This paper is not about the psalms but is entirely about the ‘windows’ of trauma and trauma healing that provide insights into the construction and meaning of the psalms as introduced in the section, ‘Window 4 – The experience of trauma and trauma healing,’ in the paper, ‘Introduction to Psalm Insights.’
The concepts of trauma and trauma healing have been developed in the last few decades as tools to help understanding of how sufferers cope with, overcome and survive the harm done by abuse, conflict and natural disasters and how they can be helped. And then: Surprise! Surprise! We discover the Bible was there first! In the lament psalms, in particular, are recorded the experiences of individuals and communities of God’s people who have been through bad experiences. As always, the Bible has much to teach us.
This paper describes my own journey of discovery, learning about trauma healing.
Experience in Africa
I first heard of trauma healing in 2007 when Margaret Hill one of our church mission partners asked for help from mature believers who could go to Sudan in north Africa to help in the new ministry of trauma healing using the workbook, Healing the Wounds of Trauma,[1] that she and her colleagues had developed. I was a medical practitioner so was familiar with trauma both physical and emotional and our church leaders thought I was a mature believer so I went with their blessing. And went back again, year after year, but only for 2 weeks at a time during my annual leave.
In 2007 Sudan was recovering (but sadly, only temporarily) from a 50-year history of tribal warfare and ethnic cleansing that had decimated the population and devastated the countryside but in the midst of all the suffering the church had grown even though many had awful burdens to bear. I heard stories such as:
- Being buried up to neck in isolated countryside and left to die
- As a young child seeing parents and sister beheaded
- Trekking cross-country for 4 months with family to escape rape and murder
- As a young teenager living alone in the bush for years after village was destroyed by armed insurgents.
It is unbelievable in human terms that such traumatised people, after attending a trauma healing group, could clear their minds and emotions of the anguish associated with such memories, forgive the perpetrators and live a normal life again without the benefit of counselling, medication, justice or retribution and with little permanent emotional scarring – yet that is what appeared to happen.
Here, for example, is the story of John. When he was 12, he was on an overcrowded bus making its way across the orange-red dust roads of what is now South Sudan, when armed men opened fire, shooting into the bus, disabling it, killing many passengers and injuring others. Because of where he was sitting, John was not hit. He managed to crawl off the bus and find a hiding place lying in the bush at the side of the road.
He hid for three days, listening to the cries of the wounded and dying, before he was rescued. John survived – but what happened on that bus changed him and affected the way he lived.
Reflecting on his life many years later, John reported, ‘I was not good in my heart. The situation made me bitter, and I used to seek revenge against everybody who did something against me. I knew nothing about forgiveness.’
John shared his story when he attended a trauma healing group. As he learned about trauma healing, John explained, ‘The light came into my heart, and I recognized that the word of God had entered deeply into my mind. That has changed me into a good Christian.’
I met John again a year later, on a return visit to Sudan. He heard we were in town so he left his fields and came to meet us. He joined the group we were with, shared his story and then added, ‘my village have now elected me as chief!’ The dramatic changes in his attitude and behaviour had contributed to the respect in which he was now held and to him being appointed a leader in his community.
John is not alone in experiencing significant changes after attending a trauma healing group. I met others who also found great benefit and similar dramatic life-changes on seven return visits to Sudan and what later became South Sudan. Similar experiences occurred in India, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and in UK, my home country.
Trauma healing ministry has truly been a work of God as from those small beginnings in the early 2000’s, the ministry has spread throughout the world across cultures and languages, primarily amongst God’s people, building faith and enriching lives, but then spilling over into the lives of not-yet-believers bringing more broken and hurting lives into God’s Kingdom of salvation and healing. See https://traumahealinginstitute.org/videos for illustrative videos.
The ministry of trauma healing
Bad experiences that lead to trauma can be hard to talk about. Many do not have the words to express themselves. They may wonder if others will cope with what they will share or even if they themselves will survive the painful resurrected memories and emotions – for even just thinking about such experiences could be like reliving them.
Yet there is no secret about the ministry of trauma healing. There are no ‘special techniques.’ Participants in healing groups learn to think about and express their experiences by sharing their stories just as much or as little as they feel able, in conversation, drawing pictures and in writing laments. Then we pray for each other, share encouragement and, most important of all, hand over to Jesus the burden of the hurts and pain that is carried. All this is based on simple psychological techniques and a traditional understanding of biblical teaching about salvation, forgiveness and the Cross of Christ.
I have participated in all the exercises used during the training and have found them beneficial. Although I have no personal experience of serious trauma I have had a number of stressful and unhappy ordeals that have scarred me emotionally and spiritually. I can testify to the relief and freedom I have experienced. This often came as a surprise as I was not aware until relief came, how much the painful memories had affected me and how deep the hurt had penetrated.
Telling your story and giving vent to the emotions involved in words, drawings or role-play in a safe and caring environment are dependable psychological techniques for allowing painful suppressed memories to come to the surface. Although this in itself brings a measure of healing, it can also be emotionally painful and very distressing. But then we bring those painful memories to the Cross. In quietness we reflect on our experiences, pray about them, express them in writing and in conversation and then bring them to the Cross of Christ. We hand over the pain and memories to our Saviour and then symbolically burn what we have written.
Relief! Freedom! Joy!
And then it is possible to forgive. Not in our own strength but as a response to the healing power of the Saviour and the forgiveness and healing we ourselves have received. In Jesus’ strength and grace, even severely traumatised believers find they are able to forgive the perpetrators of their suffering. It seems to be of some significance that an experience of healing precedes an act of forgiveness.
