New Reinforcements Join Officer Ranks

Stepping forward to serve

This issue carries an extended report on December 2011’s commissioning of the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory’s newest Salvation Army officers (ministers). Their enthusiasm and excitement was a wonderful tonic at the end of a busy year.

Some entered their two years of training with trepidation, unsure if they could meet the demands of full-time study and perhaps wondering how they would balance study with family demands. Others probably struggled with being of a ‘mature age’ and having to submit to the rules and routines of academic life, especially in a residential setting. Yet God was with them.

It is exciting to see the calibre and spiritual dynamism of those stepping forward to serve as officers in these days. God is blessing our Army and answering our prayers for future leaders. One of these, Lieutenant Sandy Galvin, has written a challenging reflection on Waitangi Day (page 3).

As you’d perhaps expect, there was a lot of singing over the commissioning weekend. One of the songs sung with gusto  by the new officers and the congregation was entitled ‘I’ll Not Turn Back’. This song especially resonates with Salvation Army officers:

If crosses come, if it should cost me dearly,
To be the servant of my Servant Lord,
If darkness falls around the path of duty,
And men despise the Saviour I’ve adored.

I’ll not turn back, whatever it may cost,
I’m called to live, to love and save the lost …

If tears should fall, if I am called to suffer,
If all I love men should deface, defame,
I’ll not deny the One that I have followed,
Nor be ashamed to bear my Master’s name.

Please pray for our newest officers. Pray that their joy in growing God’s Kingdom upholds them in even the hardest times, so that they can remain focused on God’s calling ‘to live, to love and save the lost’.

Major Christina Tyson

Bible Verse

Romans 12:11–13 The Message
‘Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fuelled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.’

Roma 12:11
‘Kia uaua, kaua e māngere; kia toko tonu ake te wairua; me te mahi anō ki te Ariki …’