This Congolese woman and many like her are being helped through ABS's Restoration Ministry.

ABS has just launched a new ministry called Restoration, an initiative that seeks to stop trauma in its tracks around the world, in all of its expressions, using Scripture-based trauma healing programs tailored to specific ages and situations.

This past spring, ABS's Restoration Ministry hosted an inaugural “Community of Practice” gathering in Philadelphia to begin the task of mobilizing a global trauma response corps. Represented were five continents, 23 organizations and 43 people, many of whom have been at work in Bible-based trauma care for more than a decade. The gathering included participants from Wycliffe, The Seed Company, Mercy Ships, ALARM, Crisis Care Training International, eXile International and several Bible Societies and translation agencies.

Restoration has also just launched a pilot program among children in Kenya and Uganda, using a modified Scripture-based trauma healing curriculum. Rev. Dr. Bagudekia (Bagu) Alobeyo, program director for She's My Sister^TM, who helped launch the program in person, commented on the effectiveness of these trauma healing training programs:

“It was amazing to see that after training only three people from Goma [DRC], they then trained 170 more to take trauma healing programs to their community.”

Peggy Rathbun is an advocate for She's My Sister and can personally attest to the life change women in Africa are seeing from the trauma healing program.

“Our experiences [in Africa] provided us with evidence that God is at work in Africa, and he has graciously asked us at ABS to be a part of it,” Peggy says. “In the midst of their struggles is a glimmer of hope from God's Word, which has the power to transform lives.”