Karlie Brake adores her pet rabbits, works hard at her job, and loves the Lord. Although the 27-year-old administration assistant was born with Down Syndrome, a chromosome condition, this has not stopped her living a life full of joy and delight.

She attends St Barnabas’, Ingleburn with her family, where she enjoys listening to the Bible teaching, greeting parishioners and serving morning tea.

“It’s pretty good, the people are friendly,” Karlie says. “I like going to morning church better, because I don’t miss my favourite shows.” Her favourite show at the time of our chat is I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, which airs Sunday evenings.

"We pray for work, for the contestants on I'm a Celebrity"

“When I’m on the door with Mum, we say ‘Hello’ to people and hand out the sheets. I say ‘Hi’ to everyone who comes to church. For morning tea, we take biscuits, fruit, dip and chips. Marshmallows are my favourite.”

Karlie first understood the gospel in primary school

When she’s not at church, Karlie’s life is quite full. She does zumba twice a week, works part time and attends a weekly program for people with intellectual disabilities where they cook, do craft and exercise together. Her family describe her as warm and thoughtful with a sassy sense of humour.

She is known for always having a cup of tea ready at the right moment, diligently attending to her duties, being a great gift giver and affectionately caring for rabbits Hamish and Jack. “Hamish is mine, he is a mix of colours,” she says. “He’s good at cuddling and he watches TV [with me].”

"I like reading the Bible with Mum"

Karlie first understood the gospel when she was in primary school. Her teacher showed the Jesus film, which brought her to tears. “[My favourite thing about Jesus] is that he died for our sins on the cross,” she says. She also likes the story of Moses, “because he brought the Israelites out of Egypt. God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites went through, and then God…” She mimics the sea crashing down with her hands.

“I like reading the Bible with Mum,” she says. “We’ve been doing devotions every night. Last night we read Psalm 139 about God creating us. We pray for work, for the contestants on I’m a Celebrity, for my sister travelling to uni, and for Grandpa, that he’d be saved.”