In Nathaniel’s darkest hour following the tragic loss of his younger brother, he found safety and support in his school chaplain Chang.
When the media spotlight turned away, Chang was still there. In his own words, he’s there for “the long haul”.
For families like Nathaniel’s in the midst of despair, your support helps train up and equip chaplains like Chang to be in place to show God’s love to those in need for the long haul.
🌟 Your gift before June 30 will play a vital role in helping children, young people and their families discover hope and life in God’s big story.
This tax-time, will you stand with your SU community across Australia to ensure this crucial work continues?
Your gift can be the difference.
Help raise up more chaplains like Chang, and other youth ministry workers and volunteers, who will be trained and equipped to show God’s love and step into spaces where young people and families are most in need.
🔗 To donate visit su.org.au/life
Nathaniel's always been a bright student. The last few months there was a tragedy in the family where his younger brother sadly passed away. It was a Saturday afternoon. As with my siblings. They're in the lounge room. I was in my room. Oz Oz Confuse the back doors open. My sister's there, she's watching TV. But my brother's not there. It became a reality that my brother went missing. And yeah, we went. Spent like what good 15 hours or more looking for him? People from the community came out just to help us look for my little brother. Said to myself and takes out the field of boys. You know, this could be our son, could be our brother, could be our mates kids, could be our cousin. The thought at the time was just, you know, if we're able to do what we can do, why wouldn't we do it? Yeah, I heard just drop when we found out, you know, it was just down the road and a family that was close to us. Cortana search party around. 6:00 in the morning the streets were just flooded with people from all walks of life, different backgrounds. People were coming from Ipswich, Gold Coast, N Brisbane and the support was amazing. I was walking with my cousin. We walked behind this farm. And those s s my cousin asked him what did he find him, Is he OK? And then? That's when I found out for myself. On a Forget the words, she said, he said. Yeah, we found his body. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. After events unfolded in that first initial couple of 24 to 48 hours, there are a few key members of staff where we really wanted to reach out and ensure that the family was supported, got in contact with my loan manager. A few of us staff were talking at the time also and just the need for I guess immediate connection with the family. By changing myself and our principal went to the house and visited the family in a more official capacity to offer support for Nathaniel, but also as a result his extended family also who are greeting. Chang facilitated practical supports like food parcels, uniforms for the upcoming school year. When other people perhaps don't know what to do, we find that chaplains often do know what to do because they have that experience dealing with grief and circumstances, and it just allowed us to have that person who could provide wrap around support for one of our students. Continue to be a support going on. It's easy to be. The immediate responders back, you know, we're here. We're here for the long haul, so. When I first came back, yeah, I did not feel like I wanted to come to school. But knowing they've changed, you are, I just know that he'll make sure I'm all right, he'll come check up on me, he'll make sure I'm safe. It's really important that a chaplain walks the long journey with the students when the media spotlight turns away or when community moves on. That family and that child are still dealing with grief. Yeah, he often says that, you know, he's still struggling, but he's still got that determination of, like, showing up every day and, you know, being there for his family as well. Special staff has finished. It's this ongoing relationship that will continue for the next four years of his schooling. How we can support him through that is by making sure that no matter how much time has passed, he knows that he has someone he can talk about it with and what he's feeling. Oh, I've been chained like just having him as a person where like I could just be comfortable with myself like around him. Like I can talk to him about anything, about any problems I have. It is in the moments of critical incidents where you really see the need and value of a chaplain. We're really thankful because Chang had already been prepared and he had already received training on how to respond to critical incidents, so he's been able to draw on that expertise to support Nathaniel. One can never be prepared enough for this situation, but you could definitely be equipped. Thanks for training like. This. Daniel story is is heartbreaking for our community, but Nathaniel Stories also one of hope. When you have people who can journey with you, alongside you in your grief, you're not alone in it. And we're so grateful cause that's change. He wants to show up for his brother. He wants to shop for his family. I want to show up for him. Close on my chaplains, they they do the work. But they help. They really help people. She wanna invest in people. With the generation of today, I'm living proof that I was one of those people that were shaped by chaplains and because of chaplains, I wanted to be a chaplain. And here I am today because of people that made a difference in my life.
