Let's lift up 
Let's lift up 
African women are resilient. Every day, women across the continent experience the worst tragedies imaginable, and Christian women are no exception. Trauma is a sympton of the violent, ongoing persecution in Burkina Faso and other African countries.
How do these women recover from the unthinkable terror of witnessing murder, experiencing rape, and being displaced from their communities? Because of this question, we saw a need to provide trauma care for women in Burkina Faso, and because of your prayers and support, many sisters in Christ have received healing for their broken hearts.
We asked Tirham(not her real name) to tell us about the training.
"The African culture tells women not to cry or grieve when they lose a loved one because if they do, their loved one will not find peace. So they suppress their feelings and this hurts them even more," she said.
Tirham is using unique audio training in the local dialects. The stories are dramatized so that the women can relate to what has happened to them personally. She described the various components of the training.
"The first step is to answer the question, If God loves us, why do we suffer? If you go through a traumatic experience, you will ask this. We emphasize that no matter what happens, remember God's character. The world was created perfect, then sin came in. Choices we make bring pain into the world.
"Then we help them expose their own heart wounds, and identify the symptoms that they have been traumatized, such as their behaviour afterward. This naturally leads to helping them begin to grieve for themselves in a way that brings healing. They talk to God about it in lamentation, and He understands and accepts this.
"We talk about rape. Women who are raped are often told they are dirty or demon-[possessed. We help them get over these feelings and help other women by not labelling them this way."
"The last step is forgiveness. We teach them that it is beneficial to the person who extends it and brings them peace."
Please pray Tirham has grace and strength as she goes to places where grief is heavy and does the long-term work of bringing hearts back to life, resurrecting hope, and returning believers to faith. Ask God to direct women to this ministry who need to experience deep healing. Pray for grace on the ministry, that women would encounter the healing presence of Jesus as they walk toward wholeness.
Thanks so much for praying, Elohim bless you. Taken from Open Doors USA text alert.
How do these women recover from the unthinkable terror of witnessing murder, experiencing rape, and being displaced from their communities? Because of this question, we saw a need to provide trauma care for women in Burkina Faso, and because of your prayers and support, many sisters in Christ have received healing for their broken hearts.
We asked Tirham(not her real name) to tell us about the training.
"The African culture tells women not to cry or grieve when they lose a loved one because if they do, their loved one will not find peace. So they suppress their feelings and this hurts them even more," she said.
Tirham is using unique audio training in the local dialects. The stories are dramatized so that the women can relate to what has happened to them personally. She described the various components of the training.
"The first step is to answer the question, If God loves us, why do we suffer? If you go through a traumatic experience, you will ask this. We emphasize that no matter what happens, remember God's character. The world was created perfect, then sin came in. Choices we make bring pain into the world.
"Then we help them expose their own heart wounds, and identify the symptoms that they have been traumatized, such as their behaviour afterward. This naturally leads to helping them begin to grieve for themselves in a way that brings healing. They talk to God about it in lamentation, and He understands and accepts this.
"We talk about rape. Women who are raped are often told they are dirty or demon-[possessed. We help them get over these feelings and help other women by not labelling them this way."
"The last step is forgiveness. We teach them that it is beneficial to the person who extends it and brings them peace."
Please pray Tirham has grace and strength as she goes to places where grief is heavy and does the long-term work of bringing hearts back to life, resurrecting hope, and returning believers to faith. Ask God to direct women to this ministry who need to experience deep healing. Pray for grace on the ministry, that women would encounter the healing presence of Jesus as they walk toward wholeness.
Thanks so much for praying, Elohim bless you. Taken from Open Doors USA text alert.
