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1B. My Insatiable Wanderlust 
My first attempt to enlist was not very successful. The recruiting officer, Captain Conder, after asking me many awkward questions, leaned back in his chair and paused thoughtfully. "How do you expect to teach others about God?", he gently probed, "if you don't know his book for yourself? When you have read the Bible thoroughly and know what it says, come back and see me again!" Dejected, but not broken in spirit, I returned home for a whole year! When I applied again I found to my relief that a very frank reference sent to Headquarters was to my advantage.
The letter explained that as a teenager, I had biked five thousand miles across America from New Jersey to California. "Ray is an unstable sort of character, possessed with insatiable wanderlust!" My wanderlust must have appealed to Church Army for they accepted me for training! I was ordered to report to Hartford Cathedral, Connecticut, to begin work. When God gives you a piece of work, immediately the problems begin. Certain pressures began to arise to stay at home. My college friends decided to hold a reunion party Which promised to be a great time on the very night that I was due to report. God's call remained uppermost in my mind and determinately I made my way up to Hartford to join up.
Getting the Devil Out
I was directed to the Guild Hall where the Church Army men were sleeping on camp cots. A young cadet and I sat in the cavernous and echoing timber building, sitting on his bed reading. "The Captain-in-Charge and the rest of the team are out of town tonight," he told me. "I am to take care of you." Walking around the lofty hall, I thought, "What a crazy place to sleep!" Time flew as we chatted together. Suddenly, my guardian suggested, "Let's kneel by our bedsides. We'll pray together, but you first, brother!" Now I was used to reading set prayers by myself at home, and out aloud with others, but never without my Prayer Book! An awkward silence settled over us! Unable to bear it any longer, I burst out, "It's no use! I can't pray without my Prayer Book!" My zealous adversary glared, "You can't pray, brother, because the Devil is in you!" I might have accepted his diagnosis, but when he started pummelling my back to "get the Devil out," it got my Irish up! "You're as crazy as can be!", I retorted angrily. "I'm going back home to New Jersey."
Home to Hartford
Stuffing my things into my suitcase, I threw my overcoat over my arm and defiantly brushed past him through the door. Realizing his mistake, he followed me red faced down the street. The sidewalks were dark and silent as we hurried on. "I'm definitely finished," I told him. "I'm taking the next train back." As we marched away from the Guild Hall, he became more desperate. He apologized and made all kinds of promises if I would only return. Finally, when I felt he could bear no more, I turned and to his great relief agreed to walk back with him. A smug pride warmed my victory! I knew that my last cent had been spent on the fare to Hartford and I was absolutely broke! God had severely tested me that first night with Church Army but when Captain Bugg returned, his personal Christian dedication won me over.
Outdoor Witnessing
The following Sunday evening, we began preparing for an outdoor procession and open air meeting down the street from Hartford Cathedral. The Captain gave the processional cross to one cadet to carry, another the Church flag, a third the Stars and Stripes. To my embarrassment, he handed me a bright red Crusader Shield on a broom handle reading, "GOD IS LOVE." My face must have been redder than the shield itself as we marched down the streets that night. The fact that the other side explained, "SPONSORED BY CHRIST CATHEDRAL" didn't ease my embarrassment.
Witnessing for Christ
We gathered on a corner and began to sing. The hymns and songs were all different from the ones I knew! Suddenly the leader announced, "Brother Lewis will give his witness," and summoned me forward. A raucous shout echoed back above the screeching wheels of a passing street car. "Why don't you shut up, and go to work?" "Go to work?", I thought. "This is my work!" The spirit of the men with whom I laboured had brushed off on me. I didn't want to be quiet about the joy I had experienced. God had called me to tell others about His Son.
The Pink Lady
After the outdoor witness, the Captain gave us our orders for the evening worship at the Cathedral. The Dean, obviously wary of Church Army's unusual methods, reluctantly agreed to the singing of choruses during the service. "But NOT that particularly outrageous one to the tune from the musical, 'The Pink Lady!'" In later years, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me," with its beautiful lilting melody, became one of my special favourites. Once the choruses had been chosen, the Dean suggested that we all go outside to do some "fishing" in front of the Cathedral. When I was a boy in New Jersey, Jewish store owners would fish people by the arm into their clothing shops. "How about a crisp new shirt, Sir? Ve hav a very reasonable line, just in from Paris. Come along in and see." The other cadets and I were soon engrossed in our fishing. Nabbing passers by, we pushed invitations into their hands to welcome them to our service.
"You've gotta have a glory in the things you do, an alleluia chorus in the heart of you" 
