“You are valuable just because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are.”
– Max Lucado
PHOTO
What is The Salvation Army?
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.
Connections
Mental Health Week
Australia 2025 takes place 12-18 October, with 10 October being World Mental Health Day. The week aims to raise awareness about mental health, promote positive connections and encourage people to seek help if needed.
This edition features articles on some of the ways we can make these connections and stay mentally healthy. We also highlight that help is out there for all of us when times are tough. We don’t have to go through life’s inevitable struggles alone.
Scan here to connect with The Salvation Army services
Founders: William and Catherine Booth
Scan here to subscribe to Salvos Magazine
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
Printed and published for The Salvation Army by Commissioner Miriam Gluyas at Focus Print Group, Chester Hill, NSW, Darug Nation lands.
Psychologist Lyn Beasy writes about Dave, a man who experienced a significant life event that led him down the path of mood changes, lack of enjoyment in his usual activities, and withdrawal from community. Through accessing help, he gained skills to rebuild his life, reconnect with family and friends and regain a sense of self-mastery.
The ‘ten top stressors’ of life are briefly explained, and Kirralee Nicolle shares her experience with one of these stressors – moving house –and the ongoing mix of grief and excitement it is bringing.
For these stories and more, go to salvosonline.org.au
Simone Worthing Editor
Losing purpose finding hope
With help, Dave found strength to rebuild and reconnect
by Lyn Beasy
Dave enjoyed his job, the only job he’d known since he left school. He took pride in his accomplishments. He was an important member of the local football team and enjoyed the responsibility of being the social club president. That was until he experienced a traumatic injury requiring surgery and intensive rehabilitation. Unable to work, he missed his workmates and footy friends.
He ruminated about the accident, blaming himself and believing he was useless as a family provider and that he’d let his teammates down. He lost his sense of meaning and purpose. He stopped going to the football games to watch his friends and was soon dropping out of doing other things around the house that he used to enjoy.
He began to criticise his wife Jenny and would snap at their boys. He would wake in the early hours of the morning after a nightmare, in a cold sweat, and he felt restless. He stayed in bed and avoided the family. He often forgot to shower and change his clothes. His appetite changed. He believed the family would be better off if he wasn’t around. Jenny worried about the change she saw in her husband, who was no longer the outgoing and fun-loving partner and dad.
Life events
Dave is typical of many people who experience a significant life change or
traumatic event. A change in one’s health, life and circumstances can lead to a perceived lack of control. There are signs to look out for when you or someone you know is at risk of mental illness and for Dave, mood changes, the loss of enjoyment in usual activities, low motivation and social avoidance were red flags for Jenny to encourage him to seek additional support.
Mental illnesses can be caused by other factors, including chemical imbalances in the brain, drug and alcohol abuse, or experiencing other significant life events such as bereavement, divorce, job loss, or relationship or workplace stress.
Dos and don’ts
If you suspect someone you know is not themselves or struggling with life, there are a few dos and don’ts to consider.
Watch for behavioural changes and listen for negative thoughts of self, the world or the future. Offer a listening ear and take the time to let them talk. Allow them to tell you what they’re experiencing. Don’t minimise their experience or stigmatise their illness. Just having someone who hears and understands them can be a great relief and help normalise their experience. Start a conversation: “I notice you’re not yourself lately. Is everything OK?”
Mental illness is just the same as any other physical ailment and can be
treated. Encourage people to seek help from a health professional such as a psychologist or counsellor. Offer to accompany them to visit their GP, who will rule out other health conditions and assist them in determining the best treatment options and taking the next steps. Navigating mental illness can be challenging, not only for the person experiencing it, but also for their loved ones. As such, it is just as important for carers to seek their own forms of support so they’re not alone. For Dave, with the help of a psychologist, he used the strategies and skills gained to rebuild his life, reconnect with his family and friends, and regain a sense of self-mastery.
Lyn Beasy is a practising psychologist in Sydney
Getting help
If you or someone you know needs help, contact:
• Beyond Blue
The site offers education, resources, forums, access to coaching and a help line where you can speak to a trained counsellor.
Website: beyondblue.org.au
Phone: 1300 224 636
• ReachOut
A good resource hub for young people, their parents or carers.
Website: reachout.com.au
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER OTT ON UNSPLASH
PHOTO BY LIL E ON UNSPLASH
WHEN STRESS HITS HARD
Help
is out there in life’s tough times
by Fay Foster
Stress! All of us experience it many times during our lives.
