VIOLENCE PREVENTION ADDRESSED IN THE PHILIPPINES
Breaking the Cycle of Violence: One Woman's Mission to Bring Hope and Healing to the Philippines
When Rev. Paul Barner of Barner Christian Academy urged Barbara Joy Hansen, daughter of C&MA pastor Charles Droppa, to address violence prevention and share her story in Alliance churches throughout the Philippines, she was amazed at how many other doors opened.
The author of Listen to the Cry of the Child is seen here cooking fish and vegetables over a primitive fire pit in the heart of the jungle at Father’s House Orphanage with Paul’s wife, Elvie.
Barbara encouraged the orphans to participate in Janet’s Story, a skit about a young girl caught in the web of domestic violence. The children willingly took part. Some shyly shared their stories of being sent to the orphanage by relatives struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction. Others told stories of being sexually trafficked.
ISIS watched their every move in this remote jungle, but Pastor Paul assured the humanitarian aid workers not to be afraid because the drug lords knew these missionaries well and would run when they miraculously saw Guardian Angels surrounding them.
Barbara and her book promoter, Bernice, know violence all too well, but they have risen from the ashes in order to reach other survivors who need restoration, healing for their souls, and hope.
These women shared their testimonies in Filipino male and female prisons; at the largest government hospital with nurses, doctors, and police officers; with Christian & Missionary Alliance college students; with high school students; in many remote villages and churches where some pastors had never heard how to prevent violence; at a funeral; with parents and teachers at Barner Christian Academy; and in the streets, wherever anyone would listen.
