‘I am sorry’

Cadets coordinate community outreach ministry at the Portland Saturday Market.

By Sid Salcido, Cadet

This summer at the Portland (Ore.) Tabernacle Corps, we saw the real work of a Salvation Army officer—constant and always flexible. The key to this appointment is that we are truly in a teaching corps. We aren’t simply doing work, but learning the work of an officer. I am grateful to God for this experience and for the officers here, Lt. Raymond and Major Nancy Dihle, who are both gracious and patient with us.

Portland is said to be the place that people want to keep “weird” and is one of the most unchurched cities in America. The Saturday Market, in which thousands of people come out to shop from all sorts of different outdoor shops, provides an open door to evangelism. We created a plan on how to reach people there, and I decided to take the Portland Tab brass band to the park next to the Market and next to a large water fountain where kids frequently play. While the band played, we would hand out cold water bottles with a unique label that we made:

“As this water refreshes your body from the heat, remember that faith in Jesus Christ is the water which refreshes the soul from the heat of sin and the turmoil that we have in the world we live in. Jesus said, ‘Come to me all you that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matt.11:28).”

Several corps members joined us, and with the bottle of water, we said, “I am sorry.” When an individual asked what for, we replied, “If for any reason a Christian had offended you, and in turn shamed the name of Jesus Christ in any way. Jesus is not like that. He is a kind and loving Savior. Please accept our apologies for this wrong if it has happened to you.”

I got several responses, from “thank you” to “this is so unique for a church to apologize” to “yes, I was offended” along with a story. This also led to prayer opportunities. It was an amazing blessing that I felt really touched a lot of lives. We ministered to over 200 people that day.

After the event, many of the participants expressed how happy they were to have taken part in this community outreach. Two of the teenage band members from the Salem Kroc Center Corps said they loved it so much that they want to do the same ministry from their corps.

Western Territory Cadets Sid and Reyna Salcido were assigned to the Portland Tabernacle Corps this summer. Throughout the territory, the West’s cadets conducted similar ministries. Look for a comprehensive story on their summer assignments in the early September issue of  New Frontier.

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