JAN ZUNIGA:
“I NEEDED TO SEE...THE AMAZING CLOSENESS OF ORANGE.”
L
By Holly Westbrook
“Last year He took it all away from me. I had no energy.” Salvation Army Core Officer Jan Zuniga needed a tonsillectomy badly, yet, she speaks of her ability to serve through ministry and not her illness. Jan is very passionate about her role in the Army as a Captain and admitted that letting other’s help in coordinating events, such as the Angel Tree, is difficult for her due to the many years of serving. But she needed rest and healing before and after the surgery.
Feeling that she let down the community when the perfectly planned surgery hit a roadblock and was unable to attend Toy Coffee brought the mother of two down even more. But “everyone was helping,” she said, yet this too, was hard. “I kept getting up to do things and people would tell me to sit back down. I put everything, everyone first above me.” “I needed to see last Christmas to see the amazing closeness of Orange. It wasn’t just one group of people that came out to help when I was sick, but many groups and individuals
showed just how much this community cares for each other.” “When we moved here to Orange, I needed healing. Yet, Orange needed us at full capacity at that point.” Harvey devastated even those who came to help.
12 | January 2020 m
a
g
a
z
i n
e
