Binding up the Brokenhearted: An Interview with Mike Hutchings
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This interview is with Dr. Mike Hutchings, Director of Education for Global Awakening and founder of God Heals PTSD, a ministry focused on training and equipping people to minister healing to those who have experienced trauma. To date, Dr. Hutching’s ministry has trained over 10,000 people. His forthcoming book is Supernatural Freedom from the Captivity of Trauma.
Evan: Tell us a little bit about yourself, your ministry, and a little about what led you to ministry centered on trauma and healing?
Mike: I’m a boy from Illinois, originally from central Illinois. I was raised in an American Baptist Church and received my call to pastoral ministry in 1976. I went to Judson College in Elgin, IL, and Northern Baptist (now Northern Seminary) in Lombard, IL, where I received my Master of Divinity. I pastored for 35 years in Baptist, Vineyard, and Mennonite contexts, and I loved pastoring. During my church planting years, I was an adolescent and family therapist in Peoria, IL. During this time I was bi-vocational; this was my tent-making time. In 2012, I was asked by Dr. Randy Clark of Global Awakening to come on board and direct Global’s educational programs. It was hard to leave the pastoral ministry, but I stepped into this role and moved to Pennsylvania, believing it to be the call of God.
I got involved in praying for people who carry trauma because it was an assignment from Dr. Randy Clark. I was at a healing school in Urbana, IL, in November 2012. I was approached by a veteran who had severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He had nightmares, was suicidal, had chronic nerve pain, and wasn’t able to sleep more than 2 hours a night. He asked me if I could have Dr. Clark pray for him. So, I went to Randy with the request, who replied, “Well, Mike, I’ll stand with you, but I want you to pray for him.” I had been doing one-on-one prayer ministry for over 30 years, but hadn’t prayed for anyone specifically with PTSD. I asked the question I had learned from John Wimber: “Holy Spirit, what do you want to do here?” I really didn’t feel qualified to pray for him; however, it was my assignment, and so I stepped into it. As I began to pray, I started to receive steps – or as I like to call them, downloads – on how to pray for this man. I had him look in my eyes, to focus on me, and I prayed over his mind and body. I declared the promises of God over him. Within a few minutes, the man dropped to his knees, and then stood up and said his nerve pain was gone. He came back the next morning and informed me he’d slept for over 8 hours and was nightmare-free. The Lord brought healing and freedom to him.
Then I was given several opportunities over the next year to pray for military veterans, first responders, police and firefighters, people who experienced physical and sexual childhood abuse, domestic violence, and others who carried memories and trauma from such awful experiences. I found that God was bringing resolution to their unresolved trauma. The impact of those memories on their minds and bodies was being healed; they no longer lived with the majority of symptoms of trauma or PTSD. That began this amazing journey.
Evan: What is trauma, PTSD, and how do they manifest themselves?
Mike: We find the word “trauma” in the New Testament. In the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, when the Samaritan sees the man lying wounded on the side of the road, the Greek uses the word trauma. So firstly, trauma is an injury. Secondly, it is a deeply distressing and disturbing experience. Just about everyone has experienced some sort of trauma; the question is: does it still haunt you today? This is where PTSD comes into play, when people carry with them the memories and physical symptoms of unresolved trauma. The DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition) refers to PTSD as an anxiety disorder. Anxiety, nightmares, fear, isolating behaviors, difficulty sleeping, depression, anger, rage – all these are symptoms of PTSD. Many times people, in order to deal with the soul pain and torment they are carrying, can engage in substance use or addictions to gambling or pornography, restlessness in relationships, and thoughts of suicide or self-harm. People with PTSD often feel shame, guilt, and condemnation.
Evan: Tell us about your forthcoming book, Supernatural Freedom from the Captivity of Trauma.
Mike: The central thesis of the book is that there is hope and healing for people who carry unresolved trauma or have PTSD because that sort of trauma is addressed directly in the ministry of Jesus. God wants to heal the brokenhearted. In Psalm 34:18, David writes, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” In Psalm 147:3, the psalmist writes, “God is near to the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” In Isaiah 61:1-2, we find, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives.” As we know from Luke 4, this was the ministry of Jesus. Then in Isaiah 61:3, negative emotions are exchanged for what God wants to give.
