Dear Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, King, Lord, and Supreme Commander of The Salvation Army,
I write you from the front lines of the great salvation war on this day of our Lord in 2021. Though I am quite aware that you are here with me, and within me while I write, I do write you Commander, as you are seated in glory at the right hand of the Father.
Commander, thank you first of all for your continued presence with myself and each of our soldiers and troops as they fight day and night in this great battle.
The battle has been terribly difficult sir, and I find myself and my troops increasingly disillusioned and troubled. I myself have been on the edge of burnout though I've only been fighting from my current command for a mere 2 years.
Sir, I am requesting immediate reinforcements, on behalf of my area of service, though I'm certain my honorable leaders are petitioning you day and night for just such reinforcements, I add my voice to the chorus, as sir I do not believe we can continue to hold our positions indefinitely.
At the current rate of attrition sir, we may lose significant ground in the next ten to twenty years, if not sooner. I humbly request immediate reinforcements, please Commander, send us additional troops to help wage the war on all immediate fronts. Reinforce the smaller commands with fresh troops, and strengthen the larger commands with additional troops and capable non-coms to lead said soldiers.
We are also in need commander of additional officers to command our corps and citadels. Please sir, send additional officers in great numbers to our various commands, to prevent further retreats and redeployments.
We find ourselves increasingly overwhelmed by the enemy sir. Our communities are increasingly rotten with sin, and torn apart by every sin, darkness, illness, and deception known to our enemy. The enemy seems to move with mechanical precision, enveloping entire neighborhoods, schools, colleges, government facilities, businesses, and blocks, while we move in inches, or we find ourselves barely holding our current positions, or more often than not, we find ourselves losing ground.
Sir, our fortifications are in serious need of repair. Our fortifications are also thoroughly undermanned. Most of our positions are operating on skeleton crews, of old men and old women and young boys and girls, with few strong men and women of middle ages. In fact, many walls, battlements, battery positions, towers, and bastions are entirely unmanned. The battlements gather cobwebs. We need troops sir, fresh troops to fill those empty positions and reinforce the undermanned positions.
Additionally, our enemy is increasingly brazen, and the tone of the society around us quickly turns more and more against us. Our enemy seems to control more and more territory across the airwaves, the trenches, and everything in between. It is a bleak situation sir.
And I would add commander, that our troops are more and more divided on tactics and deployment than ever before. Some of our troops even seem to join the enemy on certain issues and on certain fronts. It's terribly disconcerting and moral is in some places quite low.
The last year in particular has been difficult on the troops and myself, as we've faced pestilence and isolation to go along with the endless salvation war.
But what seems most puzzling sir, is that so few seem to desire salvation any longer. Most seem truthfully uninterested, and unwilling to come to you Lord, for salvation and victory. This also explains why our numbers are so diminished. People in the west no longer see their need for you commander. They are comfortable in bountiful food, safety, security, abundant shelter and transportation, with work, and excessive entertainment.
Though on other fronts of the salvation war, such as the Africa theatre and the India theatre, as well as the Asia theatre, corps and commands are taking massive ground, and growing by the hundreds and the thousands by the year. New nations are invaded constantly! This is greatly encouraging to us soldiers in the western theatres of Europe and the United States who see so few converts joining our ranks.
Never-the-less Commander we continue the good fight of the faith. We'll never give up. Maybe it will take some great fall, some great new difficulty for the huddled comfortable masses of the west to remember their need for you Jesus our Commander, King, Lord, and Savior. Perhaps that is what it will take sir. Then again, maybe it will take more on our part, as leaders and soldiers, to pray more, study more, love more, work harder, and fight harder to win these fronts for you sir.
Help us to do that Commander. I often find myself so distracted by devices and pleasures of this world. Help me to be bold as a lion and innocent as a dove, wise as a serpent, and defiant as a revolutionary against this present darkness.
So I repeat my request commander for reinforcements to all our positions, in the form of soldiers and officers to continue to fight and win the great salvation war, in the Mid-west and across the United States, and throughout Europe.
Help us Commander, to be who you call us to be. Help us to be true heroes on these front lines of the great salvation war. Don't let us fail, Commander.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Sincerely,
Lt. Justin Steckbauer
Corps Officer, Owosso Citadel
Eastern Michigan Division
USA Central Territory
Americas and Caribbean Zone
The Salvation Army International
6/13/21
