gate of hope ministry - lay counseling

Back in February, Baraka's ministry, Gate of Hope, sponsored the first of a four-phase lay counseling training program here in Rwanda. The purpose of the training is to equip local Rwandans who are working with children with tools to help address trauma and other psychological and emotional issues that children might face here.

This past Tuesday, along with the Vice President of Gate of Hope, it was a total blessing and privilege to help "open" the second phase of the training. It is not so common in the States to have formal "openings" and "closings" of events and workshops, but here in Rwanda it is the standard modus operandi. Depending on the event, "openings" usually consist of a few formal statements of welcome and short speeches to welcome the participants; "closings" usually entail distribution of training certificates or participation certificates, as well as accompanying short speeches and encapsulation statements. The formalities lend an air of importance to any event, and are expected by all.

Here's a photo of Baraka and the Vice President, as Baraka was officially opening the training:



I shared briefly about how friends back home at Ev Free were praying for the group, and had been praying for a long time for both the physical and emotional needs of Rwandans, particularly for those who have been traumatized. Gate of Hope ministry is, in many ways, an answer to these prayers! I also told the group how encouraged I was that they were willing and able to be equipped to help break cycles of destructive emotional pain in the lives of children in Rwanda. Baraka is helping to build the capacity of these lay counselors to interrupt these cycles of pain with important Truths: the Truth of God's love, the Truth of the inestimable value and worth He places on each and every life, and the Truth of His healing and forgiveness.

Here is a picture of, from L to R: Louise (from the Child Development program at WR....you'll recognize her from the pizza party postings a few weeks back!), Domatille (a facilitator in the training), and Baraka (leader extraordinaire):



Baraka has been working really really hard to organize the training and make it the very best it can be, so that the group of attendees (17 people in all) will leave with honed skills to meet the emotional needs of the children with whom they work. Thank you for your prayers for her during this week; the training will end tomorrow (Friday). During the morning I took some video footage of Baraka, and one of the things she emphasized was that this type of counseling work really has to be empowered by God Himself, for true healing to occur. So she is thankful for your prayers! Here is a picture of (almost) the whole group of Rwandans being trained (and I snuck in the photo too):