Majors Debbie Goforth and Lydia Pearson (shown above), both USA Eastern Territory officers, spent two weeks in Liberia recently helping Major Pamela McKee with some of the teaching responsibilities at the officer training school.

Goforth said she found the cadets very eager to learn and to embrace new ideas.

"Working with the cadets was a spiritual blessing to me," Goforth said. "We took the opportunity outside the classroom to talk with the cadets about their country and their spiritual concerns. This is where I realized just how committed they are to God and to The Salvation Army."

Pearson said a highlight for her was seeing 500 young people, all in Salvation Army uniforms, praising God at a Youth Councils the two officers attended the day after they arrived.

"Like Salvationists around the world, Liberians love parades, and the young people lined up behind their corps flags to march through the nearby marketplace," she said. "They didn't let the rain and mud dampen their enthusiasm."

Pearson said another highlight was giving the 10 students from the training school a spiritual gifts test and watching their faces when the results confirmed what they already knew about themselves.

Pearson said God is "working miracles in Liberia in the midst of poverty and devastation." As Pearson called for the cadets to share their testimonies, she was struck by their stories of survival—being separated from their children, fleeing to neighboring countries, wondering if they would live through the chaos and terror.

Goforth said she saw God's love giving hope where there seemed to be little to be hopeful about.

"[I saw] corps officers working in meager circumstances with faithful resolve to do the Master's will and soldiers who have been faithful to God and the Army throughout all the difficulties in the country over the past several years," she said. "My life has been affected by the few days that I was allowed to spend in Liberia and share with the Liberian people."

Major Pamela McKee, who has since returned to the United States and is awaiting her next appointment, said, "[Pearson and Goforth] did a marvelous job."