Commissioner Astrid Herring

Greetings. After only 9 months here I am beginning to resemble my fellow Londoners. You know the type, rushing for the early morning train with an umbrella, catching up on sleep during the trip into the city and then, at the end of the day, winding their way home again.

The return trip does gives me time to indulge my love of reading but I am learning to keep one eye on the journey to avoid sailing through the station where I need to change trains. This summer I hope to fulfil my other favourite ways of relaxing, camping, and walking in the outdoors somewhere near mountains, bush or the sea, followed, of course, by a visit to a café.

Throughout my many years as an officer I have had the privilege of sharing the lives of women in many different situations. Those raising their family in corps fellowships, those needing practical help to feed and house their families, others with mental health problems, women with drug and alcohol addictions, and recently in countries such as Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia, women who are adjusting to a society that is coming out of life under a communist rule. With all, it has been God’s love and acceptance which has been our connecting point and made it possible for us to enrich each other.

At present I am working in The Salvation Army International Headquarters as the Secretary for Women’s Ministries in the South Pacific and East Asia Zone and my work with women is a little more remote. The Zone covers 14 countries from Korea in the north to New Zealand in the south, so it is the Salvation Army women leaders in these countries, all with very different cultures, lifestyles and languages, that I work with. My contact is mainly from a distance rather than in person so I’m thankful for the world-wide methods of emails, the telephone and prayer that allow me to support and encourage them.

I have always felt a deep concern for the person who feels ‘left out’ for some reason or another. It may be because of their poverty, their gender and the treatment this brings from their society, family difficulties or health problems. Therefore I have been thrilled to see the various ways the women in the SPEA Zone are reaching out to others. In Papua New Guinea, where women and their needs are not highly valued, Salvationist women saw the need to set up a birthing room in some of the villages. This was so that their women, who were sometimes dying during childbirth because they had been sent out of the house to deliver the baby on their own, could have safety, privacy, electricity, running water and a trained midwife.

The Salvationists in Myanmar also recognised this need and last September I was privileged to visit a village medical clinic where the community nurse has specifically studied midwifery to help their women. Taiwan women have been concerned about the amount of trafficked people that are in their country and shortly will be meeting with Salvationist women and men from Indonesia and The Philippines to work out how together they can assist these people return to their countries.

An opportunity for me to be involved a little more closely with women in need came yesterday when I received a prayer request from a lady from our corps. She had been in a café with her two young children when she noticed a woman and her companions in tears at a neighbouring table and had asked if she could help. It turned out that the woman, who was holding a young baby, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and a time of only 2 months, and they were all trying to work out who could take over the care of her child when she died. My friend was able to speak and pray for them all and has now asked others to join with her. Spontaneous ministry opportunities often come our way and I am glad that I can share in this opportunity with my friend at the corps.

Last year brought two important milestones in my life. I had a birthday beginning with ‘6’ for the first time and I celebrated 40 years of marriage. How blessed I have been in my life during those past years and I am now feeling a small sense of excitement in looking forward to the years to come. I know there will be new insights in my journey with God, new opportunities for service both before and after retirement, and new outdoor places to explore.

Life lived in God is proving to be a great challenge and joy.

By Commissioner Astrid Herring