WHO WE ARE FAITH IN ACTION
What More Can We Do? by HUGO BRAVO
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ieutenants Guilbaldo De La Cruz and Yesenia Hernandez, pastors at the Salvation Army’s church in Passaic, N.J., have let the community know that, no matter when they are needed, they are on call to serve. Their untiring efforts are inspired by their commitment to God and the many volunteers who give their precious time to support the ministry. “This is the example we try to set for our family and our volunteers,” says Lieutenant Hernandez. “Just because there are certain times we serve lunch, it does not mean that we tell a hungry person at our door, ‘It’s not time for you to eat.’ If we do not feed that person now, he or she may go days without any food.” “We cannot go to our homes at night, look at the roof over our heads, and not think about people in our community who do not have the same,” says Lieutenant De La Cruz. “As officers, we are driven by asking ourselves, ‘What more can we do for them?’”
Papers and Uniforms Originally from New Brunswick, N.J., Guilbaldo and Yesenia attended a church that was forced to close when its leaders could no longer afford the facility. Fortunately, the Salvation Army’s New Brunswick Corps officers had lent their church space to
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others in the past. Many members of Guilbaldo and Yesenia’s congregation also saw The Salvation Army as a church. They received a warm welcome when they started going to the New Brunswick Corps for the first time. “We were fascinated to learn the mission of the Army, their call to service, and the reason they wore those beautiful uniforms,” remembers Yesenia. Guilbaldo says, “I wanted to look and be like the officers at the corps. I thought to myself, What can I do to wear those elegant uniforms too?” The couple took soldier classes and became members of the New Brunswick Corps. But it would be a decade before they would get a chance to enroll as cadets in the Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training (CFOT). Guilbaldo was undocumented, and Yesenia, who had already
Volume 7 Number 1, 2021
