Partners in Mission 2026, With Commissioner Lee Graves and Lt-Colonel Brenda Murray

On this episode, Commissioner Lee Graves, territorial commander, and Lt-Colonel Brenda Murray, director of international development, sit down for an enlightening discussion about this year's Partners in Mission campaign. 

The Partners in Mission Self-Denial Campaign is an annual effort to raise funds for The Salvation Army’s ministry internationally. For the Canada and Bermuda Territory, this year’s campaign will focus on the Latin America North Territory. Lt-Colonel Brenda, who recently travelled to Panama and Costa Rica to see the Army's ministry there, gives us her first-hand insights into the campaign and why it’s really about faith in action. 

Resources for the 2026 campaign are now available at Salvationist.ca/PIM.

Transcript

Kristin Ostensen  

This is the Salvationist podcast. I’m Kristin Ostensen. The Christmas season has just wrapped up and we’re heading into a new year, which in the Canada and Bermuda Territory means a new Partners in Mission campaign. If that’s a new thing for you, the Partners in Mission Self-Denial Campaign is an annual effort to raise funds for The Salvation Army’s ministry internationally. The January/February issue of Salvationist is packed with articles about this year’s campaign, which focuses on the Latin America North Territory. And today on the podcast, we’re delighted to have Commissioner Lee Graves, our territorial commander, in the interviewer’s chair, sitting down with Lt-Colonel Brenda Murray, who is the director of international development. Colonel Brenda was recently in Panama and Costa Rica, and she gives us her first-hand insights into the campaign, and why it’s really about faith in action. 

After you listen, be to check out the show notes for more information and resources.

Hi, Commissioner Lee. Hi, Lt-Colonel Brenda, thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast. It's great to have you here to talk about the 2026 Self-Denial Partners in Mission Campaign. And I'm really looking forward to the conversation.

Lee Graves  

Well, thank you very, very much. It's so good to be here.

Brenda Murray  

It's wonderful. Yeah, thank you for this opportunity. 

Kristin Ostensen  

Yeah, absolutely.

Lee Graves

And to have this opportunity of dialogue with you, Colonel Brenda, is just going to be so helpful to us as we have opportunity to really, I think, encourage The Salvation Army in the Canada and Bermuda Territory to really give itself to the Partners in Mission Self-Denial Appeal for 2026. We're so grateful for the work that's already been given to it. The funds that are raised year over year are remarkable, and we say thank you to everybody who gives. But this will help us just to really think about this a little bit more today.

Brenda Murray

Yeah, I look forward to our conversation.

Lee Graves

The Canada and Bermuda Territory is so important to the global Salvation Army; we do so much domestically, but internationally as well, we have an incredible reach. And the global Salvation Army—from International Headquarters, throughout our supported territories—really look to the Canada and Bermuda Territory for the kind of practical support that's given time and time again. And you lead a department here in the territory that is critically important to us in that way, the international development department. Can you just tell us a little bit about that department?

Brenda Murray  

Yes, it's an incredible department. It's a small team, but I always say we have a large portfolio. We are responsible for developing all of the resources for the Self-Denial Campaign each year, and with that, take a team out to a territory that we've identified as a focus territory, with the understanding that the funds do not specifically go to that territory, but are spread across the global world. So that's one aspect of the department. In addition to that, we are overseeing approximately 94 humanitarian relief and development projects across 34 countries, and so that takes up a good portion of our time—ensuring good stewardship and allocation of resources. And then, as well, with that, any short-term mission teams going from the Canada and Bermuda Territory are processed through the international development department, where we can act as a conduit with the territory where the teams are going, and support the teams so that it's a meaningful opportunity for every team member.

Lee Graves

Well, it's a massive undertaking for such a small team. And we know that you travel extensively, too, into many of these countries where the work of The Salvation Army is underway. And as you've already said, so much of it's supported by our territory. Internationally, at International Headquarters, they look to every territory around The Salvation Army world to really become part of the Self-Denial Appeal. And whether it's a territory that is receiving funds or giving funds, every territory participates, and it's a rather beautiful thing that they do. But can you just talk a little bit about our territorial goal, and really just the ways in which Salvationists and employees can be part of our Self-Denial effort this year.

