Over the past 10 months money has been raised through Dress Down Days, when Officers and Cadets can pay to not wear uniform for the day; monthly mission lunches; the CFOT Canteen; and In-Sunday offerings.  And in April the Missions Committee staged the annual major fundraiser.

This year’s major fundraiser was CFOT’s Got Talent! A night of decadent desserts, a silent auction, and fantastic performances.  This years performances included musical selections, creative movement & dance, Captain Rick’s magic show, and a special celebrity appearance by Sonny & Cher!

This past Sunday, outgoing Missions Committee Director, Cadet Carolyn Reid presented Commissioner William Francis with a cheque for the amount raised by the Missions Committee, a total of $8,988.17! Congratulations to the Committee and the entire CFOT community for a job well done.  We are pleased to be able to support our partner territories in this way.

We recently held our first fundraiser lunch hosted by the Missions Committee of CFOT.  We hosted guests from fellow Cadets, CFOT Staff, Prairie DHQ and Booth College.  We  were served a generous portion of spaghetti with tasty ceasar salad and garlic toast.  To top it all off, we were treated to homemade harvest cupcakes!  It was a great time of fellowship and fun while being well fed!  We raised over $200 with all proceeds going directly towards our yearly goal of $8,000 to support Partners in Mission.

Our featured partnering country till January is Tanzania.  Click here to see more about the work of The Salvation Army in Tanzania.  The Missions Lunches are held monthly with a different theme each time.  Our next lunch on November 24th, we will celebrate the Christmas season with a festive meal and a carol sing.  Join us!

In November Major Gilliam Brown, the Associate Director of World Missions for the Canada and Bermuda Territory, visited CFOT following a trip to the CFOT in Bangladesh.  This proved to be the opportunity needed for a connection between our fellow cadets training thousands of kilometers away.

Over the next month cadets put together a scrapbook using photos of people and events to represent life at CFOT Winnipeg.  In January, at one of our monthly fundraiser lunches, the opportunity was given for the cadets and staff to write a personal message of love and encouragement to our overseas counterparts.  The scrapbook, and souvenirs for the cadets and frisbees for their children were delivered to Major Gillian in February, just in time for her to pack them in her suitcase bound for Bangladesh.

The day Major Gillian arrived in Winnipeg to lead chapel at CFOT she brought with her a most loving “Hello” from the 8 Ambassadors of Holiness who at the time were just two months into their training.  They made for us a book of beautiful and encouraging words as well as sent some pictures and a little for each cadet.

God has given us the opportunity to give and receive this encouragement and we are truly blessed to have made this connection.  Cadets and staff at CFOT Bangladesh, you are in our prayers.

Overall, the Partners in Mission Campaign raised $12,000 from the CFOT community.

To read more about The Salvation Army’s Partners in Mission click here.

We have just completed 15 months in New Zealand. While it is always difficult to be separated from family and friends we have found great joy and fulfilment in our work here in this Territory. We are the Divisional Leaders for the Northern Division which encompasses the top half of the North Island of New Zealand. We have received a warm welcome to New Zealand and feel very much at home here with the people. The Salvation Army is alive and well. We have been so encouraged by the moving of God’s spirit upon the lives of Salvationist to ‘step up to the plate’ and to be Spirit filled and mission focused as they represent Christ daily.

The Territorial Strategic Mission Plan(2006-2010) increasingly drives The Salvation Army’s activities and emphases. Four goals provide a unifying focus, supporting the territory’s mission of Caring for People, Transforming Lives and Reforming Society through God in Christ by the Holy Spirit’s power’: to grow all Salvationist as dynamic disciple; increase the number of new soldiers; take significant steps toward the eradication of poverty (especially in Tonga and Fiji); to be a connected, streamlined mission – focused Army. We are very pleased to be part of this Mission Plan and everything we plan and do aligns to these goals. There are great challenges to this because we have to evaluate what programs or events need to change if we want to truly be builders of the kingdom of God.

Fair Trade products are promoted, and the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit resources Salvationist and decision-makers on matters of social justice. The Salvation Army is very strong in this area and in recent days issued ‘ The State of the Nation’ address to the Government. Preventing human trafficking is high on the agenda, as is raising the level of public debate about rehabilitation in prisons and alternative punishment. The territory entered into a contract with the Salvation Army to assist newly released prisoners who have few social supports.
Child sponsorship goes from strength to strength. Young people from Waitakere Corps here in the Northern Division began sponsoring one boy from Fiji in April 2002. The Corps now sponsor 21 children around the world. In Tonga, a Sponsorship Church Parade saw 30 children and their families attend a special service. The desire is to not only care for these children but disciple them as well. At a recent Youth Event $16,000.00 dollars was collected from our Young People to be sent to Fiji and Tonga to help with the Salvation Army work there.
We are finding it very exciting to be a part of this great work here in New Zealand. We have a great passion for our Officers and children and we spend considerable amount of hours mentoring, coaching and encouraging the troops. Our goal is to make ‘good’ Salvation Army Officers become ‘great’ Salvation Army Officers. We have Officers and Salvationist in our Division from all parts of the world and it is very important we understand the culture and climate from where they have come from. This is a very rewarding part of our work here in this territory. We usually spend most of our morning at DHQ but in the afternoons and evenings we find ourselves out on the front lines meeting the people and supporting the variety of ministries that make up the Salvation Army here in New Zealand.

