While world audiences focus on a black-and-white football (soccer ball) in the FIFA World Cup, The Salvation Army in South Africa is handing out red cards against human trafficking.

In the run up to the World Cup, The Salvation Army kick-started a campaign to help protect people in South Africa, a country that suffers a high level of violent crime, including kidnapping, assault and trafficking.

A major awareness campaign during the soccer event includes anti-trafficking messages on special Salvation Army World Cup items – water bottles, red cards, footballs and vuvuzelas (plastic trumpets that make a huge noise and are a common feature of soccer matches in South Africa). These items advertise a toll-free helpline launched by The Salvation Army’s Southern Africa Territory for victims of trafficking. The hotline is also for community members who are concerned or have a tip-off about trafficking in their neighbourhood.

Alongside the awareness campaign, The Salvation Army is making an effort to prevent trafficking by providing safe venues for children during the World Cup. Throughout the winter school holidays, corps (Salvation Army churches) are hosting free soccer clinics and kids clubs across the country for safe fun and games in celebration of the international sports event. The Army plans to reach 10,000 children through the clinics and clubs and hopes that this will be the catalyst for many of the participants to become regular attendees at ongoing kids programmes.

Throughout the World Cup and into the future The Salvation Army will also be ready to assist victims of trafficking through its existing safe houses for women and children.

Captain Patti Niemand, a member of the territory’s anti-human-trafficking task team, says children are among the most vulnerable to human trafficking. ‘These children [in the kids clubs and soccer clinics] will be taken care of by our highly-trained volunteers who will take the opportunity to educate them on human trafficking and HIV/Aids.’ She adds that the Army’s holiday clubs will also provide feeding schemes to keep children nourished.

Captain Gail White (Territorial Child Sponsorship Officer and Editor, The War Cry) reports that the territory’s corps are heavily involved in the programme. The band from Ezakheni Corps went into a township and distributed pamphlets and other items. They were told that recently two cars came and took away five girls. Their whereabouts is unknown.

‘Sadly,’ says Captain White, ‘human trafficking is very much alive here. The positive side is that communities have been very open to the Army and the distribution of anti-trafficking information.’

By drawing crowds from across the country and the globe, the FIFA World Cup also offers The Salvation Army in South Africa a massive opportunity to share God’s message of love and forgiveness. Mission teams are mingling with street revellers and joining the crowds at fan parks for one-on-one evangelism.

Five international mission teams are in South Africa to assist, four from Australia and one from the United States. Two South African mission teams and various officer-cadets are also focused on teaching at the soccer camps and kids clubs and are taking part in street evangelism. All are intent on seizing the mission opportunity offered by the World Cup.

It’s an exciting time around the globe. But while the world focuses on a ball being struck into a goal, The Salvation Army is not losing sight of its ultimate goal.

Report by Ruth Sylvestre

Eradicating poverty, be it on the streets of Victoria or in Third World countries, is not about bricks and mortar or dollars. Rather, it’s about creating a community in which people have reasons to value their lives, says Salvation Army Commissioner Christine MacMillan.

MacMillan, the organization’s international director for social justice in New York City, is in Victoria this week to speak about such international challenges as poverty and human trafficking. She will meet with MLAs tomorrow before a speech to politicians and business leaders at the Salvation Army’s annual luncheon at the Fairmont Empress. Read full story…

Source: Times Colonist

We want to extend our sincere thanks to our friends who continually support our organization, and invest in the lives of the people we serve. Together, we believe there is always hope.

The Rotary Club of Surrey, The North Surrey Lions, and Flag Chevrolet stepped up to the plate recently to help The Salvation Army Surrey Community and Family Services purchase a new 2010 Chevrolet Traverse for the program. Pictured in photo left to right: Bob Harrop (North Surrey Lions), Roy Holman (Rotary Club of North Surrey), Major Russ Holland (The Salvation Army Surrey Community and Family Services), and Bryan Heiberg (Flag Chevrolet).

The Kelowna Salvation Army was recently honoured by The Justice Institute of BC Foundation with a ‘Heroes and Rescue Award’ for The Salvation Army’s emergency disaster relief efforts during the West Kelowna Fires this past summer. Pictured from left are: Kelowna Fire Chief Rene Blanleil, Cyril Chalk & Kevin Mack from the Kelowna Salvation Army and Justice Institute president Jack McGee.

The Kelowna Professional Firefighters Society presents a cheque for $1,500 to the Kelowna Salvation Army to go towards their Community Outreach program. Pictured from left are: Cyril Chalk and Kevin Mack from The Salvation Army along with: Glenn Paley, Rob Buchanan, Steve Wallick, Paul Johnson, Shannon Baudais, Kevin Weremy, Troy Mamchur, Chris Rubuliak and Trent Green from the Kelowna Fire Department.

Major Brian Venables, Divisional Secretary of Public Relations and Development, accepted a cheque for $4,000 on behalf of The Salvation Army from The Dryer Group Mortgages Inc. Meryll and Jared Dreyer are excited to be partnering with The Salvation Army to support children’s ministries in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.

Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army in British Columbia, Major Susan van Duinen, presents a recognition statue to Robert McFarlane, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of TELUS Corporation, for their ongoing support of The Salvation Army, and in particular for their sponsorship of The Salvation Army’s Human Sexual Trafficking program.

TELUS has been presenting sponsor of The Salvation Army’s Hope in the City Luncheon for the last three years.

Robert McFarlane serves on the Vancouver Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, British Columbia Division, and on The Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board for the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

Executive Director of the Vancouver Chinese Christian Mission Edwin Kong gives a cheque for $42,000 to The Salvation Army’s Major Brian Venables, to support The Salvation Army’s relief efforts in Haiti.

