大象传媒

From Steve Chalke, minister, speaker and social entrepreneur:听
It was a Thursday morning - before the lockdown. The charity I work for had become responsible for a secondary school in a community where an old church building had recently been closed because it was no longer viable due to declining attendance. This, however, was very definitely against the will of the small group of elderly people who regularly attended it. So, with their help, we鈥檇 negotiated to use it to create a calm environment for students who, because of the trauma 鈥� the neglect or abuse 鈥� they have suffered, find themselves unable to settle in a conventional classroom. And, I鈥檇 dropped in to see how things were going.听
Jack arrived - a 12 year old with an extremely difficult and complex family background, who struggled with sudden mood swings. I couldn鈥檛 even get him to say hello. But, a few minutes later Philp 鈥� one of the elderly church members - appeared. He鈥檇 popped into to spend an hour or so, as he did a couple of times a week, with Jack. I watched as he made Jack a cup of tea. They sat and chatted. Then they wandered across to the pool table. Philip was good. It was obvious he was going to win. But Jack had often proved that he was quite capable of lashing out when he felt humiliated. Soon, all that remained for Philip was to sink the black for victory. It gently rolled into a corner pocket. But, to my surprise, instead of flying into a temper, Jack smiled. Philip smiled back. And together they headed off to a computer to work on a 鈥榗atchup鈥� literacy programme.听
That鈥檚 when the penny dropped. Jesus taught 鈥淲henever you do it for the least of these, you do it for me鈥�, and over the years, Philip had got the message! I suddenly realised that the only people who ever gave Jack their time were professionals; those who were paid to be with him. Teachers, social workers, counsellors, therapists. But, Philip was different. Philip was there simply because he chose to be. And that was what had such a huge impact on Jack. Someone wanted to spend time with him 鈥� just for the sake of it. Philip鈥檚 commitment to him was quite literally rewiring Jack鈥檚 brain; restructuring his thinking and transforming his future.