5 minute read
God’s Call
Cadet Karen Krishnan is in her second year of Salvation Army officer training in Fiji, as part of the intake of the Champions of the Mission session. Karen gave up a career in medicine to respond to God’s call. Fully surrendered and excited about the future, Karen knows God will use all her skills and experience to help others find the same freedom in Christ she enjoys today.
I became a soldier of The Salvation Army at New Plymouth Corps, New Zealand, in 2014. I had walked into New Plymouth Corps a year earlier, as a wife and mum, and was moved by how welcoming and warm the corps officers were (then-Lieutenants Robert and Susan Adams). Over the next year, I saw that warmth and welcome extended to people from all walks of life, including a homeless man who walked off the street in his smelly clothes, yet was welcomed into a Sunday service. That day, I fell in love with The Salvation Army.
God’s call to medicine
I met Jesus when I was six years old, and as I grew into a woman, I fell increasingly in love with my Lord and Saviour. At 17, I felt God calling me to work with broken women and children, but I was too young to understand what God was saying to me.
I pursued medicine and completed a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science and worked as a medical scientist at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva and as a tutor at the Fiji School of Medicine. Despite my love for medicine, I felt moved by broken women and children.
In 2014, after enrolling as a soldier in The Salvation Army, I felt a strong calling towards officership but it didn’t seem to be the right time. God had placed another ministry on my heart: to help women love themselves and view themselves as daughters of the King.
Return to Fiji
My family returned home to Fiji and I started a health and wellness business, initially focusing on helping women in Fiji and the Pacific live full, abundant lives through healthy living. Non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, are one of the leading causes of death in Fiji and the Pacific. It broke my heart to see so many people suffering from a disease that could be prevented.
John 10:10 is a verse dear to my heart: ‘The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full’. I believe God wants his people to live abundant lives here on earth, and that the resurrection of Jesus has made that possible for us. But we don’t live that life of abundance when we suffer from diseases. It became my mission to help people live healthy, abundant lives in Fiji and the Pacific.
God’s call to the Army
I had started my postgraduate studies in Lifestyle Medicine at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine when I strongly felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting to apply for officership. This was in 2020. I was a solo parent, loved my work and was excited for the future. But I could not ignore the roaring fire God had placed in my heart. He was calling! So I applied, believing I had done my part, and trusted I would be accepted someday in the distant future when the time was right.
In 2022, I went through the process of interviews but kept thinking I was being called for a future time. One morning, my life changed when I received the call that I was accepted to attend the School for Officer Training in Fiji. I was planning on sitting for my final exams as a lifestyle medicine practitioner, and I had a huge decision to make. I chose Jesus!
Three months later, I had closed my business, packed up our belongings, and my daughters and I moved to the School for Officer Training campus. My God had called. The time to answer was now, and I could not deny that. I love my Jesus more than life; I am willing to follow him even when it doesn’t make sense to me.
Ephesians 3:20–21 says, ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!’ I believe Jesus will do immeasurably more than I ask or imagine with the little I have to offer, to build his kingdom and for his glory. I trust him.
Trusting Jesus in the valleys
My Saviour has walked with me through the various seasons of my life. Some of these seasons have been so heartbreaking that I didn’t think I would live to see the next day. Seasons that brought darkness and heart-wrenching pain. My Jesus walked with me through it all. He is my shepherd. When he called me to serve in The Salvation Army, I could not say no. I belong to my Lord. It is an honour to serve him. I still believe in John 10:10. I believe that through the resurrection power of Jesus, we can live abundant lives here on earth.
Fiji is battling a lot of darkness. Addiction to drugs is robbing our people of a life of abundance. Our nation is bound by chains of addictions; chains that can only be broken by the power of Jesus. I pray he will use me to bring freedom and hope of an abundant life through the power of the gospel. Jesus has my surrender.
Above: Cadet Karen Krishnan (centre) with her daughters.
