Seal Cove/Baie Verte Corps

July 1, 2001

Welcoming of our new officers, Captains Paul & Michelle Blake.

November 28, 2001

Salvation Army Captain headed for New York.

Captain Michelle Blake of The Salvation Army Seal Cove/Baie Verte Corps is headed for New York to help in the rescue/clean up mission at the site of what was once the World Trade Centre.

Ever since the tragedy of 911, when hijacked airplanes crashed into the WTC and the Pentagon, The Salvation Army has been actively involved in helping others cope with the tragic event and its aftermath.

In making the trip to New York, Captain Blake will join a team of Newfoundlanders from the Newfoundland West & Labrador division of The Salvation Army including Major Gary Butt, corps officer in Springdale, and Major Ross Bungay, divisional secretary of business administration in Corner Brook.

Captain Blake said she got a call almost two months ago from the headquarters in Corner Brook informing her that her name was selected as one of the candidates to go to New York, if she was willing.

"...if there's a need, I'd be willing to go," she said. Last week she got the call saying their mission was going ahead.

The team leaves for New York Wednesday morning, November 28, and will return December 10. Captain Blake said she's not sure what type of work they'll be doing in New York but it could involve some shifts at a canteen feeding the workers on ground zero involved in the rescue and clean-up of the site.

"It could be in a morgue,it could be counseling, or it could be in a warehouse, she said. Those are just a few of the sites The Salvation Army is helping out with."

As for accommodations, Captain Blake said they're not sure where they'll be staying yet, but it will likely be at one of The Salvation Army headquarters close to the site.

The captain said she has mixed feelings about making the trip to New York.

"I'm excited to be part of it, but at the same time your thoughts are on all the other things going on down there at this time," she said. "It's a big responsibility because you're going and aren't exactly sure what you're required to do. So it means being flexible and ready to assist in whatever ways I'm needed down there."

Captain Blake said the team will work eight hour shifts per day, and will work for the entire 10 days of their trip, since The Salvation Army mission is currently "running 24-7."

Despite the many challenges involved, Captain Blake said the decision to go to New York was not a hard one to make.

"It wasn't a tough decision because I relate it back to my calling, in being called as a minister of the gospel," she said. "And when you sign up for that calling of the Lord you go wherever the need is and if God needs me in New York at this time, then that's where I need to be."

Captain Blake said with God's help she can face whatever challenges are involved in her trip to the Big Apple.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," said the captain, quoting Philippians 4:13 from the Bible. "So I go in the strength of the Lord," she said.

Captain Blake added that this time of the year is a busy time in their ministry but she is going to New York with the full blessing of her family.

"I have the support of my home family (including her husband Captain Paul Blake) and my Church family so I know there'll be a lot of prayer support going up for myself and our team while we're there," she said.

The captain said 10 days of service is not much when you consider the long hours of service put in by some of the firefighters and other rescue workers who have been on the site since the beginning. The Salvation Army has been involved from the start even in Newfoundland when all the airplanes got diverted to the province.

"One of our mottos is wherever there is a need, we are there," she said. "First and foremost we are a Church. But along with being an evangelical Church we are also a social movement in terms of being there to meet the needs of the community and the lives affected by it." -By STEVE SMITH the nor'wester 

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