"In my new position, I almost feel like a salesperson,” smiles Major Louise Pond, divisional candidates secretary for the Atlantic Division. “I go out and share my story, and I hope I inspire others.” 

AN ARMY GIRL

Major Pond was born into The Salvation Army and raised in Carbonear, N.L. Her father was a member of the local corps and attended occasionally, and while her mother came from a different faith, when they married, she started attending as well, along with Major Louise and her three siblings.

“Before I went to training college, my mother gave her life to Christ and became a senior soldier.”

Major Pond grew up surrounded by a loving family and caring corps officers, Sunday school teachers and banding leaders.

“They all had a really large impact on me,” she recalls. “I remember one officer, who told me when I was 10 years old, ‘You’re going to be an Army girl.’ Even at that age, I knew what he meant: I was going to be a Salvation Army officer one day.” 

AMBASSADOR FOR OFFICERSHIP

As a young teen, Major Pond felt called toward full-time vocational ministry.

“I always chuckle at this because, unlike a lot of people who sincerely struggled and wrestled with that call, I was like, ‘Sure, yes, I’d love to!’

“That calling is very significant in my life,” Major Pond says. “It’s something that I consider a sacred privilege, to be invited to step into that type of responsibility, to step into spiritual leadership.”

A year after graduating from high school, she went off to the College for Officer Training in St. John’s, N.L.

Fast forward 31 years, and Major Pond and her husband, Major Fred Pond, were at an officer’s retreat when the secretary for personnel, Lt-Colonel Roxanne Jennings, asked to meet with her.

“Louise,” she said, “we have a need in your division for a candidates secretary.” From Major Pond’s understanding, the territory strongly desired that this appointment become a priority in the newly formed divisions and that this appointment would not be combined with another. In Major Pond’s case, she and her husband were willing to have separate appointments.

“Louise, you’re positive, you’re joyful,” said Lt-Colonel Jennings. “I think you would fit in that role because you really are an ambassador for officership.”

Major Pond took on her new role in March 2024. 

ON THE JOURNEY

Major Pond’s area of responsibility is large and diverse: five provinces, two nations, in two languages.

While she is based in Newfoundland and Labrador, she can’t possibly be in every province as well as Bermuda every month.

“I do my share of travelling—I try to connect with people in person where possible—but I do a lot of virtual connection,” Major Pond says. “I lean into the divisional team. When they identify a potential candidate or an individual that offers potential, they pass that name to me through the corps officer, and I make the connections.”

Perhaps this individual is on the camp staff, perhaps it’s a young adult in the division, or it might be an older couple who are feeling the call and thinking of changing careers to step into full-time vocational ministry.

“I journey with them, encourage them and hear their story. I do a lot of listening and praying as I mentor them through that journey.

“Again, it’s a privilege and an honour to be able to be with people who are exploring God’s specific purpose for their life, a particular calling to ministry, whether that’s officership, a youth ministry capacity or a social mission. There are various forms of ministry within The Salvation Army.” 

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Major Pond realizes that this is a critical time for The Salvation Army, territorially and even globally, in terms of the number of people who are willing to consider that calling.

“We need to have the right people in the right roles. We need people to join. And the need is great. It’s bigger now than it’s ever been. But when someone does accept the call, it’s just such a joy,” she smiles. “Wow, I think, somebody else is going to join me in that journey.

“We should all ask: Is this what God is asking of me? Am I willing to serve in this capacity within The Salvation Army? Am I called?”

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