“ When you are considering a life in The Salvation Army, you have to be sure it’s a calling,” says Captain Mike Mailman, who, with his wife, Captain Melissa Mailman, is in charge of The Salvation Army in Wetaskiwin, Alta., he as corps officer and she as community ministries officer.

“You can’t do it in your own strength because there’s so much demanded of you,” he goes on to say. “The tendency of officers is to overdo it, and there’s a lot of room to neglect your self-care.

“Officership is more than a ministry, and the Lord has to go before you. That being said, the peace has always been there, and the understanding that I am where I am supposed to be has never changed.”

A Sense of “Wait”

Captain Mike was born into The Salvation Army to first-generation officer parents. 

“That’s the only life I knew from a young age,” he says. “It was normal, and my parents did a great job at making it that way.” 

Captain Mike soon became a junior soldier and moved through the ranks.

“Nothing was ever imposed,” he recalls. “It just seemed to fit. I enjoyed wearing the uniform, I liked how it made me feel, and I liked having the promises to keep. It was normal and meaningful.”

Captain Mike worked his way through the corps cadet program, a course of study that helped him grow in his relationship with God and his understanding of the Army’s beliefs and practices, but decided not to be enrolled as a senior soldier.

“I had a sense of ‘wait,’ ” he says. “With junior soldiership, you make a promise, but when you become a soldier, it’s a covenant. I wanted to make sure that that’s what God wanted.”

Holy Spirit Peace

Captain Mike graduated from high school and followed his parents to Lloydminster, Alta., where he became a graphic designer and met “the love of my life,” Melissa. They married and became soldiers.

“The time was right for both of us,” Captain Mike says.

The couple settled into their lives.

“We had our daughter, Megan, and life was good.”

But soon after the holidays in January 2007, the tug of officership started on Captain Mike’s heart.

“It began in my own heart and mind,” he says.

God was telling him, “Here, I’ve allowed you to do what you think you want to do; now it’s time to do what I need you to do.”

There was a peace to his decision, once it formulated itself in his heart and mind—but what would Melissa say to the thought of them uprooting themselves and becoming officers? He mulled it over for a week.

It was then that she told him, without preamble, “I have something to tell you. I really feel like we need to go to training college.”

“In hindsight, the Lord had prepared the way,” says Captain Mike.

“Melissa and I were happy and content, but there’s a difference between comfort and peace. And when it’s Holy Spirit peace, it’s hard to argue with that. The Lord’s timing was perfect.”

“Hope and a Future”

“The reason The Salvation Army is right for me is that of all the flawed human constructs, it’s the one that has the most potential for change and movement,” says Captain Mike.

“The Lord had prepared the way.” —Captain Mike Mailman 

“It is not only stable and respected, which opens doors, but it also has the ability to change and adapt to the needs of people.

“I can’t say definitively because the Lord calls as he calls, but for this time and this space, I feel continually called, and it’s the right place,” he continues, “and I can see a hope and a future for the kingdom in it.

“I am exactly where I need to be.”

This story is from: