about prayer & your whole freakin life changing...

the few notes i took from dr. m_'s talk at s___ a few weeks back:

• The general topic being addressed at the Friday morning presentation was "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Refugees."
• The regular staff there at S__ presented 3 "typical" cases. One of these was the story of a man whose chief complaint was a hurt knee. The man's knee had become injured when he jumped from a truck of men that had been rounded up to be tortured & killed.
• The general question being posed was; 'how do we deal with the deeper spiritual pain & trauma when patients are coming to us with manifestations of it that are coming out physically?' (Some of the patients have very severe pain that can't be explained medically, but are unwilling or unable to talk about the emotional or spiritual roots of the problem)
• Dr. M__ first asked; "How do you at Siloam prepare yourselves each day to deal with this? He went on to talk about soaking in the love of Christ every morning for ourselves so that we can have something to give. (It's only as we are loved...)
• He then said; "We want to tell them; 'Just because you made a mistake, it doesn't mean you are a mistake. God doesn't know you by your history, but He knows you by your destiny.'
• Many of these people have a condition called alexithymia (? maybe? something about a lack of words for emotional issues) - in childhood or these traumatic situations when they have expressed pain, they have been ignored or shamed. Because of this they don't deal in the emotional realm - they can only express pain in physical terms - they have so many levels of defense, it's hard to get down to what is really going on. It takes a while to know they can trust you & get down to the real issues. (Many patients are afraid that if they talk about the horror/abuse that happened in their home country that they will be deported or "turned in." - They have to be assured that the staff is not going to send them back - doesn't even have the power to and has no desire to.)
• Somebody there expressed some frustration at this point and said; "It's hard when we have so little time with them; I mean, how much can you do in 15 minutes with these people who have been so badly hurt?" Dr. M__ responded with; "15 minutes with you, Peace, and the Spirit of God can do more than you know!" and added "I love it when people let God do the healing. We are there to tell the truth; there is one who can save, heal & deliver!
• The enemy has been telling them lies from the beginning; "You'll never be safe - you'll never have peace - and even when you DO get hurt, it's your own fault - you deserve it anyway." We are here to tell them; "You're here for a purpose: God brought you here, and when you're ready, the healing will come. Even you thinking about this is a sign that you're getting ready...."
• Then the discussion turned to the practical realm of the clinical/available approaches for PTSD (when the patient comes to the place where they are ready to talk about it):
  1. The regular PTSD Therapy. (When asked; "how important is it that the person providing this therapy be a believer?" Dr. M__ responded; "that falls under general blessing; it's pretty straightforward, so you want someone who is skilled in it - not necessarily a believer.") On the other hand;
  2. SOZO/Inner Healing Prayer (Salvation Healing or Deliverance). This second approach WOULD require the people leading the patient through this to be lead themselves by the Holy Spirit. In this method, 2-3 people are trained to go through this with 1 person (patient).
• The jist of it, as Dr. M__ described it, was that these 2-3 people are there to help the person get down to the root lies that Satan has been telling them, to speak God's truth into that, and to invite Jesus to come in and to heal. It's "inviting them to participate in their own healing." Mostly it's about letting Jesus do the healing, though. It's not super-complicated, but very effective. When people feel forgiven, they are free to FORGIVE, which releases so much!
• Even PTSD counselors will tell their patients; "Forgiving is optional - it's nice, but it's not crucial." Dr. M__ disagrees - he says; "when people start being able to forgive, then they experience all kinds of freedom - that's when you see people not needing their medications anymore - it's so powerful!"
• He talked about the importance of both of these methods being used in tandem, and added; "counseling is good, but Inner Healing Prayer can go even deeper!

so just a little on my thoughts afterwards; i was so excited! i would LOVE to be part of this. partly on a purely selfish level - (who doesn't want more healing?), and then also to be able to participate with the healing of others. it is amazing to think of the combination of two things i feel so passionate about; counseling & prayer. the thought of God using my skills & desires NOW, in a simple and humble setting, instead of having to wait for 5 or 6 years down the road when i've finally got a counseling degree is just...awesome. i don't know if He WILL call me into this or not, but it is such a hopeful thing to realize that He can do unexpected and delightful things with my life. and i'm out...