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by Martha Sheppard, Captain –
“Heart to God, Hand to Man”—for years, this motto has declared to the world what our motivation and our mission is—love of God and ministry to others. At Ft. Collins, we’ve applied this motto to the church. By using the acronym of HEART (Harvesting, Encouraging, Adoring, Remaining, Training), we always have the five purposes of the church before us. Perhaps even more importantly to our corps growth, however, is the HAND (Harvest, Assimilate, Nurture, Deploy) by which we can measure our progress and growth.
When we harvest new members, through evangelism and follow-up of visitors, we are quick to assimilate them into our family. Our corps hosts a Sunday dinner every week (affectionately called the “Mess Hall”) and visitors are encouraged to join us. If they continue coming, we have a specific action plan to nurture and train the new recruits. Each one is prayed for specifically during our MASH (Mobile Army Spiritual Hospital) daily prayer meeting.
Deploying the soldiery is an important part of the battle. We allow the corps members themselves to determine which ministries will be started and operated, based on God’s calling in their lives. This active participation in ministry leads to a deeper commitment in holy living, which leads to soldier enrollments, local officer and full-time ministry recruits.
This was evidenced recently in a ceremony where Major Phil Lum enrolled 10 new soldiers. We are privileged to support three cadets at Crestmont and have several more who are considering full-time ministry in the future. Fire a volley!