Faith Hope and Love at the Deanery School
Last week I helped out at the Deanery school helping run something called Prayer Space. We had 15 different stations which had different elements that the young people thought about and used. There were activities like thoughts and hopes for the future and looking back at mistakes from the past. It was just a space where the young people could relax and reflect. The decision was made to do the prayer space now because the young people, like all of us, have suffered in these last 16-18 months and many of these young people may have not had the correct support required. This was an opportunity for them to come together and support each other and reflect on their struggles but also the hopes for the future which should eventually outweigh the things that didn’t go how they wanted. I felt that this would be a great topic for my prayer blog because having been part of the excellent team that ran it, I was able to see God’s power and love really work through them. God’s presence was very much felt as every single group that came in really got stuck in and engaged fully. Due to the Deanery school only being 2 years old, they have actually only managed to filter in two-year groups, year 7 and year 8. This really helped with the success of the week because we could really work closely with them and not have to rush to fit the other years in. I also felt that the prayer space worked well in it being for year 7 and 8 and the students are still adjusting to secondary school life and the space was a perfect place for the students to transition themselves even more. Us as the team felt really happy about all the feedback from not only the students but the teachers as well. Many teachers were extremely happy and felt blessed as certain students that they were aware were going through or had been through difficult patches were engaging and really enjoying themselves.
Throughout the week there was definitely a sense of unity both within us as a team and the students but even the unity of God, whether people did have faith, or didn’t it was clear to me that God’s love shone through. So much so that pupils from the Deanery are signing up for a well-being enrichment based on their enjoyment from last week. I just really want to thank God for really setting alight the prayer space and consuming his love in all of us. It was wonderful to see so many young people engaged and take part fully and learn more about themselves. As well as the knowledge of God and his love. I want to end with this Bible verse from Corinthians 13:13,
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”.
For me, this passage fits perfectly as all three of these were present throughout the week, faith in each other and themselves and hopefully for many in God, hope for the future and the love they have for each other and themselves and how we are all united in God’s love.
Written by Rob Friend, Intern