Tamworth Salvation Army gains new captain

That's the philosophy of Tamworth's new Salvation Army captain Harriet Farquhar as she settles into her first weeks in the role.

"I've got a heart for people, and I love walking alongside people and just journeying life with them," Captain Farquhar said.

It's been a "really interesting start" since she began what she hopes will be at least a five-year tenure.

There's been fire, there's been flood and, of course, the more enduring problem.

"We've still got people who are coming through - for the first time - saying, 'I need a hand, I'm not coping', due to the drought.

Read also:

"I've seen the place go from red dirt to green grass ... and whilst it's given people hope and a buoyancy of spirit, the reality is the drought is still with us and the drought is still having an incredible impact on people."

"It will end, I have faith it will end - we've just all got to encourage each other while we're waiting for that end to the drought."

Captain Farquhar said she knew many people wondered "why God didn't stop this?" when faced with natural disaster.

"It's a complex area and I don't think there's a simple answer," she said.

"God has given us this great planet to care for, but part of this planet is there has always been floods and fires, and there has always been suffering and hurt, and that God walks alongside us in that suffering and hurt and cries alongside us," she said.

"God's given us free will and free choice and that the logical outworking of that free choice is that bad stuff happens ... I'm really looking forward to having a conversation with God, at some point, to say, 'Did we get it right?'

"But I also think it's incumbent on us to care for the environment as best we can."

Captain Farquhar had a decade-long career teaching health sciences in universities when she started going to a Salvation Army church.

"That very first day there, I felt like I'd come home," she said.

"It struck me that if I didn't test out being an officer, serving the Salvation Army, I'd always spend my life wondering if I should've.

"So I ditched my good career, went and retrained for two years ... and then got sent out into the field."

Having grown up near Wellington, New Zealand, Captain Farquhar said that on her arrival to Tamworth she saw "this beautiful hill, and I thought, 'I can be happy here'."

She and husband Dave Burbidge, an IT professional, love retired greyhounds and already have plans to adopt a new "four-legged family member" from Manilla.

Her aim in the role is "that the Salvation Army works alongside the community to see individuals and Tamworth grow and flourish; that we're a contributing force for good."

Mission statement is to work with other groups to transform people's lives.

"We're just one piece of the puzzle."

Mission statement is to work with other groups to transform people's lives.

"We're just one piece of the puzzle."

"God has given us this great planet to care for, but part of this planet is there has always been floods and fires, and there has always been suffering and hurt, and that God walks alongside us in that suffering and hurt and cries alongside us.

"I know people have questions about, 'Why doesn't God stop this?'and my answer is something along the lines of that God's given us free will and free choice and that the logical outworking of that free choice is that bad stuff happens.

"But it's a complex area and I don't think there's a simple answer.

"And I'm really looking forward to having a conversation with God, at some point, to say, 'Did we get it right?'

"But I also think it's incumbent on us to care for the environment as best we can."