God’s instruments of love

Each day, you are helping children and young people discover God’s love and embark on their own journey of faith.

Sometimes these journeys have deep roots. This was the case for Chaplain Long, whose connection with SU began back in 1978 in his school’s ISCF group. When the teacher couldn’t run it, he stepped in to try it himself!

The beats of the chaplaincy drum clearly began early, and he has continued on this joyous journey for over 21 years. Currently, Long serves as a Chaplain at two schools, one of which is a Special School where he incorporates music to help the students engage and relax.

“I take my drums into each class and put on some backing music and the kids just jam along with it, and for those more capable classes, I teach them different rhythms and we combine them into an ensemble,” he explains.

As many of the children have additional needs, Long is sensitive to this, and seeks to find adjustments to suit the children:

“I cover the drums with materials to soften the sound because these students are very noise sensitive, very sensory….. For those students who can’t hold a normal drumstick, I put foam on the ends so it’s thicker for them to hold,” says Long.

The school is supportive of Long’s work. But, even so, there have been times he has doubted his effectiveness:

“Is this what chaplaincy is about? Because I’m not talking to kids… But then when you see those little things, where you see students engage, where you see students smiling, where you see students involved, it really warms my heart. “

For some students, just being there is enough.

“I’m thinking of one girl, she was very distant at first when I first started getting involved with her class. And then one day she just plonks herself next to me, which one of the teachers said shows that she trusts you,” says Long.

Perhaps the most important beat comes from learning that love needs to be adaptable to meet young people where they are.

“It’s funny because we can get so caught up with what we deem success to be in our roles, but sometimes we need to shift our perspective to match the need on the ground because success and impact will look different in different settings,” reflects Long.