For years, Empower Minister Linda Ikeda, RN MFT, has traveled to Malawi, often accompanied by Empower Minister Missionary Sue Kerrigan, RN, bringing two seminars Linda developed: Healing from Trauma, and Created to Belong. The first is to help people suffering from trauma to find healing. The second is for caregivers of those who are traumatized, to guide them in how to facilitate healing from that trauma. (See HFT here and CTB here)
Because of Covid restrictions, Linda and Sue have not been to Malawi since 2019. However, God has made a way for Linda’s helpful training to get to those who need it.
This year, many of those we minister to in Malawi faced monumental challenges, yet again traumatizing them. Cyclones and flooding battered the country. The flooding led to cholera outbreaks. Tropical Storm Ana in January displaced nearly 200,000 people in Malawi, and many were living in temporary tent camps, hoping to return to their homes and farms, when Cyclone Gombe hit in March, causing further havoc and preventing them from reestablishing their lives. (Read a World Health Organization report on these events here)
Thankfully, Pastor Arnold Mphulupulu, our Malawi EIM director, has worked beside our team for years, teaching both HFT and CTB to those impacted by poverty, the AIDS crisis and more. When the cyclones, flooding, and threat of cholera hit, he was able to us these training materials to minister to the people of Lilongwe and beyond.
Such situations often touch off other emotional trauma that people have buried deep in their hearts. One exercise from Healing from Trauma that is especially powerful is one in which participants write down their traumatizing wounds, or the name of someone who has wronged them, on a scrap of paper. They then burn the paper, releasing and forgiving.
Here are some excerpts (edited for brevity and clarity) from a recent email Arnold sent to Linda.
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We always think of you whenever we are reading and teaching things from the materials which the Lord guided you to write (CTB and HFT). The materials are touching a lot of people’s hearts.
Recently when I was teaching in church about forgiveness and using your material and method, it was great! Tears were coming and we saw that people were being set free when everyone wrote on a piece of paper the names of the people they have to forgive and l burnt them. It was as if we could see the dark cloud moving out of the people’s hearts. There was great joy.
Your materials are also being used in the southern region of Malawi, where I have been busy teaching Healing From Trauma, in response to the cyclones. We have been hit hard by the cyclones and people are going through a lot. Their homes have been destroyed by water, their crops washed away. The material is really helping a lot, helping people to recover and to regain their trust in the Lord.
Always praying for you.
Arnold
