Trauma Healing

In March a Scripture Use team went with us to Enga Province to put on a two-week Trauma Healing workshop. (We made it there and back safely. Thank you for your prayers!) Most people in Enga have experienced significant trauma due to tribal fighting, domestic violence, crime, substance abuse, disease, and/or other problems. The Trauma Healing Workshop takes people through multiple steps to bring their pain to the cross and find healing. At each step along the way, the participants listen to stories from Scripture along with stories from everyday life. They then answer questions about the stories, learning various strategies for dealing with trauma as well as strategies that don't work (such as pushing the pain down deep inside). As they go through each step, they always consider the question, Where was God?

The Enga Trauma Healing workshop participants

All the participants were given a copy of the Enga New Testament. Every day there were opportunities for the participants to practice reading Scripture in Enga. Longer portions were played from the audio recording of the Enga New Testament, while shorter portions were read by the participants themselves. As the course progressed and people got more and more practice, they became more comfortable with reading Scripture in their own language and discovering how the teachings of Jesus show us the road for experiencing healing from the trauma we have experienced in our lives.

Two participants reading the Enga New Testament during the workshop

To make the teaching come alive, the course leaders (most of whom were trained Papua New Guineans from other parts of the country) had the participants act out what they were learning in dramas. This really caught the attention of the participants and helped them understand the principles they were learning at a deeper level. One drama illustrated the importance of forgiveness by having a man tied up to another man who had hurt him and who he had not yet forgiven. The drama showed that, when you have not forgiven someone who has hurt you, you take them with you wherever you go because the anger and bitterness you carry is always with you. When he finally forgave the other man at the foot of the cross, the rope was untied and he was set free from the anger and bitterness that followed him wherever he went.

Drama about forgiveness setting us free from anger and bitterness

The workshop culminated with participants writing down their deep hurts and pains, putting them in a box, and then burning the box at the foot of the cross. On the day we wrote down our hurts and pains on pieces of paper and put them in the box, one older man named Mark shared a dream he had had the prior night. In the dream, a voice was telling him to "give the paper." Not knowing what this meant, he woke up one of his grandchildren to ask him if he needed paper for school. It was only when he came to the workshop the next day that he realized the voice in the dream was preparing him to give (that is, put) the paper containing his hurts and pains into the box so that it could be burned at the foot of the cross.

Mark with our friend and coworker Stanley

After everyone put their papers in the cardboard box, we all began worshiping the Lord by singing a song in Enga about bringing our worries and pains to Jesus. As we worshiped, we slowly walked out to a grassy area outside the church and got into a large circle. The cardboard box was placed at the foot of the cross and it was set on fire, burning up our hurts and pains as we gave them over to Jesus. As I (Adam) looked around, I saw many people getting teary-eyed as the significance of the moment overwhelmed them and they began to experience healing and freedom. God not only healed people from the wounds of trauma but also delivered people from sin. A member of the hosting church who had secretly been practicing witchcraft confessed his sin to the pastor, who then went with him to bury all the items he had been using to practice witchcraft.

The content of the workshop was completed in the first week, but most people returned for the second week to learn how to conduct the Trauma Healing workshop in their own communities. Four men were in attendance from Mulitaka, where the landslide had wiped out a community in 2024, making international news. What a blessing it was to see people applying the truth of Scripture, experiencing healing, and learning how to help others experience it as well. Thank you for your partnership with us in this work, which makes workshops like this possible.

Meet Stanley

We met Pastor Stanley at our branch conference almost a year ago. BTA, a Papua New Guinean Bible translation association, introduced their new staff members, and we were surprised that one of them was from Enga. It was fun to watch Stanley’s face when Adam greeted him in the Enga language. We soon learned that Stanley has a dynamic personality and is extremely motivated to promote the Enga New Testament. He joined us in Enga and was a great help with distribution during the various dedications last summer, and he has been instrumental in organizing the Foursquare church to host an upcoming trauma healing workshop (see below). The Foursquare church in Stanley’s area has also begun a yearlong Bible school. The leaders of this school made the decision that every student must begin the course with Enga literacy. This past month forty-four students began their Bible school course with learning to read the Enga New Testament. Stanley was very instrumental in making this happen. We are very thankful for Stanley’s determination and passion to see the Enga New Testament used. Please keep Stanley in your prayers as he continues to promote literacy and assist with distribution. Watch this short video of Stanley sharing his vision to see every pastor in Enga reading the Enga New Testament from the pulpit.

Pastor Stanley promoting the Enga Audio Bible

Consultant Checking of Genesis
The Enga translators continue to work on translating the Old Testament, and we currently have two Enga translators and two pastors staying in Ukarumpa for the consultant check of Genesis 26 through 50. This is the first consultant check in which the entire room is filled with only Papua New Guineans. The consultant is a Papua New Guinean and so are the checkers and translators. It is encouraging to see the Enga translators reach the point where they can operate a bit more independently, and it is exciting to see trained Papua New Guinean consultants checking translated portions independently.

Consultant Checking Genesis 26–50

Trauma Healing Workshop
You might remember that a few months back we had plans to hold a trauma healing workshop near Wabag, the capital of Enga Province. This course was canceled due to ongoing fighting. The course is rescheduled to take place in a new location during the last two weeks of March. It will be run by the Scripture Use team based here in Ukarumpa and will involve using the Enga New Testament. Adam and I have plans to travel to Enga to participate in the workshop, as well as check in on the distribution process for the Enga New Testament. However, over the last couple of days, we have heard reports that there are roadblocks and protests along the highway that we would travel on. Several vehicles have been destroyed.

Please pray that these conflicts would be resolved and that nothing would stop this course from happening. Pray that the roads would be clear and safe. Pray that Adam would have peace about driving there. Let me be clear: I am asking you to engage the heavenly realms. Get on your knees, post a note on your bathroom mirror, or leave one in your Bible. Ask your churches, small groups, and friends to pray over this. I do not believe that these conflicts on the road at this particular time are a coincidence. We hope to drive up on March 15 and return on March 29. If the Lord intends for us to go, He will make a way. Thank you for praying.