The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Dioceses of Butare, Cyangugu, Kigeme and Shyogwe Organized a Training on Trauma Healing and Deliverance

The training was held at Shyogwe from 17^th up 20^th January 2017 and has been supported by UEM. After this training session, participants realized that trauma healing is central to the Church’s work and there is a lot of things to do, especially harmonizing different approaches we use, elaborating appropriate teaching materials and a simple liturgy to use in deliverance and prayer healing sessions.

Furthermore, after three days of sharing experiences and learning from different groups of people including theologians, psychologists, medical personnel, teachers and intercessors on the topic of trauma healing and deliverance, participants in the seminar have come to the following resolutions and recommendations:

1. Putting in place a program of what must be done in relation to helping traumatized people in our parishes especially preparing a module and having an action plan of what is to be done in our Dioceses
2. Training other people involved in prayer ministries and other people involved in trauma healing and deliverance at Diocesan and parish levels
3. Setting up safe spaces in our parishes where we can welcome people who need counseling and encouraging pastors to have a specific time on their weekly plan for counseling.
4. Putting in place a guideline which does help in doing follow up of the traumatized people in our parishes
5. Sensitizing church leaders at local level to take part and to follow up what is being done in prayer-rooms
6. Identifying key people who are gifted in doing counseling and to equip them for an effective ministry in our parishes
7. Putting in place a commission which is assigned to follow up the cases of trauma in the church
8. Encouraging people to go for medical checkup in order to know what they are suffering from
9. Elaborating a specific liturgy to be used during prayer healing and deliverance sessions.
10. Teaching people to be hardworking in order to be able to help themselves to meet their basic needs.
11. Controlling and halting false teaching brought into our parishes by false teachers
12. Putting an emphasis on the teaching about the role of intercessors in the Church the work of and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and giving basic knowledge on the work of evil spirits.
13. Teaching to Christians the best practices which help to overcome diseases
14. Organizing another seminar for the current participants in order to evaluate what is being done and to take new up to date strategies
15. Strengthening partnership between pastors, medical personnel, psychologists, intercessors
16. Monitoring and evaluation system.