In northern Uganda, hundreds of acres of what used to be jungle is now home to around one million refugees spread across a number of refugee camps. Many of these refugees have been here for six or seven years, or even longer. Each of them has a tragic story of leaving South Sudan.

When the war began at the end of 2013, many communities descended into anarchy as different tribes fought each other. Children were drafted in as soldiers, women were raped, men were killed. Over the next few years, many ran for their lives to Uganda.

Betty remembers running from gunfire with her brother and his children. Betty’s brother looked back and was shot down. Betty kept running with his children and they made it to the border, where they were taken to a refugee camp.

Lilias’s niece was shot in front of her. Lilias went home and gathered her four children and they set off on foot towards the border. There was no time to take anything with them.

Hellen’s father was killed in the war in 2014. She found her way to the border by following strangers along the road – she didn’t have any family left.

There are one million more stories like theirs.

Leaving war behind, but carrying its effects

In the refugee camp, people are safe from the war, but their suffering stays with them. “Everyone is traumatised,” says Satimon about people arriving in the camps. Satimon is a facilitator of Bible-based trauma healing first trialled in 2018 as church leaders saw how trauma affected refugees’ daily lives.

At night, gunfire haunted them and they dreamed about the husbands, wives, brothers, sisters and children they had lost. During the day, they feared they would one day be killed by bullets too. This is what it looks like to live with trauma.

Many people also felt justifiably angry towards those who killed their loved ones. Weighed down by their trauma and hatred, people couldn’t live in peace with each other. For adults, in many cases, this leads to domestic violence, alcohol and substance abuse and sometimes suicide. In one camp, they lost six people to suicide, and there have been many more attempts besides.

According to Nimaya Badi Joseph, one of the children’s workers in the camps, children in the refugee camps act up, doing whatever they want, and their parents are unable to control them.

Finding hope in darkness

Betty, who escaped the war with her brother’s children, couldn’t move on from the fact that her brother had been killed. She lived with terrible pain in her heart and became very thin, wasting away through bitterness towards those who had killed him.

One day, someone gave her a small black device, about the size of a phone. This, she discovered, was a digital audio player (DAP), and it played Bible stories such as the story of Joseph being sold into slavery and later forgiving his brothers. Betty was also invited to a trauma healing group, where she could open up and talk about her trauma when she was ready. Through meeting Jesus, spending time in God’s Word, sharing with others and actively working at forgiveness, she has found God’s healing and now has peace in her heart. She has even been able to forgive those who killed her brother, and others can see the difference in her. She has returned to a healthy weight.

Many others like Betty have needed or still need trauma healing. According to CMS local partner Sam Malish, trauma healing is one of the greatest needs in the camps.

Following training with New Hope, Sam began the first trauma healing group in Satimon’s church in one of the refugee camps in 2018. The model is simple – the group meets together weekly and learns one Bible story (that they can later teach others orally), beginning with the story of Joseph.

Each of the stories in the programme focuses on someone in the Bible who faced trauma and looks at how God met that person in their trauma. Sam and other Christian leaders in the camps also distribute DAPs, which play all the same Bible stories. Following growing demand, they have also started playing the recordings through loudspeakers in the camps.

Identifying with the characters through hearing and acting out the Bible stories helps people process what they have been through and meet God in their trauma.

Members of trauma healing groups are also invited to a powerful healing activity where they can write their heartache on paper and commit it to God. The pieces of paper are burned as a symbol of repentance, showing that the old has gone and the new has come. When asked how it feels, Hellen, who committed her life to Jesus through trauma healing, says, “I feel so good. I feel so relieved. I feel as if there’s nothing that is traumatising me now. I am free.”

Is peace possible?

Many refugees seem surprisingly hopeful about the prospect of peace in South Sudan. “It is possible, because we are serving the living God,” says Hellen. Where there used to be tribalism, unforgiveness and enmity in the camp, there is now forgiveness and unity.

Grace, who is involved in children’s ministry, has seen a big change in the children over the years they have been here. Where they used to be badly behaved, disrespecting people and fighting with each other, Grace sees them being respectful, apologising and forgiving each other. She is passionate about raising up a generation of peacemakers who know Jesus. “Peace will be possible when we have a generation that can forgive. The next generation is growing up differently.”

