Always about people finding freedom - Marcelle Goode
From its early days when The Salvation Army band (pictured right) used to march down the main street of Mackay and perform open-air meetings, to today when Salvos can be found providing welfare assistance or running children’s groups; one thing has remained the same. The Salvation Army is about people finding freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from neglect. Freedom from poverty and addiction. Freedom to dream. Freedom to love. Freedom to make a difference. Freedom to live life to the full and freedom through Jesus. Marcelle Goode, affectionately known as “Goodie”, found freedom through Jesus in the 1970s. In 1972, she felt led to attend a Salvation Army Christmas Day service. During that meeting she felt convinced that The Salvation Army was to be her church home. The following year she was sworn-in as a soldier of the Mackay Salvation Army and began collecting every Friday night at the local hotels. An article prepared for The Salvation Army’s War Cry newspaper described her as such: A more faithful and diligent soldier in this avenue of service would be hard to find. Miss Goode never misses a week, except for sickness and often suffers from physical disabilities, but always finds a smile and a kind word for her donors.
