From the Chaplain

On Tuesday last week Mr Sawle and I took four Year Twelve students (Gabrielle Poole, Matthew Walmsley, Kaden Patterson and Jessica Turner) to Juniper Residential Care to share a chapel service with them. The theme was about God’s peace, based on the bible verse: 

Philippians 4:6-7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

I shared with them a survey that was done in America, where they asked, ‘How many times do you feel at peace?” The group that had the most amount of peace (at least three times a week) also had the highest number (out of all the groups of people) who believed in God and prayed daily. The bible verse says that when you pray to God he will give you peace, as shown in the survey results. The people who prayed the most also had the most peace in their life out of all the other groups. 

The Year Twelve students sang a beautiful song for the residents. ‘I speak Jesus.’ Some of the lyrics are: 

I just wanna speak the name of Jesus

Over every heart and every mind'

Cause I know there is peace within Your presence

I speak Jesus 

The Year Five students also made a card for the residents with the bible verse and a dove on it, representing peace. Some of the students had written a lovely message on the back of them. The residents were so happy to receive them. There were many residents watching from their rooms and some ‘dove cards’ were taken to them later. 

We had time for a bit of a chat at the end and hear their stories. It was a great experience to share with them all and see how happy they were to see us.   

‘One lady told me how she had a parrot as a child and it scared someone who dropped all their wheat on our porch.’ 

‘One lady told me all about how she became a Christian because of her Grandma, who never gave up on God, even with all the terrible things she saw in the war.’ 

‘We spoke to a lady who was born in Latvia.  She told us about her apple strudel and how she couldn’t cook it like her mum, but it was still good.’ 

Mrs Naomi Cooper | Chaplain