“I came out from England in 1949 at the age of 9, soon to turn 10. I went to Mowbray Park, serving 9 years as a Doctor Barnado’s Homes boy, after previously spending 3 years in England at a home for boys (my two brothers and I). My sister was sent out and was adopted. Another brother died on the operating table during the Second World War. I was a very accepting child – because I knew nothing else. Everything that happened to me was “normal”. Nothing else, just normal. During wartime we had a lot of bombing around us. Quite a few people lost their lives. Quite often we were taken to air raid shelters, to shelter from the bombing. Churches were the object of the Nazi bombing. So, we never, ever went to church. Never heard about God or Jesus at all. I typically spent my time during my youth looking for food. We would walk the streets, and if any bushes had anything that looked like food we would take that and eat it, no matter what. There was one time when we hadn’t had much to eat and I found a moldy crust in the yard and I picked it up and ate it… and was sick as a dog afterwards!
Growing up, we had to be Anglican, or Church of England, before we were accepted into Doctor Bernando’s homes. We never went to church, so I have no idea what religion we were supposed to be. (Today) Jesus means everything. He’s my rock. Two of my children attend church regularly. The other two don’t.
I’m passionate about mentoring young students in high schools. I mentor in Picton High School and Mount Annan High School, a total of 3 days a week. I’ve been doing that for 16 years. It’s fantastic because those things that I’ve experienced going through the system at the boys’ homes helped me a lot to understand where the students are at nowadays. An awful lot of students nowadays are in dire straits, simply because of abuse, suicide, and students’ mothers and fathers in jail because of drug offences or murder, or whatever. I look after those students and I also get them out of the bubble that they’re in, that it’s all about “me, me me”, and get them to share their life.
What does church mean to me? Church means brotherhood, and sisterhood. I love coming to church to hear the sermons, to sing (I’ve done a lot of singing in my life) and to be with people. And hopefully, to share my points of view.”
— John Bicknell, member of 9:30am @ St Mark’s Anglican Church, Picton.
* This is the first in a series of articles by Rachel Winn (member of St Mark’s, Picton), helping us to get to know other Church members. *
