10/18/2026
AN URGENT CALL TO PRAYER:
We are calling our territory to an urgent and concentrated season of prayer for our beloved Commissioners Bill and Lorraine Bamford.
While traveling through Lawrence, Massachusetts, Commissioner Lorraine experienced another very severe medical incident. She is now in critical condition in the hospital under the care of her doctors. Family members are being called to gather with Bill and Lorraine. At this time, the medical prognosis is not hopeful. Lorraine is being kept comfortable, and there are no immediate procedures or tests planned for further medical intervention.
This is a deeply serious hour for a couple who have given so much of themselves in faithful service to Christ and His Army. Commissioners Bamford are beloved former territorial leaders, known and loved throughout the Eastern Territory and across The Salvation Army world. Now it is our privilege to surround them with the love of their Army family and, above all, with earnest intercession before the throne of grace.
We do not minimize what the doctors are saying, but neither do we forget whose Hands hold Bill and Lorraine. Scripture declares, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). The medical assessment may be grave, but God remains sovereign, present, compassionate, and faithful. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Please pray specifically:
For God’s powerful healing touch upon Lorraine, according to His perfect will.
For His sustaining strength, peace, and grace to be unmistakably present with Bill.
For comfort, courage, and unity for the Bamford family as they gather.
For wisdom and compassion for the physicians, nurses, and all who are caring for Lorraine.
For the presence of the Holy Spirit to fill that hospital room with a peace deeper than circumstances can give.
We pray with faith while entrusting those we love to the wisdom and goodness of God. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me” (Psalm 28:7). And when words fail us, we take hold of the promise that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26).
I am asking every officer, retired officer, soldier, corps, congregation, ministry unit, and praying friend who receives this message to stop and pray. Please also pass this call to prayer along to others. Share it with your corps family, prayer partners, colleagues, friends, and all who know and love Bill and Lorraine, so that prayers might rise from across this territory and beyond.
Let us storm heaven together, not with presumption, but with persistent faith in the God who hears His people. Let us ask boldly for healing, strength, grace, mercy, and comfort, while praying as Jesus taught us, “Your will be done” (Matthew 6:10).
Commissioners Bill and Lorraine Bamford have prayed for, encouraged, and ministered to countless people through the years. In this critical hour, let us now stand in the gap for them. May Bill and Lorraine know, even in these difficult moments, that they are deeply loved, faithfully remembered, and being carried before the Lord by an Army of prayer.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
With love, faith, and earnest prayer, we unite to seek His will today.
God bless you today.
Coram Deo,
Commissioner Ralph Bukiewicz
Territorial Commander
The Salvation Army USA Eastern Territorial Headquarters
440 West Nyack Rd., P.O. Box C-635, West Nyack, NY 10994.
