When Kerry thinks back to her own childhood, she smiles at the memory of sitting cross-legged on the floor, wide-eyed, listening to stories about Jesus.
“I grew up in a non-Christian family,” Kerry says. “But my parents still sent me to Sunday School and SRE classes. Those were the places where seeds of faith were planted in me.”
It was in those small, faithful settings: a Sunday School hall, a public school classroom, where Kerry first heard the news of a God who loved her. A God who forgave. A God who invited her, just as she was, into his family.
Today, Kerry lives in Cowra, a regional town in Central West NSW. After a career in education as a teacher and later a relieving principal, Kerry is now the SRE Coordinator for the region, overseeing a team of around ten volunteers who teach over 250 students across six different schools.
“I honestly believe SRE is one of the most significant ways we reach kids and families with the gospel today,” Kerry says. “Especially in a place like Cowra, where church isn’t always on people’s radar.”
For Kerry, teaching SRE isn’t about handing down religious facts. It’s about creating a space where children can question, explore, and ultimately discover Jesus for themselves.
“I love it when a child asks, ‘Is God real?’ or, ‘Did Jesus really rise from the dead?’” Kerry shares. “Those questions are golden. It means they’re thinking. They’re wondering. And that’s where God often does his work.”
Each week in SRE classrooms across Cowra, stories are told, discussions are opened, and hearts are quietly stirred. Some children have never heard of Jesus before. Others come with fragments of understanding, ready to piece together the bigger picture of God’s love.
But the work isn’t always easy.
“After COVID, we lost a lot of teachers. Some of our team had to step back for health or family reasons, and we were left with huge gaps to fill,” Kerry says. “There were moments I thought, ‘How are we going to keep this going?’”
That’s where help from PYNSW came in, and continues to. Through training, resources, encouragement, and practical support, PYNSW has helped Kerry and her team not just survive but rebuild.
“We’re so thankful for PYNSW,” Kerry says. “They equip us with solid training, with curriculums that are faithful and engaging, and with a sense that we’re part of something bigger. We’re not doing this alone.”
Kerry’s team is growing again slowly, steadily, one new volunteer at a time. New teachers are being trained. New relationships with schools are being built. And every week, more and more little lives are hearing the call of Jesus: “Let the little children come to me…” (Matthew 19:14, NIV).
Kerry has seen first-hand the difference it makes.
“I’ll never forget one little boy,” she shares. “He came from a really hard background. His behaviour was challenging, but you could see he was hungry to know more. One day, after months of lessons, he said to me, ‘I believe in God now.’ It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t emotional. It was simple, honest faith.”
Moments like that keep Kerry going, even when the road feels long.
“It reminds me: it’s not about me. It’s about faithfully opening God’s Word, letting the kids question, explore, and discover who Jesus is. And then trusting that God will grow the seeds in his time.”
As Kerry looks to the future, she dreams of more SRE teachers stepping forward, people who will say “yes” to the call to share Jesus with children in public schools.
“I would love to see every classroom filled with teachers who love to share about Jesus with kids,” she says. “Because every child deserves the chance to hear about him.”
This year’s PYNSW EOFY appeal, ‘Let the Little Children Come’, is about making that vision a reality. Every dollar you give helps recruit, train, and support more teachers like Kerry. It helps keep SRE strong in towns like Cowra where children are ready to listen, explore, and discover Jesus for themselves.
“If it wasn’t for SRE,” Kerry says simply, “I wouldn’t be here today. And neither would so many others.”