We are grateful for all the prayers and support from our home territory and we are thrilled for the opportunity of serving here in this great country. In the Salvation Army while New Zealand is considered a first world country, the countries of Fiji and Tonga are definitely third world and they are in great need of resources, monies and people who care. These people have a great love for the Lord and the Salvation Army and we have been moved and motivated by their testimonies and faith in God. In June we are going to Tonga to be the guest speakers for their Officers Retreat. There are only 12 Officers on the island and they do a great work for God and the Salvation Army. Pray for us as we go to share this special time with them.
There are promising signs of numerical growth as Salvationists across the Territory work together as a united mission team. The territory has a big vision, big goals have been set, but ours is a big God.

Prayer Request:
Northern Division Officers Fellowship(Retreat) May 27 – 29, 2008-05-09

Corps Meetings and Tonga Officers Fellowship (Retreat) June 14 – 19 2008

Children (Stephanie & Adam) (Krista & Tim) Grandchild (Aleksandr) back in Canada.

God’s moving in our ministry Without a doubt the most obvious sign of God’s blessing in our ministry has been the way in which we have been received and accepted by the officers and Salvationists of the Territory. Lynette and I have been privileged to travel around the territory conducting leadership development seminars, Brengle Seminars for Officers, Marriage enrichment Retreats and so on. It is quite a privilege to come into another country with its customs and traditions and to be accepted as leaders and teachers. We have been amazed at what we have been able to do for God as a team. March 30 will see the launch of the Army’s work in Namibia. This country is fifteen hundred kilometers from Cape Town but I have made the trek by car seven times now in two years. We have been working closely with NGOs, Government and church leaders and have now appointed a full time officer to restart the work there after a 60 year absence. This has been very rewarding and fulfilling work. We have also started a new corps plan which is doing very well. Just a few weeks after arriving we were told by city council that we were running a business in a residential area and after a 30 year presence in that neighborhood DHQ would have to relocate. The Lord really undertook for us and we are now much better situated but with a significant difference. DHQ is not just an office space it is located in an area populated by street people and they have become our people. We have gotten to know them, 100 or more, by name. We feed them, pastor them, and the church that is part of our complex is their church home. It is a unique but highly effective ministry setting. There is a great team spirit in the Division which has resulted in significant growth in both corps and social programs. It will be difficult to say good-bye after such a short stay.

Certainly one of the greatest challenges is being so far away from our family. We have two married children, Shannon (Jessie) and Cheryl (Terry) and two grandchildren Abigail and Cameron. Thanks to MSN Messenger we can keep in touch regularly. That may change when we relocate to Zim however. Getting use to doing more with less has been quite a challenge. The demands of ministry here are incredible. There is a 24% HIV/AIDS infection rate, child rape is alarming, violent crime is a serious problem, and fraud is also a serious issue throughout the country. As you can imagine, security in Bermuda is rather relaxed. We have had to re-learn security consciousness. We lived in Kingston, Jamaica in the 80s so we know security, but we had forgotten a lot. Lynette and I were car-jacked at gun point on September 20th of this year, at 11:15 AM. The fact that I remember the exact time indicates that this was a life changing experience for us. The trauma was not what we expected, the peace of God and the amazing support of our staff and friends mitigated that, but we suddenly came to grips with so many others have experienced and have realigned our values to some extent since then. Looking down the barrel of a gun can do that to you. We made a conscious decision to trust and to remain where we are.

The greatest blessing has been the many opportunities to minister in so many places and in such a variety of ways, preaching, teaching, workshops, integrated mission. One of the highlights of my officership will be last Easter Sunday morning at the Sun Rise Service. We hold this ecumenical event on the side of a mountain (Rhodes Memorial) overlooking the city of Cape Town with the mountains in the background. When I finished preaching to the crowd of 1300 the bandmaster gave the cue just as the sun broke over the mountains and the band played “Up from the grave he arose.” What an amazing experience! 5. Lynette and I really need prayer for the new challenge that lies before us. These new appointments will represent quite a learning curve for us. We have heard much about the spirit of Salvationism in Zimbabwe and are really looking forward to the experience. Just a cursory glance at the internet will introduce your readers to the realities of everyday life in Zimbabwe with its 24,000% inflation rate. Lynette and I are not overly concerned about the personal implications of living in a country facing such challenges, we have long since learned to be content with our appointments and to work with what is available in those settings. We have much to learn from the officers and Salvationists who have been so faithful in keeping the faith and serving the people around them in the face of challenging circumstances. We are humbled to have been chosen to provide leadership to them at such a time as this. We would also ask for prayer for the western Cape Division. New leaders have been selected. Prayer for them and for the vision that has been received by the team. Pray for South Africa and for Zimbabwe. They are both facing leadership changes in the coming days. Pray that God will bless them with spirit-filled and visionary leadership.

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.

Beginning tommorrow, Cadet Rob Jeffery brings us feature stories of Personnel on the mission field.  We will run reports on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and ask that you both pray for them and generously support the Partners in Mission campaign. Click here to see some ways you can support.