Contextual Bible Study with Focus on Sexual Violence

Monica Njoroge, the FECCLAHA Coordinator of the Tamar Campaign participated in a week training organized by the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Switzerland, in conjunction with the World Council of Churches. The training covered Contextual Bible Studies in relation to Sexual Violence. The participants were mainly church workers, leaders and theologians from different parts of the world.

According to Ms. Njoroge, the participants were taken through different Bible passages, like the Tamar story (II Samuel 13:1-22); the story of Esther (Esther 2: 1-18), Jairus daughter (Mark 5: 21-43-Mark 6:1), to name a few. In addition to Contextual Bible study, the participants were also trained on pastoral counseling and care for survivors of sexual abuse.

Geneva TrainingThe seminar not only equipped the facilitators on sexual violence and the Bible but also other social issues affecting the society today and how to pick up and address these issues from different Bible passages.

This training is of great relevance to FECCLAHA given the geographical areas where we work and the communities that we serve. Sexual violence especially in armed conflicts has taken proportions never known before. The Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) cases of Eastern DRC, Rwanda and Burundi are still very alive in our memories and this poses a challenge to the whole region.