The theology of trauma healing
I have reflected on the teaching that underlies these experiences and believe it is based on the scriptural doctrine of salvation. We tend to focus on salvation from sin to ensure a place in heaven as expressed, for example, in Ephesians 2:4-6,
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
The Bible, however, has an even bigger picture of salvation as, for example, Jesus revealed in his ‘mission statement’ in Luke 4:18-19:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.“
Alister McGrath writes:
‘In dealing with the Christian understanding of salvation, we must therefore appreciate that it has both past, present and future elements. It is not simply a future hope, nor is it simply a past achievement. It is about a past event which secures the foundation of salvation; the present-day assurance that something has happened which transforms the believer’s relationship to God and to others; and that something remains to be achieved, both in terms of personal transformation and the consummation of the believers hopes in the New Jerusalem.’[2]
Salvation in Jesus is not only about conversion and glorification but also about the ongoing experience of salvation characterised by freedom, recovery and release, as it is needed, throughout the believer’s life. The emotional and spiritual healing that takes place in trauma healing ministry is, I believe, an aspect of this salvation.
Clearly, we need to be careful we do not demand God’s healing on our terms and certainly, we do not go so far as to expect God to take away all infirmities. The key seems to be to come to God on God’s terms and accept what he gives with humility, joy and thankfulness.
Salvation from sin has been freely achieved for us by Jesus’ death on the Cross and confirmed by the resurrection. The Cross is central to our faith. But Jesus did more than die for our sins; he died to make us whole and healed as expressed in Isaiah 53:4,
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.
Healing of hurts and painful memories is not a one-off experience. The memories will resurface from time to time and need to be brought repeatedly to the Cross. And some experiences cause so much suffering the sufferer is susceptible to even more trauma, even self-inflicted trauma. But God’s work of salvation in healing, teaching and reordering our lives is ongoing as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:18 where the present tense is used indicating that ‘being saved’ is a continuing experience:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
I explore this theological understanding in The theology of trauma healing.
Many Christians rightly feel they have to forgive those who have hurt them as this is Jesus’ teaching and example. Nevertheless, as they strive to do so they may find this well-nigh impossible. This leaves a sense of failure and some have therefore left the Faith. However, time after time as we focus on the Cross and are reminded of our own salvation and healing it becomes possible to forgive – and to keep on forgiving. For God is the only one who can enable us to forgive. We cannot do it by might of will or ‘forgetting’ (if that is ever possible). As we enjoy the healing and freedom we find in the Cross of Christ we can express that by forgiving the perpetrators of our hurts:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:31-32).
This needs to be done repeatedly as Jesus taught:
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:21-22).
And in that forgiving, comes a new measure of healing in ourselves.
Implications for Christian ministry
Such healing, of course, does not only apply to the severe traumas experienced by so many of our African brothers and sisters. It applies to all our spiritual and psychological hurts and painful memories.
On reflecting about my journey in trauma healing I am confident such trauma healing ministry is soundly based on Scripture with Jesus and the Cross central. It is core gospel and as such, surely needs to be incorporated into routine church teaching and not reserved for the ‘big problems’ of life or be seen as a ‘special ministry’ that is available in limited circumstances only. Trauma healing is not a one-off experience – we all need it repeatedly throughout life as memories recur and further bad experiences take place.
Trauma healing is, of course, an ‘open secret.’ It is not just for believers. Jesus’ welcome,
‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28),
is addressed to ‘all,’ so unbelievers are included as well. The broken, hurting world in which we live needs a Saviour God who is interested, cares and is able to help. We have that in Jesus. Diane Langberg, who has had years of experience in Christian trauma healing ministry in a number of countries proposes in her book, Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores, that, ‘trauma is perhaps the greatest mission field of the twenty-first century.’ [3] If that is true, trauma healing ought to have a role in evangelism, outreach and missions of all types.
This ministry has what might appear to be a rival way of finding help that is available in some ‘advanced’ countries where there are stunningly effective means of helping severely damaged trauma sufferers such as military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and adults who have survived severe abuse in childhood. There is a good overview of what is involved in, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk.[4] The knowledge and skills displayed are, in reality, God’s gift to humankind just as are the knowledge and skills that have led to some equally stunningly effective developments such as vaccines and powerful cancer healing treatments.
However, these trauma treatments are invariably available within a framework that ignores the spiritual aspects of trauma and the role Yahweh has in his continuing work of salvation. They also require significant financial and time expenditure and I have not yet heard of any plans to take them to the desperately needy corners of Africa. These treatments should be seen therefore as ancillary to and not replacements for the Christian ministry of trauma healing. Some of these techniques, though, are promoted as features of alternative life philosophies such as Buddhism or a variety of New Age beliefs. In those cases they need to be treated with caution.
Conclusions
This page outlines the development of the ministry of trauma healing based on my personal experiences, leading healing groups, training trauma healing facilitators and on a study of New Testament salvation texts. As a result I wish to commend the investigation and adoption of this ministry by every expression of the Christian church. Trauma healing is core gospel, it is at the heart of our faith. It will strengthen and enrich believers’ faith and has great potential in reaching out in blessing to those who have not yet found Jesus.
Endnotes
[1] Dana Ergenbright and others, Healing the Wounds of Trauma: How the Church Can Help – Stories from Africa, (Participant Book for Healing Groups) revised edn (Philadelphia, PA: SIL International and American Bible Society, 2021)
[2] McGrath, Alister, Christian Theology: An Introduction 4th edn (Singapore: Blackwell Publishing, 2007) p. 330.
[3] Langberg, Diane, Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores, (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2015), p. 8.
[4] Kolk, Bessel van der, The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma, (Milton Keynes; Penguin Books, 2015).
Written: 6 October 2014
Published: 25 January 2023
Updated: 17 June 2023