives. Teamed with high–quality pictures, and graced with the Lord’s anointing, this formula makes it a ‘must–read’ when it arrives in the mail.

Congratulations to everyone concerned!

Commissioner Helen Clifton www.saconnects.org

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