9th October, 2007

On Monday, 15th October, Scripture Union Queensland (SU Qld) will hold its annual Frontline Appeal to raise funds to support school chaplaincy and at risk youth at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Here, in edited versions of speeches they will present on the night, SHAYNE FRASER, Maroochydore State Primary School chaplain, and JENNY DOBBIN, former high school chaplain and now SU Qld's Brisbane North District coordinator, share some of their experiences working with school children...

SHAYNE FRASER

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT: Shayne Fraser sees the role of a chaplain as being to encourage and build up children.

A girl came to me and told me that her dad rang up on the weekend. She was excited to hear from him but she was upset when her dad just said, ‘Put your brother on’. ‘Why doesn’t my dad love me?’ this girl asked me.

This is a difficult question for me to answer without running down the father.  I try to help these kids understand that they are loved and cared for by many people and that their dad is the one missing out on the fun and love that they could share.

My job is to encourage them and to build them up. I encourage these kids to find a role model or mentor that they can trust and respect and ask advice from.

While I can be that person, I also need to help them search for mentors throughout life. I do this by encouraging kids to look for people who will be a positive influence in their life, some one they know and respect.

All too often the kids I work with don’t have people like this in their immediate circle of people. This is why school chaplains are so important.

Primary school chaplaincy is often about suggesting strategies to resolve issues that are big kids’ lives. My role is to help children develop skills and strategies, like choosing an appropriate time to talk to their parents about things that are hard to talk about.

The aim is for these skills to be carried over into teenage and adult years.

If these children have a relationship with their parents or other positive role models in their lives, they will have people they can talk to before the issue gets out of hand.”

JENNY DOBBIN

'BRINGING HOPE TO A YOUNG GENERATION': Jenny Dobbin says her work as a chaplain has given her the privilege of seeing many young people "find new hope in God".

One young person who recently stole my heart was a boy called Stew. Stew is from a single parent family and lives in a poor area.  His dad is dying of cancer, and as he has no brothers or sisters, his dad is all he’s got in the world.

He’s a tough little guy who was once full of anger - one of our leaders had to shadow him throughout a recent camp to stop him punching walls.

During a ‘God Spot’ at the camp, there was lots of noise from the band and laughing and singing.

Suddenly Stew walked across the room and put his arm on my shoulder. It’s hard to explain what happened next, but I knew after all the hours spent in my room talking, crying and sharing, Stew was beginning to lay down his pain.

As we stood side by side he started to sing in his broken voice. Completely out of tune, he sang ‘Amazing love, how can it be, that you my God would die for me’?

Later, Stew said he was sick of carrying around the pain and the anger and he just wanted God to help him.

The next day, he smiled for the first time, and before the bus left, he asked me if we could pray again. ‘Thanks God for all the people on this camp who’ve given me a chance’,” he said, and cried.

Then Stew started leaping around, punching the air and laughing in front of all the campers shouting, ‘I did it, I did it. I talked to God’.

I love what I do, and I can’t describe the number of families we touch base with every day who just need a helping hand.

SU Qld’s motto is ‘bringing hope to a young generation’. As a school chaplain, I’ve spent hours with kids walking through their pain without judgement or condemnation. I have seen so many young people find new hope in God.”

The Frontline Appeal will be held in the Great Hall at the Brisbane Convention Centre on 15th October, 2007. Speakers include John Buchanan, former Australian Cricket Team coach, and Tim Mander, chief executive of SU Qld with entertainment from jazz combo SCAT, Silvie Paladino and the Ferny Grove Percussion Ensemble. For more information, visit www.frontlineappeal.org.au.

FOR PREVIOUS MY MISSION'S CLICK HERE...