Helping Through Blessing – a teaching that impacts lives
I gave pastoral seminars in the Netherlands, once per month I shared in five Saturdays my insights.
It grew into a series of 3 courses a total of 15 days. My practice with HTB was just practical, I learned to fine-tune it as I went along.
It grew into an international teaching ministry in Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Egypt, and India. I wrote in one year
From Shame to Peace. In it, I developed the idea of Powerful Peace based on Philippians 4:6-9.
Then the God Of Peace will protect us in our „heart and mind“. Nothing will be possible to disturb that inner peace,
even when we don´t understand what is happening and why.
Two key ideas are fundamental in the Powerful Peace approach:
- The Peace of God,which can be received as a free gift, through Jesus Christ, and the effect of this on our spirit,
our soul and as well as our body. The experience of this divine gift helped me for twenty-seven years, to face a deep World War II
trauma that the Lord helped me to hide behind a curtain of „not remembering“. When I started to experience the physical relaxation in
Gods Presence, I could face it mentally. To deal with the emotional effects took me twelve years into the process of
„learning to forgive from the heart“ (Matthew 18:25-35)
- Helping Through Blessing: The possibility and authority which believers have, as members of ‚a Royal Priesthood‘ to bless.
It is actually closely related to positive psychology, to look for what is good in people, rather than what is wrong.
To bless what we see as something good, to encourage that, from Gods Truth point of view. Through blessing,
the focus is aimed at the expectation of a manifestation of the Presence of Jesus (Mat.18: 20) who comes where we are.
The practical application as stated in the IPSICC website:
„Survivors of trauma are often locked in a world of their own. To provide adequate help, it is necessary for ’safe’ persons to enter into this culture of abuse. The biblical concepts of ’grace and peace’ have proven to be essential keys in achieving this goal.The encounter with this grace and peace, the Powerful Peace of God, enables the survivor to face the pain,
to leave the past and to look with hope towards the future. This is the basis for this school“.
Body language
I learned about body language in the late seventies and eighties of last century, just by looking how people reacted and by using common sense. I also learned in the nineties of last century, from Barbara Rothchild and others, who had made it their main study: what does the body tell? I had been a bit shy to talk about it, but as the literature exploded about Body Language and how to use that for healing, I decided: it is not just a gift of being sensitive for Gods inspiration, it is based also on visible facts that can be taught.Vibeke and I started in 1993 ESARPAC, the European School of Abuse-related Pastoral Care, that evolved int IPSICC,
as I yesterday shared. Now I know that IPSICC still goes through a growth period. New developments will arise,
further questions need to be answered. Our Biblical basis is evident.
I pray that nobody waters this program down to a secular program with a Christian sauce.
This is where Powerful Peace and Helping Through Blessing are such strong anchors. Even as we encounter other religions
or philosophical ideas. I recognise that Buddhism has some form of truth in it. Actually, I have used a Buddhist thought in evangelism
in Thailand. There is a legend that especially in the area where I worked was very prominent in the thinking of the farmers.
One story people kept talking is about the Pra Ariajamettai: the Coming Buddha. It is said that on his deathbed, the Buddha had said:
“ I can not help you, after me, there comes an Other One, he can help you reach salvation.“ This Buddha died 500 years before Christ.
In those days people also wondered: what is there after I die? The missionary before me preached about the miraculous birth of Jesus.
People loved that story. Jesus was born from a mother who was still a virgin was no problem, they easily believed that this could happen.
That He died for our sins so that we didn´t have to carry the weight of sin anymore, was great news. This made an impression indeed,
and there were people who because of this legend accepted Jesus as their Saviour.
Truth is the truth, wherever we find it! Jesus is our Prince of Peace. He comes to where we are. He is not an idea,
He is alive and at work today. We put „Jesus Christ on.“ We model Jesus by who we are. People can smell fear; perhaps they also can smell peace? At least our relaxed body helps them to relax as well.It is not always so comfortable for a brain-oriented Protestantism to ask for physical experiences. We talk about: „where do you feel
this in your body? What is your body telling you now“? This doesn’t sound too theological.
We differ in our approach with secular people because we talk within a clear Biblical framework. We don´t tell a client who accepts
our Biblical framework „just do what you feel like doing.“ We help them to analyze their feelings in the Light of the Presence of Jesus.
Why do they want this and what is their aim? Do they reach their goal in this way?
When we work with believers or non-believers, we still have Ethical borders. Sometimes there is just not a right fit when what
they want goes against our limits. Honesty with a client is essential. Especially when we work with people who suffered abuse in
Christian circles, we need to be especially sensitive for their inner barriers. When non-believers come, we need to make sure that
we respect their borders. We radiate that divine peace through our body language. Especially our eyes are important in this.
We can talk positively about truth filled concepts without mentioning God at all.
How do you teach them to trust us? You need to find a moment where you can help them by discussing the positive aspects of
distrust and you affirm that this helped them in the past to save themselves from again being taken advantage of.
That you realize that they need this for their survival. You can explain to them that they can create a mental file
„not sure yet“ and use their common sense to decide what can be believed and what is still unsure.
The need for Resurrection power
I believe only the fact that Jesus is starker than death, that He gives us Resurrection Power,
that makes it possible for us to be there with a client to grieve with them, to allow them to feel what they feel,
to come to desire resurrection of that what died. Please be aware: sometimes people don´t want to be healed again.
They fear that someone will hurt them again and that they „die again“.
Living in this Resurrection Power of Jesus ourselves, our patience and our endurance, can create even hope for these people.
I will come back to this theme of the Resurrection again, at Friday morning.
