‘One of their phrases was, “Thank you for coming to our country and feeling our pain.” ’
Vivienne Hill first came to The Salvation Army’s Family Tracing service looking for her birth parent. She has now joined the service as its team leader.
This weekend, people are gathering at Auckland City Corps to celebrate what has often been, literally, a death to life transformation through 20 years of Salvation Army Recovery Church.
‘I can’t describe the release of pressure. As soon as I found out I was accepted, it was like a bomb had gone off and all the stress had been released'.
The first inklings of what would become Recovery Church began, not from The Salvation Army, but from a client who had been through the Bridge Programme (which is also known as Addiction Services).
It began with a volunteer cleaning a kitchen. Four years on, The Salvation Army’s Christchurch Primary Schools Support Programme supports 12 schools and thousands of pupils.
In a new concept of church, The Gathering in Hamilton is bringing children and adults together in a place where they can get chaotic, creative—and even talk in church.
Mike Savage has been a funeral director for 24 years. He describes it as a mixture of event management and chaplaincy. While it seems a hard job, Mike says it’s one God’s called him to.
General André Cox envisages a Salvation Army that is still battling for people’s lives, and reaching out a helping hand for those who are drowning in sin, despair, injustice and greed.