Stories of Hope

Luka-Angel is a vibrant and delightful 17 year old girl. 4 years ago she could not walk 50 meters without risk of a cardiac arrest and had a heart transplant at 13 years of age. Now she dances for 9 hours a week and is full of life. This is her story.

Vincent Lingiari led a seemingly insignificant strike in 1966 that was a stepping stone to Mabo, the High Court's Native Title decision in 1992.     If we let injustice slide by unchecked because if doesn't affect us - we set ourselves up to encounter the same injustice when we are in need ourselves. How we treat the most vulnerable in our society sets the standard for us all and often it is a sma...

Malcolm Linsell is a plastic surgeon and author, but success has not been easy. His parents were salvo officers and were relatively poor. His journey includes some dark days along with great determination, deep joy and a squashed up trumpet.

The lovely Sue and her very expensive wedding dress. Marriage trends have changed significantly over recent years and there are both positives and negatives in these changes. But being good at committed relationships doesn't just happen, however we organise it, we need genuine capacity to love and be loved.

Jennifer Short had her challenges as a child but they all served to make her mentally tough and resilient. The Salvos were supportive through her childhood and so she decided to give back by riding from Sydney to Melbourne in a Salvo fundraising event.

Navigating dating and love is often something we do when we are young and inexperienced. If we do this well we can avoid a world of hurt. The lovely Sue and I dated in our early 20s and it was both wonderful and terrifying. Giving someone your heart is risky and we just don't know what the future holds.

Lucas Cairns is a talented musician, a loving husband and a father of 4. He is a Salvo officer who loves young people and is also a heart transplant recipient with a whole new lease of life. It will do you good to listen to this man explain how he has embraced the storms of life and how much he delights in the everyday miracles around him. To listen to some of Lucas Music click here. Lucas Cairns...

Australia is a wealthy country but if we don't make a plan for generosity and think well about it, we can be as stingy as anyone. On the other hand, it's OK to use money and enjoy life, so making sure I wasn't a cheap skate with my outfit for my daughters wedding, was something the lovely Sue controlled carefully. There were 6 helpers to keep me in line.

Healthy relationships are really important and we do well to consider the balance we have, so that work, church, hobbies and family get the sort of relational attention they deserve. Movie nights with my adult daughters and our cute puppy, Maggie has been a delight.

In this the final episode on my series with Andy King on Supervision, we chat with three Salvo phone assessment workers and my pastoral supervisor about the way supervision helps in skills development and capacity in the workplace and also how it makes staff feel personally valued and supported.

Rick Warren met regularly with Billy Graham.  We are never too old or successful to learn from others.   We all need good mentors - even us oldies. Rick Warren continued to meet with Billy Graham even as he aged and his ministry was thriving. They remained friends until Billy death in 2018.

Mark Curtis was an alcoholic and a drug addict for over 20 years. He ended up in jail and was mandated to do a Salvo rehab in Perth.  He as been sober for ten years and now is married and manages a community garden in the rehab that saved his life.

There will always have seasons of spiritual dryness. We are not robots and our emotional and physical resources sometimes get depleted. But knowing this helps us accept it and trust that fresh hope and vitality may not be far away. Pretending before God and our friends doesn't help, but being honest and vulnerable can provide some comfort the strength we need to hold on.

Bethany Baillie is married to BJ and is a Salvo officer living in Western Australia.  She is a young woman with a huge heart for people on the margins.  A true blue Salvo who cares deeply for others.  Life was cruising along nicely, but falling pregnant just wasn't happening and so a journey of IVF was about to begin, when the unexpected happened.  A little life began to be formed just before this...

It's a bit of a trap to get so caught up with the busyness of life, that we stop growing and maturing and just plod along for years doing the same things. Practicing the disciplines that foster spiritual growth can help us stay fresh and vibrant if we carve out time for them.   It's a bit of a trap to get so caught up with the busyness of life, that we stop growing and maturing and just plod along...

Tracy is a salvo officer who despite a difficult childhood, has found her way to a place of hope and service to others.  She is married to Steve and has three children and one grandson.  Her story is inspirational and her spirit is a joy to experience.  Warning* There is Domestic violence in this story. 

Continuing with our series on supervision we chat again with Andy King who heads up the Salvos pastoral supervision program for our national emergency relief service - Doorways. Today we chat through what happens in supervision session and why that is so useful both professionally and personally.

The love in families is often very special. It is a place where more than almost anywhere else, we need the mysterious inner resources to love consistently and support unconditionally.   #StoriesOfHope, #SalvationArmy, #Salvos

Colin Reynolds was engaged to a girl name Elaine who had Cystic Fibrosis. Her tragic death shaped his life profoundly. He traveled to Vietnam where he met Phuong. They are now married with two boys and are Salvo officers in Melbourne.

How we determine our career depends a lot on our world view. Some careers, like plastic surgery requires amazing dedication and years of training. Acknowledging our different skills and capacity, we all do well to see our lives as a gift that we are responsible stewards of. Lets not sacrifice meaning and purpose for a pay cheque or an easy life.

Jason is of Indian descent and grew up feeling different and when his Father left home his sense of being lost was crippling. He became involved with the Salvos as a 10 year old boy and it changed his life, giving him a new sense of identity. He now runs the Salvos in Moree helping kids experience the same sort of stability and love that helped transform his life.

When we are invested in community, we tend to build character both in ourselves and others. For Melvin being with Carol made him want to be a better man.

Brenda young and Claire Emerton are Salvo officers in Melbourne. They walked the Camino De Santiago together in June this year and describe the wonderful, joyful, painful, miserable and rewarding experiences of this adventure. It's great to hear them share about it. Buen Camino!

When we are tired or stressed our character can sometimes erode and we start to behave in ways that are not true to our values and beliefs. Over time this can become very serious. Believe it or not, even the lovely Sue can lose some of her loveliness when she is tired and overwhelmed.

The Salvos invest heavily into Supervision, as it not only improves the quality of the service we provide, but more importantly it values the most important asset we have - our people. Andy King and I unpack the ins and outs of supervision and suggest it is an opportunity to grab wholeheartedly if you have the option.