Year 11 Retreat

Year 11 attended their Retreat at Greenhills earlier this term and enjoyed listening to motivational speaker Sam Clear. He inspired our students by sharing his tumultuous journey and the challenges he had to overcome. Katie B, Year 11 student, shares her thoughts:

The reflection day run by Sam Clear was exceptional. Sam served as a Catholic missionary, walking around the world to try and inspire the Christian Churches to unify. The division of the Christian family is an extremely relevant and often underrepresented issue, and one that Sam addresses inspiringly. He described how, before he set off on his journey, he would sit in meetings with members from local churches, discussing some particular community issue. At some point throughout the meeting, they would erupt into argument over some point of doctrine or another, leaving the issue unresolved. He spoke about how God inspired him to act, setting him on a journey that was both practical and attention grabbing. On his walk, he would go from community to community, stopping at every Christian church along the way. No matter their denomination, he would invite the people to pray for unity. In many of these encounters he encountered hostility, sometimes even violence, as he found people unwilling to embrace the idea. The way he spoke about learning to put his trust in God, very literally putting his life in God’s hands, was inspiring and his story about Adolfo, a man he met in a village in Panama was extremely moving.

Sam told his story in a way that was not only extremely interesting but engaging. Just the right amount of humour mixed in made him an engaging presenter and his method of mixing life lessons, inspirational stories, and thought provokers made him an excellent teacher. We shall all remember his motto #don’tpunchthepig. Even those in our grade who went into the day with scepticism came out having found it extremely interesting and inspirational. As I said to him at the end, the way he encouraged us to consider a spiritual perspective was incredible. I was speaking to my friend on the bus ride home and we both agreed that this day has brought our year group closer together.

So, for those reading this, I’d like to join the many people who have been inspired by Sam in inviting you to pray for unity. For as Jesus said, “where two or three gather in My name, there I am with them” (Matthew 18:20), how much stronger would His presence be if the whole Christian family came together?