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In week four of Self Denial, we visit Kenya West where The Salvation Army’s ACE project is empowering the community through sustainable agriculture and financial training. John shares his story of how the project has changed his life, allowing him to build a better future for his family. The theme for the Self Denial Appeal 2023 is ‘A Gift from the Heart’. It encourages us to consider the blessings we have from God and how we can use those to bless other people. Funds raised will support the work of the international Salvation Army and impact lives with the love of Jesus. To find out more and donate visit selfdenial.info

By JESSICA MORRIS Just a mere 13 hours away on a red-eye flight, Jiti Corps in the Zimbabwe and Botswana Territory of Africa is a church on mission. The words of Haggai the prophet remain a standard for their work: “Be strong ... work ... rebuild the house of the Lord” (Haggai 2: 4), and thanks to corps member Keturah Mutamutu, who moved to Australia in 2015 by way of New Zealand, this mission is now an international partnership transcending oceans and cultures. Joining the Sunday school at Jiti Corps in 1965, Keturah’s history with The Salvation Army is rich. She only left the corps to begin high school at the Howard Institute, The Salvation Army-run high school where the late General Eva Burrows taught for 14 years. It was this that took Keturah to the Southern Hemisphere. On a mission to give back after having so many Australian and New Zealand-based teachers invest in her, she migrated to New Zealand in 2001 with her children. “My first year in New Zealand I went to a Salvation Army congress in Wellington, and I was amazed to meet one of my teachers there,” recalls Keturah. “What a beautiful, wonderful moment it was!” Making the move to Tea Tree Gully Corps in South Australia in 2015 after her children had grown up, Keturah maintained a connection with Jiti Corps and heard about their need for a new building. She formed ‘Friends of Jiti Corps’, which began fundraising for Jiti with the intention of funding basic materials to dig a foundation. The group still exists today – but Keturah’s momentum didn’t stop when she moved to Victoria in 2017. After transferring to Mooroolbark Corps from Box Hill Corps, she shared her vision with the corps officer, Captain Ashley Proctor, and his response was more than she could have hoped for. “[I had an] amazing response from Captain Ashley. [He said] ‘Leave it with me I will consult with leadership’,” says Keturah. “That was in 2018, [and the corps is] financially supporting the project to date.” While the project benefitted Jiti Corps, it also spiritually gave back to Mooroolbark as they practised generosity and befriended their brothers and sisters in another country. “Having Keturah in the corps meant that we could journey with Jiti Corps [and] they would send over regular updates of the progress,” says Ashley. An international relationship had already begun in Adelaide, and now one was born with Mooroolbark Corps. And its fruit has gone beyond a new church building – they have also built a toilet block and ensured fresh water is available after digging a bore and setting up a water tank. Their next task is a vegetable garden. “The foundations were dug by hand; the handmade mud bricks were laid and the building began to take shape. Each step of the project was set out and we would hold fundraising events as more money was required to move on,” says Ashley. “Once the walls were up, we had to raise funds for the roofing, then windows and doors.” Over the years, Mooroolbark has held quiz nights, dinners, Christmas in July celebrations and participated in ‘love offerings’ to support their brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe financially and through prayer. And with an appointed project manager in Zimbabwe who oversaw the initial building development and further projects, Mooroolbark was able to partner with the corps for more effective results – especially, considering most of the labour on the building has been completed by corps members. “Once the building was at lockup stage, the old building inside was pulled down brick by brick and the old materials were used in the new project. A toilet and shower block was built onsite. Finally, water was needed for not only the corps and the shower and toilet block, but also the community. This was completed and ready for Christmas Day 2022. Now there is clean drinking water available for everyone,” says Ashley. In 2023, eight years after Keturah began her fundraising efforts, Jiti Corps is able to hold Sunday services in their new building. And throughout the week, a local school uses it for lessons. The fact it is situated in the Jiti Primary School complex assists with this, allowing the corps to support a community experiencing a shortage of classrooms. “The church attendance and enrolment has increased, [and there is a] spirit of working together and ownership – pride of their beautiful big church in a rural setting, which is beyond their wildest dreams. Now Jiti Corps can host divisional meetings,” shares Keturah. “Jiti Corps is very grateful for the support and financial help from Mooroolbark Corps and the Friends of Jiti Corps group. This is making a difference and meeting need, and for Jiti Corps, it’s about seeing the hand of God at work through others.”

