A Place to Belong
Susan is 59 and a member at Castle Hill Jesus Club. She has an incredible sense of humour - a gift for making people laugh and, she also has down syndrome.
Susan had been coming to Castle Hill’s St Paul’s Anglican Church with her parents, Ron and Judy for years. While she loved the social interactions before and after the service, she often fell asleep during the service as she found the sermon too difficult.
Thankfully in 2014, St Paul’s Anglican announced their intention to start a Jesus Club. Julie, our coordinator at Castle Hill vividly recalled how excited Susan was when she first heard the news, ‘She kept telling people,
“There is something for me! There is something for me!”
Even in the inclusive environment of church, Susan recognised that she had a disability and didn’t fit in. But in this promise of a Jesus Club - a place for people with and without intellectual disabilities (ID), she found a place she might belong.
Susan has now been attending Jesus Club for 5 years and she loves coming to be amongst her peer groups and friends. She is attentive during the Bible teaching and is a keen prayer, firmly believing that God answer her prayers.
Robyn, Susan’s buddy group leader, thinks Jesus Club has enabled Susan to find her own identity, since she attends Jesus Club without her family and is given a chance to be her own person.
“Susan gains reassurance about things in her life that she is dealing with, as she shares these things with leaders.”
Susan’s parents are also full of praises for Jesus Club and are constantly writing letters to the leaders, encouraging them saying, “It’s so lovely, what you’re doing for our young ones!” Their appreciation has converted them into keen advocates in their 80s, and they now drive another girl to and fro Jesus Club every fortnight.
Because of Jesus Club, Susan has found her identity and her saviour, Jesus Christ, whom she believes has died for her so she can go to heaven in the future.
