As part of INTeRo ministry, Youth for Christ Croatia has been invited by the principal of a dorm to provide basic training in compassionate communication for teachers and staff, whose job is to care for high school students who live in Rijeka. The students live at the school for several years while attending as they don’t have such a school in their hometowns. Youth for Christ staff have spent two Saturdays with the faculty, practicing the basic techniques of compassionate communication, based on Marshall Rosenberg‘s method.
During two Saturdays, we had the opportunity to learn and practice the techniques of compassionate communication in workshops held by Mihael Sečen, coach for nonviolent communication and his assistant Melanie Ivančević. With a dynamic and interesting approach, they have presented our pedagogues and staff with the basics in nonviolent communication. This form of communication enables us in transforming the way of how we say things and hear others. It helps us solve conflicts by becoming aware of what we observe, feel, need and request. Our pedagogues, who daily cope with different challenges as they work with young people, had the opportunity to give and receive empathy. From the participants’ evaluation we can conclude that this education was useful and successful, since their expectations they expressed before the workshop were fulfilled.
Youth for Christ in Croatia is also requesting prayer for the following:
- Two other compassionate communication workshops planned in Zagreb and Rijeka – please pray that they happen. It seems it has become a real challenge to gather participants in this time of crisis as these types of education serve for personal edification rather than covering some basic life needs, which makes it hard for people to invest their time and some money into this direction
- ZaŠto?! – This is a youth worship service where staff wish to connect Christ’s example of meeting people’s needs and motivate young people in Rijeka to join existing programs in the city, helping their fellow citizens in need, addressing homelessness and poverty.
- Stations of the Cross – an interactive prayer path in 14 stations of Jesus’ act of salvation