It's music, gospel, performing arts--
Opportunities you normally wouldn't get in life..
Summer camps(That only cost $20 if you are a member of the church ), large and breathtaking events, great food(wink), Friendliness of others~
You get to show off your uniform and look like a pilot(Hahaha, this is a common joke.)
The Salvation Army world is VERY small-- If you move away from your friends(Who also attend the Salvation Army..), You most likely WILL see them again. I know from experience .
You can easily volunteer to help the needy.
You learn many things; Brass band music, choir/singing/harmonizing, dance/hula/devotion in motion/timbrels---
You begin to love the ministry that you do, and love The Salvation Army as a whole.
If your in the ministries you travel a lot, and get to experience new things..
You get to tell people that the Salvation Army is NOT a thrift store or an actual army-- but a church.
Lot's of laughter and joking around...
You feel like a large family-- with members all around the world.
THESE are what I love about the Salvation Army from my own experiences~ <3
OH, also... Most of the churches have great choir and band that plays during church(As well as Praise and worship songs)
And even though this video doesn't have the greatest sound quality-- Imagine the song being much much louder that surrounds you completely . It makes you love being alive..
I was homeless for a long time and stayed in a few of their shelters around the country. Though never for very long. The salvation army ("the sally" to the street people) is literally a life saver. I think they could do better in choosing their management positions, I still have nightmares about that, but I won't air anyones laundry here. They do more good than harm.
I used to attend the SA as a visitor. I loved the services and everything else. I even wanted to become a Soldier but I started to have to work weekends and my busy life got the better of me. I went last Sunday and I felt like I had come home, even though I was by myself and I didn't know anyone. I have never once stopped wanted to serve Jesus as a Soldier. Does this seem weird????
I worked for two different Salvation Army shelters. The first one was amazing. They loved the people they served. It showed, and lives were changed because of it. When I was working the overnight, it wasn't anything for me to see the Captain in the kitchen getting coffee and starting his day at 4:30 or 5:00 am. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of thinking ALL Salvation Armies were like that - even though my boss told me we were probably one of the most liberal shelters in the state.
Then, I went and worked at another shelter, and it was completely different. The attitude was, "We help the scum because we're the Salvation Army and we're supposed to." It was very disheartening.
The most wonderful aspect of the SA, as I see it, is the leaders' willingness to share to all people the Good News with a love that comes only from the Lord Himself.
One of the songs we used to sing when I was a boy, and a member of the Rochester Salvation Army in Rochester, PA, was this one:
I'm in the Lord's army
I'm in the Lord's army
I may never march in the infantry
Ride in the calvary
Shoot the artillery
And I may never zoom over Germany
But I'm in the Lord's army
It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning, to be taught to view ourselves as soldiers in the war for the souls of men and women. While we enjoyed building planes and other crafts, a children's minister would speak to us about the things of God.
More truth than I realized sunk in, and when I was in deep trouble in my late teens, I knew Who to call out to and get right with. It was a marvelous restoration, one that I owe to the Salvation Army for instilling in me the fear of God.
Thank you for being faithful to do the work of the Lord and, with patience, getting through to some of the most hard hearted men and women.
I used to attend the SA as a visitor. I loved the services and everything else. I even wanted to become a Soldier but I started to have to work weekends and my busy life got the better of me. I went last Sunday and I felt like I had come home, even though I was by myself and I didn't know anyone. I have never once stopped wanted to serve Jesus as a Soldier. Does this seem weird????
Not at all. I can very much relate to most of what you said.
I was raised in the Army. I was a soldier, a bandsman, a Songster, even a candidate for officership at one point, but drifted away when I hit my late teens. Over the years I tried several different churches. All of them good. All sound teaching, but they were never home.
Then I went back to the Army, to a new Corps in a new town. As soon as I walked in I knew I had come home. I am now back in uniform and once more serving God as a soldier of The Salvation Army.
Theres a wonderful Army chorus that simply says
Just where He needs me, my Lord has placed me
Just where He needs me, there would I be.....
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ruth 1 1:17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Everything I know, I learned from watching and listening. These days men learn only from books, and doctors try to undertsand what man has learned. I pray to understand what man has forgotten" - Vernon Cooper of the Lumbee tribe.
Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
I talk to ex servicemen on the streets who are still paying for the cup of tea they got back in 1941...cost then hundreds of pounds over the years but they never forgot us.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Ruth 1 1:17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
Everything I know, I learned from watching and listening. These days men learn only from books, and doctors try to undertsand what man has learned. I pray to understand what man has forgotten" - Vernon Cooper of the Lumbee tribe.
Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.