Growing Through Disaster, Tools for Financial and Trauma Recovery in Your faith Community
In 1984 when my wife died suddenly I experienced my own personal disaster. I knew I could not deal with my loss alone. I was invited to attend a community support group for parents of small children who lost a spouse. I was also able to grow through my grief with the amazing support of my congregation. My next step was to start leading a faith-based support group for people who lost a spouse. Since then I have continued to lead support groups for those who were dealing with trauma, loss, and personal crisis. During many years of ministry I witnessed first hand how local churches could offer support groups that make a difference.
When I retired in 2018, I felt an urgent need write a disaster, grief, and trauma resource designed for the faith community to reach those in need. I partnered with Matt Schoenfeld to design a book that offered healing and hope. We wanted to do four things. First, I knew that more people need help with informed trauma care today. Second, Matt knew how to teach people recovery financially after a disaster. Third, volunteers need training resources as well as survivors. This book offers interviews of those impacted by disaster so that volunteers can better understand the needs of those they are serving. And finally, we knew that faith communities have need for a group study guide which can impact individuals and encourage participation in recovery groups.
While my area of expertise and experience was grief and trauma recovery, Matt's area of expertise and experience was in financial teaching and coaching. Matt writes three chapters to help survivors take a financial assessment that is realistic and positive. Detailed forms and tools are offered to assist individuals and families develop and follow a recovery spending plan. Creating a financial recovery plan can be a multi-year strategy. Setting achievable goals and then taking simple steps gives hope for financial freedom over the burden of debt. This book, Growing Through Disaster – Tools for Financial and Trauma Recovery in Your Faith Community offers concrete and hope-filled ways for trauma and financial recovery that can be reinforced through faith-based small group dynamics.
Years after the disaster there may ben unresolved trauma still taking an ongoing personal and spiritual toll. Faith communities are called to be relevant, responsive, and to constantly improve our training and care with people in need. Recovery group ministry can be a need in every local church! While the church has done and will do much more in our future disaster recovery mission programs, how we resource the volunteers and victims is vital. Some may say that the local church does not have the ability that it once did to bring help, helping, and hope. However, in the last fifty years of pastoral ministry I have witnessed a growing involvement, dedication and investment of our volunteers in mission. When people are suffering, God's people will respond. This book is an encouraging testimony of how recovery groups make a real difference!
Rev. Dr. Clayton L. Smith available on Amazon-2019
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