A1 Opening Music 10 Seconds of Lesson 4

PROGRAM 01 SUFFERING

English
Program 01: If God loves us, why do we suffer?

A1 Opening Music 10 seconds of Lesson 4

A2 Host Introduction

Host: Welcome to our Trauma Healing program. Thank you for joining me; I’m ___. The Trauma Healing program is a production of ______.
Music- Lesson 4 song
Host: These programs help you recognize trauma in yourself or in others. But what is trauma? Trauma happens when a person faces a circumstance in which he or she feels powerless. Perhaps conflict or natural disaster or even physical abuse. These trauma healing programs reveal biblical principles that lead to healing and allow you to live fully once again. Today we look at the question: if God loves us why do we suffer?

Music- Lesson 4 song

A3 Current Life Drama

Storyteller: In the country of Bingola, there lived a well-known pastor called Pastor Mark. Pastor Mark’s father died when he was 3, and he grew under his cruel uncle. A kind family member helped him go to school. He became a Christian and had the opportunity to go to Bible School. After graduating, he served in a small village church, but two years later war broke out in Bingola and over the next three years Mark saw many terrible things.
(Troubling Music)
Pastor Mark: Who am I trying to fool? I do not know how long I can keep up with this! God why? If you are all-powerful and loving why didn’t you stop those soldiers from shooting innocent people, raping women and burning down villages? Do you not care? Is that love, really? You’re just like my father, who left me with my uncle who mistreated me, beating me, not giving me food. Why have you forsaken us?
SFX: Knock on door
Village Elder: Pastor Mark, are you there?
Pastor Mark: Yes, I’m coming, elder. Oh, it's you. Please come in.
SFX: Door Opening
Village Elder: Thank you. My son, you look troubled. What’s wrong?
SFX: Door closing. Foot Steps.
Pastor Mark: Everything’s fine, elder; it is all just fine.
SFX: Chairs being pulled out from table.
Village Elder: Well that is not what it looks like! You know, Pastor Mark, I’m a troubled man as well. People in the village look so sad; we no longer sing and dance you know? Our forefathers shared a story that long ago God lived in our village amongst our people until the day a woman bothered Him and He moved far away. Pastor Mark, do you think God left us permanently? Is He still angry at us?
SFX: Chair scoots out from table.
Pastor Mark: I’ve heard that story but that’s not what the Bible teaches us. (Aside/ to himself, wondering) I sometimes think God has left us and is angry with us.
Village Elder: Sorry, what did you say Pastor Mark?
SFX: Soft footsteps.
Pastor Mark: I think God has not left the people of Bingola. He is judging us because of our sins. (aside to self)
When I preach about God’s judgment the people leave the church looking so sad I feel like I’m not helping them. But how can I preach about God’s goodness when I feel he is so far away. It’s true, elder, I am troubled. I keep asking myself, “If God loves us, why do we suffer?”
Music- Lesson 4 song.

A4- Host Introduce First Discussion

Host:Sometimes after a traumatic event, people feel overwhelmed, fearful and helpless. Trauma also can cause physical problems such as headaches or stomach pains. Some people live with in intense fear and nightmares. If you or someone you know shows these symptoms, we encourage you to continue listening.
Music… add 5-10 seconds of Theme Song.
Host: We just heard the story story of Pastor Mark. Listen to Jacques, Steven, Magdalene and Rebecca as they take a deeper look at the story.
Music—5-10 seconds of program 4 song.

