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34 New Officers Vow Lifetime Commitment
by Robert Docter –
Anxious questions were answered as 34 newly commissioned Salvation Army officers marched across the Long Beach, Calif., arena stage, saluted Commissioner Peter H. Chang and received orders to their first appointments.
An assembled throng of devoted Army soldiers witnessed the stately ritual of an Army renewing itself in the final service of the Great Victory Congress. These included parents and friends of the Army’s newest officers as well as Congress delegates.
Chang stated: “Each newly commissioned lieutenant of the Messengers of God’s Love Session is crucially important for Salvation warfare in the USA Western Territory. In their ministry to the needy, they will proclaim the message of God’s love by word and will execute the message of God’s love by deed…thus bringing many souls into the Kingdom.”
General Paul A Rader, the Army’s international leader, and Mrs. General Kay F. Rader, participated in the important and uplifting ceremony. “The commissioning of 34 Messengers of God’s Love put fresh heart in every Salvationist,” Rader said, “and encouraged them to a deeper commitment.”
Seven of the cadets received appointments outside the territory, with four returning home to Korea, two assigned to special ministry in the USA Central Territory and one going to a corps appointment in Australia.
