Blog
29th July 2024
Rebekah Armstrong
SUNI Schools Worker Antrim & Lisburn
This was my first time running a prayer space and as soon as it was finished, I was excited to make plans for another one. The school we were in is one that we have been connected with for a long time through assemblies and RE lessons, but I was looking for an opportunity to do something different and something that would push the pupils to a new way of thinking. Running a prayer space was perfect for this as it allowed them to think about big topics in life for themselves and to think about God in a new way.
This school was a smaller rural school and so they do not actually have a lot of space. At first, I was nervous about bringing the idea of a prayer space to them as I was unsure of the logistics and how it would practically happen. However, we saw God work in an amazing way, providing space for us in the form of a converted bus that was able to come to the school. We were able to set up the prayer space inside the bus and we had a wonderful team of volunteers from two local churches. One of my highlights was hearing the conversations that these volunteers were able to have with the pupils, answering questions and sharing some of their own personal stories.
The pupils were asked to fill in some feedback on their time in the prayer space and reading what they said overwhelmed us as we saw how much impact the simple activities had on them.
Here is a small selection of their comments:
“I learnt to say thank you to God” (P2)
“It made me think about how God can help us” (P4)
“I learnt that God understands when others don’t” (P5)
“It helped me think about my feelings” (P6)
“The prayer space helped me to know that I can talk to God whenever I want” (P7)
I loved seeing how different children connected with different activities and themes throughout the prayer space. One of the activities that seemed to have a big impact on a particular group was fizzy forgiveness and the volunteers were able to have lots of good conversations with the pupils about the importance of forgiveness and how God forgives us. The pupils said: “I was holding a grudge, but the tablet activity helped.” “They helped me understand to forgive some people.”
Overall, the prayer space provided amazing opportunities to see children connect with God through prayer and opportunities for the churches to connect more deeply with the pupils and staff of their local school. I can say this alongside the P5 pupil who made this comment about the prayer space; “It helped me know how amazing God is.” I was nervous at first about the idea of running this prayer space, but God had it all under control! God worked in an amazing way through this space, and I am delighted to have been able to run prayer spaces in connection with 3 other schools since this one and am trusting God for more opportunities in the future. I would recommend anyone to give it a go – I guarantee you will witness amazing things!