A Soulful Story by Ms Lillian Bures, Senior School Youth Chaplain, Trinity College, South Australia
I am a very green Youth Chaplain, working in the unique context of a senior school (Years 11 and 12 only) with over 600 students. I have the privilege of working at the same school I once attended as a student. Like most chaplains, my role can’t really be written down on paper — it is lived from moment to moment. I am sent when a student is hiding in a bathroom; I’m the first face a student sees when they need to re-regulate outside the classroom. I’m also one of the lucky staff members who get to join students in the local Relay for Life, a 19-hour community relay, to raise money for the Cancer Council.
Most students who attend the event swear at 2pm, when it begins, that they will stay awake the entire time, only to gradually succumb to sleep’s waiting arms twelve hours later. Staff are a little wiser, choosing to catch four hours of rest when they can before waking early to support the students. But I hold to my belief that the best conversations happen at 3am.
One year, I took a break from running laps to sit with the students. One rolled over in a daze and asked me why I was so happy all the time. There are very few times that I’ve been asked to share my testimony — and never by an agnostic student — but I found myself telling her that it must have been Jesus because it certainly wasn’t me.
When I was her age, in her shoes, I struggled beyond belief. I was an anxious wreck most days, grappling with my identity and sense of self. Upon graduation, I boldly asked God to give me joy as a fruit of the Spirit, because I had none left. Gradually, by God’s grace, He lit my life up with things to be grateful for and taught me the simple happiness of loving Him. I started skipping around the halls and smiling at everyone I saw because the well of joy God placed in me simply overflowed. And so I said, “I think I’m so happy because of Jesus — he’s genuinely amazing.”
A year later, we returned to the relay track with another group of students. Again, they started dropping off bit by bit. But sure enough, 3am rolled around and the student next to me stared up at the stars and muttered, “See, there has to be something. The world is so intricate that it doesn’t seem like it could be by accident. I don’t know what I believe, but I think I have to believe in something — maybe it’s God.”
We talked under the stars about creation, humanity, becoming an adult, and God. The students were honest, raw, and open to mystery and faith. And all it took was staying with them, waiting out the night, and building relationships over time.
It is my joy and privilege to spend my time loving and listening to young people — and the sleep deprivation is very worth it when you stay up all night at Relay for Life.