As we begin NAIDOC week 2022, madi madi elder uncle Vince Ross gives a blessing over the nation on behalf of the Salvation Army.

SEEING GOD WORK IN THE RED CENTRE Chief Secretary Colonel Winsome Merrett had the privilege of leading the Sunday service at Alice Springs on 19 June alongside Corps Officers Majors Rhonda and Dean Clutterbuck. Winsome reflected on the corps’ history and how it has continued to meet great need in the region since being planted by the late Majors Hilton and Wilga Morris in 1965. Earlier that week, she was given a tour of the historic 88 Hartley Street location where worship and administration is based. Taking the chance to meet community members at The Waterhole Community Drop In Centre, she viewed the community art gallery, stocked with the work of local residents and community members who share their Tjukurrpa (Dreaming). Every day, between 50 and 80 people gather at The Waterhole for fellowship, making use of the laundry facilities, painting, yarning and watching a movie. Thrift Store coordinator Maddy Clutterbuck later gave Winsome an overview of the shop at 17 Whittaker Street. COMMITMENT TO MISSION The Brisbane City Temple group at the Queensland mission conference. Commissioner Robert Donaldson was a guest speaker at the Queensland mission conference on 17-19 June. The conference was an intergenerational event seeking to equip, encourage, and inspire all to pursue and develop missional opportunities for their local setting. The Territorial Leader described it as “a wonderful day of commitment to mission in the Queensland Division. Excellent range of topics presented simultaneously in Brisbane, Rockhampton and Cairns.” One of many highlights was an elective with Professor Cameron Parsell and Marcus Hutchins on being a Jesus-centred social mission provider. MEETING FRIENDS Commissioner Janine Donaldson recently travelled to the IHQ in London to meet with fellow territorial leaders and bumped into Bellarine Peninsula Corps officer Captain Peter Hobbs.

Four Salvation Army employees of the Australia Territory share what NAIDOC Week means to them: As a migrant to these lands we now call Australia, I am deeply moved by the resilience, wisdom, creativity, courage and strength of First Nations peoples. During NAIDOC Week, we focus on celebrating the ongoing contributions of God’s chosen caretakers of these beautiful countries. We are also reminded that it is only as we stand together and continue to fight for systemic change that justice and equity will truly be possible. Let’s celebrate, but let’s also commit to standing alongside our sisters and brothers and ensuring their voices are heard. –Major Sandra McLean, Faith Communities Development Secretary Get Up! Stand Up! means justified work and effort on my part. Getting up means getting up to date with Australia’s shared history – for instance, the doctrine of Terra Nullius – that the land of Australia ‘belonged to no one’ was overturned by the High Court only 30 years ago. Getting up also requires reading the 440 words that make up the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Standing up means doing something. Getting to know local Aboriginal and Torres Strait people and their language, hearing stories and having a cuppa. Standing up means talking about our history, listening to the hopes for the future (which in part has been done for us – Uluru Statement from the Heart) and using our podiums of power for others to speak. These things, along with acknowledging personal and corporate failures, should be a natural response when we read Scripture – look after the lonely, widows, orphans, homeless and oppressed. Getting up and standing up are the right things to do, but they are also the holy things to do. – Lieutenant B.J. Baillie, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Corps, WA Get Up! Stand Up! means getting up to speed and listening to what are the key issues for our Indigenous brethren. ‘Stand up’ is being alongside living, loving and fighting with, not for, our brethren, for practical restorative and just outcomes wherever I am and have influence. It’s important to embody and live out this theme with respect and gratitude. That is what I can be and do as a fifth-generation recent arrival. – Andrew King, Professional Supervision Practice Consultant, Doorways The celebration of NAIDOC Week means we recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across all the lands of Australia. Recognition is the start, leading to attitudes and behaviours that ensure that our First Nations people are seen, heard, valued and understood, not only in areas of society that affect them directly but in all areas. This year’s theme – Get Up! Stand Up! – is a rallying call to do what we can to challenge systems that have, and continue to, harm people’s dignity and worth and to ensure that all people can flourish. We need to prioritise systemic change and individual commitment to change to ensure justice is experienced and our First Nations people are given the recognition and rights that they, as fellow humans, deserve. – Karen Lattouf, Territorial Leadership Development Specialist, Eva Burrows College

Returning home to Deniliquin (NSW), Madi Madi elder Uncle Vince Ross (OF) shares three original songs that offer a glimpse into country, identity and growing up as an Aboriginal man.