In giving the donation, Kong remarked on how much the Vancouver Chinese Christian Mission admires The Salvation Army, and that the CCM has modeled their own organization around The Salvation Army’s.

When Lydia and Claudio team members of the Friends of Ferrari learned of the Haiti earthquake they organized a special fund raising day in their restaurant Dario La Piazza. All of their staff donated their time and the net proceeds of $10,000 have been donated to Haiti Relief Funds.

Photo from left – Friends of Ferrari Marco Agostini, Suzann Corona and Franco Corona and Claudio and Lydia Ranallo of Dario La Piazza Restaurant present a donation to Major Brian Venables for the Salvation Army Haiti Relief Fund.

Deborah’s Gate is a 10-bed facility that is located in a secretive location in Vancouver for the security of those being rescued from human sexual trafficking. On December 1 it was ready for its first guests.

The facility is divided into “pods” where three or four young woman can create a new community of support.  The women will receive immediate medical care, help with addictions, legal issues, refugees services as well as 24/7 care and attention from a team of qualified and sensitized staff.

The name Deborah’s Gate is intentional and meant as an inspirational focus that will become a name synonymous with care, love and dignity.  The story of Deborah is recorded in the Old Testament where she served as a judge for all the nations.  She stood for courage in a time of fear, godly wisdom in a time of human reasoning and for decency and order in a chaotic time in history. The “gate” represents an entranceway to a place of sanctuary or refuge, like a garden gate.  It is also a marker or transition point from a hostile world to a place of community and fellowship.

Deborah’s Gate has been made possible due to the generous support of the local community and in particular the Estate of Miriam Burnett, past chair of The Weston Foundation.

The RCMP estimates 800 victims are trafficked into Canada each year, while nongovernmental organizations put that number as high as 16,000. Deborah’s Gate will give victims a chance at a safe, new life.

For more information regarding Human Sexual Trafficking please visit thetruthisntsexy.ca

It was a difficult year for many in Canada. In 2009 hundreds of thousands of Canadians worried about their jobs and their savings. According to Stats Canada, “The Canadian economy lost a startling 129,000 jobs in January, almost all full-time positions and a record single-month total.” Continue Reading

Deborah’s Gate is a 10-bed facility that is located in a secretive location in Vancouver for the security of those being rescued from human sexual trafficking. On December 1 it was ready for its first guests.

The facility is divided into “pods” where three or four young woman can create a new community of support. The women will receive immediate medical care, help with addictions, legal issues, refugees services as well as 24/7 care and attention from a team of qualified and sensitized staff.

The name Deborah’s Gate is intentional and meant as an inspirational focus that will become a name synonymous with care, love and dignity. The story of Deborah is recorded in the Old Testament where she served as a judge for all the nations. She stood for courage in a time of fear, godly wisdom in a time of human reasoning and for decency and order in a chaotic time in history. The “gate” represents an entranceway to a place of sanctuary or refuge, like a garden gate. It is also a marker or transition point from a hostile world to a place of community and fellowship.

Deborah’s Gate has been made possible due to the generous support of the local community and in particular the Estate of Miriam Burnett, past chair of The Weston Foundation.

The RCMP estimates 800 victims are trafficked into Canada each year, while nongovernmental organizations put that number as high as 16,000. Deborah’s Gate will give victims a chance at a safe, new life.
For more information regarding Human Sexual Trafficking please visit thetruthisntsexy.ca or Salvationarmy.ca

The Salvation Army’s human trafficking campaign, The Truth Isn’t Sexy, is prominently featured in an episode on Lorna Dueck’s Listen Up TV. Interviews with UCB professor Ben Perrin, Michelle Miller (REED), MP Joy Smith and Major Brian Venables provide context to trafficking issues within Canada. Click here to view. The episode will air on TV this Sunday, December 6. For station and airtime information go to http://www.listenuptv.com/listenup/airtimes

Modern-day slavery exists. Just ask Tasha. Tasha used to live in northern British Columbia. As a teenager, she realized that her older brother was a drug runner with an addiction. Continue Reading

Police and immigration officials are in Calgary for a seminar on human trafficking, just days after Edmonton police laid what are believed to be the first such charges in Alberta.

On a tip, police, RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency last week removed three women, aged 21 to 41, from an Edmonton massage parlour and charged two women and a man with human trafficking and other offences.

The women came to Canada legally — one from Beijing and two from Fiji — after answering an ad in a newspaper that promised jobs in the massage industry. Once they arrived, their identification papers were taken from them, police said of the Edmonton case. Read full story…

Source: CBC

Announcement from Colonel Donald J. Copple, Chief Secretary
The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory

I am pleased to announce the following changes to The Salvation Army’s Federal Government Relations program.

The Federal Government Relations portfolio, which was formerly managed by Territorial Headquarters, will be integrated into the Ontario Central East Division’s Public Relations and Development Department under the leadership of Captain John P. Murray, APR the Divisional Secretary for Public Relations and Development.

Mr. Michael Maidment, Area Director, Public Relations and Development, for the National Capital Region has been appointed as the new Federal Government Relations Officer based in the Nation’s Capital and he will manage the day-to-day operations of The Salvation Army’s Government Relations program.

When Parliament resumes in a few short days, The Salvation Army’s Federal Government Relations agenda will focus on strengthening relationships with parliamentarians and senior government bureaucrats. It will also aim to build awareness at federal level on issues important to The Salvation Army such as; reducing and preventing homelessness, eliminating human trafficking, providing guaranteed family income and will seek to formalize the partnership between the federal government and The Salvation Army’s Emergency and Disaster Services.

Effective immediately, please direct all inquiries regarding The Salvation Army’s involvement with the Federal Government to Michael Maidment.

Full Newsletter