Slavic Christian unspoken trauma

Dear Slavic Christian community, 

Until pain and sin increases in families and churches, change will not come. There’s no need for revival as we have grown used to living in emotional avoidance and spiritual complacency. 

Let me bring this home with a couple of examples to show you what I mean. 

I’ve worked with girls who cut their bodies because of the sexual trauma they experienced from church leaders, which was invalidated.

I’ve known girls who drank themselves to death because their pain was brushed under the rug and they were blamed for it.

I’ve served men who were raped by their babysitters from church.

I’ve known young men who overdosed and died because their parents thought seeking therapy would bring their family more shame than their deaths.

I’ve known girls who ran away from home and would sleep with any man to feel their absent father‘s love.

I’ve known men who left their families for mistresses because the covenant of marriage was not enough to keep them home.

I’ve seen children draw pictures of how they wanted to commit suicide because of their parents’ nonstop fighting.

Every single one of these scenarios is currently happening in our Slavic community—and we call ourselves believers.

How many of these will get help?

Over the last five years of working with my Slavic people, I’ve recognized one thing: we are more willing to stay in our pain than do something to change it.

We are comfortable, knowing how much it’ll hurt, rather than risking how it’ll feel if we seek change.

As long as this is the case, pain will go on for generations.

The rape and molestation cases in our churches will continue to increase as we turn a blind eye.

The porn, alcohol, and drug addictions will continue to increase in marriages because there is no need to stop seeking those dopamine highs.

The lie believed in these souls is, “God is not enough to redeem me, and there is no justice for my abuse, so why bother to get out of it? God doesn’t hear my prayers and can’t rescue me from my abusive marriage or familial environment.”

Fathers are weak and complacent. They are not a threat to the enemy that lurks to steal their children because they will never do anything to stand against him.

Mothers are weak. They pretend they can’t see the pain in their children because they’ve avoided their own, as they have tolerated abuse from their own fathers and spouses.

Leaders silence their sheep, telling them there are no problems in their churches, and those who have lived in fear of speaking up continue to do and say nothing.

I don’t know how much worse things have to get before something changes. Maybe more deaths. Maybe more lawsuits. But why does it have to get worse before getting better to this painful degree? 

Why can’t the eyes of my people become opened so we can be restored instead of hurting longer?

Each of these cases is preventable.