Trauma Healing in Creative Access Areas
By LeCrecia M. Ali
Persecution is an everyday occurrence for many Nazarenes in Africa. In our context, persecution is the hostility or ill-treatment of an individual because of their faith in Jesus. Persecution can be “white” or “red”. White persecution is any mistreatment against a follower of Jesus (loss of employment, loss of children and marriage, etc.). Red persecution is any action against a follower of Jesus that results in the spilling of their blood (beating, torture, death).
With persecution comes lasting and sometimes debilitating trauma. Unprocessed trauma can cause physical, emotional, and psychological problems. Addiction and mental health issues often result from unhealed trauma.
To help followers of Jesus process their trauma, we held several trauma healing sessions in creative access areas where persecution is the norm. These sessions, lasting up to a week, take a group of followers of Jesus through the process of identifying and dealing with traumatic events and situations in their lives.
While most of the attendees are adults, the most recent trauma healing session included the minor children of a martyr. All the attendees testified that the trauma healing was beneficial to them. We pray that we can continue conducting trauma healings to strengthen our creative access Nazarenes in their faith. Pray with us for continued trauma healing sessions and for our brothers and sisters facing daily persecution for choosing to follow Jesus Christ.
