Dear Friends,
DECEMBER, how did that happen? It feels like only the other day we were welcoming the start of 2018, and now it’s nearly over. As I get older the more I realise it’s true when people say time flies by. But what a year it’s been … more on that in our annual summary coming soon!
“What pleases me most about prayer spaces is the positive way children approach it and, whether they come from families of faith or none, their desire to spend time in prayer on in quiet reflection thinking about others and the every day things precious to them.” – Head Teacher (November 2018).
With Christmas only a couple of weeks away it’s been exciting to see prayer spaces registering across the world… and there’s still time to register yours if you haven’t done so?
If you’re still looking for Christmas-themed activities for your prayer space, have a look here. Maybe you could use our new Christmas prayer activity – Christmas Thanks?
We also recently updated our Safeguarding and Confidentiality documents in response to the latest Government guidelines – you can find them here.
Aside from the resource, we’ve also been doing a bit of travelling. Phil and I spent 30 hours in the Netherlands, where we met with Edwin Hammelink (24-7 Prayer national leader) and Juliette Pol to discuss the development of prayer spaces in schools across their nation. We made new friends in Utrecht, Assen and Rotterdam, all of whom seemed keen to get started with prayer spaces.
A couple of weeks later, Phil went to Ireland to meet with our national leader, Emma Thompson, who’s been busy meeting with people right across the Emerald Isle, encouraging people who are getting started with prayer spaces, and recruiting regional Networkers.
And then, last weekend, Phil was in Germany to speak about prayer spaces at Schüler SMD’s annual staff and volunteers conference. Jana Nimmo, our national leader in Germany, works for Schüler SMD, and she told us that there could be as many as 25 prayer spaces in her nation this year. Whether you speak German or not, you’ll love their promo video!
In our last newsletter we mentioned that Catherine Clayton had joined our small staff team. You can read her welcome interview to find out more about what she’s doing.
But that’s enough from us… what have you been doing? We are always on the search for stories to share, quotes to encourage and pictures of your prayer spaces, so please send them in if you can.
From all of the Prayer Spaces in Schools core team, we’d like to wish you a peaceful, relaxing and fun-filled Christmas. See you in 2019.
Tandia