October 2025

The struggle is real. The trauma is real. It is ever present, most of the time subtle and hidden, but sometimes it explodes… bursting out at unexpected and inopportune moments. It is neither contained nor controlled, at best it is managed. For our kids it is not born of a single tragic event, but a lifetime lived under stressful and often dangerous circumstances where violence can manifest at a moment’s notice. It is ingrained. It becomes a part of you. You don’t even know it’s there or identify it as trauma. It’s just part of life, something you live with, until you feel strange when it is not a part of your life.

Every week when I’m with young people the first part of our time together is telling stories. Stories about their week, what happened at school or things going on at home.  I realized early in our ministry that this story telling was compulsive and therapeutic. They needed to unburden themselves about things they had seen and experienced. There was no place else to release these burdens. They always take the form of exciting, funny stories to tell to get the group’s attention. But the incredulity of the storyteller, their voices often cracking with emotion, betrays the depth of feeling and effect the situation had on them.

One of the boys was regaling us in the van with stories of his weekend. It was like watching a movie… encounters with strangers, flirting with girls, embarrassing moments, and yes, life threatening episodes.  With each story his voice got louder and more strident. He told us about an encounter with a gang, about getting stopped and searched by the police, getting into a fight, and about him and his friends being shot at. He had moved on to an encounter with a drunk on the street when his voice started cracking. To cover up he started an argument with one of the other boys and got angry over a perceived slight. All the boys noticed but no one said anything. They knew what he was feeling. They all experience the same thing.

In our crowded van we have trauma therapy sessions. We share stories and we listen to one another. In our group they find a sense of safety and community.  I introduce Jesus into the situation. I don’t bring Christ in as a quick fix, or even as a solution to the problems. But simply as a reassurance that God sees you, God cares about you, and God is always with you… even in the valley of the shadow of death. They carry this community we share in Christ with them to their schools, homes and neighborhoods. We talk about not being in the streets, choosing good company, making good choices… but there is no quick fix, no easy solution. The only protection is to stay in the house and not go out, but sometimes the trauma is there too. Circumstances don’t miraculously disappear. But now they can grind it out with Christ by their side.

Pray for our children in trauma. Pray that they can live their days with a sense of safety and community. Pray for their physical safety in environments where violence can and does threaten them at any moment. Pray that they can enjoy opportunities to live, thrive and grow as young black men, children of God. Lord, we entrust them to you completely. These and all of the children suffering in our society today. We know that You are able to hold them, until that final day. (2 Tim. 1.12)