Flood of enrolments at two corps on NSW Mid North Coast
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
In the past few weeks, 27 new soldiers and adherents have been enrolled across two corps on the NSW Mid North Coast, prompting NSW/ACT Divisional Commander Major Robyn Black to remark, “God is up to something good!”
On Sunday 14 June at Coffs Harbour Corps (Engage Salvos), Majors Andrew and Jeanete van Gaalen enrolled 12 soldiers during a sacred weekend, with a Saturday night dinner and covenant service, and a Sunday morning enrolment, which included fervent praise and worship.
The new soldiers enrolled were Reng Tun, Pi Thai, Chan ii, Lal Hming Thang, Isabelle Par, Su Su, Anastacia van Gaalen, Arlene Fletcher, Valerie Armessen, Heidi Palsuk, Michael Gallagher and Bible Dailo.
After Andrew preached the Word, Jeanette said hearts were stirred, “and as we sang, ‘I need you more’, there were first-time decisions made for Jesus!
“We are feeling incredibly blessed by everything God is doing in our midst.”
The Spirit is certainly moving at Engage Salvos in Coffs Harbour. The 12 new soldiers come after 13 people were enrolled in 2025, and two corps members – Jose Porcia and Benn Nicholson – are cadets in the current Keepers of the Covenant session.
*Two new soldiers – Arlene Fletcher and Isabella Par – shared their testimonies at the end of the story.
Nambucca River enrolments
On Sunday 21 June at Nambucca River Salvos (NRC Salvos), Major Robyn Black enrolled three soldiers and 12 adherents, with the entire corps surrounding them in praise and prayer.
The new soldiers enrolled were Maria Aucamp, Ros Burgess-Clay and Stefo Kay. Adherents enrolled were Rosemary Porter, Leonie Hunter, Penny Obrien, Belinda Munro, Ash Wood, Nicole Walker, Kirstin Knight, Anne Hembry, Lisa Edwards, Bruce Edwards, Jody Unterrheiner and Daniel Unterrheiner.
Corps members at NRC Salvos surround those making commitments as soldiers and adherents.
TESTIMONIES
Salvos Online shares the testimonies of two soldiers who were enrolled at Coffs Harbour.
Testimony – Arlene Fletcher
“And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mark 8 3:6)
I was born into a Catholic family and went to church regularly as a child with my mum and dad. When I was around 12 years old, my dad stopped going to church, and I stopped going too. Instead, Sunday mornings became breakfast with Dad.
When I was 14, God placed a double bass in my life. Looking back now, I see it as one of His greatest gifts. I was a kid who could easily have gone down some unhealthy paths, but music gave me purpose, discipline and direction. Sundays were now about religiously cleaning, praying over my double bass and practising.
That gift opened incredible doors. It led me to study jazz in Melbourne, build a career as a musician and teacher, and achieve many things I had dreamed about. On the outside, life looked successful. I was achieving, achieving, achieving.
But the more I achieved, the further I drifted from my heart and from God. Then in May 2016, everything changed.
I received a phone call telling me that my dad’s cancer had progressed. Within a week, I was told I needed to move back to Armidale to help care for my parents.
The next 10 years were not easy. They included grief, becoming a carer, entering an unhealthy marriage and finding the strength to leave it, recovering from a brain injury, and facing some destructive habits that I had used to cope with pain.
There were many times when I felt lost. Yet even in those difficult years, God never stopped pursuing me.
One of the ways I experienced that was through signs of eagles. Eagles seemed to appear again and again during significant moments in my life. They reminded me of my father, but they also reminded me of God’s promises – that He sees us, carries us, and gives us strength when we feel we have none left.
Last year, I moved to Sawtell. Not long after, I met a lovely lady named Val, who invited me to church.
To be honest, I was terrified. For many years, I had associated church with fear, judgment and coldness. I wasn’t sure I wanted to walk through those doors again.
But I did. And what I found wasn’t fear.
I found welcome. I found community. And most importantly, I found that God had never left me.
Looking back now, I can see that God used every part of my journey – the successes, the heartbreaks, the grief, and the struggles – to bring me back to Him.
Mark 8:36 asks us what good it is to gain the whole world but lose our soul. I spent years chasing achievement, but what I truly needed was a relationship with Jesus.
As I become a soldier of The Salvation Army, I stand here grateful – not because life has been easy, but because God has been faithful.
Testimony – Isabella Par
“Say to them: ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have not pleasured in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turned from his way and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, oh house of Israel?’” (Ezekiel 33:11).
I was born and raised in a Christian family. I would always go to Sunday school and church every Sunday, I thought this made me a good Christian. I did all the good things.
I once had to stay with my uncle for two years while I was trying to get my visa to go to the US. When I first arrived at his house, his wife asked me a question that was a bit different. Instead of a usual ‘hello’ or ‘welcome’, she asked, “Are you receiving Jesus as Your Saviour and Lord?” I wasn’t expecting that question, so I was quiet for a moment before I said “No”.
That question really made me think about myself and God. Even though I go to church every Sunday, it doesn’t help me to become a good Christian because I did not have a relationship with Jesus.
So, I decided to read my Bible, even though I didn’t understand. From that night on, I started reading my Bible and praying to God every day, asking how I could receive Jesus as my Saviour and Lord. It took me about a year to receive Jesus as my Saviour and Lord.
One day I was reading Ezekiel 33:11, “Say to them: ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have not pleasured in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turned from his way and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, oh house of Israel?’” I knew God was speaking to me.
God gave me two options. Which one am I going to choose, death or life?
So, I decided to repent and give myself to Jesus. I knelt down to God and prayed for forgiveness. As I prayed, I felt God’s presence all around me, filling me with his love. He said, “I love you, my daughter.”
God’s love is not the same as your parents, siblings, friends and the ones you love. God’s love is unchanging, and that unchanging love has changed me little by little every day.
