Beginning to build relationships

Wednesday dawned bright and clear and, after the shenanigans of yesterday, this felt like a sign of a proper new start to our chaplaincy presence - and it turned out to be so.
Our daily pattern in the Oasis of Silence is that it is open from 8am to 10pm, with a short devotional period scheduled at both 8:30am and 8:30pm - although this can be altered timewise and/or repeated if people drop in at other times. Linked to this, we have advertised that at least one chaplain will be present from 8-10am and 8-10pm each day. Inbetweentimes, there will be someone present as often as possible, either our admin assistant or one of the chaplains, although we need to be out and about as much as possible too.
After our presence in the Oasis first thing this morning, we headed off to a meeting of officials (referees, touch judges, etc) to introduce the tournament chaplaincy. They're based in a nearby hotel, as it's not wise for them to be in the same accommodation as players. We had hoped to have an Oasis of Silence there too, but this hasn't proved possible as no 'extra' room was able to be made available. They were pleased to hear about our role though, and that we're here for them as well as everyone else.
Another task for today was to make contact with each squad's 'Team Liaison Officer' (TLO). These are volunteers (like us!) who are the main link between their respective squad and the organisers and structure of the tournament. I'll talk more about their role in a later post, but the main reason for contacting them today was to ask for a short meeting with the Team Manager to explain the chaplaincy and offer any specific support, facilities or resources that they may want. We also wanted to tell them about our change of venue! Although all chaplains are there for everyone, we've aimed to provide a more personal service by linking chaplains specifically with each of the 3 tournament pools (each containing 4 of the 12 competing teams). As lead chaplain for one of the pools, I telephoned each TLO and was pleased when a meeting with one Team Manager was quickly arranged for early afternoon - she even came to the Oasis for the meeting rather than me going to her as I'd expected to. Further positive contact was affirmed when she invited me to meet with the squad, and introduce myself just before their team meeting later this afternoon.
Having done this, it was great this evening when a number of the girls shouted "Hi Mary" as they passed me on their way back from their meal - relationships starting to be formed which hopefully can be built upon as the tournament goes on.