War Cry - April, 2013 Page 34

How I Met

the Army

............

As a licensed minister,

I never thought I would have to ex-
tend my ministry to someone close to
me--to a member of my family.

I come from a Baptist background.

One day God called me to work in The Salvation
Army. Three years ago, I accepted the commission to
be the Corps Sergeant Major for the Salvation Army
West Mound Corps in Columbus, Ohio. At the time, I
did not know the statement "charity begins at home"
would ever mean so much to me. Despite the fact that
my parents sent me to college to be a teacher, I have
spent much of the last twenty-plus years working as
a State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA).

I had no idea where this career would lead me.

The training I received taught me how to provide
supplemental care for elderly people.

I was able to combine my STNA status and my

ministry. My mother and I began to volunteer as Sun-
day chaplains at the Twin Valley Behavioral Center
Psychiatric Hospital in Columbus. My entire family
also ministered through music together at the old
Ohio Penitentiary. I would play the piano and the
group would sing. We traveled throughout Ohio, and
my mom would sing "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" and
"We Shall Behold Him." We sang in many nursing
homes and hospitals. We also visited many people
who were confined to their homes due to illness and
communed with them. My mother's participation was
a significant part of our family music ministry.

When God called my mother to preach, she was

lying in bed. She did not know where God would lead
her, but she promised to obey and go. She preached
and sang at Faith Mission, which has served home-
less men, women and families in the Columbus area
since 1966.

My mother also taught special education students,

and prayed for them when they were ill. Many would
report back to her that they were feeling better. She
had high expectations for her students, and kept them
in line. My mother won many awards throughout her

life, including the 1993 Woman of Character

Award. She won many lost souls to the

Lord. She spent many nights in emer-

gency rooms providing comfort and

spiritual assurance.

Through my parents' commit-

ment to donating to The Salvation
Army, I learned that denomina-
tion is not as important as salva-

tion. After I joined the West Mound

Corps, my mother was invited to

sing and to speak. She preached from

Acts 2 and relayed her personal experi-

ence with the Holy Ghost. She also
related how she had started the
Women's Ministries Block Watch
program. I did not know at the time
that it would be her final sermon.

My mother, a controlled dia-

betic, was diagnosed with breast
cancer and brain cancer. My father
and I took over her care, giving her
oral medicines and injections. I also
administered all her blood sugar

tests. I was thankful for the culmination of knowledge
and experience I gained through my years of working
as a STNA. My partner in ministry had become the
recipient of my ministry. The woman who spent a life-
time taking care of me was now my patient.

After her surgery, there were songs she could

no longer sing. I cried as I told her I thanked God
that she was my mother. She was my mentor, my
partner in ministry, my educator, but most of all,
she was my mom.

Years ago she told me she would have to endure

a great storm. Lightning struck as she passed at 1:15
one morning. She no longer had need of sugar tests,
needles or oral medicines. She was free. I went away
to school and learned so much, and it turned out that it
was so I could come home and perform the most impor-
tant ministry of my life. My mother lived long enough
to see God's plan for me cycle back to His plans for her.

The War Cry | APRIL 2013

David L. Alexander is the Corps Sergeant Major

for the Columbus, OH West Mound Corps.

Caring

Comes

Full Cycle

DAVID L. ALEXANDER

"My
mother
lived long
enough to
see God's
plan for
me cycle
back to
His plans
for her."

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