The 9th beatitude – a useful lesson to learn

 

I’ve just completed delivery of a 2-day workshop on 360Life materials with a small group of prison chaplains who comprise 60% of the Good News Global Kenya team. The other 40% of the team were too far flung in Kenya to be able to make it to Nairobi unfortunately.

The training went very well overall, and we achieved the intended outcomes. Today they each had to give a presentation on part of the materials, to demonstrate their depth of understanding, and those went very well. It was really encouraging to see how they were inputting to each other’s presentations, and asking questions just to push each other a little more on showing the practical relevance of the information.

There were some good conversations throughout the training regarding the application of the materials into the Kenyan prison context. Having spent the earlier part of this week discussing with the Rwandan folks about the materials in the context of working with genocide perpetrators, here in Kenya the conversation revolved around the three categories of crimes that are most evident in the Kenyan prisons, namely civil, criminal, and political.

It was so good to hear how the chaplains could see the many ways in which the materials have the potential to change things for the better, both for the prisoners and for the prison officers. Through taking a trauma-informed approach, and gaining a better understanding of the functioning of the brain, and the impact of trauma on the brain, the chaplains cited many examples of how they could see improvements being achieved. Relationships between inmates, relationships between inmates and officers, mental health support, trauma counselling……. I felt so humbled to hear the enthusiasm and energy from the chaplains as they discussed the practical applications of it all.

But alongside all of this there was an important lesson for me to be reminded of. And that relates to the title of this blog.

The training was supposed to start at 9am on both days – yesterday one person arrived at 9am, the next at 10am, the next at 1045am, and the last at 1230. As one from a time-focused culture, it is an understatement to say that I found the late arrivals a tad frustrating! When they each did arrive, their reason for being delayed was very justified, but I didn’t know those reasons until they arrived, and so in the meantime I was not the most laidback individual. I tried to put the waiting time to good use, but it’s hard to settle to anything when you just don’t know when the next person will arrive. It was definitely a bit of a test of my desire to be in control.

Messaging a friend later on about a few things, it came up about the time-keeping issue. He identified with the challenge that it can be, and shared with me the ‘9^th Beatitude’ that a Malawian friend had given to him during a similar time of frustration: ‘Blessed are the flexible for they shall not break’.

What wise words – and so very true. Flexibility over timing and plans makes such a difference, as I keep finding out. If only I’d been more flexible yesterday – my blood pressure would definitely have stayed a bit lower, and maybe I could have used that first bit of time productively rather than getting bothered about what wasn’t being achieved.

Hey ho! The training went well, the goals were accomplished, and there was plenty of laughter and conversation along the way, as well as good learning. For the participants, the learning was about 360Life, for me the learning was the 9^th Beatitude – may that be a lesson that I remember, and put into practice, for a long time to come.

 

 

Teaching into a programme for reconciliation and reintegration of genocide perpetrators

 

Today was the final day in Rwanda, and the final day of the 360Life training that I’ve been giving to a group comprising prison chaplains and outreach workers for children living on the streets of Kigali.

As I’ve said before, I love delivering the training and hearing from the participants about the varied ways in which they can see it positively impacting them personally, as well as speaking into their family life, their relationships, and their ministries. So, it’s partly about how they implement their new knowledge into bringing about change and healing in their own lives, and partly about how they use the knowledge to help bring about change and healing in the lives of those they are supporting and ministering to.

The training today mainly consisted of the participants working in pairs to develop and deliver presentations on aspects of the 360Life materials, in a way that would be suitable for the beneficiaries that they work with. For example, one group related it to their work with the children living on the streets, one group delivered it as they would to a group of prison inmates, and another group delivered it as they would to a team of prison officers.