Sometimes the stress is from relatively minor events, such as missing the bus or receiving a power bill. It may even be caused by the things we like to do, such as solving a puzzle or going on a first date. But sometimes, stress hits us like a 10-tonne truck. We are overwhelmed and thrown off course by changes in our lives. We might need help to feel okay again.
While there is some disagreement among psychologists about what things (stressors) cause the most stress, there is general agreement that the following events can create major disruption to our lives.
Ten top stressors
1. Death of a spouse
As well as the loss of a loved partner, the death of a husband or wife can bring other changes including to lifestyle, daily routines and living arrangements.
PHOTO BY NEOM ON UNSPLASH
2. Divorce or marital separation
This may have effects similar to the death of a spouse, and may also result in legal difficulties, custody battles and feelings of desertion or betrayal.
3. Incarceration
Going to jail, with its complete disruption of previous life and routines, can be deeply traumatic. Incarceration may result in loneliness, isolation, lack of productive and enjoyable activities, violence and abuse.
4. Death of a close family member
Losing a parent, child or sibling can be very traumatic, even if your relationship has been problematic or distant.
5. Major injury or illness
Even a temporary illness can disrupt your routine, lifestyle and life plans. Expensive medical bills can compound the stress.
6. Marriage
Although we generally look forward to marriage, it usually requires major adjustments and can be very stressful.
7. Losing employment
Losing a job can cause anxiety over
HELP IS AVAILABLE
If you are struggling with any of these, or other stressors, you don’t have to go through the journey alone.
Help and referrals are available at:
In an emergency, call 000
Lifeline: Call 13 11 14 or chat online.
Beyond Blue: Call 1300 22 4636 or chat online.
finances, loss of identity and the stress of looking for another job.
8. Marital reconciliation
Having another go at working on your marriage can be difficult and stressful, even when you are happy about reconciling.
9. Moving, buying or selling a home
Taking on a mortgage can create significant stress, as can preparing to leave a home and move into a lessknown situation.
10. Retirement
Retirement can mean huge adjustments to your daily routine, purpose, identity and circle of acquaintances. It can also mean filling your days with new, meaningful and enjoyable activities, forming healthy habits and learning new skills.
This is not a comprehensive list, and many life circumstances – such as caring for sick or elderly relatives, financial struggles, problems with our children or being the victim of a crime or natural disaster – can also cause substantial stress.
But help is out there. All we have to do is ask.
Domestic Violence assistance
1800Respect: 1800 737 732
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
MensLine: Call 1300 78 99 78, 24/7 or chat online.
13YARN: A national crisis line for Indigenous Australians. Call: 13 92 76
Mental Health
Mental health and wellbeing, just like physical health, exist on a spectrum. Mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression and substance abuse disorders are common, affecting millions of Australians of all ages and backgrounds. It is also important to recognise that less severe mental health concerns still undermine the mental wellbeing of too many Australians.
Any number of factors can contribute to a person’s experience of mental ill health, particularly economic stresses such as unemployment and homelessness, and social factors including family and domestic violence, discrimination and exclusion, loneliness and social isolation. Minor mental health problems can develop into more significant illnesses, and this can have monumental, negative impacts upon every component of a person’s work, social and family life. People experiencing significant mental illness can find it difficult to maintain employment, stable housing, connection to loved ones, and even physical health.
While significant progress has been made in recent years to raise awareness and improve access to mental health services, challenges persist in addressing the diverse needs of the population.
Access to mental health services remains a critical issue, particularly in regional and remote areas where services are often limited or inaccessible. Long wait times, high costs and a lack of culturally appropriate services can create barriers to seeking help for those in need. Additionally, stigma surrounding mental
illness continues to deter individuals from seeking support and can exacerbate feelings of shame and isolation.
Mental illness does not discriminate. It is important that anyone experiencing mental ill health can access timely, non-judgmental and effective support so everyone can achieve and maintain mental health and wellbeing.
People
living with mental ill health are likelier to develop a physical illness and are more likely to be hospitalised for preventable reasons.
People living with mental illnesses have a life expectancy 10 to 15 years shorter than the general population, and this trend is growing.
WE HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
URGE ACTION FROM GOVERNMENTS
Economic and social factors can negatively impact a person’s mental health. Systemic issues such as poverty, housing insecurity, family and domestic violence and other social and economic factors need to be addressed for any mental health strategy to be effective.
Governments can work together to implement diverse, ambitious, evidencebased trial programs to explore new approaches and deliver active outreach. One key priority is fixing the issue of the ‘missing middle’ of mental health care provision, to address mental ill health before a person reaches a crisis.
