Pastor Ubutu Assuni is pictured (second from right) above. He is standing with the Nyanga language team from the Scripture-based trauma healing training, held in Goma, Democratic of the Congo.

Some people need to discover Job before they are ready to trust Jesus. This is a lesson American Bible Society has learned in nearly two years of serving victims of unspeakable violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“Fatima” is a young woman in Walikale, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last summer she met Pastor Ubutu Assuni, who was being trained in American Bible Society's Scripture-based trauma healing program. Fatima knew God blesses good and punishes evil. Her problem was that she couldn't understand how God let her be raped when she hadn't sinned against him. She left her church because of her questions and her shame.

Fatima's problem is anything but unique. Preliminary research suggests that as many as one in seven people worldwide experiences trauma — overwhelming events like war, terror and abuse that cause invisible wounds of the spirit and emotions.

Trauma expert Dr. Diane Langberg says that not all horrific events are traumatic. Some are classified as “ordinary” suffering if the victims can cope with them. We enter the realm of trauma when the pain of an event overwhelms normal coping strategies. This often leads people to question or abandon their faith.

Cultures, and sometimes churches, often work against healing by not providing socially acceptable ways for people to express their pain. But if pain remains hidden, it poisons lives and communities for generations. This impedes evangelism and discipleship, as well as relief and development. Because of this, Dr. Langberg calls trauma today's primary mission field.

Churches and secular agencies alike are now focusing on trauma. No one group can meet this need, but American Bible Society's new Restoration Ministry is providing leadership to bring agencies together in an effective Scripture-based response to the millions of hurting people worldwide.

In the Caribbean, other Bible Societies will treat trauma from domestic violence and natural disasters. In South Asia, trauma care will address domestic violence, suicide, human trafficking and ethnic conflict. Partners in North America work with Native American, immigrant and Latino populations. In East Africa, She's My Sister™ programs continue to demonstrate the power of God's Word as the Bible Society serves among some of the world's most intense suffering.

Pastor Assuni used the first Scripture ever translated into Fatima's language, Nyanga, to tell her the story of the Garden of Eden. Fatima's questions were those of Job: She insisted she was innocent and expected God to bless her. She could not understand why God had allowed her to suffer. She discovered, like Job, that suffering does not necessarily mean God is punishing her or that she has done wrong. Understanding this started the healing process, and Fatima has come back to church.

When traumatized people find others who have learned to listen to their stories and questions, they begin to engage with the Bible. They find Christ suffering like them while carrying the pain of the whole world, and they bring him their hidden pain for release and healing. They see how the Gospel truly is Good News.