40
E
lmer Torres loves doughnuts... at least
the ones they serve up at The Salvation
Army.
At the Houston International Corps, dough-
nuts are served to all between the Sunday morn-
ing worship service and the Sunday School
classes that follow. They were serving dough-
nuts the Sunday Elmer attended the Army at
the invitation of a friend, and because they
were so good, he returned the following week.
It wasn't the doughnuts that brought Elmer to
The Salvation Army, but they sure kept him coming!
Elmer was raised by a Christian grandfather
in his native El Salvador. At 6, he came to
the U.S. to reunite with his parents. El-
mer remembered his mother because she
had not been in the U.S. for that long, but
he hardly knew his father. The reunion
with him was more like a reintroduction.
Even with the family back together,
the environment at home was anything
but Christian. His mother and father
fought constantly. Though a
former preacher, his father
drank heavily, which
made life for Elmer
and his siblings a
living nightmare.
Then one year,
Elmer's mother
signed her chil-
dren up for The
Salvation Army's
Angel Tree pro-
gram, and he and
his family were
treated to the best
Christmas ever.
Although the gifts were
ostensibly from Santa,
Elmer overheard that The Salvation Army was
behind their Christmas cheer.
Through a post-Christmas follow up, Elmer's
mother was invited to the Army's International
Corps, located west of downtown Houston. She
liked the corps and kept attending; as did Elmer's
sister and his two brothers.
By now a young teen, Elmer started going down
what he now calls "the wrong path."
"By the time I was 12, 13 or 14, I was skipping
classes, hanging out with the wrong crowd and
even nearly joined a gang," Elmer admits.
When a friend invited Elmer to come
to the Army one Sunday, he went. After
all, his mother and siblings were at-
tending. Elmer confesses that the only
reason he kept going Sunday after
Sunday was the doughnuts they
served; the lessons he tuned out.
The following summer, corps officer
Captain Sujung Na gave Elmer an ap-
plication to attend TYI (Territorial
Youth Institute), hosted that year at
Camp Hoblitzelle near Waxahachie,
TX. Elmer really didn't want to go,
but Captain Sujung was insistent,
something unusual for her.
"I almost never push anyone to go
to TYI," Captain Sujung says. "I feel
that if they don't want to go, then it's
best they don't. But that year this
young man was so strong in my
heart that it was obvious the
Holy Spirit wanted him there!"
Elmer used every excuse
not to go that he could think of,
but "Captain Sujung kept
knocking down every one of
them!" he says, laughing.
For the entire ride north from
Won to Christ by an Angel Tree
and Christmas Doughnuts!
by
MAJOR FRANK DURACHER
The War Cry | DECEMBER 2014
How I Met
the Army
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