WE CAN IMPLEMENT CHANGE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND WORKPLACES
It is critical that workplaces treat employees’ and volunteers’ mental health and wellbeing as an element of Workplace Health and Safety (WHS). One action workplaces can take is to offer relevant staff and volunteers,
44% EXPERIENCED MENTAL ILL HEALTH
44 per cent of the population, approximately 8.6 million Australians, have experienced mental ill health at some point in their life.
including managers, leaders and senior staff members, training in mental health first aid just as we do physical first aid.
Our community groups can be powerful in providing social connection that can build resilience against mental ill health. It is important that we make sure that our events, activities and spaces are welcoming for all people and do not create stigma around mental ill health.
WE CAN HAVE INFLUENCE IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES
In our own lives we can find strategies to build positive mental health and wellbeing. This includes asking for help when it is needed and finding out about local supports and services to foster positive mental health and address mental health concerns.
We can talk to the people in our lives if we are worried about their mental health, ask if they are okay, listen and help them to access support. If you are not sure what to say, there are helpful resources online.
4.2M IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS
21 per cent of Australians (4.2 million people) have experienced mental ill health in the past 12 months.
Pilgrims and strangers
Finding home after moving interstate
by Kirralee Nicolle
As I wrote about recently (16 August edition), I’ve just moved interstate. After 10 years in Melbourne, I now live in the Adelaide Hills.
It’s a beautiful part of the world, and my children are thoroughly enjoying a more outdoor lifestyle, which currently includes backyard chickens.
But for me and my husband, and at times the children too, the shift has been a stressful one. I’m sure many of you can relate, especially if you have experienced frequent and significant moves. Illness, adjusting to a new town, house and home office and having our friends suddenly far away has all left us feeling a little unmoored and unsure what ‘home’ means.
We’re slowly putting together the pieces of how we like to spend our days in this new place, but as a doctor told me just recently, adjusting takes time, but it also takes remembering what we already liked and enjoyed in our lives and trying our best to preserve
pieces of what was, while embracing the new and exciting. Familiar foods, hobbies and patterns to our day can all help us restore a sense of belonging and equilibrium to our bodies.
But that isn’t always possible. A phrase that has kept coming to mind as I’ve felt those niggling struggles to adjust is “pilgrims and strangers”, the King James Version Bible phrase from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13. The passage is referring to the people of faith who, over centuries, had trusted God to provide for them, despite not knowing the future or when God would fulfil his promises to them. I pray we all seek to be this kind of ‘pilgrim and stranger’.
Life’s in-betweens I don’t just think I’m something of a stranger in this new place, my whole being feels it. Nothing feels ‘known’, and while that’s an exciting adventure, it’s also odd.
But what’s also struck me is that all of us – across the world and of all different
faiths and cultures – are pilgrims and strangers.
We enter the world as small, vulnerable beings who require constant assistance, and heartbreakingly –depending on where we are born and what the threats are – we may not even get the care that we so desperately need.
When we die, we take that journey alone. When we believe in Jesus, we know we will be with him, but the isolation of death and dying is something many people fear – me included.
In the in-between of life, our own individual struggles with health, finances, safety or relationships may isolate us, especially in cultures like in Australia, where such issues are still considered taboo, or where because of our status in society, we are overlooked or mistreated.
Stronger together
The power of what groups like The Salvation Army offer is not just the practical assistance and care that is offered with such generosity, it’s the
sense of togetherness. More than anything, The Salvation Army, through its community housing, Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) centres, church communities, weekly groups and Doorways services – to name just a few programs – draws together people from all walks of life who are facing some of their most heartbreaking, rocky and lonely challenges.
A problem that was once just mine to fix becomes a problem that all of us
face. While that might seem like a source of weakness, it is in fact the greatest strength we have as humanity. While none of us can be perfect, the best we can be is together, united in our imperfection and our desperate need of God and each other.
While I was feeling displaced and lost in my new home, visiting a Salvation Army centre in Adelaide to hear stories of transformation was a reminder to me of what rings just as true
in Adelaide as it does in Melbourne, as it does across the Pacific Islands, as it does in Malawi or the United States or Sri Lanka.
The Salvation Army is there to help. And invariably, the warm presence of a Salvation Army worker is exactly what people need to help put one foot in front of the other and keep chugging on, even when life feels insurmountable.
And that’s something that hasn’t changed, and won’t be changing soon.
