• Christopher Priest

The Salvation Army: Emotional & Spiritual Care Hotline Snapshot #4

I received a call from a woman in Baltimore looking for food assistance. I gave her the food assistance line in Baltimore and then we had a chance to talk a little. I prayed for a family member.

Later I received a call from a woman in Niagara Falls who really missed going to church. She was discouraged because of this. We had a 40 minute conversation and I learned about her family and the blessings that God has given her over the years. She told me that she was a Catholic, but she spent time volunteering at The Salvation Army in Niagara Falls and really likes the officers there. I told her I knew the officers there and that they were terrific people. (They are originally from my Division and were in training a year after me). Upon hearing this, she got excited and felt that our phone call was ordained by God. I had the chance to pray for her and for specific needs in her family. By the end of the call, she told me that she was feeling encouraged and looking forward to going to the Niagara Falls Corps again next week.

Yesterday, I received a call from Margaret, a very sweet woman in Santa Rosa Island, FL, who asked for prayer. She came from Illinois, but her flight home was cancelled due to COVID-19. She found herself displaced and running out of time in the place where she was staying in Florida. Her friends had housed her for a while, but ran out of space when other family members arrived. Margaret is visually impaired and unable to drive herself home. She was also finding it impossible to look for answers online, because she couldn’t make out the phone numbers on the screen. I was able to refer her to The Salvation Army in Fort Walton, FL. I also gave her the number for The Salvation Army in Pensacola, as a second option. We talked for awhile and I prayed with her. She also prayed, just a bit. She was incredibly grateful for my help.

Tonight, I received a call from a woman in Omaha, Nebraska. She was feeling very lonely. She lives in a Senior Center and for their safety, all community activities have been stopped including her church services. We spoke for about 30 minutes. As she shared with me her love of her family and her hobbies, she began to feel better. We discovered a mutual interest in Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy and I could sense some relief and joy in her disposition. I asked if I could pray for her and she told me that she would also like prayers for her family and for those suffering with COVID 19 and those fighting on the front lines. When I was done praying for her needs we recited the Lord’s Prayer together. I knew from my Catholic days of my youth that the Lord’s Prayer was a central prayer in a Catholic’s prayer life. I asked her how she learned about the hotline, and she said that her Senior Center had placed a notice about it on their bulletin board. I was happy to hear that. I congratulate whoever took the time to place the hotline number on her Senior Center Bulletin Board.