Brenda Murray 

For sure. So, our territorial goal is $2.4 million and I'm happy to say that this year, we almost reached that—we were just a couple $100,000 short of our goal, which is incredible when we look at, still coming out of Covid, and the impact of Covid, that has had on international and local initiatives. And so we were really, really happy this year. The corps work so hard. And like you say, I think it's so important for all of us to realize that everybody does participate in Self-Denial. I remember being on a mission trip, and one of the team members, while we were on the mission trip, we were at the corps on a Sunday morning, and they had an offering for Self-Denial. This was in Cuba, and a little lady from the back of the church came up and put her money into the offering plate. And following that morning service, when we were back together as a group, one of the members was moved to tears by this whole thought. He was just so shocked that the Salvationists in Cuba were raising funds for Self-Denial in the same way that we in Canada and Bermuda Territory. And he was just literally moved to tears. And for me, it was such an impact, because sometimes, you know, you see things and you don't really think about them. We take so many things for granted, and when you're exposed to that, you don't realize the impact it has for someone who, on a very first mission trip, sees the need, sees the fact that people don't have and yet they're still giving. And so, I think that's what makes the Self-Denial Campaign so rich, is that every Salvationist is called to support the Self-Denial Campaign around the army world. And it unifies us in mission and purpose, and it calls us to deny ourselves and to think of that aspect of self-denial.

Lee Graves  

I think that's so helpful just to be reminded that this is one of the wonderful ways that we truly are a global family, a global Salvation Army. In the Self-Denial period we all, every one of us, and it's not so much about the amount, is it? Because what is a little bit to us here can mean so much to others in other places. But we all have this wonderful opportunity to contribute. Internationally, at International Headquarters, the sort of global goal is in the range of $25 million US annually, and they really, really depend on that fund to help support territories that have incredible needs operationally. Globally, we refer to the Self-Denial Appeal in this time of the year simply as the Self-Denial Appeal, and invite everybody to participate. The Canada and Bermuda Territory in its journey has referenced Self-Denial as Partners in Mission Self-Denial Appeal. Can you just talk a little bit about that, what that means to us here in the Canada and Bermuda Territory? 

Brenda Murray 

So it's really about faith in action. If I think of the Scripture verse of Matthew 16:24 Jesus said, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. So to me, it's about spiritual obedience and sacrifice, setting aside our own personal comfort and convenience to prioritize God's mission, a partner in mission. And when every Salvationist participates in Self-Denial, the worldwide army stands together in solidarity. We are one Army with one mission and one message. And I think this speaks to the unity in a global mission, a partner in mission. And so, Partners in Mission has become synonymous with Self-Denial in the Canada and Bermuda Territory. But we're trying again to get back to the heart of what is self-denial, and so we're focusing more on that aspect of Partners in Mission. It's because we deny ourselves. We live in a land of abundance. We have so much, and when you get onto the field, and you move around country to country, you see that they just don't have what we have. God has blessed us as a nation, and I believe it's our responsibility as Christians to love our neighbour as ourselves and to share of our resources. And so, although we call it Partners in Mission, the focus really is: this is an act of denying self and of thinking of others, which builds compassion and empathy for people around the world that maybe, for one reason or another, don't have the resources that we happen to have.

Lee Graves  

Colonel Brenda, thank you. That's so helpful for us to hear. And we think back to the early beginning of The Salvation Army, when one of our Founders, General William Booth, really had this beautiful, innovative, creative idea that we could share as a Salvation Army, sacrificially. And back in his early days, he invited people, just maybe not to have that pudding, but instead give some resource to the Self-Denial initiative. It really is linked to the Lenten season of denying self. So, as you've already said, it has its root in a very biblical Christian calendar basis, and we find that helpful. The question always comes, what can we deny ourselves so that we can participate? When we think about participation, we think about the individual, but we also think about maybe the ministry unit, or the social service unit, or the community service unit—everybody participating in the Self-Denial opportunity. As a young lad, growing up in corps, I remember it was always a rather exciting time, because we do fundraising events, and we'd be challenged to give out of our own piggy banks, and on it would go. But as we think about that today, what are your thoughts about everybody, not just the individual, but the units participating?

Brenda Murray  

It's wonderful to see the way ministry units, in the way of corps as well as our social service centres, support the Self-Denial Campaign. And also, it's always encouraging and fun to hear the different ways that they come up with raising funds. And so, you know, it might be a cake auction at a corps; it might be a Sunday soup and bun lunch. We've seen walkathons, lots of fun things, and on the ministry unit level, but then also the individual level. We think of, I think of one person that I know makes cabbage rolls every year, and so just recently, had gone to St. Jacobs and bought the cabbages, and now they're in the freezer, and they are ready to be used for cabbage rolls, for their auction, and their luncheon. And so, you hear lots of fun ideas. And I've really been impressed with, when I've been out in corps, often on our territorial visits, I'm always checking the bulletin board to see what's on their bulletin board. And when I'm there, I see Partners in Mission posters and Gifts of Hope posters, Brighter Futures posters. But while I'm out, I'm also hearing all the exciting things that corps are doing and the initiatives that they take. And I really want to say thank you to all of the ministry units that support Self-Denial, because I really think it's a fun opportunity, but it's so meaningful. And when I've had the opportunity to be travelling internationally, you really just do see the difference that it makes internationally to our global Salvation Army.

