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Salvation Army welcomes new pastors to service for Moose Jaw, Assiniboia

The Moose Jaw Salvation Army welcomed new officers Cadets Lester and Almeta Ward to the community on Aug. 24
salvation army wards
Cadet Almeta Ward (L) and Cadet Lester Ward (R), the new core officers for Salvation Army Moose Jaw and Assiniboia, posed for a photo in the physically distanced pews at the Salvation Army Church.

The Salvation Army in Moose Jaw and Assiniboia has two new pastors who have joined the community, as the charitable organization bid farewell to the Majors Dan and Wendy Broome at the end of July when they returned to Ontario to resume positions with the Salvation Army in a community there.

Cadets Lester and Almeta Ward will be taking up the vacant roles of community services officer and core pastor, respectively, although the married couple will be sharing the duties of both positions.

The Wards originally hail from St. John’s, Newfoundland and were one year into their two-year training with the Salvation Army in Winnipeg when they were asked to take an early appointment to fill the vacant Moose Jaw positions.

A preliminary visit to the Friendly City in June was the first time the couple had been to Saskatchewan, said Almeta, but the pair are feeling very at home since arriving on Aug. 17.

“Coming from bigger cities in the past, we feel like home here and we’ve been made to feel very welcome,” said Lester. “You just feel like you’ve known people all your life [and] we’re very content, very comfortable. It feels like home, and we’re ready.”

Both Lester and Almeta are excited to be working within the community, with a passion for providing support and service to those in need of a helping hand. 

For Almeta, she hopes to connect with the congregation at the Salvation Army Church, located on Wintergreen Drive, and has a vision of increasing engagement with younger people and families in her role as pastor.

“My passion is with young people, and so I enjoy the opportunity to work alongside of that, whatever that may look like,” said Almeta. “And my vision is [that because] the Salvation Army is a Christian organization, I want to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

For Lester, he is most looking forward to the boots-on-the-ground support the Salvation Army provides to those in the community who are in need — which is appropriately how he began his first week of work here in Moose Jaw, bringing lunch to a resident sleeping outside the Salvation Army office downtown one morning. 

“Both of us have a passion for people that are down and out, people that are hurting,” said Lester. “I don’t look at it as a job or employment, that's not what this is about. It’s where our heart is, our calling. And when we can [help people], that replaces any money that you could make or need.”

Both cadets agreed that the public perception of the Salvation Army seems to differ between the prairies and the east coast — where places like Saskatchewan are most familiar with the organization as a thrift store and service provider, while folks in Newfoundland know the organization as a church.

“[The Salvation Army] is a place you can go to get help, but we are also a place you can go to worship,” said Almeta.

Lester shared some of the projects the Salvation Army has been continuing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the bag lunch program that began in March and has served over 4,000 lunches since, and the Salvation Army’s recent donation of 129 cheer-up kits to seniors in Moose Jaw, thanks to a grant from Regina United Way.

It also includes the Salvation Army’s camp program, which was postponed because of the pandemic, and a delayed community kitchen program that was supposed to launch this spring.

The couple is looking forward to continuing to offer necessary and appreciated programs to both Moose Jaw and Assiniboia, and to getting out and about to get to know their new community — once COVID-19 allows it, of course.

“We want to be able to reach those that are in need, whether it's housing, whether it’s food, whether it's an emotional conversation, spiritual conversation, physical need,” said Lester. “We want people to know what we stand for and that our mission is all about reaching people and helping them feel they have a sense of belonging and a sense of worth.”

“And you will see us because we are community people, so you’ll see us around,” added Almeta. “Community is in our blood, and so is helping the community.”

In June of next year, both Lester and Almeta will complete their training and be ordained as full pastors with the Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army office can be reached by calling 1 (306) 692-5899, and the church located at 2 Wintergreen Drive is hosting regular Sunday morning services at 10 a.m., with capacity limited to 60 people and attendees encouraged to RSVP to the office ahead of attendance.

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