Soup, Soap and Salvation at Goodna Salvos
- Jul 24
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 24
What does it mean to truly live out the full mission of The Salvation Army? Ameet Londhe is the Mission Team Leader at Goodna Salvos in the Queensland Division, and in this article for Salvos Online, he relates what happened when he and his team put that question into action.
BY AMEET LONDHE
Before God reshaped our community, Goodna Salvos was a place marked by deep brokenness.
People slept in the backyard and around the centre. We arrived to scenes of injuries and blood from violent incidents the night before, including possible sexual assaults.
Sheds intended for ministry were used to hide weapons and drugs, secured with locks that were not ours. Staff and volunteers sometimes found people sleeping inside those sheds when access was required.
Verbal abuse and threats towards our team and community members became a daily occurrence; I personally received death threats.
Into that darkness, God began a work only he could do, turning this place into one where his presence is felt and people are experiencing transformed lives.
“While we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people ...” (Galatians 6:10)
Every ministry is built on the faithfulness of those who have gone before us. At Goodna Salvos, we are deeply grateful to those who laid the foundations, those who continue to serve faithfully today, and those who have joined us along the way. What God is doing today is the result of many people saying ‘yes’ to his call over many years.
When our current journey began almost four years ago, our team consisted of four full-time staff members. As seasons changed, our staffing evolved to three full-time staff, followed by the addition of two part-time team members. While these changes presented challenges, they also created opportunities to intentionally build a healthy team culture.
From the beginning, we focused on strengthening relationships, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and creating structures that enabled each team member to flourish in their unique gifts.
Rather than working in isolation, we sought to complement one another, supporting each other to grow both personally and spiritually while remaining accountable to the ministry entrusted to us. We wanted every staff member to bring the unique flavour God had placed within them to serve him and our community.
Goodna Salvos volunteers out and about collecting (left) and operating a Bunning Sausage Sizzle to raise funds for the Red Shield Appeal.
Army of volunteers
As our team grew stronger, we began investing more intentionally in volunteers.
What started with a handful of volunteers grew into a vibrant team of more than 50 community volunteers who serve alongside our staff across many different ministry areas.
Together, we expanded the services we were able to provide and significantly increased the number of people we could support each week.
Throughout this journey, one question continued to challenge us: Were we truly living out the full mission of The Salvation Army?
William Booth described our calling as “Soup, Soap and Salvation”.
We recognised that God had enabled us to serve our community well through ‘Soup’ and ‘Soap’. Every week, we were providing practical support through hot meals, free shower and laundry facilities, clothing, bedding, emergency relief, and compassionate crisis care.
In the past year alone, our community café served more than 9000 free hot meals, reflecting both the growing need in our community and the commitment of our staff and volunteers to sharing God’s love in practical ways.
But we also realised that we were not placing the same intentional emphasis on ‘Salvation’, the very heart of who we are as The Salvation Army.
We knew something needed to change.
After much prayer, we made what initially seemed like a risky decision.
For many years, our chapel service had been held on Thursday afternoons after the café had closed. Attendance was very small, with only a handful of Salvation Army members attending and very few people from the community. Even our paid staff were often unable to participate because of other commitments.
‘Food for the Soul’
We sensed God leading us to do something different.
We moved our worship service to Tuesday mornings at 11am, the busiest time of the week, when our café was full of community members sharing meals, building relationships and finding connection. We renamed the service ‘Food for the Soul’.
The decision was not without resistance.
Staff, volunteers and community members all had concerns about disrupting what had become familiar. Closing every other service for one hour each Tuesday required faith, trust and unity. Yet our team chose to embrace the vision as one.
At first, the response seemed modest, but slowly, something began to change.
Week after week, more people stayed. Conversations deepened, and people grew curious.
Before long, the chapel was filled with community members worshipping together. What had once been difficult to imagine became one of the highlights of our week.
The impact extended far beyond that one hour. The atmosphere throughout the centre began to shift. Conversations naturally turned towards God. People began encouraging one another, praying together and sharing what God was doing in their lives.
As relationships deepened, God opened doors to further discipleship. Small discipleship groups began forming throughout the week.
A men’s group, a women’s group, an Indigenous women’s group, and children’s drop-in programs were established at different times. A weekly Bible reading group began gathering regularly. A retired teacher generously volunteered to provide free tutoring for local children, creating another opportunity to invest in families within our community.
The increasingly popular Tuesday morning Chapel Service in full swing.
Collaboration strengthened
Alongside this spiritual growth, partnerships flourished. Our collaboration with Salvation Army services, including Employment Plus, Disability Employment Services (DES), Moneycare, Doorways, Chaplaincy and now Homelessness Team, continued to strengthen. We also developed valuable partnerships with organisations such as the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH), 4 Voices, and One Bridge Nurses.
Together, these partnerships created a strong wrap-around support network, enabling people to access practical, emotional, social and spiritual care in a single place.
Throughout everything, one value became foundational: God’s love, expressed through genuine care for people while maintaining firm and healthy boundaries that create a safe environment for everyone.
Over time, we witnessed a remarkable transformation:
· Violent incidents significantly reduced
· People began coming with purpose rather than simply seeking assistance
· Community members started contributing rather than only receiving
· Staff and volunteers increasingly stepped into leadership, intentionally developed through our Local Mission Plan.
Today, Goodna Salvos is no longer simply a place where staff serve the community.
It is a community where staff, volunteers and community members journey together.
For example:
· We hold one another accountable
· We care for one another
· We worship together
· We support one another through life’s challenges
· We celebrate together.
People are encouraged not only to receive God’s love but also to become active participants in sharing his love with others.
Our vision reaches beyond the walls of our centre.
We long to see Goodna become known not for its struggles or negative headlines, but as a place where people genuinely love Jesus and demonstrate His love to their neighbours.
We also believe stewardship belongs to the whole community. Together, we raise funds, contribute financially where possible, volunteer our time, and take shared ownership of the ministry God has entrusted to us.
Something good
There is a noticeable difference when people walk into Goodna Salvos today. There is warmth. There is hope. There is belonging. Most importantly, there is an unmistakable sense that God is present.
Our desire is to continue being a place of ’Soup, Soap and Salvation’, where practical support and professional community services are inseparably connected with the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
This is far more than a community service model. It is a community development model centred on Christ.
As Jesus reminds us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37).
We believe this is only the beginning.
We warmly invite Salvationists and members of the wider community to join us in the work God is doing in Goodna. There is still much to be done, many lives yet to be touched, and countless opportunities to see God’s Kingdom grow.
Together, we can continue to shine the light of Jesus Christ brightly throughout Goodna and beyond.
VIEW MORE: To see an Instagram post about Goodna Salvos by Major Bryce Davies (Team Member), click here