PHOTO BY HANA OLIVER ON UNSPLASH
PHOTO BY SYED HADI NAQVI ON UNSPLASH
PHOTO BY REGIROCK365 ON UNSPLASH
I was them
The gift of lived experience in changing the lives of others by Craig
In the inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, The Salvation Army’s Foster House provides accommodation for men experiencing homelessness. The centre embodies the Salvos’ unwavering commitment to restoring dignity and providing pathways to brighter futures.
Craig, a former resident turned lived-experience peer support worker at Foster House, shares how his experience
of addiction and homelessness helps him connect with and support current residents. Craig says that the most important thing about his role is fighting for dignity, building trust and helping the men leave in a better state than when they arrived – a better frame of mind, with skills to go back into the community.
As a lived-experience peer support worker at Foster House, we are a support to our residents; we are
their ears, we are their voices and, sometimes, their shoulders to cry on.
When I sit down and talk to them, most of the time they’ll tell me, “What would you know, mate?”
And I say to them, well, how about we sit down for ten minutes and I’ll tell you what I know? And that’s usually where our journey starts.
When addiction was wracking my body, I didn’t really want anyone’s help,
Craig’s lived experience helps him to support vulnerable men who come to Foster House.
Giving residents dignity and respect is a major focus for Craig.
but I wanted somewhere to sleep and be safe.
Foster House gave me a place to sleep. They gave me three meals a day, and they gave me some respite from the streets.
My lived experience is the role. The name says it all.
If I tried to come in here and talk to these guys and not have a clue what they were going through, I don’t think things would turn out the way that they actually do today.
Fighting for justice
We have many jobs here, whether it’s talking to the residents when they are having a hard time or taking them to Centrelink, the Department of Housing,
getting identification –these are so challenging.
When I take a resident to Housing, for instance, or Centrelink, and we walk out of [there] and they say, “Wow, that wasn’t too bad,” – I get it.
I tell them they are human beings just like anyone else and should be afforded the same respect that anyone has, and we fight for that for them.
The most important aspect of my role is for these men to leave better than they came in – in a better state; in a better frame of mind; to have skills to go back out into that community, if they are fortunate enough to be given housing, [so]
that they can look after themselves.
I get emotional about it because I was these guys. I was them. And now I come into work.
Hopefully, I can make a difference to someone’s life today, which is … a gift. It’s a gift.
Scan here to watch Craig’s story
Ingredients
1 tbsp oil; 1 small onion; 1 tbsp chili powder; 1 tsp cumin; ¼ tsp salt; 420g can black beans, drained and rinsed; 1 avocado; juice of small lime; pinch salt; 4 tortillas or 8 small taco shells; ½ cup shredded cheese; 1 tomato, diced; 1 cup shredded lettuce; sour cream (optional)
Method
In a large fry pan, heat oil over medium heat.
Add onion, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes. Stir in chili powder, cumin and salt.
Add beans. Cover and reduce heat until warmed through.
In a small bowl mash avocado. Add lime juice and salt. Prepare tortillas or taco shells according to the packaging.
Fill with beans, avocado, cheese, tomato, lettuce and sour cream.
Enjoy!
�� Black Bean Tacos ☺ Believe in Good: Tips
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Desmond Tutu
1. What type of parrot is a galah?
2. What is the top running speed of an emu?
3. What is the common name of the Petaurus breviceps?
4. Which species of kangaroo is the largest?
5. What is a young echidna called?
Tum-Tum
On which page of this week’s Salvos Magazine is Tum-Tum hiding?
STOCK PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
PHOTO BY GEOFFREY MOORE
Did you know?
4 October – Card Making Day
The ancient Egyptians crafted messages of love and affection on papyrus scrolls.
In the Victorian era, greeting cards also contained surprises inside, such as a hidden coin.
Queen Victoria popularised the custom of sending Christmas cards in the mid-19th century. Her personalised Christmas cards became highly sought-after collectibles.
50 per cent of cards sold are birthday cards.
80 per cent of cards sold are purchased by women.
✏Answers
Quiz: 1. Cockatoo 2. 50km/ hour 3. Sugar glider 4. Red kangaroo 5. Puggle Tum-Tum: is hiding in the corner of the image on page 12.
�� Sudoku
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
How do you comfort a grammar teacher?
Why was the teacher wearing sunglasses in the classroom?
Why was the geometry class always tired?
Who’s the king of the classroom? Say, “They’re, there, their”.
Because the class was so bright. The ruler. Because they were all out of shape.
byte
“For I can do everything though Christ, who gives me strength.”