A5- First Discussion

James: ! Now how do you think the father dying and the uncle being cruel to Pastor Mark affected how he saw God? You know, we talk about God as our father!
Stephen: Well, he never had a father who loved him so maybe he thought that God didn’t love him either.
Magdalene: You know I feel very sorry for Pastor Mark because first he had problems when he was a child and then the war came. No wonder he wasn’t a happy man.
Stephen: Yes, but he wasn’t even helping the people in his church at all.
Magdalene: Well I don’t like the way his uncle treated him when he was a child.
James: That was bad actually, yes.Imagine being three-years-old and the uncle is being real cruel –
Stephen: Uh-huh and your father has just died.
Magdalene: Yeah.
Rebecca: Yeah, you know it’s very hard when you’re young and you lose one of your parents, to really understand that they didn’t choose to go away, that circumstances happened and they passed on.
James: Yeah our experiences with our fathers definitely affect how we view God as our Father.
Magdalene: When they say the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven”, can they really imagine what a loving Father would be like?
James: How could they? It’s true, our experiences with our fathers have a big effect on how we view God as our Father. If we’ve not known the love of our earthly father, we need to ask God to heal that wound in our heart.
Rebecca: Yeah, when I think of all of the bad things that have happened in my life, I wonder how it is that God loves me. Why didn’t he stop the bad things from happening?
Rebecca: Well, that’s a prayer topic for me!
James: Rebecca, we are praying for you. Now what about the traditional beliefs? In our drama, the village elder told Pastor Mark the traditional belief of how God ran away from the village. How did that affect Pastor Mark’s views about God?
Magdalene: I think when Pastor Mark heard the elder speak about the story of God being far away, with all that he had happened to him, it was probably tempting to believe the story was true. When things go wrong in our lives, it’s so easy to go back to our traditional ideas.
Rebecca: That’s true.
Magdalene: He began to wonder if God really had gone away!
Rebecca: When things go wrong in our lives, it’s so easy to go back to our traditional ideas. To begin to doubt.
James:Let’s compare this with the Bible. What does the Bible really teach about God?
Magdalene: The creation story says that God made the world, but He didn’t go away and leave it. In fact, He cares for us day-by-day.
Stephen: Sometimes people say that the reason the bad things keep happening is that evil is stronger than God. He can’t stop it. Do you think that’s true?
Magdalene: Well, they need to read John 1, where it says that the darkness never can put out the light. Ever.
James: And 1 Peter 3 where it says that God is patient, so that everyone has a chance to repent and turn to him. It’s not that he is weak!
Rebecca: Okay, but sometimes people think God likes to see us suffer—that somehow it gives him pleasure.
Magdalene: Well, in Genesis 6 it says that when God saw people choosing to do evil, it grieved him. He suffers when he sees us suffering.
Stephen: Really? Wow!
James: So it’s important to think about what our culture tells us and compare it with what the Bible teaches. Now our last question: what sort of teaching is unhelpful when Christians are suffering?
Stephen: To me I think Pastor Mark wasn’t helpful to his followers because he kept preaching to them about how God was punishing them for their sins. They never heard that God loved them. That just made them feel worse.
James: That is very true. Especially if we are going through suffering, we need to be reminded that God loves us. Anything other teaching that is unhelpful during the time of suffering?
Rebecca: You know some people teach that suffering comes because we’ve haven’t done enough to please God.
James: How would that make you feel?
Rebecca: You would feel like you needed to do more.
Stephen: Uh-huh.
Rebecca: You know maybe you fast for longer or give more money or pray more.
Magdalene: That’s frustrating, you know? We can’t earn God’s love. We are saved by grace. We do good things as a response to God’s love for us, not to earn his love.
James: So even though we fast for forty days and forty nights like Moses, really we can’t do anything to earn God’s love. It’s God who reaches out to us.
Rebecca: Uh-huh.
James: Anything else that is harmful when pastors are talking to people who are suffering?
Stephen: Yes, I went to a church as a boy where they said that if you have enough faith, you will never be sick or poor. You just have to have enough faith and give your money, and trust in God, that He will grow this little seed into a big, big home and a big car and he’ll make you to be a wealthy person.
James: So if you’re poor or suffering, then that would mean that your faith is really little.
Stephen: Right! And you would have the pain of your suffering and then added to that, you’d feel guilty about not having enough faith!
Magdalene: Yeah. I just have a question; haven’t all these people read the Bible? If they had, they’d realize that Jesus, Paul and Job all went through suffering but God was still with them. And they had not done bad things!
James: So when bad things happen, we need to know what the Bible says about suffering and faith.
Rébecca: and that God is our loving father.
James: Yes. Nothing can separate us from his love.

Transition Music… Lesson 1 song 5-10 seconds

A6- Host Call to Action

Host: Do you need someone to talk to or someone to pray with you? You can call or SMS us on ___; start your SMS with the word Trauma and send it to ___. You can also send us an email to ___.

Transition Music
B1 Host introduction to bibilical drama
Host: Now let’s find out about something that Pastor Mark really wanted to know: if God loves us, why do we suffer? Listen to the first story in the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve.

