Relationships, Prayer, Ping Pong for Peace Day

A workshop on relationships, an island prayer and a Hawai’i Peace Ping Pong Tournament are being held this weekend to help promote a culture of peace.

The Kona-based Pacific Rim Educational Foundation is sponsoring the three activities on two days in conjunction with the annual United Nations International Day of Peace on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The ping pong tournament will be held 5-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at Kona Outdoor Circle, 76-6280 Kuakini Highway. Players aged 18 and older are invited for friendly competition and fellowship followed by a light buffet dinner, entertainment and brief talk on peace. The tournament fee is $5 and cash prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners. RSVP to prefpeace@gmail.com or phone 326-2344.

“Embracing Our Most Challenging Relationships Workshop by Andrea Pro, will be held 10 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21 with a light lunch to follow at Hawaii Queen Coffee Gardens, 75-1048 Henry St. Donations accepted. RSVP to wfwp.kona@gmail.com or phone 808-315-1893.

Pro said the mini-session explores what keeps people from engaging wholeheartedly in relationships and the art of showing empathy and honesty with others. Pro, of Pathways to Compassion, has been offering workshops based on nonviolent communication in Kona for seven years.

View the PREF Facebook page for the third activity, “A Prayer for Our Island.”

“We encourage people to offer this prayer,” said Farley Jones, president of PREF, in a release. “First for yourself and then for another whom you care about. Then offer it for the people of our island so that, starting with individuals, an island of peace, a culture of peace and a world of peace might emerge.”

PREF was formed in July, 2001 with the broad purpose of contributing to peace and healing within the human family,according to its web site. Visit www.prefpeace.org.