Interview: Commissioner Alison Walter
Original Publication - JAC #83 , February - March 2013
JAC: Please tell us about your background, how you came to
know Jesus, and how you came to know the Salvation Army
AW: I'm
a "child of the regiment" as old-time Salvationists used to
say, i.e. born and bred in the Army - Salvationist through and
through.
I
was born eighty years ago in Australia, the child of Salvation
Army officers in Melbourne.
My paternal grandparents emigrated from England and
settled on the West Coast.
They were Methodists, but when they boarded young
officers who were opening a Corps in their town, they began
attending Army meetings, became soldiers and several of their
children became Salvation Army Officers (two of whom became
Territorial Commanders/Commissioners).
My maternal grandparents were officers in New Zealand,
where they chose to learn the Maori language, and travelled by
canoe up and down the Wanganui River spreading the message of
Christ.
Our
founders believed that being born and raised in a Christian
home was like living in the pre-dawn light.
That was so for me as one of my first memories is of
the Family Altar around the supper table where father read
Scripture from The Salvation Army's
"Soldiers' Guide" and then parents and four children
knelt around the table, sang a chorus, one of us prayed and
then we repeated the Lord's Prayer.
I have a heritage for which I am grateful.
When
I was seven years old I was taken to Congress Meetings in the
Adelaide Town Hall and when people flocked to the Mercy Seat
I, barely understanding, went to join them.
My Mother knelt beside me and led me to salvation.
What pleased me most was that about a week later, she
told me she could see a difference in me since I made my
decision to serve Jesus.
When I was 18 my parents were moved as Chief Secretary to
Canada and I, the only unmarried child in the family, moved
with them. I met
and married a Canadian Salvationist and a year later we
entered the Toronto Training College.
JAC: Please tell us about your sanctification.
AW: Ah! My
favourite topic and one which has directed my whole life.
Although I was truly saved when a child, and attended
all Salvation Army activities such as Directory, Sunday
School, Corps Cadets, Songsters, Youth Group etc., there
seemed to be something missing and I would sincerely sing the
chorus, "Oh Jesus, be thyself to me, a living bright reality"
but to no avail. That inner hunger led me to kneel
often at the Penitent Form (Mercy Seat) ask questions and read
all the books I could find on the Blessing of Holiness, as it
was called then.
At last I realised I had to DO something - ask, accept and
believe. One
Saturday night (it is still so clear in my memory) I knelt
alone at my bedside and, with the help of a little booklet
called " A Ladder to Holiness" I made a complete commitment of
my life to Christ.
What he wanted I would do and what he forbade I would
give up. I
pointed to the promise in 1 Thess. 5:23,24 and thanked God for
doing the work of sanctification in my life. I did not
experience any great emotion but believed that, because God
had promised it, I HAD been sanctified by his Spirit.
A few days later I was telling my friend about what I
had done and as I spoke a wonderful peace, joy and assurance
swept over me.
There was a difference in my life.
Christ was real.
I sought him out and read the Scriptures joyfully.
That summer at an Army camp, I shared the experience
with the other girls in the cabin and discovered that the joy
of the Lord was contagious for as we talked and
prayed together, the Lord opened their eyes and hearts
to the possibility of their sanctification too.
Around the campfire that night we shared our
testimonies and it was almost a mini-revival.
JAC: What is the most significant part of your war fighting
today?
AW: I live in a Salvation Army Retirement Residence in Toronto
today and I believe I share my faith here with fellow
residents and staff. I am disabled now and have difficulty
walking, so often it is necessary for people to come to me for
counsel. This
past summer I was asked to help a Chinese immigrant learn
English by reading the Bible with her.
Being brought up in Communist China she had no
knowledge of God and Christianity and no faith at all.
We met weekly for three months during her summer break
from studies.
It was a challenge but I know I had an influence on
her. My
daughter smilingly says I'm like a magnet as several people
want to come and chat.
I'm sorry that my energy has limits.
I also consider my E-mail and Facebook correspondence
an important way to encourage and influence others.
JAC: What was your most challenging appointment?
Why?
AW: That's a hard question.
It could have been coming to Canada from Australia in
my late teens when my parents were moved here as Chief
Secretary.
Leaving friends and family to go so far away was certainly a
challenge. There
were tears, but I very soon made lasting friends at the North
Toronto Corps and started a timbrel brigade, as the Australian
way of timbrel playing was unknown here.
This opened up specialling opportunities where we could
share our faith.
It
could have been going with my husband to the Mazowe Secondary
School in Rhodesia as young Captains with two small children.
My husband taught maths & science and I fitted in where
needed - typing a newly translated Chishona song-book,
teaching Religious Knowledge which was then an examinable
graduation subject, organizing the Corps Cadet Brigade for
Salvationist students boarding at the school.
