ICO testimonies 10 and

for some weeks, hoping I would get better. I went to the hospital and had many tests. I was diagnosed with a malaria parasite. I thought my life would end.

I heard a small voice speaking in my heart: ‘Steven, leave this place and go to your village.’ At once, I responded and got on a bus. The journey took nearly eight hours.

That same voice kept speaking: ‘You will die unless you repent and turn away from all your evil ways’.

I responded a second time, and that led me to know and understand that it was God’s Holy Spirit, whose voice saved my soul. In John 16:8 and 9 Jesus said: ‘When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because people do not believe in me.’

Therefore, I made my choice to join The Salvation Army in 2000. I deeply wanted to thank God for leading me into the Army, for I received my salvation and all my iniquities and transgressions were taken by Jesus on the cross, my sins washed with his precious blood. I felt God’s forgiveness, love and care upon my life.

I praise God for his plan. Jesus adds value into my life. My life is transformed – the old has gone and the new has come. I am justified through Christ and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Alleluia and amen!

God called me and my wife into his great mission to serve his people who are lost like I was. I am delighted to give my life totally to his service.

MAJOR JODI LLOYD Western Pennsylvania Division

USA Eastern Territory

I LOVE a good story! One of the highlights of my ICO experience is listening to my session mates’ life stories. Transformational, powerful, life-changing stories of ordinary people who are loving and serving an extraordinary God.

When I think about my story, I don’t really remember a time when I didn’t know Jesus. He has always been a part of my life. I grew up in The Salvation Army. The corps was a safe place for my siblings and me. Being connected and having corps officers who loved me and kept after me, making sure I wasn’t forgotten, changed my life.

I vividly remember one Sunday morning meeting at my home corps in Based at Sunbury Court, the ICO exists to further officers’ personal and leadership development. It is an environment for them to flourish spiritually through teaching, fellowship, worship and prayer.

Athol, Massachusetts. We sang the chorus ‘Thank You, Lord, for Saving My Soul’. I remember praying that Jesus would make me whole because I realised how broken and hurtful life could be.

Summer camp has always been a sacred place for me. During my formative years the Lord deepened my faith at camp, summer after summer. I received leadership opportunities there. The Army’s summer camp ministry was always a vehicle God used for me to recommit my life to him.

One Sunday morning at a territorial event, I remember clearly kneeling with tears pouring on the altar: ‘Lord, I’m not sure what I have to give, but I don’t want to miss out on what you have planned for me. If you want me to be a Salvation Army officer, I’m all in. I’m yours.’

My husband, Phil, and I have been officers for more than 25 years, and we have four amazing children. Being a mother is one of the sweetest blessings of my life. Our family has seen the Lord do ‘immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’ (Ephesians 3:20).

I was a little girl from a broken, hurting family, growing up in a small, struggling town, who never thought she would ever leave, but Jesus broke the chains in my life! He brought healing and wholeness. I am redeemed, saved by his blood, and have the privilege to serve him through The Salvation Army and go to places I never dreamt I would, including the ICO.

Jesus has done the unimaginable in and for me. This is my story. To him be the glory!

A patient presence

Concluding a series on Salvation Army chaplaincy in diverse settings, three healthcare chaplains tell Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts about their work

DURING the first Covid-19 lockdown of 2020 people across the UK stepped out onto their doorsteps, drives and balconies on Thursday evenings to ‘clap for carers’. Healthcare staff were under enormous pressure as they dealt with a surge in coronavirus cases and they valued this moral support from the public. Behind the scenes another kind of support was, and continues to be, valued: the spiritual and pastoral ministry of healthcare chaplains.

In 2016 Major Stephen Huyton retired after 38 years serving in social services and corps appointments, along with divisional, ecumenical and emergency response roles, and became busily involved at Worthing Corps. A few months after the pandemic began, he was asked to become a chaplain at Zachary Merton Community Hospital in the village where he lives. He spent three months visiting patients and staff, while taking part in online training, before his role as chaplain at the 26-bed rehabilitation unit was formalised.

‘The most encouraging confirmation of my new calling was the welcome and support from hospital staff and patients,’ says Stephen. ‘Also, I had a growing appreciation that the breadth of my officer experience had equipped me for the role. This has been enriched further through additional training, including as a mental health first aider.’

The pandemic brought restrictions on hospital visits and altered the way staff and chaplains worked: ‘I had to adjust to wearing PPE – protective aprons, gloves and visors – and changing it after each patient visit. I found myself supporting patients experiencing the loss of close family and friends, and some who were unable to attend the funerals. Patients also mourned not being able to attend their church, not receiving visits by church or faith leaders or being unable to receive the sacraments according to their tradition.’

As the only chaplain, Stephen endeavours to visit every patient.

‘During their stay, which could be between two weeks and two months, I’m able to build trust and give support suitable for their faith or cultural background,’ he explains.

‘I have had a warm welcome from almost every patient and have enjoyed refreshing conversations, with opportunities for prayer or counselling support with atheists, Muslims, Jews and a Jehovah’s Witness.

‘It has been challenging, but God’s word, 40 years of being with people going through similar dark periods and the knowledge that, as someone said, “chaplaincy is the art of improvisation”, have helped me through.’

When he retired, Stephen was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a rare neurological condition that causes muscle weakness, but he has found this can be a positive factor.

‘It helps me minister with an empathy that’s grounded in God’s enabling grace,’ he affirms.