The presentations were fab, and it felt so satisfying and fulfilling to see just how much they had taken the info on board, thought it through, and applied it to their ministry. It was also really insightful to be part of conversations reflecting on how the teaching can play a part in reviewing and updating programmes to prepare genocide perpetrators to be released from prison and move back to the community. This is a process of reconciliation that is still going on, 30 years after the horrific genocide of 1994, and church leaders and prison chaplains are often called on by the prison service to help with preparing both perpetrators and victims. Listening to the prison chaplains today, it was evident that processes of reintegration and reconciliation have not always gone well in the past, and the search for a better way is ongoing. I’m not saying that what I’ve been sharing is the magic bullet, but what was clear was that the chaplains felt more informed and prepared to be able to support those perpetrators and victims better in the future.

If, as a result of this training, even one process of reconciliation and reintegration goes better, then the development of the materials has been time well spent. I’m not interested in creating a big global brand or anything like that with these materials – although if that’s part of God’s plan for it then I’m happy to comply. But if the materials can help to bring about identity, healing, wellbeing and hope for those who have experienced trauma, then that’s a prayer answered. Today, I got another glimpse of how that might be come to be – thank you God for that glimpse.

 

A good start to the training workshop

 

Today was day one of a 3-day workshop delivering the 360Life materials to a group of staff and volunteers who work for GNPDR, the CRED Partner based here in Rwanda. The aim of the training is to train the participants up so that they can deliver the materials themselves and get the knowledge out more widely and in the local language, in a way that I just don’t have the capacity or resources to do.

Of those involved in the training, 2 deliver the street kids programme, 3 are prison chaplains, 2 deliver mental health training, and 3 are church leaders who give voluntary additional support to the prison chaplaincy programme. Topics that we looked at today included a simple overview understanding of how the brain works, and how some key different parts of the brain interact with each other, influence each other, and have a bearing on decision making, problem solving, behaviour, learning and interpersonal skills. We also looked at the effects of trauma on the brain, including childhood trauma; the links between trauma and mental health; and ways in which individuals will approach tasks in different ways due to the unique ways in which they are wired (and not because they are just trying to be annoying by not doing things the same way as us).

It was a great day, and the participants really got stuck in with the conversations, practical applications, and reflective times. It was during some of those reflective times that I was humbled by the implications of just how important the participants saw this training to be, and the potential that they saw for it to transform lives.

One participant spoke of a troubled young person that they were trying to support who had been rejected by the rest of the family, after months of deteriorating relationship between parents and the young person. The backstory of this young person included all manner of dysfunctional and or absent support from the parents and had now reached the stage whereby the young person had left home, been caught doing drugs, sleeping around, and generally making life choices that were perhaps not the wisest options. Until today, the participant said that she had run out of ideas on how to try and help or even understand the young person, and just didn’t know where to start in trying to make any progress with her. But today, as we looked at childhood trauma and the impact it can have on the brain, things started to become clearer. The participant spoke of being able to see the situation of the young person in a new way that made sense when set against the context of her past, and she started to determine some strategies for what to try next to help the young person.

Another participant, who has done the training before and so is doing it this time as a refresher, testified to how the course opened up his mind to new ways to understand people, and why they are the way they are, including his wife! He also spoke about the troubles from his past as a result of parents addicted to alcohol, and the trauma he had experienced as the oldest sibling trying to care for them. The 360Life materials had given him a new perspective through which to view various parts of his history and the influence of his history on his current life; and also a lens through which to better understand some of the behaviours shown by his younger siblings.

More reflections were shared about how the knowledge being gained will help to engage with the various service users of GNPDR programmes: prison inmates, street kids, families of the prisoners, prison staff. And how the knowledge will better equip the GNPDR staff and volunteers to have a trauma-informed approach to their ministry rather than being problem-focussed in their approach.

I always love giving this training, as it is always so well received and seems to very much fill a gap in the knowledge of those who are seeking to provide really valuable and much-needed services and support to extremely broken, vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society. Today was no different.

As I spend time trying to discern what my main foci are going to be in this new post-doctoral phase of my life, I am getting a strong sense through the conversations and the feedback from others, that 360Life is there to stay. I’m certainly not ready to turn my back on it, or on the people who are so passionate about finding ways to get the knowledge out into their nations.