Salvation Army officers and other personnel who have suffered the loss of a loved one: Major Kaylene Robinson’s mother, Lola Wenham, was promoted to glory on Thursday 30 June 2022. Please keep Kaylene and the family in your prayers. Lieut-Colonel Don Warr’s wife, Pam, was promoted to glory on Friday 10 June 2022. Our sympathy, love and prayers are extended to Lieut-Colonel Don and all the family. The grandfather of Captain Dominic Wallis and Lieutenant Marika Haupt, Mr Frederick Charles Wesener (Fred), was promoted to glory on Monday 30 May 2022 aged 100 years and 11 months. Fred is survived by 5 children, 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. The father of Auxiliary-Lieutenant Debbie Bartlett, Trevor Smith, was promoted to glory on Saturday 11 June 2022 after a six-week battle with cancer. Major Laurel Pearce's, brother, Paul Pearce, passed away in his sleep Tuesday night/Wednesday morning 7/8 June 2022. He had been very ill with cancer for some years. Please uplift Laurel in prayer. Majors Enid and Frank Wilson’s son, Robert, was promoted to glory unexpectedly on Thursday 9 June 2022 aged 58 years. Please uplift Majors Enid and Frank in prayer along with David, Donna, Jeanine and their families over these days. The father of Major David Rogerson, Cecil Rogerson, was promoted to glory on Sunday 5 June 2022. Lieut-Colonel Don Warr’s wife, Pam, was promoted to glory on Friday 10 June 2022. Our sympathy, love and prayers are extended to Lieut. Colonel Don and all the family. The father of Lieut-Colonel Sandra Godkin and grandfather of Auxiliary-Lieutenant Amanda Pethybridge, Maurice Press, was promoted to glory on Wednesday 15 June 2022. Please remember the family in your prayers at this sad time. Major Lynn Whittaker is bereaved of both her mother and father. Major Lyn’s dad, Arthur, passed away on 4 May 2022 and her Mum Lesley passed away on 19 May 2022. Please uphold Major Lynn and Major Katrina Young (granddaughter) and all the family at this most tender and difficult time. The father of Major Fran Everitt, Maurice Bull, was promoted to glory on Wednesday 11 May 2022 from the Redcliffe Hospital, Queensland.  Maurice was 87 and leaves behind his sister Margo and her family, Majors Fran and Mark, his son Howard, grandchildren Samuel and Renee, Elsie and Rob, and four great-grandchildren. Major Margaret Price was bereaved of her eldest brother, Dick who was promoted to glory on Saturday 7 May, aged 94. For many years, Dick was a bandsman in the Redcliffe Ye Old Brass band, which would perform in nursing homes and corps in the area. Our love and prayers cover Major Margaret and family. Territorial Envoy Ron Petterson’s eldest brother, Harold Petterson, was promoted to glory on 7 May, aged 75. Harold was married to Robyn who passed away in 2008. They were missionaries for many years in India. Please keep the Petterson family in your prayers at this time. Major Fran Everitt is bereaved of her father who was promoted to glory on Wednesday 11 May. Fran’s brother, Howard, was at his side. Please surround Major Fran and all the family with your love and prayers during the coming days. Major Bronwyn Pretty has been bereaved of her father who was promoted to glory on Thursday 24 March 2022. At this tender time, our heartfelt sympathy and prayer is extended to Major Bronwyn, her mother, sister and extended family and friends. Major Coral Hodges, Captain Joy Lotty and Captain Nathan Hodges are bereaved of their father and grandfather, Arthur Soper, who was promoted to glory on Tuesday 1 March 2022. At this tender time, our heartfelt sympathy and prayers are extended to Mrs Joyce Soper, Coral and Joy, sister Ann Foster and brother Penton Soper, their families and extended family. Major Pat Walton has been bereaved of her sister Shirley Begley who was promoted to glory on Saturday 29 January. Please pray for Major Pat and Shirley’s families