Multiplying healing

Since they began trauma healing in 2018, Sam and the other facilitators have distributed over 1,000 DAPs and mini speakers and taken about 230 people through trauma healing.

Many of these people could go on to lead trauma healing groups themselves, as the programme is designed to train participants as they go through their own trauma healing.

Satimon himself became a facilitator after finding relief from his own trauma through a group. “The programme is multiplying healing in wounded hearts, bringing hope to the people,” he says.

Trauma healing is not a quick fix, and trauma isn’t healed in just a few sessions.

But Sam, the church leaders and the refugees in these camps haven’t given up.

Jesus hasn’t given up. Neither have we.

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The post Tragedy, trauma, transformation appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

My name is Anderson, and as I share my story with you, I am confined within the walls of the men’s prison in Florianópolis, Brazil.

Despite several months of imprisonment, I have still not received a formal sentence and so I have no idea when I will be released.

I am but one among many in this prison in a similar predicament. I am from the state of São Paulo, one of four brothers, all of us raised by an exceptionally dedicated single mother. Our father departed from our lives when I was three years old, and we have had no contact with him since. Our mother instilled in us a belief in God, though for me it was superficial. Until recently.

How did I get here?

I am trained as an electrical technician. I have always been a hard worker. I never imagined I’d end up here, in prison.

My life took a significant turn when I met my wife about a decade ago. Our love was swift and intense, leading us to marry after only a month of courtship. In hindsight, this decision was made hastily and impulsively.

Right from the beginning, my marriage encountered challenges. I took charge of all household expenses, while my wife dedicated herself to her clothing business. However, arguments began to surface in our marriage as people began accusing my wife of perpetrating fraudulent scams. As these accusations persisted, I began to question my wife. Things got very unpleasant. After a while we decided to move and for a brief period, I remember being happy.

Then things took an abrupt turn for the worse. In April 2023, both my wife and I were arrested on fraud charges. She and I were immediately separated and my son is now being cared for by my mother and sister-in-law.

The first few weeks before being transferred to the male prison were the hardest. I was forced to rest on a cold, unforgiving concrete floor. My mind was in turmoil. How could I have ended up in prison? Why was I here?

A purpose for prison?

After being transferred to the male prison I met two people: Pastor Antônio and Pastor André (CMS mission partner Andy Walsh). They regularly visit the prison and they shared the gospel of Jesus with me and others.

I have this memory: in my younger days, there was a moment when I was driving at 70mph on the motorway, and my vehicle collided with the side of a truck. As I emerged from the wreckage, bewildered, I distinctly recall hearing the Lord’s reassuring words, “I will be by your side through all things.”

One rainy afternoon, as I gazed out into the prison courtyard, I felt God’s presence and his truth flooding my heart. He assured me of his constant companionship and care. I sensed how God had suffered, the profound injustice Jesus endured. I was reminded that, before God, no one here is truly innocent, and I, too, had sinned, having played a part in my predicament by placing trust in people rather than in him.

Over time, I realised that there was a purpose behind my incarceration: my imprisonment was meant to redirect my confidence from self and others to Jesus. I was brought to prison to hear the true gospel of salvation, leading to repentance and a new spiritual life in Christ alone. I was here to know God and live for his purpose.

I began journalling the assurances I received from the Lord, and to find solace, I taped the pages onto the walls of my cell. These words continued to provide me with peace as I revisited them.

I completed a discipleship course led by Pastor André to learn how to follow Jesus more faithfully, and seek God first in everything. It was my first experience of studying the Bible in a group setting. I began sharing the good news of Jesus with fellow prisoners, encouraging them to place their faith in the Lord.

Future freedom

Mattias, another inmate who completed the course with me, now leads a weekly gathering where we worship, study the Word and pray together in the courtyard. Our group consists of about 20 individuals out of the 35 in our prison wing. I am sensing more and more that God is preparing me inside for my future life outside.

I pray for the day when my name will be cleared of these allegations, allowing me to embrace the Lord’s plan for my new life upon release.

I have realised that my time in prison was meant for me to meet Luiz Felipe, also on my prison wing. We completed the Bible training course together and we have derived profound strength from our shared journey to encountering faith in Christ.

