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This marvelous story began January 21st, 1996, our wedding day at the Sherbrooke Salvation Army Corps.  Three months later we became soldiers engaged in the service of Jesus Christ in our corps and our community.  Three beautiful boys were born to us and dedicated before God and our corps.  Since our call to full-time ministry with the Salvation Army eleven years have passed, yet it is still just as alive as the day we first heard it.  There have been so many obstacles to overcome that it is clear that it could only have been God who  had brought us through to this point.  There was a rule that prevented us from becoming officers, and we didn’t even know it.  But this rule concerning the age difference between officers had been changed.  It is so wonderful to see God’s hand at work in our lives.  Yet, the obstacles were not yet finished; the uncertain future of the Montreal Campus for officer training, and the loss of our information somewhere on route to THQ, meant that we were delayed ten years and still did not have the result we were hoping for.

Perseverance always requires a great deal of time.  It is never easy, there is often discouragement, and we must turn to God for strength. It is in humility that Christ forms us in his wisdom and love.  It was at the moment of feeling all hope was lost (I had become 48 years old) that the doors first starting to open.  It was the time God had chosen.  I had been given an age exemption, Anne-Marie was given a year to learn english  and we received our conditional acceptance letters to training College at the moment of selling our home.  Even in that moment God was in charge.  As we received our letters from THQ we placed an ad in the paper and the house sold on the first visit.  Isn’t our God wonderful?

Today, it is as a family that we leave for the College for Officer Training in Winnipeg.  Our children have come with us, not only because they have to, but also because they recognize our deep calling.  After having talked to our boys of the possibility of leaving for Winnipeg our son Olivier (10 years old) went into his room and returned with a song for me to play on the piano.  Here is the song he wrote that day:

Help me, I need to understand

But I believe the truth may already lie in my own heart.

Jesus, thank you for saving me from my sins.

Olivier Dagenais (2005)

The evening that

One evening our son Joel (9 years old), asked me: “Dad, since it is God’s will that we moved to Winnipeg, are we going to stay here?”  I replied, “yes, of course.” The next morning our son responded, “I asked God if he wanted me in Winnipeg, and he responded, ‘obey God.’”  A little later our son Emmanuel (6 years old) said to us, “I will follow you because I both love you and want to obey Jesus.”

Following God’s call to become Officers in the Salvation Army, is part of our way of honouring God.  We will give him our all, discovering the hidden talents he has given us that we have never known.

May God bless you and be with you all of your lives.

Anne-Marie et Claude Dagenais