Soup, Soap and Salvation – it's all happening in Mackay
Soup, Soap and Salvation – it's all happening in Mackay
7 January 2019
Volunteers with a missional heart have transformed Mackay Corps’weekly Salvos Connect experience for those seeking assistance.
Thursdays are always eagerly anticipated by the staff and the community members of Mackay Corps here in North Queensland. It is indeed an extremely God-filled but busy day, which compliments the massive efforts that this small corps performs week in, week out.
Over the past few months, volunteer staff have been praying specifically about how to provide better assistance to the community.
They experimented one Thursday, providing a small meal to those who sought assistance at Salvos Connect. The experiment worked, and that one small meal has changed lives for the better and greatly improved the culture at our Salvos Connect site.
Our volunteers have also been utilising their newly acquired SAES (Salvation Army Emergencies Services) catering skills to provide a substantial meal alongside the SAL (Salvos Assessment Line) Connect assistance of a Thursday. What started as a simple idea has grown to a full-blown weekly production. To see the excitement that is generated each Thursday is infectious. Conversations. Connections. Friendships. “Soup, Soap and Salvation”–it’s all happening in Mackay. Some attendees do not want to leave!
Our Salvos Connect site is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 12pm. What has evolved from community members attending only for their financial assistance or their hamper bag has turned into a friendship group.
Some people attend, not to receive a welfare card or a handout, but because this has become their only social outing for the week. They join with us to share time with their new-found friends. The Salvation Army has become their second home. We are their “Thursday church”.
From these humble beginnings, we have also introduced the Positive Lifestyle Program which, after only two weeks, has made a very large impact in people’s lives. Volunteers and community members eagerly anticipate Thursdays.
The Salvos at Mackay are changing lives one person at a time, with the love of Jesus.
Comments
What a wonderful witness to our community! Actions can definitely speak louder than words at times, and can change lives for the better. Thank-you so very much for all that you do!