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Lt. Col. Susan McMillan is currently serving the Lord as Chief Secretary for the South America Territory. She shares her ministry story with us. Please pray for her and those whom she ministers, and remember to be generous with your time and financial resources as you share with Partners in Mission during this Lenten period of self-denial.

I am stationed in the South America West Territory, where I have been the Chief Secretary for the past (almost) five years. The role of Chief Secretary is primarily administrative, and in particular, the Chief is the liaison between the territory and the rest of the Army world. All the correspondance and requirements of International Headquarters go through my office. In order to do that, however, I have to have a clear picture of how the territory is operating, know the officers and their gifts and needs, and try to understand the varying needs of so many Corps and Social Services in our territory. The territory is made up of four countries, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and has seven divisions. Every year I make a visit to half of the divisions and the Territorial Commander visits the other half. I try to spend as much time as possible on these visits with our people, getting a better understanding of their work and programs, getting to know their soldiers and conducting meeting and preaching the Word.

It has been a real privilege for me to see how God is working in so many different ways. The work of the Army in this territory is so varied: we have schools, after-school programs, day care, day care for seniors, rural ministries, clinics and a hospital. The gospel is preached mostly in spanish, our working language, but also in Quechua, Aymara and Quicha. In emergencies the Army is usually the first on the scene to assist (and we do have a lot of natural disasters, being in an area that is prone to earthquakes, volcanos and floods). Our officers are selfless workers who understand fully the meaning of duty. Our youth are enthusiastic, many are excellent musicians and they have a heart for evangelism.

One of our greatest challenges is financial. Due to the dramatic fall in value of the US Dollar, our Self Denial Allocation has suffered more than a 30% reduction over the past five years. Also affected are children’s programs which receive Child Sponsorship Funds, and Projects – all of which are denominated in US Dollars. Another challenge for us in the geography of our territory. It is a long piece of real estate (from the equator to Cape Horn), with mountains, jungles, deserts and high altitude plains. This makes the travelling costly and at times very tiring, but I must admit – the scenery is awesome!

One thing that comes to mind has been the feeling of being accepted here. While I am a foreigner, and can do nothing to mask that, I have been welcomed and accepted with love and respect. I value that greatly. People here are very kind and ready to share what they have.

Here is a list of prayer requests for our territory:

* Pray for the Human Trafficking problems, especially in Ecuador
* Pray for the Impulse of the Holy Spirit to go out in Mission
* Pray for Greater Resources, in order to enhance our Programs and carry out our Mission
* Pray for the strong potential in our Soldiers , that they might be more sanctified, committed and visionary.
* Pray for The Salvation Army in the Territory, that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, it might be an Agent of Change as we face the serious political, social and ethnic problems which our countries experience.
* Pray for the planning and programming of our Centennial Year. 2009 will mark 100 years since the Army entered Chile.
* Pray for Bolivia , for the unstable government which is bringing uncertainty and insecurity to the bolivian people
* Give thanks for the support we do receive from our Governments in social and educational work, which helps us to meet real needs of society, and carry out our mission
* Pray that our officers will be committed and selfless in their Evangelism and Discipleship work, so that the territory will see real Growth in all areas.
* Pray for more Officers for our Territory
* Pray that God would continue to call holy and visionary young people to the Vocation of Officership in The Salvation Army.