B2- Biblical Drama

Music.. Vumba Dawn
Storyteller: When God created the earth, there was no suffering. God created the world out of nothing. He just spoke and things came to be. And every time, he said, “It is good.” Finally God said:
Music- Vumba Dawn
God: Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.
SFX: Birds chirping, roosters crowing.
Fade Out: Vumba Dawn
Fade in Kangela
Storyteller: So God made a man, Adam, to rule over all the other things that he had made. And God made a woman, Eve, so that Adam had a helper and friend. He put them in the beautiful garden where everything was perfect. There was no pain or suffering. And God put two special trees in the middle of the garden: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam:
God: You may eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden, except one—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die!
Fade out Kangela
Storyteller: Adam and Eve were completely happy and were able to talk with God freely. But one day a snake came to talk to Eve. He didn’t come hissing, he came talking:
DD 50004-18 music..
Add Hissing
Hissing
Snake: Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?
Eve: No, God said we could eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden except the one in the middle. If we eat fruit from it, or even touch it, we will die.
Add Hissing
Snake: No, that’s not true! God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, your eyes will be open and you’ll be like God, knowing good from evil.
Music: Fade out 50004-18 music..
Storyteller: Eve looked at the fruit and it looked beautiful and good to eat. She liked the idea of becoming wise, so she took the fruit
SFX: pluck! (or pause)
Music..Fallen leaves
Story teller: and ate some of it,
SFX: crunch (or pause)
Storyteller: and she gave some to Adam and he ate it, too.
Adam: Oh, thanks!
Storyteller: Right away they realized that they were naked, so they sewed leaves together to cover themselves.
SFX: Leaves rustling
Music
Storyteller: That evening, they heard God walking in the garden…
SFX: footsteps on leaves
Fallen leaves music again…
Storyteller: …and they did not want to see him.
FADE OUT fallen leaves… and add one second of
silence.
God: Where are you?
Music: Silence for one second, then start playing “A Dream of
Africa” for a few seconds..
Adam: I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.
God: How did you know you were naked? Did you eat fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?
Adam: It was the woman you put here with me who gave me the fruit and I ate it.
God: What have you done?
Eve: No. It was not me! It was the snake who tricked me and I ate it.
Snake: Who, me?
Fade out: A Dream of Africa
Music: African Tribal Warriors
Storyteller: Then God spoke to each one of them. To the snake he said…
God: You are cursed more than all the other animals. You will crawl on your stomach and eat dust. You and the woman will hate each other, and your descendants and hers will always be enemies. But one of her descendants will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
SFX: Lightening
Music: African Tribal Warriors
Storyteller: Then God looked at Eve.
God: You will suffer a lot when you give birth. You will desire your husband, and he will rule over you.
Music changes
Storyteller: Finally, he spoke to Adam.
God: Because of what you have done, the ground is cursed. As long as you live, you will have to struggle to grow enough food. You were made out of soil and to soil you will return.
Music
Narrator: Then God made clothes out of animal skins for them. After that God sent them out of the beautiful garden so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live in sin forever. This is how sin, suffering, and pain came into the world.

Music

B3- Host introduces second discussion

Host: My friends, this story tell us how sin, suffering and pain came into the world.

Listen to James, Steven, Magdalene and Rebecca as they take a deeper look at the story.

Music: Mo

B4 Second discussion

James: What do we learn about God in this story?
Rebecca: For me, I liked the fact that God spoke and incredibly things came to be; it just showed how powerful he is and he created all these beautiful things, including us and the Garden of Eden.
Magdalene: Me too, and also the communion between God and man. They used to walk together in the garden every evening. Everything was so perfect, no suffering, no tears, you know, no death.
Stephen: Yeah and I liked the way God came looking for Adam and Eve when they had disobeyed Him and then He made animal skin clothes for Adam and Eve so they weren’t naked and ashamed anymore
Stephen: Yeah, and I hate that now we have to work so hard to be able to have food, you know.
Group: Oh yes, uh-huh.
Magdalene: I hate the way the snake separated the people from God, you know.
Rebecca: Yeah I also hate the fact that they had to leave the garden.
Magdalene: - and the fact that we have go to through pain, us women.
Stephen: And God takes sin very seriously! When Adam and Eve disobeyed, God punished them.
Magdalene: But right away he promised that one day someone would crush the serpent. I imagine that was referring to Jesus.
James: Exactly!
Rebecca: In this story, we see how caring God is. He comes looking for Adam and Eve, even though He knew they had sinned.
Stephen: Yeah, and He made the animal skin into clothes for them. That was very kind!
Magdalene: Yes.
James: Now what about the snake? What do you learn about the snake?
Magdalene: Well, in the Bible, Satan often appears like a snake. He came to speak against what God had said, and to trick Adam and Eve into sinning.
Stephen: He has been a liar and deceiver from the very beginning until now. He’s still in the business of deceiving.
Rebecca: You know all these problems that we have even right now—they are as a result of us listening to him. It’s obvious that’s what he likes: death, destruction, misery.
James: So what do we learn about the origin of sin and suffering in this story?
Rebecca: I learned that when God created the world, he said everything was good, so sin and suffering are not created by God. Suffering came when Adam and Eve disobeyed.
Magdalene: That’s true.
James: And even today, we make bad choices and we bring suffering, not just to ourselves but also to others. And sometimes we suffer because of the wrong choices other people make.
Stephen: Yeah, that’s true.
James: Now one last question: after looking at all these things, the question that remains is this: where is God when we are suffering?
Rebecca: God is always there. When Adam and Eve sinned and then decided to hide from God, God still came out looking for them. He was calling Adam and asking where are you?
Magdalene: In this story, we see how caring God is. He’s such a caring Father because He comes looking for Adam and Eve. Even though He knew they had sinned, that doesn’t change His Love. His love is permanent.
Stephen: Yeah, and I liked that He made the animal skin into clothes just for them when they realized that they were naked, and that was really a loving thing to do.
Magdalene: I also liked the promise that God made, that one of the woman’s descendants would crush the serpent and it serves him right. I imagine that was referring to Jesus.
Stephen: Even though the man decided to rebel against God himself and was separated from him, right there God is already promised to save them.
Magdalene: God is still present, calling out for us.
James: So when we are in the moment of sadness, we are asking ourselves very many questions, God is always stretching out to us.
Magdalene: Yup!
Transition Music: Kibo

B5- Host Introduction to Song