Lee Graves 

Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I've already mentioned that, as a global Salvation Army, internationally, the business administration department, the General looks to the global Army to raise the Self-Denial funds. And it is somewhere around the $25 million US that come—they'd love to see that grow, because the needs of the global Salvation Army—you know that yourself, you see it so often—change all of the time. And so, all that we can do to not only meet our goal, but even to exceed our goal is so helpful. We understand that all funds then go to the centralized location at International Headquarters. And headquarters knows the needs of the various territories and are able to allocate the funds very appropriately as the need is identified there, often to operational budgets just to keep the ministry, the lifeline of The Salvation Army going in some of those very important places of the world. You see Self-Denial money at work as you travel. But there's also many other things that you do through the international development office. You are a part of conversations and projects around the Salvation Army globe that are making incredible differences. And can you talk a little bit to us, just what some of those projects are and how some of that funding comes to be in place so that we're able to make that contribution.

Brenda Murray  

Yes, so as far as our humanitarian relief and development projects, the funding comes actually from the Canadian public through direct mail appeals, it could come through legacies and endowments, through trust funds. There's many ways that the funds that can come into the department. These funds actually support our projects, and we have focus areas of mother and child health projects; agriculture—so food security; education of children and adults; disaster relief; and many other sort of focus areas. Some of our projects that we're currently working on—we have a project in Malawi, which is a conservation agriculture project. That project is worth $1.1 million US, and is a partnership project with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Because we are a member of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, they have approved this project for one-to-one match, which is wonderful, so that the money that we've raised is matched dollar for dollar through Canadian Foodgrains Bank for this particular project. We have a wonderful mother and child health project in Kenya West Territory, and it's great to see the work that's happening there. In addition to that project, we were actually, we had a legacy that was left to us, and the territory was looking for an ambulance, and so it was a side project to the mother and child health project, but we were able to purchase an ambulance for the Kenya West Territory, which they are just so excited, because it's the only functioning ambulance in that region. And so people are calling The Salvation Army for support, and it's also helping them. It's a self-sustaining project because of the funds that come from accessing the ambulance and servicing the community. And so, I think that's one of the things that we're constantly looking at when we're looking at projects, is: what is the impact and is this sustainable?

Lee Graves

Well, and that is an important area right now for us all. Our general, our international leader, our General, General Lyndon Buckingham, is calling The Salvation Army globally to give very careful thought to the strategic framework, the Compass framework, and looking at people, looking at mission, looking at legacy, and of course, the foundation to all of this is the real spiritual reality of the movement itself—that we're raised up by God, to care for others globally and but also to speak the love of God and to be him in community. As you travel and you're engaged in looking at the projects and the various outcomes of, you know, investments that we make with territories around the world, tell us about some of the fruitfulness that you see, some of the evidence that, wow, God is really at work here.

Brenda Murray 

So I think, as I look to this year's campaign, it was interesting when we were in Panama, in Colon. And Colon is port city. It's where the cruise ships pull up. And when you're in Colon, by where the place where the cruise ships come in, it looks quite affluent. It's set up for tourists, but literally blocks from the cruise ships that are pulling in, is a community that is devastated, really, by gang violence. And The Salvation Army in that community has identified the need of children and food security, and so they are actually, they hold a lunch program for kids. They have about 40 children that come daily for lunch. They have an incredible partnership. Again, you know, when we think of Compass, and part of Compass is partnerships. We think of our own territorial strategy and innovative partnerships. And so the Colon Corps has partnered with the Port Authority, where the Port Authority is actually providing the food for the children of the lunch program, and they partner with various restaurants in the area. And so, the meal coming to the children is from a really good restaurant. When we were there, the food looked incredible, and these kids gathered and they were singing. And one of the things that really was so moving to me, and really speaks to sort of the importance of the presence of The Salvation Army, was that before the children—they served the food, and before the children opened their containers, they broke into the song: “All my life, you have been faithful. All my life, you have been so, so good.” And I tell you, it was everything in me not to get emotional, because these kids, many of them are children of gang members. And I was thinking, this is what The Salvation Army is about. These children come here and they feel valued, they feel loved, and they're hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Lee Graves  

Wonderful.

Brenda Murray 

And I think when The Salvation Army can be in local communities, meeting the needs of that local community, that's an incredible blessing that we have, and that can only happen because of Self-Denial funding. It's not that the Self-Denial funding is funding that program, but the Salvation Army corps would not be there without Self-Denial funding. And so the program is an extension of that. It's different funding. But to see that officer that was there interact with the children, many whom don't have maybe even fathers—that influence that he has in his community. And I see this in so many ways across the global Salvation Army. There's so many stories.

