“The ladies were fighting over the bread,” laughs Sarah Barrett, a 21-year-old Salvationist, as she recalls the bake auction that brought the corps and community in Glace Bay, N.S., together in support of The Salvation Army’s Partners in Mission Campaign, also known as the Self-Denial Appeal. The bread and cakes, made by members of the home league, were auctioned off in a friendly competition-for-a-cause.

It was just one of the special fundraising events that Barrett, whose parents are the corps officers in Glace Bay, helped plan, inspired in part by her former young people’s sergeant-major, Colleen.

“When my parents asked me to get involved with the Partners in Mission Campaign, I said yes, because I love being able to share stuff that means a lot to me. And seeing Colleen do it at our previous corps in Newfoundland and Labrador made me want to do it here,” she says. “I wanted to encourage people in my church to start giving.”

This annual campaign raises funds for Salvation Army ministry around the world, keeping necessary infrastructure in place so that communities can focus on specific needs and concerns, such as education, health, clean water, income generation or fighting human trafficking. Every Salvation Army corps, regardless of location or community demographics, participates in the Self-Denial Appeal, coming together to meet their fundraising goal.

The Glace Bay Corps watched the Partners in Mission feature videos in their Sunday services, talked about Partners in Mission in Sunday school and attended special fundraising events. At the bake auction, a member of the congregation, Affie, shared about his time as a missionary in Kenya and Tanzania to encourage people to donate. Another event was a time of fellowship and fundraising at a Pancake Tuesday dinner. During the campaign, they kept track of the progress toward their $4,000 goal on a mural in the sanctuary.

“When I watched all the videos, I realized that I’m so grateful and blessed to have everything, and wherever this money is going, a lot of those people do not have what we have. I’ve learned that I cannot take anything for granted,” Barrett says. “When I’ve been able to get the congregation more involved, to watch the videos and come up and put the collection in the basket, they’ve really seemed to enjoy that.”

Thanks to Barrett and the congregation’s efforts, the Glace Bay Corps surpassed their fundraising goal.

When asked what it means to her personally to have been able to contribute in this way, Barrett explains, “I don’t really see a lot of kids doing what I’m doing. I want to be able to inspire the next generation to follow Jesus and go to church, because it’s something that my generation has lost. I try to encourage the kids that we have at my church while we’re doing this (and any time, but especially during this time) because when I move away, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m hoping that one of them will take it over and will do the same thing and just get more kids, more people, involved in giving to the Partners in Mission Campaign.”

For the 2025 Partners in Mission Campaign, the Canada and Bermuda Territory has a fundraising goal of $2.4 million. The international development department provides fundraising resources and ideas for congregations and ministry units. For more information, visit our website: https://salvationist.ca/pim/

Robyn Goodyear is the international project support co-ordinator in the international development department.