Slowly The Christian Mission began to grow but the work was difficult and Booth would "stumble home night after night haggard with fatigue, often his clothes were torn and bloody bandages swathed his head where a stone had struck", wrote his wife.
Booth and his fellow brethren in Christ practised what they preached and performed self-sacrificing Christian and social work, such as opening "Food for the Million" shops (soup kitchens), not caring if they were scoffed at or derided for their work.