General John Gowans (Rtd), Commissioner Gis'le Gowans, territorial leaders, 450 registered participants, workers and the Holy Spirit gathered for Forward 06 in Red Deer, Alberta. From the east and the west they came to be inspired, to celebrate the past and to move forward to impact our community today. From Whitehorse and Iqaluit, Vancouver, Montreal, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto and all across Alberta, even from Newfoundland and from as far away as Scotland, they came for a blessing and were not disappointed.
Commissioner Gowans shared from her heart stories of perseverance and triumphs she has witnessed. She also shared her prayers for the Army of today as it moves forward.
General Gowans, from his keynote address on Friday evening through to his closing prayer on Sunday was inspired and led with spiritual authority, tremendous illustrative thoughts and pearls of wisdom from his experience and the scriptures. His appeal in the first session, encouraging everyone to a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, gathered an immediate response.
Each morning, Commissioner Christine MacMillan taught from Joshua 1-3, again sharing what Joshua and the Israelites had come through, and how this had impacted what they were yet to do. Determining God's blessing and presence allowed them to forge ahead and encourages us to move forward.
Workshop leaders and topics were varied but centered on one question ' what can be learned from the children of Israel and their leaders to move forward today? Whether it is our covenant, daily practising of God's presence, exploring new ground, social justice, street ministry or making a global impact, by looking back we establish strategies and tactics to move forward.
Children received special attention at Forward and benefited from structured programming, which kept the young ones attention and gave the parents opportunity to fully participate in the programs and workshops.
Wilderness camp for the older children was a tremendous success. The kids wore t-shirts proclaiming 'God Rocks' and they discovered He truly does! The children experienced the love of Jesus through the care providers while learning about His love for each of them through the varied program. Children ran to their area at the beginning of every session.
Fluid was a program dedicated to teenagers and young adults. The burning desire within the youth to do something for Him was fanned the entire weekend, culminating in a 'commissioning' led by our territorial commander to move out and move forward to impact others for Him.
All four program streams gathered together for a family barbecue with plenty of Alberta beef, musicical entertainment and an opportunity to make new and renew friendships.
Bill Rollins from the Massachusetts Division, U.S.A. Eastern Territory, led inspirational worship, supported by the Glenmore Temple (Calgary) worship team. The Glenmore Temple Band demonstrated their appeal to various audiences with virtuosity. Brass banding is part of our heritage, but as we experienced, still has a place in our worship and evangelism as we look forward.
A special appeal was made during Forward '06 to help in Kenya. Some villages have no water supply and The Salvation Army is trying to help in this desperate situation. It costs approximately $500 to establish a water collection system in a village and through the offerings of those in attendance, enough funds were raised to supply water to 29 villages in Kenya. One offering - $14,500.00 will impact so many families.
Sunday morning worship was God's opportunity to challenge those attending, through the General, to commit to moving forward. Using the text Hebrew13:13, which instructs his people to 'go outside the city wall with Jesus', the General exhorted us to go outside with Jesus. Outside:
' The city wall
' The organizational boundaries
' The barriers of tradition
' Our 'safe' areas
' Our comfort zones
'with and for him, if we truly want to move forward! Because of all of God's blessings upon our gathering, we will move forward.