SPRED in Durban Centre – South Africa

Recently at church, a mother of two young men approached me asking for spiritual help for her boys. Both men who are autistic show signs that they love the church, and longing to receive the Eucharist when they see their parents receiving. They were not prepared for the sacraments or given any help on their spiritual journey.

Having had some training myself in SPRED, which is a programme to help such people, I decided to introduce the programme at Holy Trinity parish.

When they heard of this, other churches nearby requested to join us. Now we have a vibrant group of companions who are willing to accompany our special friends to grow in their faith.

Participation in our small community of faith prepares us for the movement of praise, in the simplest of our life experiences eg the eye-opener pattern of creation where we are able to discover the wonderful gift of God and pass it on in an intelligible way to our special friends. I am grateful to Sr. Tshidi, Lisa Pillay and Cecelia Clothier (our lay associate), for giving their time and expertise to this ministry and to Holy Trinity church for hosting us.

 Marion Millane