over these days. Major Cliff Randall has been bereaved of his brother John Randall and his nephew Michael Llewellyn in Wales. This is a sad time for the family and your prayers would be appreciated for Major Cliff as he feels these losses deeply especially as he is unable to travel to be with his other family members. Eva Cochrane, mother of Major Kingsley Cochrane and Major Ron Cochrane (mother-in-law to Major Margaret Cochrane and Major Lyn Cochrane, grandmother to Major Naomi Shelton), was peacefully promoted to glory in the early hours of Wednesday 12 January, aged 91. Major Ron Whitehouse has been bereaved of his sister Dorothy, aged 94, on Saturday 15 January. Major Gail Roberts has been bereaved of her mother, June Boulton, aged 88, on Wednesday 19 January at her home at Saint Matthews Retirement Village, Broadford.

As we enter NAIDOC week, we are invited to listen and learn from Australia’s First Nations peoples, who have lived on this land for thousands of years. Here are six books, primarily written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, that will engage, encourage and educate you as we work towards reconciliation. 1. DARK EMU BY BRUCE PASCOE In this pivotal book, Bunurong, Yuin and Tasmanian Aboriginal man Bruce Pascoe details what life was like in Australia before colonisation. Dispelling myths forwarded by explorers, Pascoe bases his findings on time spent with fourth-generation farmers and historical papers, ultimately highlighting the sophisticated way of life of First Nations people – including an incredible understanding of irrigation and fire, to law and language. Reviewer Sue Hodges said, “This book affirms us and will encourage any young Indigenous person pursuing a career in any of these fields.” A young reader's version is also available. Available at major bookstores. 2. MY TIDDA, MY SISTER EDITED BY MARLEE SILVA Tidda means ‘sis,’ ‘sister’ or ‘sissy,’ and in this compelling anthology, young Gamilaroi and Dunghutti writer Marlee Silva curates years of Dreamings from generations of Australia’s first women. This is a vast and rich read, divided into essays and advice from Auntys (female leaders) to reflections from Tidda’s present and Tidda’s future (young females). Highlighting the importance of family, Country and identity, Silva also delves into topics like suicide, trauma and mental ill-health among First Nations peoples as a result of colonisation. This is a profound collection alongside the artwork of Goreng Goreng woman Rachael Sarram. Available at major bookstores. 3. TALKING TO MY COUNTRY BY STAN GRANT This award-winning book was penned by Kamilaroi and Wiradjuri man and acclaimed journalist Stan Grant, following Australian Football League player Adam Goodes being booed during games in 2015. In it, he asks all Australians to dream about what their country could be like. Detailing his own upbringing and education, he highlights how racism is still present in Australia today. A strong, bold read, this asks every Australian, “How can we be better?”. For further reading, Grant’s 2019 book Australia Day is also available. Available at major bookstores. 4. DEAR SON EDITED BY THOMAS MAYOR Consider this anthology a partner to be read alongside My Tidda, My Sister because Dear Son paints a picture for us of First Nations manhood. Torres Strait Islander poet Thomas Mayor has curated and edited 12 letters written by First Nations men to a son, father or nephew. Authors range from journalist Stan Grant and musician Troy Cassar-Daley to sports commentator Charlie King, and each reflects on love, trauma and the experiences of their ancestors. For more of Mayor’s work, you can read Finding the Heart of The Nation, a book about the Uluru Statement. A young reader’s version is also available. Read the review here. Available at major bookstores. 