‘We are going to figure it out together’ – Austin Daily Herald

New Salvation Army officers looking to be good community partners

In June of this year Lieutenants Omayra Cervantes and Juan Hernandez began their service as heads of the Austin Salvation Army in what is their first posting as officers.

It’s a challenging task, but the couple want those in Austin to know — they are here for them.

“Our main thing is to listen to the community,” Hernandez said. “Listen to their ideas. See what their worries and needs are. Our main goal is to work together with different churches. Different organizations.”

Hernandez and Cervantes came to Austin from Chicago where they spent two years in the Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training, however, they first came to the Salvation Army just before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold where they became part of a bilingual Salvation Army in Wisconsin.

It was a learning experience that familiarized the couple with the services and the mission of the Salvation Army, something they are excited to apply in Austin.

“We are a church and the church’s work is to do social work,” Cervantes said. “We have a lot of different programs to try and help people and to try and give back through different programs.”

When they found out about their posting in Austin, the couple had questions and concerns as Spanish is their primary language. There was a sense they might go to a place where the language might be needed.

But after looking into the community and seeing what Austin was and had to offer, they quickly settled in.

“It’s exciting. This town is very special,” Hernandez said. “I think Austin, Minnesota is very diverse and unique and people want to help. People want to do service. All of the organizations around here, starting with The Hormel Foundation, they work together. Everybody tries to do their best.”

That works well with the Salvation Army as a broad organization. Those installed into communities are urged, as one of their first tasks, to contact organizations within the community they will be working with.

However, Cervantes and Hernandez found that the community was just as eager to work with them and that the staff at the Salvation Army was just as eager to continue the organization’s mission.

“Everything has been really, really nice,” Cervantes said. “Our employees are the best of the best. They are willing to work for us, we are willing to work with them. One of the things they teach you in school is that as soon as you get to the appointment, just call every organization and meet them. But no, they call us and they want to meet us. They made that part easier.”

In their time in Austin, which could be any number of years depending on needs in the Midwest area where they serve, the couple will face challenges as well as bring in their own goals.

While they seek to continue to familiarize themselves with the challenges of the community, their goals are already firm in their minds, including meeting the needs of things like hunger and homelessness, but also of meeting the needs of the community’s youth.

“I see there’s a lot of programs for hunger and they try to do something for the homeless, but I think the youth are on the side and we don’t pay enough attention to that,” Hernandez said. “That’s our next goal is to do something with the youth. The children. They are the future for Austin.”

Another goal is to ensure that spiritual needs are met.

“One of my goals is that we are working together in letting the community know that we are pastors here,” Cervantes said. “There’s a lot of things happening out there. Sometimes people feel stressed or overwhelmed with a situation; or hopeless. We are not only providing your food. We can provide spiritual help in some way. We want people to know that we are here to show Jesus showed kindness, love, justice. We are that part also in Austin.”

Walking hand-in-hand with that is a desire to approach mental health and make sure the Salvation Army is a place where those resources are available.

All of it together, however, comes from the couple’s desire for people to know the Salvation Army is ready to go to work for them.

“We want them to know that every resource they share with us, we’re going to give it to the people,” Hernandez said. “We want to invite the Austin community to visit us and see for themselves. I want them to come and see why we’re doing it.”

“We are going to figure it out together,” he added.