It also fell to my lot to home school my children with
the help of Canadian correspondence lessons until it was time
to go to Boarding School at the age of seven.
Activists stirred up
our students once to go on strike for political change and the
education department expelled them and closed the school early
one year.
It
could have been our years on Training College staff in
Toronto. Because of the subjects I was assigned to teach I
went to University and studied New Testament, Old Testament,
Church History and New Testament Greek.
I counted that appointment a great privilege, being
assigned to study and teach the Word.
It
could have been the time we were moved from Training College
Principal to become Divisional Commander in Alberta.
I was distressed as it meant our children (3 by then)
had to forgo the scholarships they had been awarded because we
were changing provinces.
But it was interesting that God prepared me for that
challenge, as I remember being silently asked by the Lord
during one prayer meeting as to what I really wanted for my
children. I easily decided that it was their spiritual life
that meant more to me than anything else, so when, a few weeks
later our farewell orders came, I had to cling to the belief
that God knew what he was doing.
Sure enough, the family did well in all respects in
their new surroundings.
It
could have been when the next move came.
We were sent to Kenya and it necessitated leaving the
family, aged 21, 19, and 16 behind in Canada, as two were in
University and the other was finishing high school.
Yet, once again, looking back I can see that it was
beneficial for them to have to run their own lives.
I
could go on and on, but I`ll skip over the years and several
appointments, and say that it was a challenge to retire in
England, as International Secretary for Africa, and have to
start from scratch in many ways when we returned to Canada.
I`ve certainly needed, claimed and proved so many of
God`s promises over the years.
JAC What was your most influential appointment?
Why?
AW: I think that was our appointment as Territorial Commanders
to Southern Africa in 1986.
Apartheid was still in operation. Fortunately our early
appointment, living on the campus of a
boarding school in Zimbabwe, gave us experience and
friends of all races. There had been two training colleges,
but the previous leader began taking the 'white' cadets to the
Soweto township for combined classes.
In our term we were able to arrange for a working
girls' hostel on T.H.Q. to be redesigned as a combined
Training College.
Following a lawyer's advice, we were able to circumvent the
apartheid laws.
It's thrilling to look back and see that some of the young
officers whose lives we touched then, are now territorial
commanders in other territories.
JAC: Who has been most influential in shaping you into who you
are today?
AW: My parents certainly set my feet on the right path.
My husband, Stan, set me an example of disciplined
Christian living and true Salvationism. I distinctly remember
three people who, presumably led by the Spirit, challenged me
along the way. I
even remember their names all these years later.
One was my Corps Officer who didn't hesitate to ask the
D.C.'s young daughter if she had given her heart to the Lord.
A few weeks later I did just that.
The second was a Corps Cadet Guardian (as they were
called in those days) who walked beside me on a hiking trail
and reminded me, having heard that I did well in High School
exams, that 'to whom much was given, from them much would be
required.' (Luke 12:48)
And the third was a Divisional Youth Secretary, Colonel
Leslie Pindred, who preached, taught and embodied the truths
of Full Salvation.
JAC: What books have influenced you most?
AW: A book I have read often is The Practice of the Presence
of God by Brother Lawrence. Other writings by Teresa of Avila
and Julian of Norwich have left an imprint on my life.
Favourite authors have been William Sangster, Thomas R.
Kelly, John Stott, C.S. Lewis, William Barclay, Henri Nouwen,
and N.T. Wright.
Salvationist writers like Allister Smith, Frederick
Coutts, John Larsen, & Chick Yuill have been helpful and a joy
to read.
JAC: Can you tell us of the most memorable campaigns and
meetings in which you were involved and their impact?
AW: It has been a privilege to speak at many Women's camps,
Brengle Institutes and Bible Camps such as Junaluska in the
Southern States and at Collaroy N.S.W., Australia.
I trust the Lord's promise to water the seeds I have
planted for him.
JAC: Our first General often wrote letters to the soldiers
with teaching for daily life and warfare.
Would you take this opportunity to offer a message to
soldiers around the world?
AW: I cannot stress Scripture reading and memorization
enough. When my
children were young we memorized several Psalms, one verse a
day as a means of 'returning thanks' after a meal and they
sometimes refer to them even now.
Paul was right when he spoke of Scripture as 'the sword
of the Spirit' and the 'power of God'.
Then there is the daily joy of offering yourself to God each
morning, asking again to be indwelt by His Spirit so that you
walk through the day listening to His inner voice guiding you
in everything you do, sometimes reprimanding, and always
leading you to people who need a word from the Lord through
you. Commissioner
Andy Miller was a great example of this.
He stayed once with us in South Africa, and always went
out for a run before breakfast, trusting God to lead him to
someone who needed
to hear him
speak of Jesus.
I
would quote Paul's advice in Colossians 3:15-16:
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
Be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
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