In 1934, a group known as the Salvation Patrol was started in Mexico by Alejandro Guzmán. Three years later, General Evangeline Booth presented a flag to Guzmán at the USA Southern Territory Congress in Atlanta, Ga. The group was absorbed by the international Salvation Army under the supervision of the divisional headquarters located in Dallas, Tex.
Mexico became part of the Latin America North Territory in 1976, became a command in 1998 and a territory in 2001. With 150 active officers, 54 corps, two outposts and 26 institutions, the Mexico Territory has more than 1,600 senior soldiers, 1,000 junior soldiers and almost 900 adherents in four divisions.
In 2016, under the theme “A Generation Advancing,” 65 members of the Future Officers’ Fellowship presented the Army’s position against violence in downtown Mexico City. Later that year, 90 delegates attended the annual territorial music institute and 43 women attended a Family Treatment seminar during which the first officer in Mexico was certified by the Uruguay-based program as a trainer.
Social services offered by the Mexico Territory include residential homes, daycare centers, feeding and educational support programs for children; feeding centers for senior citizens; vocational training and educational support for adults; shelters and feeding centers for men; a medical clinic; domestic-abuse refuges for women and children, and a refuge located in Tijuana near the U.S. border that supports deported women and children.
Source: The Salvation Army Year Book 2017
