Flourishing Relationships: communication

Continuing the conversation

On Saturday August 22nd, 15 couples came together for the second part of our Flourishing Relationships workshop series, following on from our first workshop in May.

The day began at midday, with our participants arriving to enjoy finger food lunch and refreshments as they checked in. Our team created a beautiful atmosphere with spring-themed decor, and a long banquet-style table set up for our catered dinner.

The focus of Part Two was communication, with couples exploring how they communicate, what happens when conflict arises, and how understanding their own patterns can help them respond differently.

One of the most memorable parts of the day was a conflict styles survey. Each person completed a questionnaire to identify their own conflict style, then explored the strengths and weaknesses of that style and how it compared with their partner's. For many couples, this provided some really useful insights into why they respond differently when disagreements arise.

Our friend and psychologist Aaron Ironside from Bridge the Gap joined us to deliver one of the sessions, with Pris Moodley delivering the main content. Rox and Tu Pouwhare also shared their personal journey as a couple with the group - thank you whanau!

Two couples participated online, allowing them to take part in the teaching and exercises despite being unable to attend in person for the whole day. One couple had a young baby who needed to stay at home, so they joined online, worked through the exercises together and then came along in person for dinner. A massive thank you to Aidan and our techy volunteer heroes for making this possible!

The day finished around the dinner table, with a delicious shared meal and plenty of opportunity for people to continue talking and connecting.

To top it all off, four couples stood up and shared about their own relationship journeys, and what they got out of the day, which was received with many tears and much laughter. We were so encouraged to hear these powerful stories.

We are so thankful to everyone who helped make this day possible - our amazing team of volunteers (Melissa, Angel, Neri, Mark, Aidan, plus Lucy and Margaret), our speakers (Pris, Len, Rox & Tu, Aaron), our beautiful participants and our generous funders (a massive thank you to Manurewa Local Board).

Special thanks to our beautiful Pris, who spent hours, days and weeks designing and preparing the content for this workshop. We love and appreciate you, Pris!

Feedback from participants, in answer to “What did you enjoy about Flourishing Relationships”?

“I really enjoyed learning about each others conflict styles”

“Getting to understand myself first then my partner”

“Knowing that we are not alone and confirmation that if we put God in the centre of all our decisions big or small he will communicate if our hearts are open to it. I loved discovering our conflict styles as well, a very helpful session”

“Finding different ways of communication with each other”

“I loved the speakers and their presentations. They did not make it boring and it was very enjoyable because they had examples that we could resonate with.”

“All of it. The guest speaker was also great.”

“Nga mihi whanau. I loved the tools and bringing our past trauma but also giving it to god and letting him deal with it”

“Understanding the different conflict styles which helped me to understand why my partner often got frustrated with me.”

“I am so appreciative that we were invited to attend, this was definitely a God moment, where we are living with Faith in action. Love this programme and the blessings of the team, showing: The joy of the LORD is our strength. Its great to be around REAL people with movements towards restoration. God bless you all.”

“Really enjoyed myself. Truly Grateful to be apart of the programme.”