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Three Salvation Army cadets reveal how a mission trip to Greece set them on a path to serve.
“Having the heart for justice is, for me, really powerful,” Emily Reed said.
Reed participated in a 2019 social justice immersion trip to Athens, Greece, with a team that included her husband, Brian Reed, and Jordan Sargent. There, the group assisted The Salvation Army in its work with refugees and individuals who were unhoused or being prostituted.
The long-term goal of the trip? To return home committed to advancing biblical values of human dignity, equality, hope, compassion and community—The Salvation Army’s vision for social justice it’s held since its inception in Victorian England.
Now, five years later, the trio are cadets in the appropriately named Defenders of Justice Session, training to become Salvation Army officers, or pastors, at the College for Officer Training at Crestmont in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. After two years at the college, they expect to graduate and be commissioned in June as Salvation Army officers.
Brian Reed said he had felt unequipped as the only man on that mission trip—he wondered what difference he could make for the women they served in Greece. He said he stayed in the background, cleaning and cooking meals for them.
“I still reflect on the impact that not being in the spotlight of ministry, but being behind the scenes, actually had in those 10 days,” he said. “I didn’t even know I was being seen by those we were serving.”
On their last day in Greece, when one of the women finally approached him and said, “You clean good; you clean good,” he realized he had been seen all along.
“God used my heart,” Reed said. “And he equipped me…It’s about reaching people. It doesn’t matter where it is or if you get acknowledged. I just want to serve anywhere.”
Sargent felt a similar pull after participating in the immersion trip, something she said she still thinks about frequently. “Going to Greece was a point in my life when I was finding my purpose,” she said. “That’s where I first felt called to officership.”
When they returned to the U.S., the Reeds and Sargent became “Social Justice Sergeants” in their local Salvation Army corps (church). They were the first ones in the Western Territory and were tasked with making a difference in their communities.
“It’s about reaching people. It doesn’t matter where it is or if you get acknowledged. I just want to serve anywhere.”
Emily Reed
In Tacoma, Washington, Emily Reed worked to combat human trafficking and Brian Reed fought for the rights of migrants and refugees. In Yakima, Washington, Sargent sought to raise awareness of human trafficking.
“When this [role] came onto our plate, we thought, ‘OK, God, we see the pattern of justice here,’” Brian Reed said. “Maybe this is the specific ministry that you’re calling us to.”
The Reeds and Sargent arrived at the Crestmont campus in 2022. Once mission trip team members, the trio had become good friends and ultimately, session mates.
Looking ahead, Emily Reed said she has a passion for marginalized communities, for those who feel unseen and excluded. As she worked with the refugees and the women who were being commercially sexually exploited in Greece, she realized many didn’t know how to get the support they needed.
Today, her passion is for another often excluded group—the disabilities community. As an officer, her goal is to ensure they’re included in the church.
“That’s a social justice issue in itself,” she said. “And I feel like I wouldn’t have been open to this if it wasn’t for the trip—being immersed in the programs, sitting with the women who were working the red light district and hearing refugee stories.”
Despite his uncertainty on that mission trip, Brian Reed said he accepted the opportunity and showed up with what he had, and God used him—something he expects will translate to full-time ministry.
“When I think of officership, I think of giving others that opportunity,” he said. “I can be the corps officer, but I can only get so far in my impact of what we can do in the community as The Salvation Army. But if I can give others in my congregation an opportunity to be equipped and to exercise their gifts, then we as a whole Salvation Army can make a larger impact.”
Sargent said she too learned about making a stronger impact during the mission trip, particularly through meeting people’s physical needs before any spiritual needs. No matter how powerful a Bible lesson is, it may have little effect on someone who hasn’t eaten in two days, she said, adding sometimes people simply want a listening ear.
“I think it’s shifting the perspective,” she said. “We want to pull them out of the dark places, which is great…but it’s not always about ‘storming the forts.’ It’s about, ‘let me sit in the darkness with you, and just love you.’ And let’s make sure that some of the other needs are being met. And then through this journey, my prayer is that my ministry just reflects Jesus in that way.”
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