healing Archives

Despite hardships and racism, Native Americans find hope during pandemic

Posted November 16th, 2020

A timely and sometimes painful discussion on the impact of COVID-19 and racism on Native Americans ended on a hopeful note recently, with a panelist invoking an image from nature.

Is healing at the core of our congregations?

Posted August 11th, 2020

As a seminary student I heard a constant refrain from our professors: Jesus came to preach and teach. It was the pretext underlying our whole seminary education as they trained us to preach and teach.

How a pandemic brought healing to a centuries-old racial wound

Posted June 20th, 2020

Two North Carolina congregations — one historically white, the other black — take steps to heal 150 years of racial wounds by worshiping together virtually.

One hundred days of mission and ministry in Rwanda

Posted April 24th, 2020

The Presbyterian Church of Rwanda (EPR) is a few weeks into its annual 100 days of remembrance of the genocide against the Tutsi, which extends from early April through July 4. Each year these days are devoted to helping bring healing to survivors of the genocide who continue to struggle with poverty, unemployment, sickness and other issues. All 212 parishes in EPR’s seven presbyteries are focused on the transformational power of the gospel to bring unity, reconciliation and restoration to all who have been traumatized — from one generation to the next.

One mission co-worker’s vision for ‘Strong Kids’

Posted March 27th, 2020

A few months ago, during our Strong Kids/Strong Emotions program for refugee kids, Hadil (not her actual name) was sitting across from me, stringing beads to make a bracelet.

Colliding with Jesus

Posted March 16th, 2020

Willow Weston, the founder and director of a 1001 new worshiping community in Bellingham, Washington, remembers the day Collide began. Someone who had wounded her when she was a young girl was knocking on her door. Immediately, she ran upstairs with her baby — and hid in the closet.

Trauma and grace

Posted October 16th, 2019

In the first seven months of this year, more than 20 school shootings occurred. The refrain “I never thought this would happen here” has become a mantra on the evening news. The circle of those experiencing trauma — or knowing someone who has — widens daily.

Reaching our forgotten veterans

Posted July 23rd, 2019

Why are 20 veterans a day taking their own lives? That’s the question the Rev. Tom Davis has been asking since August 2015, when a magazine cover on veteran’s suicides grabbed his attention. After all, he thought, aren’t these the same men and women who fought so hard to stay alive during active duty, as Davis did during his combat service in Vietnam?

Coming together for mission and ministry

Posted June 19th, 2019

“Your story is our story.” That’s what a group of visitors from global partners Nile Theological College (NTC) and RECONCILE (Resource Center for Civil Leadership) in South Sudan told members of the staff at Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) when they visited Rwanda recently. Rwanda had just marked the 25th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that killed more than 800,000 Tutsi at the hands of the majority Hutu population.

God is healing children’s hearts at refugee camps

Posted May 15th, 2019

Squeezed together with girls about her same age, Mary sat on a bamboo pew in the sanctuary. It was the first morning of a three-day children’s trauma healing workshop. The list of things written in her new notebook included: too much housework, loss of my parents and missing school.