Alleys retire to 'active and fruitful' lives
Alleys retire to 'active and fruitful' lives
10 June 2020
Colonels Julie and Kelvin Alley (centre) with some of their Territorial Headquarters ‘family’ – Majors Henry and Marcella Henari – at the Alleys’ retirement service in Port Moresby.
Colonels Julie and Kelvin Alley retired in April after 33 years of officership, including their final three and a half years as leaders of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Territory. Commissioner Andrew Kalai, who was territorial commander when the Alleys first arrived in Papua New Guinea in 2008, led the small service at Territorial Headquarters and presented the Alleys with their retirement certificates. Larger gatherings and celebrations were cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Question: How long have you both been serving as officers and which session(s) of cadets were you in?
Kelvin with then prime minister Tony Abbott in 2017 during the Pollie Pedal.
Answer: We completed 33 years and four months in Salvation Army officership. We were accepted for the Proclaimers of the Gospel session for 1985-86. We were commissioned in January 1987. Our first appointment was as corps officers at Hastings Region (NSW) and we served there four years. When we responded to the Lord’s call to officership, we only had a vision for being the best corps officers that we could be. We had no other expectations. Each new appointment seemed a challenge, like a coat too big to fill. However, looking back, we can see the hand of God in the way our officership has developed. We were not always comfortable or relaxed about a number of new appointments and changes but, in every case, we chose to trust that the Lord was in control of our lives and that even if ‘man’ made mistakes with our appointments, that God would always transform our circumstances for his good. We have always proven this and proven the promises of God to be always true.
Q: Can you give us a brief overview of some of the places/appointments you have served in?
We have had excellent corps appointments totalling 16 years – Port Macquarie (4), Lismore (4), Chatswood (3) and Gold Coast (5). Our other service has been at THQ Sydney, Greater West Divisional Headquarters (Divisional Commander and Director of Women’s Ministries), Papua New Guinea, Canberra (Kelvin as National Secretary and Julie as Divisional Program Secretary and then Director Salvation Army International Development), and a return to Papua New Guinea in leadership roles for our final four and a half years. Our service in PNG totalled almost seven years.
Kelvin and Julie loved the ‘colours’ of Papua New Guinea and immersed themselves in the culture of the country.
Q: PNG has obviously been significant for you both. Can you give us an overview of your service there?
A: In our first term (2008-09), Kelvin was program secretary, which gave him amazing opportunities to travel the territory and become familiar with all aspects of the mission and ministry of the Army there. Julie was administrator of the Boroko Primary School – a private school run by the Army in Port Moresby on the THQ compound. This gave Julie amazing insight and experience in the administration of the school and its vital relevance to the education of children. The school was also a critical mission initiative of the Army in a country where education is so vital and valued. When we returned to PNG in December 2015, we needed little orientation because we had been well-grounded in the territory and were well-known to the officers, soldiers and staff. Our experiences had equipped us well for the challenges we faced in our new appointments at leadership level. After just 12 months we were elevated to territorial leadership, which has been the most blessed time of our officer service. This enabled us to travel the territory. We were experienced and accustomed enough to the conditions to be able to move and travel with a reasonable degree of confidence and understanding, and obviously caution as well. Looking back, we felt that the Lord had these final days in mind in view of our previous appointments and experiences.
Q: What impact did international service in general – and PNG in particular – have on you?
A: It certainly helped us to value and appreciate the wider view of the international Salvation Army, especially in countries like Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands where the general population live on the very basics of life, and very limited material things. It broadened our minds and hearts, and helped us to see that the Army was so much more colourful, powerful, impactful, and perhaps life-changing than we had experienced in our home territory. We learned about the reliance on prayer, the fervency of simple yet powerful worship, and the respectful ways that the generations have chosen to be part of ‘one Army’ in the territory. It influenced us to be content to live simply, to live on little, and to trust and rely more on the provision of God for our needs and even our wants every day. We were called ‘Reinforcement Officers’, and although we may have brought some level of teaching and example, the reverse was so much more powerful. We learned to live simply and biblically, and rely on God for his provision and resources, and to anticipate God’s provision much more in our every-day living and serving. Our territory operated on empty bank accounts, yet the spiritual treasury was overflowing!
Kelvin with a group of junior soldiers in the Solomon Islands.
Q: In your officership journey, what experiences, lessons, places and/or people stand out to you?
A: This is almost too hard to answer – over 33 years there have been thousands of special moments and experiences with people. Clearly our fondest memories concern people – when we see transformation in people’s lives, when we see people responding to Christ in their lives and growing in grace. We have valued those countless special moments at the altar in joining couples together in marriage; to serve children in corps life and then many years later have them come back to ask if we could conduct their wedding or dedicate their children. For Kelvin, one unforgettable moment was to get back to bed at about 2am after praying with a dying patient at the hospital, only to be called out again to a house fire at 3am, to find the family of mum and dad and three children sitting in the gutter looking at the charred remains of their home. To just be there with them brings tears still today, but to see them attend the corps the following week, make decisions for Christ, to take up leadership roles and their children make early steps of faith is a memory that will never fade. For Julie, it was enjoying complete freedom in worship with thousands of women and young girls from around the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Territory at various Women’s Bible Conventions and Junior Miss Camps. We camped out in our own small tents, cooked our own food over firewood and woke each morning at 5am to praise Jesus as the sun rose. The laughter and joy displayed by women and girls – even though they have nothing and forfeited too much to be there – was something that I will never forget.
Julie in traditional dress during the Territorial Women’s Bible Convention.
Q: Similarly, when you think back on your years of service as officers, what are some of the things that come into your minds?
A: We still always recall our ‘calling’ – a miracle of God. Our lives were set in a different direction, to lead established and comfortable lives in upper-middle suburbia with an assured financially secure life and retirement – but for the Lord to intervene, to speak loudly and suddenly, turning our lives to him, and leading us into training college with only weeks of notice. We have never doubted God’s calling. He has provided, has always been present even in periods where there was loneliness, challenge and even despair.
Q: What have been some of the challenges, as well as joys, that you have experienced?
A: Challenges have typically been around farewell orders time, and the perceived impact on our young children, especially when they entered teenage years. These changes were profound on young lives. These times were often difficult and pushed our faith and trust to the very edge. However, as a family today, when we all get together, even the children who are now adults with their own families look back and see what we believe God could always see. Their lives and our lives are so much the richer. God’s promises always proved true.
Kelvin and Julie (right) install Majors Robert and Vanessa Evans as leaders of the Solomon Islands in 2018.
Q: Retirement is the next step of the journey. What does that look like for you?
A: We struggle with the notion of retirement and fully intend to lead active and fruitful lives. We want our lives to continue to grow in grace and to be ever learning and pursuing new goals. As retired officers, we have no intention to sit back. We envision being involved in our local corps but also be open to opportunities of ministry and mission in the territory and even in the world if those opportunities come our way by grace. Having served as representatives to Federal Government, and now having served for many years in the Pacific, if the Lord opens doors for project work for the improvement of the quality of lives both physically and spiritually in this area, we have open minds for this. We just want what God has in store for us.
Comments
I would love to make contact with the great man as we were at school together in Sydney and I did see him when they were at Port Macquarie one Friday night !! He and his wife have been servants to humanity through their work with the Army and I wish them all the best in "retirement"
I rode with Kelvin in POM in 2016/7 and now we ride again. A thorough gentleman and tough and resilient bike rider, it’s a pleasure to ride together again.