Providing prayer

CHAPLAIN Haydn Swinbourn flew to Bali on Sunday night to minister and offer what comfort he could to those involved in the bomb blasts, their families and friends.

Chap Swinbourn said the thing that struck him most when he first arrived at the airport was the level of calm that existed.

“The wounds we saw were quite horrific but people were ordered, calm and professional.”

“When we arrived at the airport we found a triage arrangement set up in one of the garage areas, with some ropes put up to hold drips and divide the area,” he said.

“RAAF Chaplain Ian Whitley and I spoke to people who wanted to talk and got involved with holding bottles of blood and saline bags and the like.”

They went to the morgue at Bali’s main hospital, where a chaplain remained for the rest of the week to be with families, go with them to view bodies and to talk with them about their responses.

“We were also involved in the family registration and counselling centre set up for people to fill in AFP identification forms for missing relatives and to collect DNA samples for identification.

“Our job was to act in support of families doing the not-too-pleasant task of describing their missing relatives.

“It was a privilege to be a part of the operation – being part of a team that made a difference on the ground felt very special.

“The chaplains were sought out by just about everybody – being able to provide pastoral care, spiritual strengthening and a sense of God’s presence in the midst of such tragedy was something I’ll always remember.”

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