Mission reports from 2012

St. edmund's college, october 2012

"Having the Sion Mission group spend a week with us was, without doubt, the highlight of the year so far.  All of the members showed great witness to their faith and did so with enormous energy, enthusiasm and love. They managed to engage our students across year groups, nationalities and faiths with great sensitivity and listened with great care to all our ideas and views. Preparation was thorough and disruption kept to a very manageable minimum. Our staff, not of all of whom knew quite what to expect, were equally positive and a few very pleasantly surprised! Our parents very much enjoyed the 'Main Event' and were fulsome in their praise of the evening, but also for the impact it had on their child.  If I could have them back every year, I would!"

Paulo Durán, Headmaster of St. Edmund's College, Ware.

st. paul's catholic college, October 2012

In the week before half term, a group of 10 young people from the Sion Community became very much part of our community, and led us, through assemblies, prayer, workshops and by their prayerful presence with us, on a journey which explored the central themes of our faith – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our call, and what it means to be a Church and a Eucharistic Community. It was a truly wonderful week and I have heard from so many staff and students, of the many ways in which the week affected them. I’ll leave it to the students, some of whose thoughts were written in response to what they had experienced in the week, to tell you what the week meant to them:

• 'Thank you so much - you have really opened my eyes so I am now able to see true beauty....I now know that its whats inside that counts. God made me, me. Why change that?'
• 'Dear Sion team, Your assemblies were very inspirational to me and will light the way for my life. They filled my soul with wonder and they opened my eyes.' P.S. Awesome beard Ondrej.
• ‘I would like to thank you for opening my heart to everything that happens to me. I still have lots of questions about Jesus, God and my religion, but I am sure that if I let the Spirit into my heart a little more that they will be answered.’
• ‘The atmosphere in school was different – more peaceful. A good week.’ (premises officer). ‘I have realised how important my faith is to my life’
• ‘The assemblies were so good and the dramas really made me think. I hope that we can continue “Prayer 4 U” and Light fever in the chapel - they were really special times.’

In addition to the main themes and times of prayer, students had the opportunity to sign up for various workshops, covering various themes, including Justice and peace, true love, creative signing painting and preparing the altar cloth for the Whole College Mass on Friday. It was a very happy week : memories of students queuing down the street, to get into our little chapel for silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, will never be forgotten, nor will so many little signs of God working his purpose in this Community. The team have gone now, but behind them they leave a Community with much to be thankful for, a student team full of enthusiasm, and grateful chaplain, who now has the task of working with the rest of this Community to build prayerfully on their legacy to us. Many thanks also to those members of this Community who offered the young people hospitality during the week, welcoming them into their homes. Very well done the young Sion Team. May God bless you and your ministry as you move on to other schools. We will remember you in our prayers.

Angela Clark (Chaplain)

Coloma convent girls' school, November 2012

st. simon stock, december 2012