The Salvation Army International

The Salvation Army Youth and Children

Our vision

We envision a world where children and young people experience life in its fullness, loved and valued by their families and communities and equipped to contribute.

In order to do that we have created a framework of our beliefs:

We believe children are made in the image of God and are a gift from God.
They are intricately made and should be treasured. This means we should value them.
They are also dependent yet developing. This means they need our guidance, care and protection.
We believe children and young people are natural models of faith. This means we should give space to them to join and lead in serving God and others with their unique set of gifts, talents and skills.

Training, support and resources

The Youth and Children’s Section at International Headquarters supports and strengthens The Salvation Army around the world in its work among children and young people through:

providing training, support and guidance to territories on child protection
sharing and creating resources, such as children's programmes and our Faith Talks card game
building relationships, including creating zonal meetings with youth leaders
promoting the interest of children and young people
supporting territories in increasing youth participation

International Day of Children and Young People

Every year The Salvation Army celebrates the International Day of Children and Young People on the last Sunday of April. In 2024 this is Sunday 28 April.

Find out more and download resources for children's, youth and intergenerational ministry:

Sponsorship, child protection and youth participation around the world

Canada and Bermuda

The Salvation Army’s Youth Action Committee (YAC) is made up of young adults from across Canada and Bermuda. The purpose of this committee is to facilitate effective two-way conversations between young leaders and the youth department at The Salvation Army headquarters in Canada.

The YAC meets once every quarter; three online meetings and one in-person retreat annually, for a chance to share resources, have times of learning and connect with fellow young leaders.

The hope of this committee is to offer a voice for young leaders throughout the territory, to inspire and motivate creative ministry initiatives and to develop and promote young leaders as essential to the future of The Salvation Army.

South Africa

'My name is Nothemba Mkonto, and I have been part of the Ethembeni children’s home since 2021, working under the Grannie’s programme. I have cared for five children. Among them there was one child who displayed disruptive behaviour. When corrected, she would become angry. Through conversations we helped her to apologise and embrace children she had wronged and gradually she learnt the importance of apologising and her behaviour improved significantly.

'She now trusts me and feels comfortable sharing her thoughts and feelings. This child has changed me in profound ways. I am grateful to The Salvation Army for this invaluable opportunity.'

Norway

Sigurd from Norway joined DYNAMO, a one-year course about faith and mission.

The course was very practical: the team served food to people with drug and alcohol addictions.

'I was serving a man who started speaking to me. It was my first time doing something like this. When I tried to actually listen, I realised he was telling me a joke and it was funny. I made a quick reply and he laughed. At that moment I truly got to witness that these were just nice people. That made me realise the importance of the work, and that made me proud to be part of The Salvation Army.'

Singapore

A simple prayer and trust in the Lord were all it took for Augustine Tee, currently the Deputy Director for Residential Services, to begin his employment with The Salvation Army in Singapore in 2010, specifically with the Gracehaven and The Haven children’s homes.

Through the integration ministry between the children’s home and the corps (church), God revealed his purpose to him; a journey with the young people through healing, transformation and restoration.

As expressed by Augustine, ‘Being able to reach out to the less fortunate children and young persons who had experienced the trauma of abuses and neglect is such a blessing. What makes this journey of faith meaningful is that God has often revealed his heart to teach me to love every single young soul.’

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