New Officer Roundup – Lieutenants Wayne and Elizabeth Knight, Halifax Citadel

by Maritime
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    Summer at The Salvation Army brings with it a number of new beginnings as officers around the country transfer to new appointments. Here at the Maritime Division we are welcoming nine new officers in five different locations. Here is our third instalment in a five-part series introducing you to them.

    Can you tell me a bit about your history?
    Wayne: Bermuda is my home, born and raised there. The Army used to have a program called the Lieutenants Program, which was basically an opportunity to experience what officership was like, without having to go through the formal training process. So I entered into that in 2004 for a three-year commitment. It was early into that, when Elizabeth and I met.

    Elizabeth: I’m originally from Montreal. I came to know the Army when they hired me as an employee. I started working for headquarters in 1995, and I ended up transferring to the Information Technology (IT) Department in 1999. I was very blessed to not only be able to talk to a lot of people throughout the Army world, but also to be able to visit with them for IT training. I was on a trip in 2004 to Bermuda, when I met Wayne.

    Were you interested in becoming an Officer at that point?
    Elizabeth: I hadn’t had any interest in officership, because the Army wasn’t my church. But we got married in 2005 and I moved down to Bermuda. In 2007, we were both feeling like there had to be more. We couldn’t put our fingers on it, but we both know we wanted to be doing more. We didn’t know what that looked like though. When Candidates Secretary, Major Beverly Ivany, came to visit Bermuda, we thought she just wanted to touch base with us because one spouse was an officer and one wasn’t. She came in, sat down and said, ‘whenever I go on these trips, I pray and ask God to tell me who to talk to, and he put you on my mind.’ You know what was really funny though, that conversation made it so clear what the next step should be. We walked home that night saying things like, ‘When we go to training college…’ We left Bermuda in 2008 to go to Winnipeg for training.

    Tell me about your previous posting?
    Wayne: In June of 2010 we were appointed to a small church in the area called Montreal South Shore. There was a small church there, probably 15-20 people in the congregation. We had Sunday service there, and a food bank. That lasted for almost two years, but then we found out that the building we were in had serious air quality issues that were impacting the health of some of our members. In the summer of 2012 our people joined the congregation of Montreal Citadel. There were positions available for the Director of Montreal Community and Family Services, which Elizabeth stepped into, and there was also a position available for the Director of Emergency Services, which I stepped into. It was cool, but a bit scary. It was very busy at Christmas, and we didn’t realize how much was in store for us for the whole year.

    A year ago, there was the train disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, and that really thrust the Emergency Services to the front burner. We were blessed to have an officer couple in Sherbrooke, which was the Army location closest to the disaster, so we were able to send our mobile canteen there for about a week. We provided coffee and snacks to people that had been displaced. The first week it was operating 24 hours a day for any volunteers, victims and press. We were able to serve quite a diverse crowd. After that we ended up in the red zone, which was the cordoned off area where the firemen and emergency services people were working, and we served three meals a day, and a listening ear. We went up a few times to see how they were doing, and do a few shifts. The first responders reacted quite enthusiastically, and the vehicle now has stickers all over it thanking the Sherbrook Salvation Army.

    What is your first impression of the Corps and community?
    Elizabeth: We’ve already fallen in love with it. Just how warm and welcoming and friendly everyone is. The area is just so beautiful. We love being so close to the water again. We feel like we’ve come home, it’s the oddest feeling.

    What things do you like to do in your spare time?
    Wayne: Well, I don’t know how much spare time we’ve had, haha. We both like nature, and we like exploring trails. We found a little pond a couple minutes away, and I think we’ve already been adopted by a couple of ducks. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we also love Star Trek.

    Do you have any specific hopes or goals for this appointment?
    Elizabeth: Our hope and our prayer is that our Corps family grow in a way that each of them personally need and want to grow in the areas that God wants to them to. That as their lives are enriched, and each of the communities that they are a part of will become more enriched.

    Can you tell us a fun fact about each of you?
    Elizabeth: I love to dance. That can mean that when something goes really well, I’ll do my little happy dance. It could mean that if I’m in a store and I hear music, I’ll start to dance. Or it could be that when I worship, I do creative movement.

    Wayne: I’ve been known to stop at a moment’s notice whenever an airplane or train goes by. I took my first plane ride at the age of three, and my folks told me I giggled the whole flight. I think I get my love of trains from my dad.