Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now? Matt Low

Matt Low 2001-2002

Matt Low, “never went to Youthworks College to become a youth minister.” He had a lot of fun at high school and didn’t know what to do next. For Matt, College was a place for him to grow in his faith with other Christians and a pathway to higher education. 

After College, Matt went on to become a teacher, and he is passionate about his vocation.  

After finishing a teaching degree, he joined the staff at Shellharbour Anglican College. He has been there for 17 years and is now the junior school coordinator of pastoral care.

“There have been times when I have had opportunities to do other ministries”, Matt says, “But I was really torn. The harvest field here is huge. I’ve got daily opportunities to share the gospel.”

The school where Matt works is a private Anglican school, but only 5-10% of the school families are Christian. The school’s goal is to serve the community around them and families from all different kinds of backgrounds.

A key lesson that Matt has learnt over the years has been to invest in training student leaders. Matt ran the Cru group in the junior school of around 20 kids, “When we had student leaders run the group instead of us, they prepared so thoroughly, they did the Bible talk, even at the young age of 12! We realised we needed to invest more, pray with the leaders, and train them.” Because of the student leaders, this group grew to around 50-60 kids.

The Cru ministry has been a real encouragement to Matt, “On many occasions I have seen kids make commitments or owned their faith for the first time.”  

Matt believes that his ministry is not just assisting the Cru group, but also in the classroom and with families. “When I teach in the classroom, I bring Jesus into that. I talk about forgiveness. I tell them: ‘God forgave me and I’m just as much a sinner as anybody.’”

“Parents often come to us for wisdom. We have evening information sessions on how to be parents and we talk about faith as well. During Covid especially, there was so much anxiety, mental health issues, parents don’t always know what to do. I try and call parents who are struggling, and I am there because of Jesus.”

Matt is so glad that he went to Youthworks College before becoming a teacher and is excited about the Youthworks College Centre for Christian Education https://www.youthworkscollege.edu.au/christianteachers .

“I am so grateful for the theology stuff that I did, it was a great foundation. I use that all the time. I think that doing some theology before you do your teaching degree is great, because when you start teaching, you really get snowed under. Youthworks College prepared me brilliantly to be a Christian teacher.”

Prayer points:

-        For daily opportunities at Shellharbour Anglican.

-        For Christian staff in schools: that they will receive the support they need.  That they would be committed, gospel hearted and prayerful.

-        That God would raise up more Christian teachers for state and independent schools.