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He is a shield to all who trust in him (Ps. 18:30c NKJV).
ANACORTES, WASH.—One Monday, a man came to the corps asking to speak with a pastor. Lt. Ryan Boyd, corps officer with her husband, Josh, met with him. He said that the grandmother who raised him had just died in the last two hours. A friend drove him to a church, but it was closed. So he walked to every church he knew of —all of their offices were closed. Finally, he came to The Salvation Army, and found it open. After Boyd prayed with him, he left, saying, “Thank God for The Salvation Army.”
PORTLAND, ORE.—The Portland Tabernacle Corps, led by Lt. Ray and Major Nancy Dihle, began a new book club on Feb. 3. The club meets monthly at a coffee shop on Saturday morning. The first book is “To Heaven and Back,” by Mary Neal, M.D.
YUBA-SUTTER, CALIF.—The corps’ Open Door Program assisted its first 2013 client. “Ms. Lisa,” an elderly woman suffering from mental illness and alcohol and drug abuse, was on the verge of homelessness. Through connections with a local sober living facility and funding through a Sierra Health Foundation grant, the corps provided her with housing, food from the pantry, clothes from a church member, and got her back on her medications. The program will continue to help her, including transportation to doctor appointments.
Captains Thomas and Kimberly Stambaugh are the corps officers.
HOMER, ALASKA—Corps members provided food and coffee to 60 emergency search and rescue workers looking for a lost snowmobiler. They offered prayer for the searchers and the missing man and his family, and rejoiced with the family when the man was found alive.
Lts. Jeffrey and Michelle Josephson are the corps officers.
KROC CORPS COMMUNITY CENTER, HAWAII—More than 1,000 people attended the center’s community open house, held to encourage everyone to make a fresh start in health and wellness. The corps also fielded six teams in the island-wide Salvation Army volleyball league.
With the Kroc Center’s one-year anniversary approaching, Corps Officers Major Philip and Captain Debbie Lum report that many community center members now attend the corps’ two Sunday worship services.
YUMA, ARIZ.—Corps Officer Captain Randy Hartt visited the emergency room with torn leg ligaments and muscles after aiding a woman being carjacked by an escaped convict still wearing his stripes and shackles. Hartt opened the car door and tried to stop the man, but was dragged several feet. The thief reversed direction and drove away; the police are still looking for him.
The experience provided new contacts for The Salvation Army: the mayor visited Hartt, and the woman has family members in the police department.
