Mark 10:45 – ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

“Service Learning” is a key component in the ideal of developing the ‘whole boy’ here at Newington. Role models who are passionate about serving others, play an important part in helping to instill the desire to serve within our community, including parents, fellow students and educators. One such source of inspiration, whom goes about his business with such little fuss, is Mr Reza Jalili-Baleh. Reza is the Infrastructure and Operations Team Leader here at Newington, who recently made three trips to Tonga to setup an E-Learning Center and install a state of the art wireless connection within Tupou College. His dedication and commitment to this task was driven by his desire to serve the Tongan community, which has not gone unnoticed.

The Tongan’s have a saying, in reference to there being no mountains in Tonga, which translates to “The Tongan mountain is within our own hearts.” This notion of giving one’s all resonated strongly in Reza’s heart, as he worked tirelessly day and night to complete the Tupou College E-Learning Center in time for its inaugural official opening, as part of Tupou College’s recent Sesquicentenary celebration. I was privy to Reza’s dedication, as I shared a room with him during the recent Tongan tour. He went without sleep several nights in his drive to complete what he was sent to do, never giving up and working until the job was completed, doing so with humility and honour, powering through the nights to ensure the task was brought to completion.

Reza has created a blog that documents his entire ‘Tupou College E-Learning Center’ experience, which I strongly encourage you to take the time to read.

In this blog, he provides insight into the personal satisfaction that has come from using his gifts to serve others, whilst highlighting the final hours leading up to the E-Learning Center being officially opened by His Majesty the King Tupou VI of Tonga. He writes… ‘I mustered a few boys who were willing to skip breakfast, at least for a few hours, and assist with the final cleanup and setup of the computers, before being presented to the Tongan community and more importantly the Royal Family. Only for there to be a power outage during the opening speeches, which caused all the computers to turn off, forcing a rushed run back inside after being signaled to turn the computers back on, sign them all in, and present the special screen saver that had been set up for Toloa. This became a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, as I was able to meet the King, and show a number of photos on the screen saver to the Queen, and the Queen mother…’

Well done Mr Reza Jalili-Baleh, and thank you for being a great role model to our entire Newington Community. You have gone ‘above and beyond’ in your service to Tupou College and the Tongan community.

Just like Reza, we can all play our part in using our gifts to make a difference in this world.

Rev Geordie Barham
College Chaplain