Meet Major Simon Damen

1. What is your current appointment, and what do you find most satisfying about it?

I’m the Area Officer for Victoria South-East. I enjoy moving around the area seeing where God is at work in a variety of different and creative ways. I appreciate how hard and committed our officers are.

2. Away from the appointment – if that’s possible! – what do you do to relax or unwind?

I like finding a new bike path to explore in Melbourne. I love the way you can discover all sorts of great areas of the city, be it a train-line ride, a bush ride, or a city trail. We live in an amazing city with great coffee shops along these trails.

3. What’s a favourite Christian song, and why do you like it?

This is hard to answer, but I often find myself reflecting on Indescribable by Chris Tomlin as it reminds me of God’s bigness, greatness, creatorness (I made that word up) and his over-all inchargeness (and that one). Our God is bigger than we give him credit for most of the time.

4. If you could have a good talk with a biblical character apart from Jesus, who would it be and what would you talk about?

It would be Caleb. I loved the way that he saw potential when everyone else saw all the problems. I would love to tap into his optimistic nature. I also loved the way – at 80 years of age – that he talked about being still as strong and vigorous as when Moses first sent him out. I want to know how he did that and what I need to do so I can be like that when I’m 80!

5. If you were talking to a group of Salvationists and they asked if you recommended officership or not, what would you say?

In my mind, soldiership is an expression of a Daniel fast. We give up certain things and choose to live in certain ways so that we can be a blessing in the world. Daniel gave up the choice meat, the better living areas, etc. He stayed faithful to his God and to his prayer life. Officership is another level of that. It’s a ministry of sacrifice in many ways. We give up more to serve the kingdom of God. Much like Daniel, we will be thrown to the lions, into fiery pits, people questioning us and testing us etc. But with the faithfulness of holding to the same values and commitment Daniel did, we, too, can survive. It won’t be easy at times, but in the long run, you see God has it in control at every turn.