15 July 2022
Cadet testimony: 'I found my home, I found my people'
Emily Hague
![Emily Hague](/sites/salvationists/files/styles/max_display_size/public/images/2022-07/Thumbnails%202-7.png?itok=iKyekY26)
Cadet Emily Hague of the Messengers of Reconciliation session shares her story ahead of Commissioning this Sunday 17 July at Together 2022.
In 2011, at a time when I was struggling desperately with life, I had an encounter with Jesus that changed everything.
I suddenly seemed aware of God, that I needed to say sorry and that he’d somehow saved my life. When I asked how I could repay him, he simply asked me to tell people about who he is and what he has done.
At this point I hadn’t much awareness of The Salvation Army beyond a distant memory of the corps band in Canterbury marching down our road to play Christmas carols when I was young. It was in 2013, shortly after watching a documentary about the Army, that I received an invitation and was led to Regent Hall one Sunday morning.
It was there that I finally found what I hadn’t realised I’d been missing and searching for all along. I found my home, I found my people – and God was asking something of me that felt bold and beyond anything I’d experienced.
I knew immediately that I needed to enrol as a soldier. It wasn’t long before I realised, along with a clear vision that he had already given me, that this would also involve me serving him as a Salvation Army officer.
After much questioning, testing and further confirmations and affirmations at Clevedon – where I have spent most of my Army years – I finally entered William Booth College in 2020, despite the barriers and a global pandemic that tried to get in the way.
![A group photo of the Messengers of Reconciliation](/sites/salvationists/files/styles/max_display_size/public/images/2022-07/Thumbnails%202-113.png?itok=JSv37qv7)
It hasn’t always been easy, and I have faced challenges, hurts and upsets throughout the process. God’s grace and abundant love, however, have not changed – strength that comes from the Holy Spirit continues to guide me and help me to trust in him.
I love being where I am and doing what I am doing. I am passionate about learning and discovering even more of who God is and what he has done so I can tell it to the world with great joy!
I very much look forward to serving him and the people of Snettisham in my first appointment.
- Tune in to Commissioning at Together 2022 on Sunday 17 July at 10.30am via youtube.com/salvationarmyvideo
Written by
![Emily Hague](/sites/salvationists/files/styles/representative/public/2022-07/Profile%20pic%201080%20x%201080-3.png?itok=HWAMvDhy)
Emily Hague
Cadet
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