To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
Founded in England in 1865, the Salvation Army has become a worldwide movement with branches or programmes in 109 countries. Its mission is both evangelical – to spread the Christian gospel – and service oriented. In the world’s richest countries it continues to assist disadvantaged groups such as homeless people, and it sponsors relief and development programmes in developing countries.A branch of the Salvation Army was established in Hong Kong in 1930. There, the Army is a major social service provider, running kindergartens, day care centres for disabled people, shelters for homeless people, etc. Since 1988, the ‘Hong Kong & Macao Command’ has led relief and development programmes on the Chinese mainland. These began with disaster relief projects but have since come to encompass integrated community development, support for basic education, forestry and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Initially, much of this work was implemented in China by the Nanjing-based Amity Foundation, but since 1996 the Army has maintained its own presence in China and implemented its own projects. In many cases project work is funded by, and receives technical assistance from, other international branches of the Army, notably those in New South Wales (Australia), New Zealand, UK, USA, Canada, Norway.
In 1996, the Army established an office in Kunming (Yunnan) to oversee its growing portfolio of projects in southwest China and in 2001, a second office was established in Beijing to cover north China.
In mainland China the Salvation Army currently operates in three main areas;
Education Programme for Children and Youth in China This programme aims at meeting the education need of children and youth in rural Mainland China. Education aid is provided to enable students from poor families to continue their studies and support is given at school level to enhance teaching qualities. We aim to improve the education and living conditions of primary school students in rural areas, e.g. through supply of stationery, extracurricular reading and clothing; and improvement of students’ nutrition and dormitories;
We also provide subsidies for high school and university students to prevent dropping out of school due to unaffordable education fees and expenses and subsidise education development projects to uplift the education standard in rural China.
Community Development Infrastructure construction, education and training, healthcare, and agriculture development are provided to help people in the deprived areas to improve their livelihood and facilitate sustainable development.
Disaster relief and rehabilitation The Army provides relief and rehabilitation services to communities impacted by natural disasters until the service is no longer needed by the community. When initiating a disaster relief operation, the first aim is to meet the basic needs of those who have been affected. The Salvation Army's primary goals are to offer material, physical comfort Spiritual and emotional comfort.
