Reflection space at Mid-Kent College
Helen Young is the youth worker at Gillingham Methodist Church and is part of the chaplaincy team that supports the Medway campus of Mid-Kent College. Two weeks ago Helen, Bill Clark (The word on the street director), Deacon Pru Cahill and Karen Willing ran a reflection space in the college. This was an opportunity to give the students and staff to take some time out and just focus on some things in their lives. We ran 6 activities which encouraged this time to be still and focus.
Friendship - this activity involved making a model of their friend out of pipe cleaners and to attach it to a wall of ribbon. This got them reflecting over who is important in their lives and bring thankful for those people.
Stress – this activity involved dropping a vitamin tablet into the water and watching it fizz away. This gave the students and staff a chance to think of the things that were stressing them and to focus on letting the stress go.
Helping Hands - this activity involved drawing around your hand and then writing something that you could do to help someone. Some of the things that people wrote that they would do included:
"Writing to a neighbour whose husband had died"
"Helping my Mum with housework and all our animals"
"To work with young offenders"
"To help my son improve in life"
Forgiveness - this activity encouraged people to think about things in life they held onto and needed to forgive. They were asked to pick up a stone and then drop it in a bucket of water. Although this was practically a very simple activity, it was the one that many struggled with and decided not to partake in, because they recognised that they weren't quite in that place to forgive.
Big questions – This was an activity to get people thinking about some big questions and we got such a brilliant variety of questions. Some were very comical, but many were very deep and thought provoking. Some of the questions asked were.....
"If God existed why do bad things happen to good people?"
"How come our feet smell and our noses run?"
"Why is life so boring and unfulfilling?"
"Why are we not superheroes?"
"What decides heaven or hell if God forgives me each time?"
"Why do we create war in the name of peace?"
"Why do we prioritise technology when it makes the next generation lazier?"
"Why is it so hard to get forgiveness?"
"Why do we feel the need to fit in?"
Hopes and dreams – this activity just gave staff and students the opportunity to share what their hopes and dreams are...
"To be a Mum"
"To become someone who would change lives, help people, make them feel better, give them hope when there's none, support people and make them happy and smile"
"To have my own restaurant"
"To be a F1 world champion"
"Find peace"
"I want to become a midwife! Make my parents/family proud"
"To not be sad"
"To be a paratrooper for the British Army"
We had an amazing week in the college and it was such a blessing to provide this for the college. Thank you to everyone who supported us and joined us in praying for this event. Please continue to pray for our work at the college and those who engaged with this space.
Photos courtesy of Helen Young
