Sister Share Aims to Help Victims of Civil War in Sudan Sister Share, the newest initiative from RCA Women's Ministries, encourages women to share with their sisters all over the globe. Heightened awareness of the plight of women and children worldwide prompted the creation of Sister Share, which helps fund five projects that serve women and children around the world. One of those projects is a trauma counseling program in Sudan. For 21 years Sudan was plagued by civil war, until a comprehensive peace agreement was signed in 2005. The war has left physical and emotional scars on the Sudanese people, who now think immediately of retaliation instead of reconciliation. The Resource Centre for Civil Leadership, or RECONCILE, promotes reconciliation and trauma healing. It teaches trauma counseling to female leaders in the Sudanese church, which has grown tremendously in spite of the suffering, so they in turn can reach out to more women and give the message of healing and hope. Many of the women they serve have been victims of rape and physical abuse.  Sister Share helps women heal in Sudan by supporting RECONCILE workshops, which are led by RCA missionary Debbie Braaksma and Sudanese colleagues. The workshops, specifically designed for the Sudanese situation, aim to give church and community leaders skills that will enable them to make a significant impact on transforming South Sudan from a culture of war to a culture of peace. The president of a church women's association in Sudan, who recently participated in a RECONCILE trauma healing workshop, writes: "I appreciate your struggle to put our people back to their feeling [traumatized people often become emotionally numb] and to regain their dignity as Southern Sudanese by playing a great role in reconciling people back to God and their friends around them." With the help of RECONCILE workshops, women's leaders will be able to teach other women to assist their communities to resolve conflicts in a non-violent manner as well as to contribute to a heightened understanding of and ability to use the biblical and psychological principles of trauma healing and reconciliation.  In a recent letter, the Braaksmas wrote, "As a result of workshops held in a particular area where ethnic groups had been fighting, killing, burning houses, and looting homes, the people committed themselves to starting an Inter-Tribal Fellowship group and began to have Bible study and prayer as well as athletic and drama competition as a way to get to know and appreciate one another." Sister Share also supports a feeding program in Nicaragua, provides pregnancy support services in Ontario, and sponsors initiatives to help marginalized women in India become self-sufficient.
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