Volunteer to listen to people

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Listen.One exists because of three reasons; we believe we are made to love everyone, we believe in the Holy Spirit to guide us and we believe that Jesus can impact anyone’s life anywhere at anytime.

The challenge for us is to love our neighbors - all our neighbors! How are we to love those who aren’t easy to love when our normal routines of life create comfort zones that keep us from meeting others? We believe that to start actively loving our neighbors starts with getting to know who they are.

We are recruiting volunteers to sign up to listen to someone on the phone or in person at a coffee shop. Every volunteer’s contact information will be kept confidential. Volunteers are giving user accounts to our online telephone and text messaging application to communicate with people who would like to talk.

We are looking for caring and compassionate people who are genuinely curious about others and love to listen. We have a strict no advice and no judging policy.

Our guidelines for our Volunteer Listeners

1. Before your meeting, pray that the Holy Spirit guides you and helps you to be mentally present and that the meeting will be peaceful, non-judgmental and encouraging.
2. Before your meeting, decide on how long to meet and stick to it. Usually 30-60 minutes. You can always decide together to stay longer but respecting everyone’s time is a must.
3. Respect - Face the sharer. Turn off your cell phone’s ringer. Try to sit with the least distractions behind the sharer - be early to pick your seat. Be comfortable, have fun. Don’t jump into their talk with your opinions or your experiences. Don’t be distracted by your surroundings. Show this person that they are the most important person in your life at this moment. You have scheduled time with them - value and respect it. No preaching, no condemning, no judging, no advice.
4. Acknowledge - While the person is talking make sure you are showing appreciation for what they are saying by making a few small nods and little noises like "OK", "hmm" and "Oh". Use your imagination to put yourself in their shoes - not with your history but with theirs. Don’t think about how you would do things better or how you are going to offer a solution.
5. Be curious!
• Ask specific clarifying questions around - Who? What? When? Where? You can also clarify what they said by simply asking "Are you saying that...? Restate what you hear.
• Get to know more about them: "Were you afraid?" "How did this change things for you?" "How did you deal with that?"

Listen.One is a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is currently focusing our efforts in the Phoenix metropolitan area. We are fully funded by Christian business owners who have a curiosity and love for everyone. Please visit our website to learn more about us. https://listen.one