Lee Graves

I know there are, and I know you well enough, Colonel Brenda, to know your heart, and a lot of this does get rather emotional, doesn't it? You have this beautiful passion and compassion, and you're so invested in this ministry that is yours. And we know that. But I also know this: You're a bit of a celebrity, because as you travel around the territory with me, it's not unusual for people to say, “Hey, that's that lady that appears on those Partners in Mission video clips,” and you're known around the territory. And it really is wonderful that that recognition is there. We really are grateful to you and to your team. When we think about this year's Partners in Mission Campaign, Self-Denial Campaign, we know that you're going to be focusing upon Latin America North Territory there. Can you just share with us one or two highlights that really, again, just stand out for you as you've made these beautiful videos for the territory, and the insight there. Thank you. 

Brenda Murray 

Yeah. So one of the highlights certainly was the program that I just referenced in Colon, because that's in Panama, which is one of the countries in the Latin American North Territory. Another one that I would say was quite interesting was, we were in a small community called Nicoya in Costa Rica, and we were there with Captains Ricaurte and Velma Velasquez, who are now serving in Montreal. However, they were stationed in Liberia, Costa Rica. So they were with us, and we went to a seniors program in Nicoya. Now, what's interesting about Nicoya is it is a “blue zone.” It's considered a blue zone, which is where there's a preponderance of octogenarians. And there was a Netflix series that focused on blue zones around the world and looking at, why is it that there's a number of senior people? What is it that keeps them alive? Why this location and another location? And it sort of came down to, when you looked at it, it was, food was important. Family relationships—so, intergenerational. You saw, you know, many families that lived together. And so, the seniors were living with the grandchildren, which kept them young. Exercise was so helpful. And so, while we were in Nicoya, we were actually at the seniors day program, and there with them, and just to be able to sit around the table, to listen to the devotional that the captain brought, to hear the impact of the program on the individual's lives. And again, I think, you know, so often with seniors, loneliness is such a big contributing factor to health. And so, this program, by bringing people together from the community. But again, a touching moment, I think, was just going outside the building and seeing the officer come down the street arm in arm with one of the ladies who needed some assistance to be able to come to the program. And again, it comes back down to sort of compassion, love for people within our communities, identifying the needs in that community, and then trying to do some wraparound supports. And so again, that was another real highlight.

Lee Graves

Well, that's wonderful. You know we really are grateful to you, colonel, to your team, for your ministry, to your leadership of our international development department. I know that there are some who just think this international travel is glamorous, and you get to see the world, but you and your team, you're doing this, you're going to the parts of the world that are not easy. You don't have the amenities that we enjoy here; different time zones, the travel itself, the journey with people in community. We're not going to resorts. We're going to the places where real people with real needs, where The Salvation Army is needed exists, and that's where you're going. And we just want to say, I want to say, thank you to you. Our goal again, for the territory, with our Partners in Mission Self-Denial, for this year is 

Brenda Murray

$2.4 million.

Lee Graves

Yeah. And we can do it. We can do that, and we can do more. And we're just reminded of the words of Jesus: In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these, so you've done it unto me. Lord, bless you. God bless our territory as we get behind this great appeal this year. Bless you.

Brenda Murray  

Thank you, commissioner. And I just want to say, it's a real privilege. And so often when I'm travelling, people say, “Thank you, thank you,” which I find actually quite awkward. But I always take the opportunity to say, “I have the privilege of standing here today only because many people from across Canada and Bermuda Territory have provided resources, and I will take your thank you back to them.” So on behalf of all the people globally that have said that to me, I would love to express my thanks to everyone who supports The Salvation Army international work.

Lee Graves

Well, God bless you, and God bless our global Salvation Army.

Brenda Murray  

Amen. Thank you.

Kristin Ostensen

Well, thank you so much to both of you. And commissioner, I'm so glad you ended with that verse, because that really is the heart of everything that we do, and especially this campaign. And I want to encourage everybody who's listening, please do check out the January/February issue of Salvationist. We have several feature articles that highlight some of the things Colonel Brenda was talking about, and all of the resources are available on Salvationist.ca. Salvationist.ca/pim. And I will have links in the show notes, too. So it's easy for you to find all those resources. So thank you so much again for coming on the podcast today. It was lovely to be able to sit in on this conversation. 

Lee Graves

Thank you.

Brenda Murray

Thank you so much.

Kristin Ostensen

Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Salvationist podcast. We’re doing things a bit differently in 2026. Rather than breaking the podcast into three seasons, we’ll keep episodes coming continuously throughout the year. So be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And thanks for listening!