5. ADOPTED IN LOVE BY RACHEL HERWEYNEN This children’s picture book beautifully captures two cultures and peoples becoming family. Written in the Yolnu language of Warramiri, as well as English, it tells the story of Herweynen and her husband, who moved to the remote community of Gawa, Elcho Island in the Northern Territory. Adopted and welcomed in by a local Yolnu family, Herweyenen shows how their actions reflect the Gospel message of Christ. Emphasising that we can all be adopted into God’s family, this book celebrates the Yolnu community and culture, noting key life experiences like dancing, hunting and grieving. Paired with beautiful and culturally accurate illustrations by Salome and Katina Moes, every child needs a copy of this. Available at Koorong and Christian bookstores. 6. TRACKS OF THE MISSING BY CARL MERRISON AND HAKEA HUSTLER Consider this the young adults or fictional offering on this list because this new release set in remote Western Australia depicts the reality of life for a young First Nations man who leaves his remote community and a small town. Merrison, a Jaru/Kija man, and Hustler, an English teacher, tell the story of 15-year-old Dek. With the chance to have his big break playing footy, he must choose if he will join his grandfather to search for a group of missing classmates who have become stranded in the bush. With a murderer on the run, this book is filled with mystery and graciously shows the reader more about the character’s Dreaming and relationship to land, Creation, Song Lines and Law. Reflecting on the impact of generational displacement, substance abuse, juvenile incarceration, death and racism on the character and his mates, this book is a must-read. Available at major bookstores. Many thanks to Sue Hodges and The Salvation Army Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team for assisting with this piece.

We thank God for the following officers and their faithful and dedicated service and we pray for direction, grace, fulfilment and blessings in abundance for them in retirement. The following officers are retiring in January 2021: Effective 12 January Lieut-Colonel Ron Clinch, Mission Support Manager THQ Blackburn. Effective 13 January Major Howard Trendell, Corps Officer - Victor Harbour (SA). Major Lance Sharp, Chaplain Community Aged Care Program (Vic.). Major Heather Sharp, Overseas Officer Support Secretary. Major Joyleen Stewart, Chaplain Children’s Court (Vic.). 31 January Envoy Keitha Marsh, Chaplain – Bridgehaven (Vic.). Major Norm Beckett, Area Officer (ACT/NSW South Coast). The following officers are retiring in February 2021: Effective 28 February Major David Palmer - Support Officer (NSW/ACT). Major Lea Palmer - Support Officer (NSW/ACT). Major Janette Shepherd - Chaplain James Barker House (Vic.). Major Kirsty McKenzie - Chaplain Retired Officers (Vic.). Major Sue Davies - (Qld). The following officers are retiring in March 2021: Effective 31 March 2021 Major Lindsay Reeves - Support Officer (NSW/ACT). Major Jennifer Anderson – Assistant Divisional Chaplaincy Manager (SA/NT). Effective 30 April 2021 Major Karen Smith – Area Officer, South West, NSW/ACT Division. Effective May 2021 Major David McMurray – Major Yvonne Henderson – Corps Officer, Wynnum (QLD). Major Bruce Pratt – Divisional Finance Support Officer (QLD). Lieut-Colonel Bruce Stevens – Executive Officer – Investigations (Officer Personnel). Effective July 2021 Majors Denis and Kathleen White Major Julie Schofield Major Robbin Moulds The following officers are retiring in September 2021: Effective 30 September 2021 Major Barry Casey and Major Rosslyn Casey – Secretaries for Spiritual Life Development. Major Sue May – Social Mission Chaplain, Top End Ministry Team. Major Lynette Jones – Corps Officer, Rosebud (Vic.). Effective 31 December 2021 Major Dale Brooks Major Roslyn Brooks Captain Kathy Crombie Major Gary Grant Major Ed Henderson Captain Angela Locke Major Denise Parkinson Major Warren Parkinson