Working with people is messy. With life comes pain, sorrow, excitement, and joy. We don’t get one side of the spectrum without the other. It’s in life’s messiest moments that I have found the deepest satisfaction of my officership.
In our first appointment, we were thrown into the world of immigration and asylum-seeking. Our community was full of families whose home country was no longer safe, and The Salvation Army was perfectly positioned to be the safe place for many of those individuals. I had the privilege of walking a journey I would never have known as my own.
A family relocated from their home country because of political turmoil, which led to the death of the husband, the attempted murder of the wife, and three young children needing safe refuge. After traversing country lines and finding settlement in the neighborhood, the mother of the family eventually found herself at The Salvation Army’s doorstep looking for support. It’s when places of need meet a desire for change that I step into the greatest role God can gift me.
What started as help with food and rent turned into proofreading asylum documentation, connections with lawyers, and providing transportation to attend the corps’ worship services. I experienced so much with this family who trusted us through the process. Celebrating life through the journey of transformation reinforces the work God called me to do. It’s slow and messy, but it is the most rewarding.
Memories of phone calls about the children, news about employment opportunities, and the walkthrough of the family’s first home in the U.S. always bring a smile to my face, and a prayer of gratitude that God would give me such a blessing as to walk through life with people so intimately.
I want to do more of this as a Salvation Army officer—spending time with people who find themselves in a place where need and a desire for change meet. Wading through the messiness of life with someone is the privilege we have, and the uniform gives me access to people in a way I wouldn’t have without it.
To learn about becoming an officer, visit salarmycentral.org/candidates
