Connection
This is probably the one thing that has been missing for most of us during this past year due to the pandemic. I am single and live alone. Most of my family members live in the next state about 45 minutes away. Since March that short distance has felt much wider as it has been very difficult to visit with them. I retired from my full time job at the end of December 2019. I had so many plans to travel and make connections with people that I have not seen in a very long time. Sigh! I know you can identify with my situation. Most of us feel the disconnection in one way or another.
What do I mean by connecting?
It’s being with someone who “gets” me. It’s being with someone who listens and holds space for me. It’s being with someone who withholds judgment and does not feel the need to fix me. It’s knowing I am loved for who I am and not what I have done or accomplished.
Sigh! Isn’t that what we all want?
Isn’t that what our clients want? (Even if they don’t realize they want it?)
Are your volunteers equipped with the tools to create the safety and trust necessary to invite their clients to connection?
I hope so.
I have developed a power point that explains the concept of connecting to volunteers in your training program. The Equipped to Serve Seven Fundamentals must be taught but then you must show them HOW to USE those skills when interacting with clients. It is these fundamentals, used skillfully, that will offer a client the opportunity to connect by being open with their volunteer and vulnerable to their own hearts and deep desires.
Connecting requires the cooperation of someone else . . .
which makes it a DESIRE. What kind of prayers can volunteers be engaged in to help them create an atmosphere that would foster client authenticity, honesty and openness? I offer one below:
“Dear Lord Jesus, I offer up my time with clients today to you. I cannot do this without the power of your Holy Spirit. Help me to listen deeply, love extravagantly, and be radically empathetic. Enable me to hold my thoughts captive and withhold judgment. Help me to see your image in every person I interact with today. With your help I intend to speak the truth in love and minister without manipulation. I pray that the eyes of my clients’ hearts would be opened to how much they are loved by you. Today, may my words, meditations and actions be acceptable to you Jesus.” Amen
I hope you take a minute to look at the connecting power point I have created.
You are free to download and use it in your training. It is animated but you can supply the audio to explain the process. The first slide is based on the client stories outlined in The Client introduction in the Equipped to Serve volunteer training manual. You must have the Power Point software on your computer to view this.
The isolation of this past year has given me a new perspective on the concept of connecting, with my own friends and family as well as others going through a crisis. I now see with new eyes because I have had my own experience of isolation, sadness, disconnection, and loneliness.
Creating an environment that would invite someone to choose connection might be the greatest thing we can do for them.
It is a holy endeavor that changes both parties.