While hiding in a field of overgrown grass, Leyla* watched a crowd of soldiers enter a thatched hut in Tore Wandi, her home village. She heard scuffling on the dirt floor. She heard the shrill of voices. And she watched the soldiers burn the hut to the ground.

Just weeks earlier, a woman from another South Sudanese village told Leyla about an attack by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a barbaric militia group based in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. The woman warned Leyla of a looming attack in her village. Afraid, Leyla asked a local security officer to monitor the situation. But even with protection, the LRA broke into Tore Wandi.

When Leyla heard the soldiers approaching her village, she gathered her ten children and fled her home, crouching in the nearby bush.

When Leyla heard the soldiers approaching her village, she gathered her ten children and fled her home, crouching in the nearby bush. As the LRA ripped through her community, one of Leyla’s sons made a spur-of-the-moment decision: he took off toward their house.

After fleeing from his hiding spot, Leyla’s son fell into the arms of the LRA, who tied him to a chair and beat him to death.

In the months that followed, Leyla constantly thought about her son. While seeking the strength to overcome her pain, she decided to attend a Bible-based Trauma Healing class, made possible by financial partners from American Bible Society.

Through messages of hope found in God’s Word, Leyla learned to identify her pain, share her hurt and forgive the soldiers who murdered her son. On the final day of the program, she brought her suffering and heartbreak to the cross of Christ.

“Since that day, I was traumatized,” Leyla said. “But due to this Trauma Healing workshop, my nightmares will not disturb me anymore.”

“Since that day, I was traumatized,” Leyla said. “But due to this Trauma Healing workshop, my nightmares will not disturb me anymore. I will sleep well.”

Today, Leyla doesn’t hide from her past—the shrill of voices, the burning of homes, the death of her son. Instead, she holds tightly to the freedom found in Jesus Christ.

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of Trauma Healing beneficiaries in South Sudan