Training
a New Generation of Student
Volunteer Leaders in Europe
.
Personal
Reflection by Marta
Ćwierz
UCO Kraków
It
was a great opportunity for
me to participate in the
Student Volunteer Leaders
Training. The various
conference sessions and
activities helped us to
better learn how to be good
and effective leaders in our
communities. There was a lot
of time to build
relationships and get to
know each other better,
especially during our
international cluster group
sessions and during our free
time while playing games. I
also got to improve my
English speaking with lots
of people and I learned
about their cultures, and
their attitude and
experience with service in
their communities and
outreaches. We were able to
make new friendships
and we also learned how to
better work together as a
team.
Most of sessions
which focused on
effective leadership
topics were new to me.
They gave me
inspiration and wisdom for
my service in UCO. The
session that influence me
most was the presentation
on Call and Vision. It
helped me to see how to
respond to God when
He calls us in mission.
The presentations gave me
insights in how to build
and serve in a community
with the Lord and by
staying connected with
him. The words I
will most remember are:
“Either nothing depends on
us or everything depends
on us. It is important to
trust God and to let Him
provide for us in our
service.”
To sum up,
this whole week has
helped me to change
my attitude towards my
service and to realize
that this task is a
responsibility given to me
by God. I now feel better
prepared for my service.
Personal
Reflection by Andrew Warwick
UCO Belfast
Just to set the
scene for you...
From the Mullartown House
retreat center we had a beautiful
view of the purple heather on
the "monumental Mourns" as they are
called by the local Northern Irish
or the "glorified hills" if you’re
from anywhere else. This scene was
followed by lush green pastures full
of various breeds of sheep and
cattle. I shall show self-restraint
and not go into great detail on
every breed. These pastures
ended at the lapping waves of the
cold, grey, Irish sea.
Quite a fine location which I would
say ticked all the boxes of Dom
Perem’s talk to us on
“Planning and analysing a student
event” - otherwise known as (his
words not mine) “how not to look
like an idiot at your own event.” I
also learnt (in jest) that the most
awesome location for any event would
be a space ship. This may prove too
difficult because, as far as I’m
aware no one in our UCO circles is a
close mate ("friend") with Richard
Branson.
Every session was "brilliant" (or
"excellent" in other parts). I came
out of each talk bursting with
excitement and adrenaline and with a
notebook full of ideas. I would look
at the notebook half an hour after
the session - once the effects of
the adrenaline had worn off -
and then I’m beginning to think, “oh
no! These ideas seem like quite a
lot of work to implement.”
The highlight and most powerful part
of the week for me were the prayer
sessions we had together -
they were amazing!
Personal Reflection by
Asia Mrowiec
UCO Kraków
This was my
first trip to a SVLT
session, so everything
here was new to me. I most
enjoyed meeting people
from different countries -
especially since we all
came together for one
purpose. God was our bond
and it was through Him
that I experienced
everyone as my friend.
Despite the fact that we
all came from different
cultures, places, and
backgrounds, we were able
to draw closer to each
other as brothers and
sisters than I imagined
possible.
Through our
common times of prayer, in
our sharing groups, and in
our conference sessions we
were able to express ours
views and concerns, and to
teach and encourage one
another. I most liked our
common prayer times -
especially singing songs
of praise and worship
together, sharing God's
word with one another, and
growing in deeper
closeness with God and in
deeper unity together.
The
conference sessions
offered a variety of
interesting topics and
good teaching content. The
presentations that most
caught my attention were
the session on handling
conflict and the session
on growth through
'Planting'. Despite the
fact that we covered so
many different topics over
the course of the week, it
became clear how they
formed together a coherent
whole. For example,
learning how to solve
conflicts in our personal
relationships and in our
relationships in community
increases our growth in
mutual respect, tolerance,
and strength in
evangelization. Learning
how to effectively deal
with conflicts, can help
us to learn to listen to
others first, to better
understand their thoughts,
needs, and concerns before
we express our opinions.
We are a
community of people called
together by God. We are like
a tree with many branches
and shoots - so we must take
back to our home community
and plant the roots of this
tree there. And we must
nurture these roots if we
want to see our tree grow
and bloom. The light for
this growth comes from God,
and the water he supplies is
his word of wisdom and
knowledge. If we remain
rooted together in God, then
our life in community can
grow and bear fruit.
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a New
Generation of
Kairos Student
Volunteer
Leaders in
Europe
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