Child, Arise!: The Courage to Stand: A Handbook for Survivors of Sexual Abuse - Softcover

Dowling, Jane N

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1863551530 ISBN 13: 9781863551533

Publisher: David Lovell Publishing, 2017

Synopsis

“One of the most important books to have been written in a time of intense scrutiny and dark and disturbing exposure for the church. It is an account of personal courage and gracious spirit, and a story of remarkable faith. It is a book full of invitation, of possibility and of hope.” Rev Dr David Ranson Senior Lecturer, Sydney College of Divinity This practical handbook invites the reader to embark on a journey of healing by taking a guided walk through the Scriptures where they will learn to listen to their personal story narrated by a loving God. As this transforming journey unfolds, the reader will be amazed as they discover the presence of an all-loving and compassionate God who walks with them and extends a healing hand to them, empowering them to work through the effects and issues of sexual abuse. It is a practical handbook that also offers insight to spiritual and pastoral care workers accompanying survivors of sexual abuse, family and friends and other supporters. Interwoven within the scriptural reflections is the story of the author’s own journey from trauma to healing. It is a powerful and moving narrative that serves as a model for other survivors. · The author writes as a survivor of abuse speaking to other survivors of abuse (particularly sexual abuse). · It is a practical handbook that invites the reader to participate by walking their own spiritual journey. · It acknowledges the deep spiritual wounds of survivors of abuse by dealing with the big existential questions that arise. · It deals with the distorted image of God that victims often cannot escape. · Even those who read the book and have not have been abused can walk this spiritual journey. ·. While focusing on the spiritual, it is also integrates the very real practical issues faced by survivors of abuse and those who support them. · It is written in a gentle and non-imposing manner. ·. It is gently introduces the readers to a technique and step-by step-guide on how to encounter and listen to God through the Scriptures and how to experience the transforming power of Scripture at work in their life. · It reveals how holistic healing can be achieved through spirituality and shows how God works through the Scriptures and has the power to transform and integrate the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual effects of abuse. · It is a practical handbook that offers insight to spiritual and pastoral care workers accompanying survivors of sexual abuse and the technique of approaching the Scriptures may be used as a guide for survivor support groups attempting to respond to survivor’s spiritual needs.

About this title

About the Author:

Jane Dowling has spent twenty-two years as a consecrated member of an international Catholic missionary society facilitating retreats and providing guidance on how to pray with the Scriptures. As a survivor of sexual abuse, she experienced the transformative power of God’s word in her own healing journey. Further witnessing this transformation in others prompted her to write this book. In late 2012, having taken leave from her community and ministry commitments for health reasons, she appeared before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. ‘My decision to tell my story to the Royal Commission’, she says, ‘not only initiated a personal journey of deeper healing but also provided the raw material for God to work with and what I needed to begin writing this book.’ ‘What I attempt to do in this book is invite survivors not only to connect with their stories but to listen to their own story being narrated by a loving God who speaks to them personally through the Scriptures. I accompany them in this process of journeying through the Scriptures. My reflections are an invitation to the reader to personalize his or her own experience of God’s love by giving them step by step guidance on how they can apply the Scriptures to their own survivor context so that they can experience the power of it in their daily life. My hope is that by the end of the book the reader will be left with a technique for reflecting upon and praying with the Scriptures and that this will serve as a means for their continued healing and transformation from the effects and issues of sexual abuse.’

About this edition

• Publisher: David Lovell Publishing
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1863551530
• ISBN 13: 9781863551533
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 272