The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church.
Vision Statement
Wherever there is hardship or injustice, Salvos will live, love and fight alongside others to transform Australia one life at a time with the love of Jesus.
Mission Statement
The Salvation Army is a Christian movement dedicated to sharing the love of Jesus by:
• Caring for people
• Creating faith pathways
• Building healthy communities
• Working for justice
The Salvation Army Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet and work and pay our respect to Elders, past, present, and future. We value and include people of all cultures, languages, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and intersex status. We are committed to providing programs that are fully inclusive. We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of people of all ages, particularly children.
Impact of youth
In this edition of Salvos Magazine, we focus on young people and the positive differences they are making in their personal lives, their work, local communities and beyond.
Jurni, a young woman who battled challenges with mental health and eating disorders, shares about how her contact with the Salvos through the Kids in the Kitchen cooking program has helped to restore her self-confidence, life goals and determination to help as many others, particularly young people, as possible.
Founders: William and Catherine Booth
Salvation Army World Leaders: General Lyndon and Commissioner Bronwyn
Buckingham
Territorial Leader: Commissioner Miriam Gluyas
Secretary for Communications and Editor-In-Chief: Colonel Rodney Walters
Publications Manager: Cheryl Tinker
Editor: Simone Worthing
Graphic Designer: Ryan Harrison
Enquiry email: publications@salvationarmy.org.au
All other Salvation Army enquiries 13 72 58
Press date: 4 April 2025
Printed and published for The Salvation Army by Commissioner Miriam Gluyas at Focus Print Group, Chester Hill, NSW, Darug Nation lands.
Grace and Jacob also write about the impact they are having through their work and volunteering. As a youth pastor, Jacob loves seeing the changes in young people, and often their families, when they receive support and a place to belong. For Grace, volunteering in social justice programs, youth camps and with her local Salvos, is driven by her faith and a desire to impact a range of communities.
We also look at a Salvos accommodation service that is changing the lives of young people through housing and education.
For these stories and more, go to salvosonline.org.au
Simone Worthing Editor
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JURNI FINDS RECIPE FOR LIFE
Volunteering gives new confidence to
Tarrawanna teenager
by Kirralee Nicolle
Warning: This story contains details about mental health struggles, including eating disorders. If this could be a trigger for you, please proceed with caution.
Sixteen-year-old Jurni
Young is a volunteer with the Kids in the Kitchen program at Tarrawanna Salvos in Wollongong, NSW, and a youth group leader there. She never considered volunteering until her life took some unexpectedly hard turns.
Jurni first encountered Kids in the Kitchen as a 10-yearold when she met Salvos volunteer manager Lyn Mather. Lyn heads up the popular children’s cooking program, founded by Major Cathryn Williamson at Cowra Salvos (Central NSW) in 2017.
When COVID-19 arrived in Australia, the impact on young Jurni, both physically and mentally, was immense.
“During the COVID years, I developed anxiety and was really depressed with the whole idea of it,” Jurni says. “I developed an eating disorder, anorexia (nervosa).
I didn’t go to school for another two years. So, I missed out on my whole entire high school life up until Year Nine.”
Missing school
Jurni began to be hospitalised intermittently to treat the anorexia, and with the addition of missing out on school, life felt bleak. When lockdowns ended, she returned to the Salvos to begin attending youth group.
“Lyn heard about me struggling with COVID and my eating and being in hospital a lot,” Jurni says. “She reached out [to] see how she could help me and how everyone at The Salvation Army could help me and my family.”
Jurni says that even though it was clear Lyn didn’t have much familiarity with eating disorders, she had an idea of something Jurni could do.
“She was like, ‘What if I gave you the opportunity to come and do some leading at Kids in the Kitchen, just to get you out of the house and doing something again?’ because I wasn’t going to school or anything. And so, I started at the beginning of 2022.”
Australia Day award
Jurni’s volunteering is now a passion and a driving force towards her life goals. Despite further hospitalisations, she has continued on a path that led to her being awarded the City of Wollongong’s Rising Star Award as part of this year’s Australia Day honours.
She has been volunteering with Kids in the Kitchen for three years and has volunteered over 150 hours as a medical cadet with St John’s Ambulance. With an ever-growing love for emergency medicine, Jurni hopes to be a paramedic
I want to come back from this and help as many people [as I can] in different ways.
when she graduates school later this year.
“I love it,” she says. “It’s what I want to do.”
Jurni has proven this through her educational choices as well. For the last few years of high school, she has chosen to attend a secondary school with a strong emphasis on individual learning and researchbased study. As part of this, she has focused on both emergency medicine topics and research on why children thrive in kitchen learning environments. She has even designed a specialised freestanding cookbook to make the cooking experience easier for children.
Jurni says her experience
of being unwell for so long has driven her to put her time into work which benefits others. She also wants to advocate for those with eating disorders.
“Battling for my life, I missed out on my teenage years,” she says. “Since being given these opportunities and discovering volunteering, I have found passion and purpose for my life, to make the most of it. I do this to make a difference, to be around amazing people, to help the community and to see the changes I can make. It has become a natural part of my routine, allowing me to make a difference and feel fulfilled.
“I want to come back from this and help as many people [as I can] in different ways.”
Jurni was awarded the Rising Star Award from the City of Wollongong as part of this year’s Australia Day honours.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you can contact The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673 or at butterfly.org.au.
If you are feeling suicidal, you can contact Lifeline at lifeline.org.au or call 131 114.
For general youth mental health, contact Headspace at headspace.org.au/ online-and-phonesupport or call 1800 650 890.
