Frontline
Question: What do teenagers, lunch boxes, and prayer have in common?
Answer: Pippa Robinson.
You’d think a bunch of rebellious high school kids and a lunchtime invasion would be a recipe for disaster, but at Pittwater High School, lunchtime prayer/cell groups are part of the job description for our very own Pippa Dutch.
Pip holds a Diploma of Education in Art and a Diploma in Christian Ministry and many know that Pippa works at Pittwater High, but we often don’t give it much thought. So, what is it that this amazing woman actually does?
On the Northern Beaches, the statistics of drug use and alcohol abuse is rampant. Our area is one of the highest in the problem of the epidemic of the debilitating drug, ice, or crystal meth. A lot of the kids here come from affluent families and they have easy access not only to ice, but speed, ecstasy and marijuana, just to name a few. Alcohol abuse is now such a problem that we have shocking TV ads gracing our screens to scare it out of the kids.
This generation will grow up to run our suburbs, our nations, even our country. Pippa is diligently showing them that there are other answers to life.
When asked what her job description is, Pippa laughs and says that it is anything and everything. Included in her lunch time study groups is teaching Scripture, camps (which at the time of writing, she was actually at), being a counsellor, taking prayer requests from teachers and teachers' prayer meeting. Her lunchtime group is called ‘The Oracle’ where kids can ask her questions about God and Christianity.
When I asked Pippa, "There must be days when you don’t want to do this anymore. What makes you get up and keep going back?" Pip didn’t even pause before she said, "The kids. When I first started they asked, 'Are you sticking around?' so I said that I would be here for four years, minimum. I’m not in this for the money ... I’m here for the kids." At the end of this year, Pippa will finish her third year. As far as staying on past 2009, Pippa says she is just waiting to see what happens.
Northern Beaches kids can be some of the toughest bunch. In the bigger picture of the world, they are some of the luckiest ones alive. One of the hardest things about Pippa's job is the fact that she is neither a student nor a teacher. She says that she has been "a bit of a lone ranger in a unique culture with an incredible pressure to be cool."
For Pippa, she has been slowly building her own culture; "a culture where God’s part of the gang". She says that now, non Christian teachers will often put in prayer requests without hesitation, and that going to Scripture is socially acceptable.
Pippa’s mission statement is:
‘To be a faithful and effective witness and follower of Jesus Christ, in order that students and teachers at Pittwater High might have an opportunity to hear about the good news and see it in action, and in turn come to know Jesus for themselves.’
She says that in the three years that she has been there, she has seen ten decisions made, and five definite heart commitments.
For Pip, she always felt that she was to go into some form of ministry. Her parents moved around a lot, and as a kid herself, Pip found herself befriending those who didn’t fit in. When I asked if she saw herself as a missionary to the local high school kids, she nodded and said, "I guess so. If you don’t learn stuff here, how do you take it overseas?".
Pippa is vibrant, funny, and easy to relate to. When sitting with her, you can see how the school couldn’t help but fall in love with her. Her answer to the question, "what are some highlights of the job?" just sums her right up. "I love cracking a kid!" she laughs. To me, I think of a poor little egg, being cracked on its head, but what Pippa is doing at Pittwater High, is really kind of similar. She sees kids who are so tough, too cool, who won’t be caught dead smiling in class. And then one day, they’ll smile, or laugh, and she knows she’s starting to crack them.
When I asked if it was hard being a woman in her role at school, she says that yes there are challenges, but that it’s actually harder for the men. Women are seen as nurturers, they are able to stop in the school hall and have a one on one chat, they are able to play punch a guy on the arm. But if a male is chatting one on one, or pats a girl’s shoulder, society frowns upon them. So for Pip, the PMS and mascara is a blessing in disguise!
So, what can we do to support our local missionary? She is so encouraged when strangers tell her that they have been praying for her ministry. She also says that although Pittwater Uniting Church is part of a trio of churches who fund her job, we are actually the lowest percentage in the financial pie. An important part of the job continuing is that the person who undertakes this crucial position is supported financially. She encourages people to volunteer their time to help with Scripture or lunchtime group, and that every term there is a prayer meeting where all the local churches are invited to participate.
Keep Pippa in your prayers over this summer break as she prepares to return to Pittwater High in 2009. Uphold her also as she embarks on a new journey as a woman of being wife to her man, James Robinson.
When I asked Pippa what her thoughts are on the Shimmer ministry at PUC, she said, "It’s the undercover women. I just love that they give a focus to the women without a title." Well Pip, here’s to you, our very own undercover woman. Keep on cracking those kids!
If you would like to contribute to Pippa's work at Pittwater High School contact Pittwater Uniting Church on (02) 9997 2386 or info@puc.org.au
