Commissioner Mani is a Salvation Army officer (minister) from India. She currently serves at International Headquarters in London, England, and holds responsibilities that oversee Salvation Army ministry to women and girls across South Asia.

As I look at ministry to women across The Salvation Army in South Asia, I am filled with hope to see an Army that is equipping its women to reach their potential as Christian leaders.

When I served in south-eastern India, I saw first-hand the impact of women encouraged to embrace lifelong learning. We discovered that many women Salvation Army officers (ministers) had been operating in their roles without access to emails, since computers were often allocated one per household.

The women would depend on their husbands to help them. Sometimes a husband would forget to pass on information to his wife, and she would miss out on important information. Even when a husband and wife were good at sharing the desktop between them, if she had not received proper training to use the computer systems, she ended up feeling that she had failed.

I heard from several women who were frustrated. It was causing disappointment within marriages, and women who could not fully engage in their ministry as Christian leaders. It was unfair for both men and women, and something needed to be done. We heard their struggles and empowered the women to believe they could achieve more.

After we had their support, we conducted meetings for women leaders to learn computer basics. Every morning, the IT Coordinator would provide computer literacy classes, alongside English classes. The women made quick progress and were highly motivated to put their learning into practice, but we could not make real change as we did not have enough computer systems.

By God’s grace, our request for the provision of computers for the women was approved! To ensure our women were able to use the systems, we hosted a residential training course so that they would be equipped and empowered for their responsibilities. Now, the first-trained officers pass on their knowledge to younger officers and continue the investment and care for the next generation of leaders in India. This brings me hope for the future.