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By Laura Poff SOUTHERN SPIRIT STAFF

Dan Hager came to the Tallahassee, Florida, Corps in 1986 after years of invitations from his mother, Amy.

“ I had gone as a child and believed in God, but I had stayed away from churches because they were full of hypocrites,” he recalled.“ But then I heard they had room for one more.”

He became a soldier in 1991 and soon after went to the National Seminar on Evangelism at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs where he was told by then Territorial Sergeant Major Robert Burns,“ God has a special plan for you and others’ salvation will depend on you.”

He soon became an active local officer, eventually serving on DSINC( Divisional Soldiers Interests, Needs and Concerns) in Florida and TSINC before becoming the territorial corps sergeant major in 2009. He has been asked by Major Rick Raymer, territorial men’ s ministries secretary, to participate in a video on holiness that will be shown at the Territorial Men’ s

Conference in June.

Continued from page 1 and vegetables for personal use as needed. People from all walks of life come to the garden, many in the evening so that they will not be seen by their neighbors.

Last year, Sergeants Simms noticed a Somalian family whom they didn’ t know coming by every morning to pick from the garden.

“ One year, they came to Berry Street for an event and she walked up to me and said,‘ You don’ t know me, but that garden fed me and my son last year,’” Sergeant Ernie Simms said.

The garden has become so important to the community that each spring when replanting begins, members of the neighborhood and even city council members will come out with food donated from nearby restaurants, ready to dig into the soil.

“ The garden is just one more thing that we can use to connect people,” Steve said.

The Berry Street Corps is in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood that includes a variety of income levels. Sergeant Ernie Simms said that many affluent families live on the same streets as impoverished families.

“ There are still about 30 percent of residents who fall into the poverty level,” she said.“ Part of our mission is to just walk with these families through their transitions.”

They’ ve tried to plant foods like tomatoes that families will be familiar with but the garden has also become a teaching place for neighborhood and corps children, many of whom had never seen okra before it was first planted there last year.

“ Our whole mission is to make that place feel like a community,” Sergeant Ernie said.“ It doesn’ t take up that much room and is a great way to connect with people who may never go to church. It’ s an open door to engage people and to show love in a way that is non-threatening.”

Many of the Vanderbilt students came to the corps after helping build the garden and were able to learn more about The Salvation Army as a church. The Berry Street Corps has spent

During his time on DSINC and TSINC, Hager advocated for local officers and the importance of communication to The Salvation Army’ s overall mission. He continues in these efforts as DSM in Florida.

He will be one of many local officers represented at the conference.

He said that local officers strengthen corps and are a necessary part of corps leadership.

“ I have the utmost respect and love for officers,” he said.“ But not all are created equal, not all have the same gifts. The gifts they have may not be the best fit for the corps they are in.”

Active local leadership provides stability as corps officers come and go.

“ Our corps need to be strong, and all that strength comes from and is built on local officers,” he said.

Soldiers who have a job to do at their corps become more involved and committed to the corps’ programs and ministry.“ When you have a job at your corps, you grow, when you get involved, you grow,” he said.“ A Salvationist who just comes Sunday and goes home, they’ re going to be be in the 1st grade for as

almost nothing on the garden over an eight-year period. They took a small area of unused land beside their building and turned it into a gathering place and a point of entry for people unfamiliar with the corps to experience compassion, care and love.

“ It’ s blessed so many people who have been able to eat the produce,” Steve said.“ We’ ve all got a little ground, ours is just on a side lot beside the building so almost every corps could do it.”

Where’ s everybody going? Check out all the June moves on southernspiritonline. org

April 29, 2016

Florida DSM Dan Hager will be one of many local officers participating in the Territorial Men’ s Conference.

long as they live.” Conferences also help new soldiers widen their scope of The Salvation Army’ s work, meet with other local officers and understand where their corps fits into the wider division, territory and international organization as a whole.

“ The more I got involved with DSINC and TSINC, the more I became privy to the hard, dedicated, passionate work that officers and soldiers do,” he said.“ Local officers are the backbone of the corps, the pillars, and the officers that come in and out, they are the leaders and the icing on the cake.”

Three senior soldiers – Amanda Francis, Tevin Johnson and Michael Johnson – recently were added to the roll at the Martin County, Florida, Corps along with Junior Soldiers Maritza Flores, Jesus Flores, Luzbeth Gaoria and Silverio Gaona. The enrollment was held on Easter Sunday. Corps officers Captains Samuel and Christine Kim credit the corps’ vacation Bible school as a catalyst in bringing many new young people into the corps and its programs.

June 3-5, 2016 Atlanta, Georgia