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Parents and mentors honored
by Karen Gleason –
The Fellowship of the Silver Star, inaugurated in the U.S. in 1930 and extended worldwide in 1936, expresses gratitude to parents or other significant life mentors of Salvation Army officers.
Cadets of the Prayer Warriors Session acknowledged their parents and others who have served as their spiritual mentors at the annual Silver Star banquet.
Commissioner Philip Swyers welcomed the honorees and special guests Commissioners James and Ruth Osborne. Duncan Sutton led the cadets’ chorus in the spirited, “I Can Go to God in Prayer” (words Calvin Bridges, arrangement Carol Cymbala).
Speaking to both the cadets and their mentors, Commissioner Ruth Osborne emphasized that the calling to serve God supersedes any other calling in life, and while it presents challenges, its rewards are priceless. She said that officers do not need to be sensational by the world’s standards; instead they need to be “faithful stewards, shepherds who love people and maintain a strong prayer life.”
Osborne exhorted those present to continue to pray for these new officers, as “they will face evil, storms of life, difficult people. Sometimes they will ask, “God, are you there?’ You must pray for them every day.”
In closing, she left the cadets with this advice: “Go to work every day on fire, even in the tough times. Keep excited…when you love people, you’ll have people. There will be fireworks in heaven when they see what’s happening in the Western Territory.”
In her tribute, Cadet Clarissa Ochoa described how Moses mentored Joshua, comparing it to the way officers, family and friends have mentored the cadets (Numbers 27: 16:18; for text of Ochoa’s speech, see New Frontier, vol. 28, no. 11).
The cadets then pinned the Silver Star on the recipients; those cadets whose loved ones are deceased received a white rose of remembrance. Commissioners Phil and Pat Swyers presented the Silver Star certificates.
Commissioner James Osborne offered a prayer of dedication. The banquet concluded with the song “Love divine, all loves excelling,” led by Chief Secretary Colonel William Harfoot, and the benediction by Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries Colonel Susan Harfoot.
Daniel 12:3—Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.