YAY!
“YAY!” by asking for a young person’s help.
“YAY!” in as many ways as you can!
Leadership Training
by newpeermin
YAY!
“YAY!” in as many ways as you can!
by newpeermin
So what? Now what?
by newpeermin
FACE TO FACE
HEART TO HEART
Jesus sat with the women beside the well and offered living water. (John 4:1-26) For her that day, living water may have been that someone was willing to know her story. It was not a pretty story, probably not one she talked about to anyone. Probably it was a story that got talked about behind her back. For her, living water is being understood. No hiding or pretending. She was able to be real, painfully real, but also found relief in being known, known by someone she could trust.
If Jesus sat down beside the well with you, what would he be able to understand more than anyone ever has?
If Jesus sat down with one of the teens or young adults who wrote one of the following clips, what would Jesus be able to understand that others don’t seem to?
(Quotes are written anonymously from real people.)
Hear the hunger to be understood? Hear the need for people who can be trusted? Hear the need for Peer Ministry Leadership?
Beside the well, imagine yourself taking the time to sit and understand, willing to listen, to offer people living water. Why? Because God understands and loves you. “We love, because Christ first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).
Maybe reading the clips above seems overwhelming? No need to take on the world! Empathy requires hearing and understanding. There is no need for take on all the negative feeling. That would be sympathy.
Listening to people is to learn about people. Therefore, listening will take a lifetime of continuous learning. You won’t just “get it” because of a listening session. Still, it is great place to begin. Welcome to the well!
by newpeermin
“Everyone has a story!” The young retreat participant expressed her Ah-Ha moment. Her discovery is a life changing shift! – a shift from a person being another speck in the nameless crowd, to a human worthy of being known; a person who shares humanity with the great joys and great sorrows that go with it.
“You cannot hate a person whose story you know.” – Margaret Wheatley
Sharing human stories bring people together, breaks down barriers, allows for differences, values uniqueness. Sharing story allows a person to see around the masks and appearance that we mistake as identity. Cliques break down. Cultures come together. Religious differences are understood.
“And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” (Mt. 18: 20 The Message) There is something holy when two people connect through caring enough to know the other. Some have described it as a bit mystical. Relationship is a faith practice. I was taught that a sacrament uses earthly elements, bread, wine, water – as a means of grace. Maybe relationship should have been named a sacrament also. People are certainly earthly forms and the power of God’s grace is never more real than when the conversation connections take us deeper.