Listen to this article
by Trish Froderberg, Major –
God is helping us to re-order our priorities! The Golden State Division is listening to the heartbeat of God for the needs of a larger world and is responding to that need with practical gifts of love.
As a result of the possibilities of the Partners in Missions program, 14 corps have rejuvenated their World Services giving. This is a 29 percent increase over last year.
Mission teams have traveled around the globe bringing individuals into personal contact with the realities and needs of a less fortunate world. Soldiers of the Fresno Corps have joined the Pasadena Tab Corps and assisted with projects in Panama. The Santa Clara Grace Korean Corps Team visited Senegal, providing badly-needed medical supplies and leadership training. The San Francisco Asian American Yerba Buena Corps sent a large delegation to Hong Kong where they will divide into small ministry teams to serve throughout the command.
The Santa Clara Citadel team traveled to Ukraine and Russia, two of our Partners in Mission countries. Catch the excitement of Gloria Spalinger, a first-time team member: “Every place we visited I was ready to give anything they wanted; do anything they needed done. The handicapped children’s orphanage was awesome. They need everything! They wanted a playground for the children; you could see they were loved and taken care of. I left there happy and wanting to build that playground myself.
“There was one place I didn’t feel happy. I left feeling horrible…This was a hospital where all the people there were just waiting to die. They were sick with a curable illness and yet they were all dying. No one cared; this was not a place where any human being should have to be…I want to take them all out and clean them up. Feed them a wonderful meal…Something to let them know there’s hope…But no one cared. Well, except the Salvation Army officer. And now us – Sherry, Trish and me…I am going back. I am going to do something. I have to. I left a piece of my heart there, in Ukraine.”
If you want to be a part of next year’s team, contact Major Trish Froderberg—“We are going back!”
Contact Major Froderberg at 415-359-4513 or e-mail her at: Trish_Froderberg@usw.salvationarmy.org
