Although both born in England, Jay and Pat Miles met and fell in love with each other in their younger years in Toronto, Canada at a Bible camp.
They had both previously chosen to follow Jesus Christ and were baptised as young adults into the Christadelphian faith. They married with another four years in Canada before deciding to move to Australia with their sons, to be closer to all Pat’s siblings in Sydney. Pat and her family had originally moved to Sydney, Australia from the UK when Pat was only one year old.
During their time living in Sydney, Jay was on the board of Christadelphian Homes in Sydney during 1983-1992. Jay and Pat later moved up to Quirindi (near Tamworth) to enjoy the country life, while also running a cafe. During this time, Jay was given an opportunity as the CEO/Administrator at the local nursing and retirement home.
During a trip down to Adelaide to attend a wedding, Jay was approached to run the Christadelphian Nursing Home just being established, ‘Bethsalem’ in Happy Valley. Jay agreed and they moved to South Australia, where as the CEO, he helped to establish the facility over the next four years. Pat was also busy at Bethsalem, volunteering as Activity Coordinator as well as setting up the cafe. She also did the administration work for the Care Manager.
Jay finally retired in 2008. Jay and Pat decided to make the move to Queensland from Adelaide in 2018, lured by Pat’s three sisters Gayna, Rosemary and Jan who were all living here at Maranatha.
Jay and Pat said it has been a wonderful decision for this stage of their retired life and they enjoy the sense of friendship and community shared here at Maranatha Village.
Pat and Jay have always enjoyed helping others and feel compelled to express the love of Jesus through volunteering, so they both commenced as Maranatha volunteers in January 2019, shortly after settling into their unit in Banksia Court here in the Village.
Jay is a wonderful support with the Christadelphian religious services and daily Bible reading group. Pat, more recently, took on the knitting group support role each Tuesday afternoon together with her good friend Dell Shaw. Pat and Jay both offer residents pastoral care support.
We are grateful to have Jay and Pat with us on our volunteer team. They truly show the spirit of love, joy, kindness, goodness and gentleness as described in the Bible. Thanks Jay and Pat!
Find out more about Maranatha Village, and our volunteer program.
