Many of you have asked me what I will be presenting to these Hatian pastors. I am responsible for 4 of the main sessions. In the first session, I will be describing what Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) looks like, and how to distinguish it from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Next we will focus on what is the current standard for helping someone deal with PTS, and how the Bible and Christ provide a powerful and effective means to reach a person on the level of the heart. In other words, these pastors don't have to be a psychologist or psychiatrist to provide meaningful help to people hurting from PTS.
In a second session, a Hatian pastor will be presenting material I put together called "Jesus in the Tent City," a message based on Matthew 9:35-39. The focus here will be helping these pastors understand how to see as Jesus saw, to feel as Jesus felt, to pray as Jesus prayed, and to do as Jesus did. A third session will be on responding to grief. How can we as pastors help people who have lost so much? The final session I am presenting will be on following the model Jesus provides in His roles of Prophet, Priest, and King (Hebrews 1:1-5) as a way to minister more effectively to the people of Haiti. Within this framework, the pastors will learn very practical skills related things the Bible speaks very powerfully to, despair, guilt, anxiety, fear, etc.
Other members of the team will be speaking to biblical truths regarding faith, hope, and love, listening and understanding the person who is dealing wth PTS, and other insights. All of us will be dependent on translators as we not only communicate in the large group settings, but also as we interact with these pastors in small groups, and as we provide individual counseling.
Please pray that God would speak powerfully to the hearts of these hurting, traumatized pastors who have lost so much in their own lives. Pray that the insights we share will not only minister to their needs, but also to the people of their congregations and to the Haitian people as a whole.
Blessings,
Dr. Paul
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