Couple settles into leadership of Salvation Army efforts
Share
TweetFor Kevin and Serina Woods, lieutenants at the Salvation Army Corps, it’s been a long distance to Haines, and not just in miles.
Kevin was a drug addict and petty criminal near Lodi, Calif., before the church helped him become sober about 25 years ago, he said. For wife Serina, the church was a refuge from a rough family life she endured as a child.
Serina volunteered as a bell-ringer, then became a receptionist. Kevin started working as a janitor for the church after it helped him shake his drug habit.
“I weighed 109 pounds and looked like I just crawled out from under a rock. All I knew about the Salvation Army was the red kettles at Christmas and a place to buy old clothes. But I was so blown away by the help they gave me, I decided I wanted to do this. I wanted to help other people,” he said this week.
Kevin and Serina arrived here in July. Both have been with the church more than 20 years, serving most of those years as lay officers in Lodi, operating the same shelter where Kevin had come for help.
“Within five years of being a client of the shelter, I was director. After I decided to get life together, it happened pretty quick,” he said. As lay officers, he and Serina operated a food bank and served meals to as many as 150 people, three times daily, every day of the year.
After becoming commissioned as officers in the church, the couple helped lead the Corps in Reno, Nev., which included operating four stores. They requested a placement in Alaska four years ago and said they’ve been pleased by their reception here.
“It’s like Mayberry, man. I just love it,” Kevin said.
A certified substance abuse counselor, Kevin said he’s interested in expanding that work via the Internet to other communities in Southeast.
Kevin said he and Serina haven’t gotten out in the community as much as they’d like, as they’ve been making improvements to the Salvation Army store, including hauling away junk and improving presentation. “Ninety percent of our work has been trying to get the building under control. It doesn’t have to be new and it doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be neat and orderly.”
Church offerings include Sunday service at 11 a.m. and a women’s ministry at 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Kevin said he’s hoping to add youth programs, a men’s fellowship and Bible study.
The church is partnering with the Uglys of Haines on a children’s Christmas toy drive. To receive toys, contact Gary Jacobson of the Uglys at 314-0262 before Dec. 12.
“Coats for Kids,” a distribution of new coats for youths, will be held Dec. 5 and Dec. 12, 10 a.m. to noon at the church on Union Street. December’s food bank distribution will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 17.
The store’s winter hours are Wednesday, 3 to 6 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.
Volunteer bell-ringers also are needed for the red kettle campaign. Call 766-2470 to help.
I myself was a client of The Salvation Army 25 years ago in Lodi, California and with the help of one of their Adult Rehabilitation Centers , I’ve been clean and sober and working for the Army for the past 22 years. I started out as a janitor for the Salvation Army and continued on to be the Director of the Northern San Joaquin County Food Bank, and eventually the Director of The Salvation Army Archway Shelter and Rehabilitation Center in Lodi.
My wife Serina has worked for The Salvation Army since she was in her teens in Vallejo, California, starting out as a bellringer at Christmas time. After transferring to Lodi in the mid-90s as the bookkeeper and Director of Children’s Ministries, we met, were married and have served in The Salvation Army side-by-side every sense.
In 2012 we entered, Crestmont, The Salvation Army College for Officers Training. We were ordained as Ministers and commissioned as Officers in 2014, and though we have only been Commissioned Officers for a few years, we both come with years of experience doing down in the trenches ministry and a love for God and people.
Although we’ve only been here for a short while, we have already requested to be left here as long as possible, neither one of us have a desire to live in the lower 48, and have talked seriously about when the time to retire comes around, if at all possible Haines would be that place.
We would like to apologize for not getting around and greeting as many people as we would’ve liked to when we first came to Haines. The officers before us. Lieut. Dave and Mary Kyle worked very hard trying to improve the thrift store as well as our church, and we have tried to keep that momentum going. We are doing a lot of reorganizing and restructuring and because of that, things have been a little unsettled, we know that our hours have been a little sporadic and with the holidays approaching they probably will be for the next couple months, by the time the weather starts warming up things should start to settle down a little bit.
Please be patient with us.
We are working very hard to improve this great community resource.
Lieut. Kevin and Serina Woods