Kids in the kitchen learning skills for life
by Kirralee Nicolle
When Lyn Mather first began Tarrawanna Salvos’ Kids in the Kitchen program, she was seeking a way to serve the community after her grandchildren had grown up and required less of her time.
What she didn’t realise was how much the community would respond. When she started Kids in the Kitchen at Tarrawanna, a suburb of Wollongong (NSW), almost seven years ago, no children were coming to the Salvos there for services or programs.
Now, 25 to 30 children aged eight to 12 apply each school term, with spaces for only 12 of those.
Lyn first learned about the program from a story featuring its founder, Major Cathryn Williamson, who started Kids in the Kitchen in Cowra (NSW) in 2017. “And straight away, I knew, this is it,” Lyn said.
“It was like God said, ‘Here’s the door, go through it, because this is what you’re going to do’.”
Practical skills
The program starts with children learning to cook bacon and eggs, then progresses through 10 weeks of recipes, including macaroni cheese, hamburgers and stir fry before, finally, participants cook a meal of fried rice for their families. Weekly sessions last for two hours and cover budgeting for food, understanding safety and earning recognition badges.
While the Kids in the Kitchen program is centred around food, Lyn said it’s about much more than just learning to cook. She explained that the group will properly set the table and enjoy the finished meal together.
“They’re learning the basic skills for life,” Lyn said. “It’s amazing the number
of kids who cannot eat properly at a table. They’re learning social skills; they’re learning the basics of cooking. They’re learning how to use a knife and fork. They’re learning about God, [and about how] to make friends with kids that they don’t know.” The team was forced to limit numbers for a very practical reason. They found when they had too many children, the amount of electricity required to run all the kitchen equipment kept tripping the power fuse. With children on the autism spectrum welcomed each term, Lyn said there was another benefit to the smaller numbers.
Neurodiversity support
“What we found was that having only four kids in each group with a leader, it’s been fantastic for kids on the autism spectrum because it’s quiet,” Lyn said. “They get very focused, and they feel safe.
successfully obtained housing outcomes including private rentals, supported housing and transitional housing. The Year 12 graduates have all commenced university this year, whilst nine maintained education commitments and 14 gained and/or maintained employment.
“Youth workers have played a pivotal role in the day-to-day support for young people in supporting their attendance, homework and the stressors of education,” Paul says. “It has been a great joy for the team to now
start seeing some of these young people begin university or work towards tertiary education pathways.”
Holistic care
Burlendi has helped achieve these outcomes with young people through holistic assessments and care plans, including young people setting aspirational goals. Burlendi also has a family-focused approach, with attention being paid to repairing and restoring family relationships where it is safe and appropriate.
“We have been successful in this area and it’s something that we will
continue to strive for and take pride in,” Paul says. “It has been amazing to see all young people who had graduation ceremonies have family in attendance.”
With nine young people currently at Burlendi, the team will continue to offer a supportive environment in which they can stabilise and begin to thrive.
“The team have been instrumental in supporting these outcomes,” Paul says. “It is such a privilege and joy to support these young people and staff team who are passionate about young people achieving all that they can be and more.”
Look Up!
Celebrating children and youth
Every year, The Salvation Army celebrates its International Day of Children and Young People on the last Sunday of April.
The day provides an opportunity to create space for children and young people to participate, co-create and co-lead in every aspect of our mission. It is about giving them a voice and a platform.
Look Up!
The theme for the day this year is ‘Look Up!’ This theme encourages children and young people to lift their eyes – away from the things that pull them down or distract them – and focus upward on God and outward toward others.
The theme is based on Psalm 121.
With so many distractions in our lives, including screens, social media and the pressures of daily life, Psalm 121 reminds us to lift our eyes and hearts. We are not meant to journey through life alone. By looking up, we reconnect with our creator and with the people around us.
Within this theme, the day explores four key sub-themes that help us find connection and purpose:
Look up to God for help and perspective. Look up from distractions.
Look up at each other.
Look up for hope and faith.
Psalm 121
I look up to the mountains — does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!
He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
New
Living Translation
For more information and to download resources available in multiple languages, scan the QR code below.
Scan here to download resources for the International Day of Children and Young People
LOO K UP!
as a ‘Girl Advocate,’ gaining insight into global challenges and sharing Australia’s perspective on justice and equality.
The ISJG brings young Salvos girls and women together to discuss social issues; encourage, support and empower each other to take action and participate in local and international projects.
Across Queensland, I have been part of leadership teams for youth camps and retreats for young adults.
Locally, I also volunteer at our community Christmas celebration and Lavish (Christmas welfare distribution). Recently, I became a Justice of the Peace to serve my
community further. I also serve in my church’s worship and prayer teams.
I believe my work positively impacts communities I am a part of – whether it has just been to be an ear to listen while wrapping someone’s Christmas gifts for their child, signing documents as a Justice of the Peace, planning spiritual content for events, or attending midnight meetings on gender equality around the world.
Role of faith
I do these things because of my faith. The Apostle Paul writes in the Bible, “Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift
from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8-10, Living Bible translation).
Throughout my life, God has provided. My prayer is that I listen to God and am obedient to his call and direction in my life. Every step that I take myself and encourage others to take, I pray will lead to the Kingdom of God.
To read these stories in full, go to salvosonline. org.au
Jacob and Grace are committed to making a lasting difference in the lives of other young people.
Find out how you can start or continue your legacy of generosity. Contact The Salvation Army’s Wills and Bequests team and ask for a free Wills booklet. Together, we can give hope where it’s needed most long into the future.
