i) In my community I am a part of a youth group in the local church and every fall and spring there is a retreat for Juniors and Seniors at the public high schools of all religions to come together and discuss real issues in our community that are affecting us. You can only go on it once and the only reason that so many Juniors go on the retreat is because they hear from the rising Seniors how great of a time they had on the retreat. This is because the chosen Senior leaders on the Kairos will be so honest in talking about their own problems first that it builds a continual air of trust that lasts the whole retreat. It is through their actions that they lead, as it is that actions speak louder than words.
ii) My leader was Pat. Pat was a great leader because through tough topics he kept the air light by cracking jokes and keeping everyone at ease. In addition he shared deeply personal stories about his father which allowed a lot of people to open up about problems with their parents. This was very important because he initiated trust in our small group that allowed for many other kids to open up about their own problems. He also knew when to sit back and listen, and a good leader knows when their time is to speak and when to sit back and listen.
iii) My leader definitely faced many difficult situations because there were many horrible things that people shared that scared him, but because he was a leader he had to give off the air that he was understanding and not so taken aback. He had to keep calm in very difficult situations, or at least put up a brave face for us who depended on him. In addition he had to make sure that we had a balance of both light and heavy topics so we weren’t too depressed but yet still had the realizations that made the retreat worthwhile.
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