Healing Hearts Thank you for offering me the docket to share about Presbyterian mission and ministries in Africa. My husband Jeff and I were commissioned as PC(USA) Mission Co-Workers at the General Assembly of 1990 in Salt Lake City and have served in Africa ever since. Jeff was supposed to be with me here today but was called away for a situation with one of our partner churches. He gives his greetings. 1 2 For the past 17 years, Jeff has been the Regional Liaison for the PC(USA) in Central Africa, enabling I serve as a Facilitator for Women and Children’s Interests in Africa, a position created by World partnership relations between our denomination and its global partners in the Region. Mission to address root causes of poverty and violence in a globalized world. 3 4 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 1
Healing Hearts Between Jeff and me, we work in seven nations across the African continent, with the Democrat In this era of Presbyterian Mission, we collaborate in a multi-dimensional partnership paradigm Republic of Congo as the only country that we share. It is where we are based, in the capital city of between global ecumenical partners, Presbyterian constituent partners in the US, and Presbyterian Kinshasa. World Mission as our denominational Ministry Area. As a connectional Church, we can be most effective when focusing our efforts in shared areas of common interests. 5 6 Many women and children are trapped at the intersection of cultural, legal, religious, political and When mapped out across the African continent, a larger picture appears of systemic issues that are economic systems that generate and perpetuate their hardship. Rather than working in individual lifted up by our African partners with Presbyterians in the US coming alongside. sectoral programs, it takes an integrated and collaborative approach for the Church to take on these societal and global concerns, building communities of solidarity, with the church as a beacon of hope for community transformation. 7 8 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 2
Healing Hearts Childhood Trauma is one of the concerns our Congolese partners are addressing and for which they Ever since history has been written, the Congolese people have endured violence - from the early slave have asked the PC(USA) to come alongside. trade, the exploitative colonial rule and self-enriching dictatorships, to proxy wars, terrorizing militias and inter-communal strife. 9 10 The overlooked witnesses of these manmade disasters are children. They’ve lost their parents, been If the pain of the emotional wounds of these traumatic experiences is not transformed, it can be displaced or recruited by the armed groups, and sexually assaulted or conceived of rape by soldiers or transferred in the form of violent behavior towards others or harmful acts to oneself. This is how the militia members. cycle of trauma and violence is perpetuated and transmitted from one generation onto another with violence becoming endemic in society. 11 12 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 3
Healing Hearts For children like Ngasa, the Protestant Council of Churches in Congo (ECC) embraced Healing Hearts as I invite you to listen to the account of Ngasa, a young girl from the Kasai region. Please, be forewarned a trauma-healing ministry based on the 10-lesson curriculum developed by the Trauma-Healing that the description of her experiences is graphic. Ngasa speaks in Tshiluba, but you can follow her by Institute of the American Bible Society. This holistic program weaves faith-based interpretations into reading the subtitles. conventional mental health approaches. The activities help children understand their reactions to trauma and engage them in a process of healing to restore relations with self, God, and others. 13 14 To extend trauma-healing ministries into communities, the Church needs skilled volunteers. To that The common themes that run through the Healing Hearts curriculum are based on the Biblical stories extent the Council, in partnership with the Congolese Bible Alliance and the PC(USA), organizes of Creation and of Joseph and his family. Because these stories can also be found in the Koran, the training events for Healing Hearts facilitators. Congo is as large as the US East of the Mississippi, and Council approached the Muslim Community in Congo with an invitation to join the most recent many facilitators are needed to meet the huge needs. trainings in the Greater Kasai. All people have been traumatized and all need healing. 15 16 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 4
Healing Hearts This is how we worked with the major faith communities in Congo to identify 36 facilitator trainees, We also sought diversity in the facilitators’ professional background and their roles in the community, from mainstream Protestant denominations to the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church, from the such as teachers, women leaders, army and hospital chaplains and social workers. Salvation Army, Independent Revivalist Churches and the indigenous Kimbanguist Church to the Muslim community. 17 18 The last criteria for trainees was the geographical representation of the most affected areas. Working An integral part of the training is a five-day children’s camp, where facilitator trainees work with small with all these parameters, the Council invited the leaders of the respective faith communities to select groups of six or seven children to put into practice the lessons they learned in the week-long training the best suited candidates. sessions preceding the camp. Each of these children have had experiences like Ngasa. 19 20 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 5
Healing Hearts The camp starts with playful activities for the children and facilitators to get to know each other and The children then learn that they each have been created by a loving God, beautiful like the flowers afterwards establish group rules together. they craft. 21 22 By making self-portraits framed in fingerprints, they are reminded how unique and special they are. But bad things can happen to the flower. The children identify traumatic events that one after the other damage the flower. 23 24 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 6
Healing Hearts Through various activities, the facilitators help children recognize emotions, whether in non-verbal What happens when those emotions are kept inside, is illustrated by submersing empty bottles in a expressions or as feelings in the body. bucket of water, one after the other: As the pressure builds and cannot be contained, they all come jumping out. The children learn this way that it is best to share their feelings with people they trust. 25 26 Through role play, the children learn about the journey of grief. It starts in the village of shock, denial By writing a letter of lament, children express their feelings to God. They may do so even if they’re and anger, and passes through that of hopelessness to end with the village of new beginnings. Some angry with God. In a solemn ceremony, they bring their heaviest burdens to the cross, where they are children will stay longer in a village than others and they may even go back to one of the earlier villages. consumed by flames and lifted up to God. To finish the journey well, all villages need to be visited. None should be skipped, as people may suggest the children to do, because it would be a false bridge that will eventually make them fall back. 27 28 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 7
Healing Hearts This is a deeply emotional ceremony. By then the children have already bonded with their facilitators For new beginnings, it is important to let go of grudges. The children draw pictures of bad memories. and seek their comfort. Voldan remembers the soldier who killed his parents, while other drawings show militia members. 29 30 In a playful way, the children learn that holding on to grudges hinders their daily activities: It’s as if that To rebuild life, you need good bricks. The children identify love, peace, friends, a home, prayer. A life person is always tied up to you. That makes it difficult to go about daily things normally, like going to made of bad bricks, like fighting, witchcraft, jealousy or gossip crumbles easily. school, or sitting at the table, and even going to the bathroom. To be freed, it is important to let go and start the difficult process of forgiveness, just as God forgives us. 31 32 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 8
Healing Hearts To understand that recovery isn’t a linear process but has its ups and downs, children play a game of A game of cat and mice illustrates that by working with others, you can be more effective in reaching chutes and ladders. They should not be discouraged when they fall back. your goal. 33 34 Working as a team doesn’t mean being in competition with one another: In the end, ALL will be As mutual encouragement helps the process of recovery, the children write words of appreciation and winners. well-wishes to each other before they say their goodbyes. 35 36 christi.boyd@pcusa.org 9
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