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College for Officer Training welcomes 30 new cadets
by Michael Paugh, Captain –
Thirty new cadets recently moved into the Western Territory’s College for Officer Training (CFOT) at Crestmont; each one is now a member of the Prayer Warriors Session. This group of cadets–from recent Salvationists to lifelong Salvationists–came with a shared goal; the Prayer Warriors have answered God’s call to fulltime ministry as Salvation Army officers.
Some cadets arrived from local California communities while others traveled long distances to the campus. Cadet Maureen Lawliss came from Tanzania, where she worked for the Army’s development department. A Salvationist since 2007, Lawliss realized her calling after communication with an officer stationed in the Western Territory who encouraged her to respond to the Lord’s probing.
The Prayer Warriors include six “officers’ kids” as well as former teachers, hotel executives, military personnel, missionaries, information technology specialists, development directors, youth workers and camp managers.
In addition, CFOT also accepted two second-year cadets from KoreaCadets Daniel and Olivia Shinwho will be joining the Witnesses for Christ Session. Both are third generation Salvationists; they bring to the West a love for Jesus and a compassion for leading the lost to Christ.
Upon arrival, each new cadet was asked: Why are you here? What do you expect to learn in the next two years? What are the characteristics of a good Salvationist?
The cadets answered the last question in agreement“a good Salvationist is one who loves the Lord wholeheartedly and loves and helps those who are in need.”
When they are commissioned in two years, each will sign a covenant with God, declaring: “As a Salvation Army officer, I bind myself to him in this solemn covenant, to love and serve him supremely all my days; to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life; to maintain the doctrines and principles of The Salvation Army, and, by God’s grace, to prove myself a worthy officer.”
The Crestmont officers and staff look forward to seeing the hand of God work in the lives of these men and woman who responded to his calling to become full-time servants in The Salvation Army.