Summer Counseling Update

Last summer as I left Uganda, I prayed that God would continue healing the deep wounds of the children involved in the counseling groups. At Barlonyo camp my translator, Jane, and I led a counseling group under a tree for a few hours each day for five days. After the group I was able to see changes in the girls that I hoped would last. I especially worried about two special little girls who had little hope in their eyes.

When I returned this year to visit Barlonyo, I was blessed to find these two girls among a group of children greeting me with huge smiles on their faces. They shared that they were doing well and continue to believe their angels are protecting them. I saw hope in their eyes and could tell that God has continued to work healing in their lives. They led others in singing the song “Jesus You Are My Savior,” and I marveled at the work God had done and continues to do.

Returning to Uganda this summer, I found the Ugandan counselors completely running and organizing the trauma groups this year. As I sat in on one of the groups I could see compassion in their eyes and hear the tenderness in their voices as they shared about God’s love. The COTN home has 29 children living there who are in desperate need of healing. All of the children face multiple adjustments and are grieving many losses.

This summer the counselors have been eager to receive daily training with COTN International Counseling Director Sue Harrell as she teaches approaches to counseling, play therapy, grief work, treatment planning, and more. They are learning how to help the children in the home continue to process multiple traumas including the loss of their parents through death, murder or abandonment.

Lucio Oruni, an insightful and gifted COTN–Uganda counselor said, “If we can help these children get past their trauma, we will have the future leaders of Uganda living in this home.” The counselors will continue bringing a message of hope by visiting schools and running trauma groups. The hope of the counselors is to help bring healing to the traumatized children in surrounding areas by showing them that God has a plan and a purpose for their lives (Jer. 29:11); this summer I have been blessed to see this hope continue to grow into a reality.

by Michelle Bobich, M.S., Summer Counseling Intern serving in Uganda