With our budding connection with Salvation Army starting out, we speak with Major Dianne Jarvey from the Salvation Army where we talk about all things community engagement.

Major Dianne Jarvey has over 20 years of full time minister experience through the Salvation Army. She has held many roles such as Corps Officer (senior Pastor) Divisional Youth - Childrens and Recruitment Secretary SA, Mission Researcher VIC and now she is the Faith Communities Development Secretary Australia. She is a Perth girl who is passionate about people coming to know who they are in Christ. But understands that with the changing landscape of spirituality this can take many forms which the local church needs to wrestle with. She also believes a day without laughter is wasted and we shouldn’t talk ourselves to seriously.

As we head towards fathers day, we explore the question of what it means to be a father figure. And so we speak with Rick Pekan, the Community Father of the Year award winner (2022) as part of the national charity The Fathering Project. Rick is a dad to four biological kids, as well as two long-term foster children, has also been a father figure to over 70 other children in out-of-home care over the past 12 years, and has been a mentor to many more as a youth group leader at his local church. We hear his story, as well as learn from Rick around fathering more broadly, the role of fathers in society, their struggles, but also their unique roles.

What role does forgiveness and patience play, particularly when transformation in a person seem more like a marathon then a sprint? That's what we'll be unpacking today as we chat with one of our chaplains from Kununurra, Levi McGrath.