Our conversations have forged a deep, brotherly connection, and we both plan to remain closely connected and undergo baptism by Pastor André upon our release.

Once back in the same community as Pastor André, our shared goal is to serve God through ministry to those in prison.

Thank you for letting me share my story.

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The post Life on the inside appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Pioneering Parishes is for all church leadership including lay people such as PCC members. When there is whole leadership engagement the results can be exciting! As Rev Jacki Maw of the West Wight benefice on the Isle of Wight discovered when Ali Mascarenhas, a member of her PCC, came on the Pioneering Parishes course in autumn 2022.

Ali runs a gardening business with her husband, having previously worked for the NHS and National Trust. She is also a glass artist. They moved to Brighstone in 2016. When she heard discussion about the overgrown churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Brighstone, Ali suggested that the church invite the local community to help clear it. They ended up having several work parties, with up to a dozen local people helping each time.

Ali realised that the path across the churchyard was a village thoroughfare, connecting people to the GP surgery and Brighstone C of E Primary School. She wondered about creating a noticeboard with some spiritual input and environmental information on the path. A volunteer skilled in woodwork created one.

As part of the church’s move to becoming an Eco-church, Ali organised events including hosting a talk on lichens. Twenty-five people came to look at lichens on the church’s gravestones and the medieval church with magnifying glasses. There were also talks on wild flowers, butterflies and moths, and some wildlife recordings. In addition, the church held an Easter photography competition centred on the churchyard with its spring bulb display.

Around the same time, one of Ali’s gardening clients had a table top made from toughened glass that was spare. Ali was inspired to use it as a base to create a ‘tree of life’ mosaic, put together by members of the local community and based on Revelation 22. Around 40 people took part, learning glass cutting and mosaic skills. Ali says “I came and set up all my glass cutting equipment in the church, so people could be creating this mosaic in a spiritual context, and also the church family could see it develop week by week”. She added “They really enjoyed creating leaves, animals and fruit in glass and adding them to the overall image. The sky is created with transparent paint, so that the sun will shine through it.” Another volunteer created a wooden frame to hang it.

The mosaic has been placed in an area known as the Olive Garden. A small area towards the south-east of the churchyard with no graves in it, which once cleared had revealed a great view of Blackgang cliffs. Ali had wanted to create a space which featured plants mentioned in the Bible and could be used for prayer, Celtic worship or other small outdoor events. In addition, there is a stone bench and an audio description of the view. The garden is accessed via a strip of mown grass.

Reflecting, Ali said: “It has been a huge learning experience in all ways! I feel in awe of what God has done and how the many volunteers have come together to work on different aspects of the project. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to do this and to develop things as the Spirit has led me and a greater dependence on God.

“At the start of this, Jackie Maw suggested that I might be a pioneer. I didn’t know what this was, but she encouraged me to attend a webinar on ‘pioneering parishes’. It was inspirational and reassuring to meet others who seemed to think similarly.

“I’ve gradually come to understand that it means taking one step forward in trying something and then one thing leads to another. God sends you encouragement and pointers along the way for the next step and you need to watch for them, and it’s a bit of an adventure wondering what is next!

Rev Jacki Maw says: “What started as churchyard clearance has grown into a multifaceted community project that embraces craft, gardening, creation care and prayer. It continues to draw people together from village and church.  Friendships have been made and there is a greater sense of what might be possible when we step out in faith and prayer.  The Olive Garden has become a focus for prayer, and reflection through the Celtic Experience as well as the seasonal walks and reflections over the past year have engaged young and old alike. Ali seems to follow a continuous creative thread bringing all kinds of people with her. There is an increased sense in the village that the church is alive and engaging with the world around us. I am praying for more people with Ali’s spirit led vision, gentleness and tenacity in my other parishes.”

Since starting the churchyard clearing, 80 people – of whom 70% previously had no contact with the church – are now connected with the church congregation.

Ali concludes: “Some people ask me what is the future of the project? I don’t know. I have a few ideas, but I will keep stepping out and see where it leads with God’s help and direction.”

Find out about how you can shift the energy of your church outwards on the next Pioneering Parishes First Steps course.

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The post Unravelling a continuous creative thread appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).