Lina Abujamra: Recovering from Spiritual Trauma

Guest Bios Show Transcript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjPAeY0573g Does anyone truly recover from spiritual trauma? After being ravaged by the church or a church leader, can a person ever be the same? Those gut-wrenching questions were recently posed by author and speaker, Lina Abujamra, at the Restore Conference—a session featured on this edition of The Roys Report. “It’s been 9 years since I survived my spiritual trauma,” she said. “It left me changed. I’m not the same person I used to be.” But then, with brutal honesty, Lina describes her transformation from ambivalence and hiding—to trusting once again in Jesus. “I know why deconstruction has become so popular,” she admits “Sometimes it hurts too much to try to heal.” Lina calls us to face the hurt and the pain—and to admit our need for Jesus. In doing so, we don’t become the person we were. But we do become a person with a reconstructed faith, a faith not based on any Christian leader or institution, but on Christ alone. This Week’s Guest Lina Abujamra Lina Abujamra is a pediatric ER doctor, now practicing telemedicine, and founder of Living With Power Ministries. Her vision is to bring hope to the world by connecting biblical answers to everyday life. A popular Bible teacher, podcaster, and conference speaker, she is the author of several books including Thrive, Stripped, Resolved and her most recent book, Fractured Faith. Lina ministers to singles through her Moody Radio show, Today’s Single Christian, and is engaged in providing medical care and humanitarian help to Syrian refugees and others in disaster areas in the Middle East. Her ministry also provides spiritual retreats for women at The Hope Ranch. Learn more about her at www.livingwithpower.org. Show Transcript SPEAKERS LINA ABUJAMRA MD, JULIE ROYS JULIE ROYS Does anyone truly recover from spiritual trauma? After being ravaged by the church or a church leader, can a person ever be the same? Welcome to The Roys Report—a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And those gut-wrenching questions were recently posed by author and speaker, Lina Abujamra, at the Restore Conference. “It’s been 9 years since I survived my spiritual trauma,” she said. “It left me changed. I’m not the same person I used to be.” But then, with brutal honesty, Lina describes her transformation from ambivalence and hiding—to trusting once again in Jesus. “I know why deconstruction has become so popular,” she admits “Sometimes it hurts too much to try to heal.” Yet, Lina calls us to face the hurt and to face the pain—and to admit our need for Jesus. In doing so, we don’t become the person we were. But we do become a person with a reconstructed faith, a faith not based on any Christian leader or institution, but on Christ alone. This is such a raw and accessible message and I’m so excited to share it with you. But first, I want to take a minute thank the sponsors of this podcast—Judson University and Marquardt of Barrington. Well again, you’re about to hear a message by Lina Abujamra on recovering from spiritual trauma. Lina is a popular Bible teacher, blogger, and founder of Living with Power Ministries. She’s also the author of Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction. And, she’s a pediatric ER doctor, who was born in Lebanon and is deeply involved in humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees. She’s someone I’m proud to call a friend. And I think you’re going to moved and helped by her powerful message. Here’s Lina Abujamra LINA ABUJAMRA MD 00:04 On January 12, 2010, a catastrophic magnitude seven earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time. The epicenter was near the town of Leogane approximately 25 kilometers west of Port au Prince, Haiti’s capital. By January 24, at least 52 aftershocks measuring four and a half or greater, had been recorded. An estimated 3 million people were affected by the earthquake. Death toll estimates ranged