Farewell Greetings

By Colonel Donna Igleheart

Dear Friends,

I greet you today in the wonderful and lovely name of Jesus. I pray that your summer has been blessed with sun kissed days, outdoor adventures, and moments to pause and reflect nature’s cue of God’s beauty and goodness in this season. As I write you today my house is filled with moving boxes and in my heart and mind there’s the reality that one season is ending and another adventure awaits me.

Looking back upon our arrival to the Western Territory in July 2020, it was certainly an unusual season that was layered with challenges such as masks, social distancing and one cancelled opportunity after another to meet and connect in person. I wondered if I would ever see the lovely faces of those I served alongside in the same building! However, God was still at work, ever present and faithful in the unusual. Even though our time has been much too brief, I choose joy in the treasured moments of connection with you, be it in person or online.

Please receive these final words from my heart to yours, as a heartfelt thank you for the warm embrace you have extended to us over these past two years of serving alongside you in the amazing Western Territory.

I never imagined that the ‘yes’ to serve God as an officer, now thirty years ago, would have afforded me this incredible opportunity to serve in another territory. I have found myself saying, “Lord, thank you for where I am today.” The journey to the West has enriched my life and given me a deeper sense of purpose and calling. God has reminded me that the sweetest things in life cost nothing but one willing “yes” after another. There is an unexpected delight when Jesus opens doors on a new horizon, and I count it pure delight for the path that led me to you. You have sown seeds of kindness, goodness, and grace and the roots of love and acceptance ran deep.

“She will be standing firm like a flourishing tree planted by God’s design, deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss, bearing fruit in every season of life. She is never dry, never fainting, ever blessed, ever prosperous.” Psalm 1:3 (The Passion Translation)

In the coming months, the Territorial Women’s Ministries Department will launch a new theme, “Flourish.” As women of this great territory, I encourage you to stand firm on the foundation of God’s word, remain in the fellowship of one another, continue to look for ways to serve those who need a helping hand up, and lean in and learn how to better the world around you. You may never fully see the fruit of your labor and service in the seeds you sow today but keep sowing.

All around us the symphony of God’s Kingdom calls us to stand firm and with God’s help we can and will indeed, “Flourish” bearing fruit in every season. May you sense God’s deep love for you, and may He usher in a new season where small steps become giant leaps forward, where small seeds produce a great harvest and where childlike faith gives you victory!

Our eyes will always be on the beautiful people and vast ministry of the Western Territory. May God richly bless and keep you.

Note: We wish Colonel Donna Igleheart best wishes as she takes up her leadership in her new appointment. As of September 1, 2022 she will have the rank of Commissioner and will be serving as the Territorial President of Women’s Ministries of the USA Southern Territory.