What THI Means To The ABS Purpose
American Bible Society’s mission is driven by a simple question: What if every person in every country could read, understand, and engage with God’s Word?
It’s a powerful mission. God’s Word can change hearts, minds, and lives, and that kind of power reaching every person would change the entire world.
But there’s more to it than making the Bible available to every person in the world. They need to be able to engage God’s Word with their heart, mind, and soul. And for people suffering from trauma, that kind of deep engagement can feel impossible.
That’s why we exist. Through the Trauma Healing Institute, American Bible Society equip churches to be a part of God’s healing process for those experiencing trauma by sharing the life-changing message of scripture.
American Bible Society’s Purpose
American Bible Society’s mission is to help people all over the world read and deeply engage with Jesus through scripture. This means helping make the Bible available to people in their heart language, distributing it to people who have never had a copy of their own, and advocating for the Bible to play a role in culture.
But having access to the Bible is one thing—deeply engaging with it is another. Trauma keeps people from being able to fully engage with the Bible. It keeps them from connecting with God, themselves, and the people they love. It causes shame, isolates, causes people to get stuck in hurt places and keeps them from growing.
Finding healing from trauma allows people to connect more meaningfully with the Bible. It gives them a chance to encounter God and his love for them in new, powerful ways. It helps them to return to themselves as God created them to be, and to be ready to deeply engage with him and his Word.
Restoring Broken Lives
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” God cares about our pain. And when we face trauma, we believe he wants to meet us and help us find healing through his Word.
A key part of American Bible Society’s purpose is restoring broken lives through God’s Word. And that’s what our trauma healing program is all about. Through engaging with his Word in community with others, we can find healing and find our way back to a deep, meaningful relationship with God.
Bible-Based Trauma Healing
Our trauma healing program incorporates proven mental health practices and a time-tested library of resources. But all of that is built on one foundation: the wisdom of the Bible. Our Bible-based trauma healing program brings healing to hurting people through scripture, helping them to find healing from their trauma and to reconnect with the God who loves them.
That’s what makes our program truly life-changing. People feel the weight of trauma not only mentally and emotionally, but also spiritually, and our program gives people the chance to engage with their pain on every level. They find healing from the Healer himself, through his Word.
Like our partners at American Bible Society, we believe in the power of scripture because we’ve seen it at work. When individuals with heart wounds are scripture-engaged, they experience lower levels of stress and higher levels of hope than even trauma-free people who are not scripture-engaged. Our program has been shown to significantly reduce PTSD, trauma-related grief, and negative emotions, as well as increase long-term engagement with the Bible.
"Unresolved trauma and loss block people from engaging with the Bible and finding God’s deep and abiding love,” said Rebecca Taguma, Executive Director of Trauma Healing. “When people experience trauma and loss, they look for comfort and answers. They are open to engaging with Scripture in new ways."
The healing power of God’s Word is real. Through our Bible-based trauma healing program, ordinary people in ordinary churches can help bring that healing power to the lives of hurting people.
Learn more about the Trauma Healing Institute and how you can bring healing to hurting people in your community.
