Last week we facilitated a Healing Hearts, Transforming Nations (HHTN) workshop in Maridi, a town in the southwest region of South Sudan. The unique thing about this workshop was that the participants were nearly 100 pastors and their spouses, all of them from the Anglican Church in the diocese of Maridi. The Anglican Bishop in Maridi had called all of his pastors together for an annual retreat. In a serendipitous encounter while he was visiting Juba, he learned about the HHTN workshop, and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) was able to organize a workshop with less than two weeks notice to be done at this retreat.
Bishop Moses shared with us when we arrived that his vision was to focus on 1 Peter 2:9 and our identity as God’s people. He said that he was seeing many pastors in his diocese whose lives did not reflect the identity and transformation of Christ. Alchoholism, adultery, domestic conflicts, and witchcraft were among the top challenges he saw. He recognized that many of his pastors had endured the trauma of war and the ongoing trauma of poverty and that the unhealed trauma had opened the door for these destructive practices in the lives of his pastors that limited their effectiveness to minister to others.
Usually when we do the HHTN workshop we limit it to 40 or 50 participants so that there can be discussion and active engagement for everyone. This time had to make several modifications, particularly in the activities and discussion, given that we had nearly 180 participants. But God helped us to still be able to have good interaction and discussion and people shared that they found it meaningful and helpful.
women share their pain and pray together in pairs
The time of giving over pain to the cross was especially meaningful.
Since all the participants were pastors or spouses of pastors, part of their
ministry is listening and supporting others through challenges. But they often
do not have someone that they can go to and share their struggles with. After
they had written down pain or struggles that they wanted to give over to God, they
divided into pairs to share and pray together. I walked around the church and observed
the pairs sharing under trees or in the grass, and I could sense the sacredness
of the time in the intensity of the prayers and the delay in coming back
together. Back in the larger group, each person had an opportunity to lay their
paper at the cross, representing giving over their burdens and pain to Jesus.
Burning the papers, representing giving over our pain to God
The following morning, we heard from several people who expressed how God had worked through that time. One older male pastor said that he has suffered from body pain. “But yesterday you said, ‘open your heart and let God work.’ And I did that. I felt God bring healing. Now my body feels strong!” Another pastor said that his grown son has been drinking a lot of alcohol and can not keep a job. That is the burden that he shared with his colleague and brought to the cross. That night he called his son and the son said that he is giving up drinking and committing his life to Christ and wanted his father to help hold him accountable. A woman pastor shared that she took in a boy who is an orphan to care for in her home, but she struggled because he was always disobedient and rebellious. After the teaching on the importance of showing love in our families, she went to the boy and asked for forgiveness for being angry at him and mistreating him. He then asked her forgiveness for not obeying or helping in the house. The following morning the boy was the first one up and mobilized the other youth in the household to work in the garden.
I celebrate the ways that God brought together this opportunity
for the spiritual leaders in Maridi to be refreshed and ministered to. The
vision and motivation of the Bishop and the diocese, the resources and
organization from MAF, the facilitation team who came together, and the
commitment and openness of all of the participants all brought together through
the Holy Spirit made for a really significant time. Please pray that God continues
the work of healing in Maridi as these pastors return to their homes and
churches.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
3 comments:
Praise the Lord!
This is true kingdom work! As these wounded pastors get healed and more aligned with the gospel they preach, surely more who hear them will be willing to give their lives to Christ.
What a meaningful session for so many participants. I have always believed it is so important for pastors, who do so much listening and put others first, to have a chance for their wounds to be shared and healing to occur.
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