At the Frontier

Just a year ago, if you would've asked the experts where the U.S. was headed, they were certain of one thing: the country was beelining toward a recession.

In fact, a Bloomberg economic model said the odds of a U.S. recession in 2023 were 100 percent. Not 99 percent. There was no possible chance an economic slowdown was avoidable.

So, how are we doing a year later? Well, you could say those grim forecasts were a little off-target. The U.S. economy, according to all the key indicators, is humming right along.

And yet, for many Americans, prosperity is ever elusive. And there's still unmet need in every zip code across the U.S.

The Salvation Army has its work cut out for them, especially as we work to meet the needs of the whole person—body, mind and soul.

And that's exactly what we're covering in the episodes of this podcast to come. We'll be taking a look at the state of the issues, exploring The Salvation Army's work through the lens of its seven primary areas of service.

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As the saying goes, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

That's the ethos Major Terry Masango lives by, and it's paid off as he recently received a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership.

Dr. Masango was raised in Zimbabwe and now as a Salvation Army officer, or pastor, he serves in the Seattle area as the General Secretary in the Northwest Division—a role you might compare to a chief operations officer.

Along his educational journey, Dr. Masango learned to embrace discipline, and is now putting those skills to work.

So allow me to introduce to you today, to share more about his academic pursuits and how he's applying them to his ministry with The Salvation Army, Dr. Major Terry Masango.

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Before and after.

Before 2020, the idea of closed borders, lockdowns, face masks, social distancing, and testing weren't a thing.

After, we've experienced the real toll, the disruption, the unknown that the pandemic brought.

It was a crisis of a generation, and it changed the world on a global scale. Mental exhaustion, economic disparities and escalating divisions now mark our times.

But award-winning author, Dr. Chris Rice sees the challenges of our day as a historic opportunity for renewal and fresh growth.

In his new book, "From Pandemic to Renewal: Practices for a World Shaken by Crisis," he examines eight interrelated crises exposed by the pandemic era and provides pathways for followers of Christ to bring transformation and healing to their lives and communities.

Rice is director of the United Nations Office of the Mennonite Central Committee, an international relief, development, and peace agency. He served as Co-Founding director of the Duke Divinity School Center for Reconciliation, and is coauthor of Reconciling All Things and More Than Equals, which both won Christianity Today Book Awards.

Now, from a burnout society and bipolar world order to our own divided selves, Rice helps us understand this emerging world that will reshape our lives for decades to come. In today's show, he also shares some of the transformative practices that can move us toward social healing and spiritual renewal.

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Did you know The Salvation Army serves in more than 130 countries around the world and in every U.S. zip code, working to meet human needs in every community—exactly as that community needs?

Every program is rooted in a passion to serve God by serving the hurting, the helpless and the hopeless. In the Western Territory, The Salvation Army serves the 13 Western states in addition to Guam and Micronesia. With a geographic area that large, the scope of service often takes unique forms.

So on this show, I'm here to share 11 ways The Salvation Army tailors its service to meet the distinct needs of people in the West.

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After 37 years of not believing, one day, God was there.

That was the experience Andrew Flockhart had. As he says: I found God at the Dallas-Love Field Airport on a business trip.

Now in training to become a Salvation Army officer (or pastor) at the College for Officer Training at Crestmont in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Cadet Andrew Flockhart is preparing to be commissioned and sent out for ministry in June 2024.

Once an atheist but no more, he is here today to share more of his own story, his testimony about what has happened since that day in the airport.

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Things are messy, right? That's life?

So where is the joy?

How do you find it?

Captain Arwyn Rodriguera can show you the way.

Arwyn Rodriguera is the Corps Officer and Executive Director of The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center San Francisco and Railton Place, a 113-unit affordable housing development in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood.

And she's also the adoptive mother to twin girls.

She knows about the trust established through attachment to a primary care giver. And that that attachment is the healthy community that can restore what has been broken.

She learned more about attachment theory on her journey to becoming a certified foster parent and realized in those classes that that's exactly how our attachment works to God.

That safety, that joy—alongside community, trust, restoration and celebration—are, as she says, the witness a weary and broken world needs.

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"Great faith inspires great dreams. Great dreams require great faith."

That's a line from Rick Warren's new book, "Created to Dream: The 6 Phases God Uses to Grow Your Faith."

Of course, you know Rick Warren as the author behind the transformative bestseller, "The Purpose Driven Life," which has sold over 35 million copies worldwide and helped millions of readers discover their purpose and meaning in life.

Pastor Rick Warren founded Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. Time Magazine named him the most influential spiritual leader in America and one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Now, "Created to Dream" is his first book in a decade—a must-read for anyone seeking to unlock their potential, move past fear, revive a dead dream and live the life they were created to live.

As Rick writes, "When God wants to work in your life, he gives you a dream about what he wants you to do and the impact he wants you to have in the world."

So, what is God's dream for your life?

Listen in as Rick shares the first chapter of his new book, "Created to Dream."

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How do you want to experience your life?

What do you want your life to reflect?

What are the simple, soul-filling ways you can upgrade your time, even if it's just a few minutes?

In this episode, you'll find a mini workshop right here in your podcast player—a workshop to make a plan for joy.

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We're doing something different in this episode—giving you a little behind the scenes of what happens in our office and a preview of what's coming.

So I've invited Hillary Jackson, the managing editor of The Salvation Army's Caring Magazine, my partner in publication if you will, to join me today.

Hillary also holds a master's in specialized journalism from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism—we actually went through the same program. She's written for the likes of The Washington Post, The Week and Architectural Digest, and has worked around the world covering the Olympics.

In this episode, we're chatting about the magazine that this podcast is connected to and its goal, with a deeper look inside the making of our annual print edition releasing now. You can find it at caringmagazine.org/belonging.

Plus, you'll absolutely want to listen to the end for the special appearance of some of you who answered a question we recently asked about how you found your place in The Salvation Army.

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FIGHT FOR GOOD. Give to The Salvation Army.

We recently spent a season exploring The Salvation Army's Pathway of Hope—a national initiative to provide individualized services to families with children, addressing their immediate material needs and providing long-term engagement to stop the cycle of poverty.

So what does that kind of support look like day-to-day?

Maybe that axiom is correct: It takes a village.

You've heard that one before, right? It takes a village to raise a child. But what if the same is true for all of us, child or not?

Perhaps we need each other. We need community.

That's what Trina Crawford will tell you.

As the Director of The Salvation Army Service Center in Havre, Montana, Trina becomes part of that village for those in the Pathway of Hope. She becomes a daily fixture in their lives, checking in with them, providing tangible help and resources, directing them toward community and reminding them of the hope that exists in Christ.

How does she do it? Why does she do it? And what impact has she seen through the years?

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