| BI-WEEKLY COLUMNISTS |
Nehemiah 8:10 is a part of me. Even before I
knew “The joy of the Lord is your strength” came
from that specific passage of scripture, I always
heard the older saints say it in church. My
grandmother would also tell me that whenever I
was feeling low and depressed, particularly after
my mother Mavis passed away from being hit by a
stray bullet during a drive-by on our street.
knew “The joy of the Lord is your strength” came
from that specific passage of scripture, I always
heard the older saints say it in church. My
grandmother would also tell me that whenever I
was feeling low and depressed, particularly after
my mother Mavis passed away from being hit by a
stray bullet during a drive-by on our street.
Hurting & Traumatized Right In the Church
Serita Jakes Shares the Very Real Problem & Solution to Psychological Trauma
Serita Jakes Shares the Very Real Problem & Solution to Psychological Trauma
BY DONNA WALKER, EEW EDITOR
 | |  | |  | |  |
I was only 10 years of age and I remember hearing popping noises and glass shattering, before my
mother hit the floor like a brick.
I also remember feeling the most inexplicable gut-wrenching pain and emptiness when my Uncle Troy
came home from the hospital and told me in a trembling voice, “Honey, your mom didn’t make it.” I
had never seen Uncle T, as we called him, cry. And I had never involuntarily crumpled to the floor
screaming to the top of my lungs, before that moment.
It was hard. So hard, in fact, I couldn’t eat or sleep for days. I had nightmares about being murdered
and horrifying flashbacks. It happened more than 30 years ago and it’s still challenging to talk about.
So when I saw Serita Jakes, wife of Bishop T.D. Jakes on The 700 Club speaking about her brother’s
murder, I could relate to the pain her family went through.
In her new novel, The Crossing, she starts out the story with a violent incident and shows the
characters' struggle to move beyond something so horrid. Just like in her book, when real people go
through trauma or crisis, many suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a type of
anxiety disorder that occurs after someone has seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the
threat of injury or death. Personally, I had to go through counseling for years in order to function
normally. Even then, it took lots of prayer, care, and love, to help me cope.
Back when I was trying to deal with it all, no one called my emotional troubles PTSD, but I certainly
was traumatized! According to Serita Jakes, this is very common. She says statistics show that 45% of
battered women, 35% of abused children, and 50% of rape victims suffer from PTSD; these stats reflect
individuals who are part of a church congregation. That means untold numbers of victims of violent
crimes are all dressed up in church, but deeply wounded underneath it all.
So what can be done about this hurt?
“The word of God is the healer,” Lady Jakes said during her 700 Club interview. “And that’s the
ministry that we have to hurting people, that God is able. And so we hold on to that premise and then we
become testimonies, living testimonies of what God is able to do.”
Thank God for His word, which can heal all manner of diseases, whether physical, emotional, or
psychological.
To get more information about they symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, visit the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at www.nimh.nih.gov.
What are your thoughts on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in the church? Tell EEW Magazine. Email
feedback@eewmagazine.com
mother hit the floor like a brick.
I also remember feeling the most inexplicable gut-wrenching pain and emptiness when my Uncle Troy
came home from the hospital and told me in a trembling voice, “Honey, your mom didn’t make it.” I
had never seen Uncle T, as we called him, cry. And I had never involuntarily crumpled to the floor
screaming to the top of my lungs, before that moment.
It was hard. So hard, in fact, I couldn’t eat or sleep for days. I had nightmares about being murdered
and horrifying flashbacks. It happened more than 30 years ago and it’s still challenging to talk about.
So when I saw Serita Jakes, wife of Bishop T.D. Jakes on The 700 Club speaking about her brother’s
murder, I could relate to the pain her family went through.
In her new novel, The Crossing, she starts out the story with a violent incident and shows the
characters' struggle to move beyond something so horrid. Just like in her book, when real people go
through trauma or crisis, many suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a type of
anxiety disorder that occurs after someone has seen or experienced a traumatic event that involved the
threat of injury or death. Personally, I had to go through counseling for years in order to function
normally. Even then, it took lots of prayer, care, and love, to help me cope.
Back when I was trying to deal with it all, no one called my emotional troubles PTSD, but I certainly
was traumatized! According to Serita Jakes, this is very common. She says statistics show that 45% of
battered women, 35% of abused children, and 50% of rape victims suffer from PTSD; these stats reflect
individuals who are part of a church congregation. That means untold numbers of victims of violent
crimes are all dressed up in church, but deeply wounded underneath it all.
So what can be done about this hurt?
“The word of God is the healer,” Lady Jakes said during her 700 Club interview. “And that’s the
ministry that we have to hurting people, that God is able. And so we hold on to that premise and then we
become testimonies, living testimonies of what God is able to do.”
Thank God for His word, which can heal all manner of diseases, whether physical, emotional, or
psychological.
To get more information about they symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, visit the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) at www.nimh.nih.gov.
What are your thoughts on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in the church? Tell EEW Magazine. Email
feedback@eewmagazine.com
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Copyright © 2011-2014 EEW Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
EEW Magazine is the premiere site for African American Christian news, viewpoints, and information. Visit EEWMagazine.com daily to get informed and
get the latest coverage of black news and black entertainment from a Christian perspective.
get the latest coverage of black news and black entertainment from a Christian perspective.
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST:
Email:
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST:
Email:
Watch Serita Jakes' full 700 Club interview:
