Chaplain Highlight: Captains Aaron and Rachel Johnson
Lafayette was our first appointment. We were newly married and everything about that made Lafayette hold a very special place in our hearts. The community has been so kind and sweet to us as we grew as a married couple, became parents, and learned and grew as officers over the past six years.
We want to thank Lafayette for the grace and encouragement they have shown us. We worked hard to serve our community well, but we made mistakes, as everyone does, but there was always freedom to make them and understanding. Without the corps members, staff, volunteers, and board members who were so engaged, we would not have been able to serve the Lafayette community as well as we did. The people surrounding us were true co-laborers helping us progress. We were honored to have an experienced envoy working with us to teach us many things we had not yet learned.
We know that as we step away from Lafayette and Major Marlys steps in, the Lafayette corps will welcome her with loving arms and grace, just as they did for us. We trust The Salvation Army and God to ordain these appointments, and in that we trust that Major Marlys will not only carry on the work in Lafayette but will enhance it. She will have different sets of gifts, passions, and an ability to notice things we did not. We believe these will allow her to grow the corps in ways that we did not, to further the kingdom of God. Major Marlys is our comrade; we carry only respect and encouragement for her, and we pray that the community will do the same.
We want to remember together that this time is a grieving process for everyone. We are grieving the loss of the wonderful community of Lafayette, the corps is grieving changes, Major Marlys is grieving moving. Let us carry grace for one another as we mourn. More than anything, as we go through all these changes, we can remember that God is the one true and consistent thing among all the craziness of the world. Hold tight to that truth.