Lakes area was location of choice for Salvation Army pair
One of their top choices was an assignment in the Brainerd lakes area.
And Salvation Army Capts. Heidi and Brian Reed got their wish.
The Reeds began their post as captains of the Brainerd Salvation Army office earlier this month, succeeding Capts. Amy Jo and Paul Ferguson, who were reassigned to a Salvation Army unit in Wichita, Kan.
The Reeds moved July 2 to Brainerd from Chicago, where Heidi was working as director of the child-care center at the Salvation Army School for Officers Training and where Brian was commissioned as an officer June 1. The couple previously worked for 1 1/2 years as administrators at a Salvation Army unit in Michigan.
Heidi Reed grew up attending the Salvation Army church in Holland, Mich., while Brian's parents were Salvation Army captains. He lived in five different states, including Minnesota, where he graduated from Duluth East High School. While in college, he spent a summer working at the Salvation Army office in Brainerd.
The Brainerd unit is the couple's first appointment.
"We've kind of just jumped right in," Heidi Reed said of their duties. "It's been great. We love it here. It's a very nice area and very nice people. We feel very welcome. We feel it's a great place to raise our kids."
The Reeds, who have been married for five years, have two daughters, Andrea, 3, and Hayley, 1.
They've spent the past few weeks getting acclimated to their new positions and have relied on help provided by their seven staff members at their main office and both Brainerd and Crosby Salvation Army stores. Heidi said she and her husband complement each other; he enjoys the business nature of their job while she likes to work on programming within the organization. They share pastoral duties and work well as a team, she said.
This fall the couple said they would like to offer programs like family fun nights where families could come to the Salvation Army and watch a family movie and enjoy free popcorn and drinks. It would be a way for families to get out and go to a movie but without the expense, said Heidi.
"We believe families are a concern and we want to focus on bringing families together and bringing Christ to them in a non-threatening way," said her husband.
Brian Reed said he's looking forward to golfing and fishing in the Brainerd lakes area, something he may finally have time to do this weekend.