General Buckingham enrols world’s newest soldier at Hobart Rally
BY LAUREN MARTIN
There are thousands of Salvation Army soldiers all around the world, but not many of them can say that they were enrolled by the General – the movement’s world leader.
Lucy Snead, 19, had the rare privilege of being enrolled by General Lyndon Buckingham at the Tasmania Division Rally at Hobart Corps on Friday evening.
The daughter of Hobart Corps Officers Majors Johnmark and Nicole Snead, Lucy grew up in The Salvation Army.
She completed soldiership classes at Hobart Corps some time ago but didn’t take the step to enrol. It wasn’t until this year that God started calling her deeper on her journey with him, and she felt led to be a Salvation Army soldier.
And what a better time and place to be enrolled than during the visit of the Army’s world leaders – General Lyndon and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham!
During the enrolment, the General said soldiership enrolment was a beautiful moment of worship, “and I’m so privileged and honoured and grateful for the opportunity to lead you in this worship.”
“She [Lucy] declares, in your presence this evening, her determination, by God’s help, to be a true soldier of The Salvation Army.”
General says ‘get involved’
The world leaders have been travelling across Australia, sharing God’s word and their message for Australia – that God needs his Salvation Army to rise up and be the hands and feet of Jesus in our world.
In his message to Tasmania’s Salvationists, the General said: “I need men and women within The Salvation Army who can go about the place saying, ‘I have seen the Lord! I have encountered the living Christ! You want to know what’s different about me? I have encountered the living Lord!’”
He shared that he has seen evidence of the Holy Spirit hovering over The Salvation Army all over the world at this current time.
“I’m asking you – my Tasmanian brothers and sisters, this powerful bunch of people – please, don’t be missing. Don’t be absent, don’t be left out. Get involved.
“There’s stuff happening. God is going to use this movement ... he’s not finished with us yet. He’s got people he wants to bless. He’s got people he wants to rescue. He’s got people he wants to heal. He’s got people he wants to feed. He’s got people he wants to clothe. He’s got people he wants to welcome into the Kingdom. And his greatest resource for doing that is spirit-filled men and women just like me and you.”
Lucy said the General’s passion was contagious.
“It was like, yeah, let’s do something! Let’s not just sit and wait for someone else to do it; let’s do it! And I need to be the person to step up and do something.
“I’m ready to sit and listen. I’m ready to go out and find what he wants me to do.”
Cutmore Award recipients
A highlight of the Hobart Rally was the presentation of the newest Salvation Army Australia Territory award – the Cutmore Award – to celebrate pioneers and church planters in the movement.
Majors Linda and Stephen Miller and Captains Craig Boyd and Jessica Ffrost-Boyd were called to the stage to a standing ovation.
“We just want to honour you tonight because you are people who have said ‘yes’ to Jesus again and again and again,” said Territorial Commander Commissioner Miriam Gluyas.
Linda and Stephen Miller
Linda and Steve are the East Coast Tasmania Mobile Mission Initiative Leaders, having ‘planted’ The Salvation Army in an area where there has never been an Army presence.
They have initiated new expressions and built relationships through community lunches, suicide support, work in schools, hope groups and serving community through challenging events.
Following the meeting, Linda said she felt honoured that God's work in her and Steve’s ministry had been celebrated.
“The Lord continues to challenge us to just meet human need wherever there are people. They need the Lord. And we just share our story and go into the community and create spaces of belonging and safe spaces where people can just come and explore faith and explore what life is about and hopefully meet Jesus.
“We have been corps officers all our life and never, ever thought that we would be ones to pioneer a new work.
“We have just loved it, and we have seen God at work in the little communities that we are at. These people don’t go to church – we go to them.”
Craig Boyd and Jessica Ffrost-Boyd
Craig and Jessica work as the South East Tasmania Corps Officers in Sorell, north-east of Hobart. They invest in all aspects of their community, pioneering new expressions of faith.
A particular focus has been their work with foster families in the region, where they have established support groups and communities of hope. Through their coffee van business, they are also able to help youth complete barista training and find employment.
“We spent a year listening to the community and praying about what we heard,” said Craig after the meeting “From this, God has guided our steps, and this is still an ongoing process in our corps planting.”
“It’s really humbling,” said Jessica. “We don’t do these things for recognition.”
“God gives us the ministry; he gives us the people,” added Craig. “We came up with our own plans and then we found that none of that was happening. God, at every step, said, ‘No’, redirect, ‘This is where I want you to go.’
And God is still speaking and guiding the couple, calling on them to unlock people’s passions. “We see our role in the next 12 months to empower people to pursue their passions,” said Craig.
Click through the slideshow below to view more photos of the Hobart Rally:
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