By The Rev. Dr. Robert Hoffman
Community of Hope ministry

Over the past two and a half years, Lutheran Disaster Response of New York has provided grants to a whole host of different organizations. One that most people have probably not heard about is a unique training event called Seminars on Trauma Awareness and Recovery (STAR).

The STAR Project was created by Carolyn Yoder. Carolyn is part of the faculty and staff of the Conflict Transformation Program, a graduate program of Eastern Mennonite University located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has worked in conflict situations all over the world, including, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Croatia. As she says so simply and yet so eloquently, “I am a Mennonite, therefore I am a pacifist. But there is much more to being a pacifist that simply desiring peace. I don’t know of anyone who desires war. There are many who, while they may consider armed conflict a poor alternative, also think it is inevitable. I am not convinced. And, since I think this way, then I can no longer simply hope for peace. I have to work for peace.”

What, you may be asking, does this have to do with disaster work? In the STAR program, participants begin their time together with a guided exploration of the idea of trauma and what happens to people who experience trauma. Whether the trauma comes from experiencing a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or a flood, or a human created disaster, such as open warfare or acts of terrorism, the physical and emotional dynamics that take place within people are the same. In the course of this week-long process, participants reflect on the effect of trauma in their own lives, and the lives of other participants. They learn about the victim cycle and the aggressor cycle, and how, if these cycles are not broken, will tend to be repeated generation after generation.

The other truly exciting about the STAR program is that the participants come from all over the world. In the program I attended, we had persons from Northern Ireland, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nepal, and Palestine. The conversations that take place, both in class and out, during the week of STAR training are often life-changing.

All friends and supporters of Lutheran Disaster Response of New York can be most pleased that it provides funding to the STAR program. At least a dozen Lutherans from the NYC area have attended STAR. It is an outstanding program in every way.