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I’ve been a chaplain at Heathrow for seven years

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

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'I’ve been a chaplain at Heathrow for seven years. I love the mix of serving God, being with people, and, if I’m honest, being around aeroplanes! I spent 15 years in the aviation industry before going into church-related work, but I still get a bit of aeroplanes in my life. 

‘Normally, it’s busy. I work with passengers and airport colleagues. Someone can ask me to help them find their bag, or, I can get involved if there’s been a death on a plane. 

‘There are usually approximately 76,000 people working and 80 million passengers annually at Heathrow. But now, the operation has significantly shrunk with only a small number of flights operating to help with the repatriation of British citizens and cargo operations carrying vital supplies for frontline teams battling against this pandemic. So, I’m working from home. It’s very strange. I miss the buzz of the airport. But, there are phone calls and Zoom, and we have a team Zoom Bible study every week. More people are involved in that now. But I do miss the face-to-face engagement. 

‘I read the Bible right through every year. I get up at 6am and try and spend a bit of time, quietly, with God’s word. As lockdown was starting and we were all worrying about how we’d get food, my reading was from Acts 27. It’s just before Paul is going to be shipwrecked, and an angel appears to him and tells him what is going to happen. And the angel said, “Fear not”. 

‘That was really helpful. For me, it meant that I could feel a sense of God’s peace and presence, and that would then enable me to help others. It gave me the reminder that God is there in the storm and that he does want us to have peace.'

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