Pastor's Corner: How we heal from trauma

At the October meeting of the Greater Havre Area Ministerial Association, the pastors dug into the details of bringing Child Bridge back to Havre. To quote my colleague Pastor Curt Curtis, "Child Bridge's mission is to find and equip foster and adoptive families for Montana children who have been victims of abuse or neglect."

We all know the adage, "It takes a village to raise a child." Child Bridge- and GHAMA! - believes it takes an especially dedicated village to raise a child who has faced the kinds of trauma that lands them in foster care. Child Bridge offers the kind of support that our "village" needs to help these children. Andrew Morrow, the area representative for Child Bridge, was at our GHAMA meeting, and he explained the approach that has proven to work best with these kids. It's what Child Bridge teaches their "villagers": Trust-Based Relational Intervention, or TBRI. Karyn Purvis and David Cross developed TBRI at the Texas Christian University Institute of Child Development. They recognized that there are three main pillars in any treatment of complex trauma: "(a) development of safety, (b) promotion of healing relationships, and (c) teaching of self-management and coping skills." TBRI helps both the caregiver and the child learn healthy and sustainable ways of flourishing in mutual relationships.

At our meeting, we looked at the nuts and bolts of getting our Havre foster and adoptive families trained in TBRI through the Child Bridge small group model. It would require a church to host monthly small group meetings, plus other congregations to provide the meals and childcare on a rotating basis. We've got some interested congregations - and if you yourself are interested, please reach out to any GHAMA member! We'd love to grow our village!

As I've been reflecting on the methods that Child Bridge uses to help children grow through their trauma, I'm reminded of other periods of trauma in Scripture. The Israelites, as exploited workers in Egypt, suffered the traumas of slavery, xenophobia, and attempted genocide (Pharaoh ordered the killing of male Hebrew babies twice!). God heard their cries and knew it was time to get them out of that situation and into a period of healing. So God broke the chains of their oppression and led them to the desert.

I imagine that if God had taken the Israelites straight to the Promised Land, the Israelites wouldn't know what to do with themselves. They would be in danger of repeating the sinful, destructive power structures that they had known in Egypt. The Israelites needed a bit of TBRI, Old Testament-style. So God met their physical needs with water from a rock and manna from heaven, God led them to safety with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, God gave them rules to promote a healthy and righteous lifestyle, and God slowly, haltingly, built a relationship of trust with those bruised and beaten Hebrews. By the time they reached the Promised Land, they weren't perfect, but they had a strong foundation.

Trauma doesn't just affect children or ancient Middle Eastern tribes. People are recovering from trauma all around us. For many, the past 20 months have been traumatic. Whatever the trauma, finding solid footing in a shifting world is a big step towards healing. Child Bridge offers that solid footing through relationships of trust, and so does our faith. The 1834 hymn sings it best: "On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock, we stand; all other ground is sinking sand."

May it be so!

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Pastor Megan Hoewisch

First Lutheran Church