Christmas reveals a God who does not abandon us in our trauma, but draws near with comfort and hope.
In the months since Vanuatu’s devastating December earthquake last year, Pastor David from Pentecost Island has lived this truth as he walks alongside families still healing.
Like Christ, who entered our broken world at Christmas, Pastor David brings God’s healing presence to communities where the ground has literally shaken beneath them.
David’s journey in trauma healing began when he joined the ‘Healing the Trauma’ training in Port Vila. The training was facilitated by our partners, the Churches of Christ Conference in Vanuatu.
The idea of healing trauma was unfamiliar to David, as people in his community carried wounds from disasters, but rarely named them.
In a country often struck by cyclones and earthquakes, the training opened David’s eyes to the hidden wounds disasters leave. “After the cyclones, I learnt that trauma could be seen as a sore in the heart, affecting everyone from children to the elderly,” he said.
“I realised that people really do carry this sore in their hearts. What I learned [during the training] gave me the tools to help them heal these deep wounds.”
This is compassion as action, not just feeling. David embodies what the Christmas story reveals: a God who doesn’t abandon us in trauma but draws near with healing hands.
David remembers an elderly woman whose house had collapsed in a cyclone. “She was deeply worried. As we spoke, she opened up about the sore in her heart,” David recalled.
Although the cyclone occurred a few years ago, she expressed her pain, “I was able to encourage and give her a ‘lift’ using the Healing the Trauma skills and also with God’s Word.”
Healing the Trauma workshops have enabled many local pastors to support their communities in a country frequently affected by natural disasters. Pastor Bridget, who co-pastors with her husband on South Pentecost, shows how local leaders are spreading hope in their communities and how healing grows strongest when it spreads through natural community networks.
After completing her trauma-healing training, Bridget immediately saw the need to share what she had learned with the women in her congregation.
“When I reflected on my community, I realised that what I learnt through ‘Healing the Trauma’ was exactly what we needed. The training is so useful, because cyclones come often and spoil the community: our gardens, our homes, our belongings. These things hurt people deeply,” she said. Bridget lives out the call to be Christ’s hands and feet, carrying the burdens of her community just as Galatians 6:2 urges us to do.
A young woman from Port Vila opened David’s eyes further. The earthquake destroyed everything, she told him. She had never known such terror.
Through the training, David saw his calling with fresh clarity, to walk with people in disaster-hit communities and remind them of the hope found in Christ. “God has called me to walk with people in need and remind them of that hope,” he said.
David’s gratitude extends to the church family supporting this vital work. “I say a big thank you to all the churches in Australia for your support and prayers, for the ways you have helped the churches in Vanuatu, especially in times of disaster,” he said.
This Christmas, your gift goes further. By supporting the COCOA Christmas Offering, you stand with pastors like David and Bridget who bring God’s love to families still healing. Your generosity helps communities in Vanuatu and beyond discover restoration, hope and new beginnings, just as Christ entered our world to heal the brokenhearted.
Your generosity enables leaders like David and Bridget to show that God’s love remains steadfast, even when the ground shakes. Together, we carry each other’s burdens and bring the healing presence of Christ to broken communities.
Give today and share the gift of hope.