Mission and Healing

Abstract

Trauma challenges Christian approaches to suffering and healing, for the unnarratability and the unspeakability of trauma fundamentally disrupt our understanding of witness and its relationship with healing. Although missiological reflection on healing and reconciliation has not adequately grappled with trauma’s implications for the theology and practice of mission, historical examples of women’s healing mission practice show the capacity for trauma healing embedded in the Christian tradition and afford resources for developing a trauma-centered account of healing mission for the twenty-first century. Reading the story of the hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:25–34) from a trauma-centered perspective alongside case studies from Indonesia reveals healing as an ongoing, multidimensional process known and witnessed through embodied experience. The chapter proposes an aftermath model of mission centered on “poetic witnessing” as a model of healing mission capable of addressing trauma’s physical, psychological, social, and spiritual effects.

Early church hospitality-based Pentecostal mission in the religious moderation frame of Indonesia

“…Hospitality expresses love without considering generous feedback, and it is not free of any risk (Augustine 2012). Lakawa (2011) confirmed it in the context of pluralism in Indonesia. Hospitality does not eliminate the worst risks in religious life in an encounter space of difference; on the contrary, it gives Christians the momentum to show the 'face' of Christ to the world.…”

Embodied interreligious engagement: Female gendered bodies, reconciliation, and sport in Djibouti

“…Harassment and anger at the perpetrators do not fit this story. Instead, they “interrupt[s] the plot” (Lakawa and Fitchett-Climenhaga, 2022: 300).…”

“…A ministry of reconciliation recognizes the potential for wholeness as a “fundamental dimension of God’s relationship with creation and the church’s missionary identity and activity” (Lakawa and Fitchett-Climenhaga, 2022: 294) without denying the reality of pain. This can lead to post-traumatic growth, which develops a stronger sense of self, an openness to new possibilities and goals such as a sense of mission or plan to help others be safe, and increased compassion and empathy (Fallot and Blanch, 2013: 372).…”

“…There is also the psychological benefit of physically working out the stress in a safe space. Safety is Judith Herman’s first stage of trauma healing (Lakawa and Fitchett-Climenhaga, 2022: 300). Lakawa brought Muslim and Christian women together in Indonesia to explore restoration after violence via interreligious engagement and dance.…”

“…Lakawa brought Muslim and Christian women together in Indonesia to explore restoration after violence via interreligious engagement and dance. The women “experienced a space where their stories of trauma and the possibility of healing were intertwined in ways that allowed them to be vulnerable” (Lakawa and Fitchett-Climenhaga, 2022: 306). The unspeakability of trauma renders words ineffective but as women build relationship, they become safe for one another in the freedom offered by movement.…”