The trauma that people have experienced often becomes the frame around the portrait of their life: everything becomes influenced and impacted by the trauma they have experienced. I believe God can and will bring healing to the brokenhearted, so people do not have to live under the oppression of past trauma. This is accomplished through the power of healing prayer. God wants to restore people and give them a new identity. So the book not only discusses the nature of trauma and the biblical foundations for healing trauma, it also presents how to implement that healing prayer for oneself and for others.
Evan: How can we avoid spiritually abusive answers or simplistic remedies when ministering to those carrying trauma, such as “you must not have enough faith” or “just pray harder?”
Mike: In Ezekiel, when God addresses the shepherds of Israel, one of the accusations against them was that they did not bind up the wounds of those who were broken. Part of their failure to do so was not bringing the wounded to the place where they could experience the true healing power of God. Ultimately, we have to realize that for too long, the church has told people to just read their Bible more, pray harder, come to church, and everything will be alright. Well, if I broke my femur, and went to the doctor, and if the doctor said, “Well, just wait a while, eventually it will heal; just walk on it more; we will give you lots of medicine to hide the pain, but just get over it,” we would sue that doctor for malpractice. It is up to the doctor to set that bone back into place, to immobilize it in such a way that you could walk on it without creating further injury while also giving it the stability it needs to heal. In many parts of the church, we have given a formula that strictly has to do with religious exercises, rather than leading people to a place of prayer. Or, we have minimized grief and ignored or downplayed it. When we simply give formulas or trite answers, that is the lazy way out. That is not binding up wounds or setting captives free; it is irresponsible.
Evan: What is the relationship between secular psychology, medical treatment, and spiritual approaches to treating trauma and PTSD?
Mike: Having been a therapist, I believe in counseling and in the power of medicine. But counseling and medicine, while important and key, don’t bring the healing that is necessary for the soul. Since God is the one who created our souls, He is also the one who can restore our souls. One thing I don’t think is helpful is when someone tells their trauma story over and over and over again without any resolution. What can begin to happen is that person tells the story as if it is the truest thing about them, as if trauma is the one thread that runs through their lives. Even if the person may have been severely traumatized, or has complex PTSD, ultimately, if they are walking in relationship with Jesus Christ, their identity and what they are defined by is not all the bad that has happened to them. For Christians, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; all things have become new.” Therefore, someone doesn’t have to be defined by his or her history, but instead by who God calls them. I do think it is important to work with a counselor or a group of people where you can tell your story, but they can help you to move to a place where you are who you are in Christ, defined by what he has done for you. The healing power of prayer doesn’t necessarily take care of every issue right away, but it does break through the wall that trauma builds up around a person’s soul so one can deal with all the other issues.
Evan: Ravi Zacharias, Bill Hybels, and Jean Vanier are just a few recent examples of church or ministry leaders who have sexually harassed, abused, and manipulated women and others around them. What role can the church play in listening to and journeying with those who have been traumatized by religious leaders?
Mike: The kind of abuse we are talking about here is all about power. Part of the issue with power pertains to leaders who are unaccountable and the environment they have created that causes others not to be able to hold them accountable and tell the truth about what is happening. The ministry becomes more important than people’s lives. Right now we have to realize that the church is not a safe place for many people who are traumatized. We don’t address these things from the pulpit; we don’t provide groups where people can create a healthy community and focus on healing and identity in Christ. We have to make church both a place where we have these conversations about trauma and sexual abuse and create an environment where people feel safe. When we as a church don’t address these things, it’s like a gaping wound that we refuse to look at.
In order to make the church a safe space, the church might provide “identity groups,” where the focus is on identity in Christ and participants tell each other who they really are: beloved children of God. Churches have to provide these small groups where people can process their stories, pray with each other, and remind each other who they are. Also, the senior leader(s) of the church have to address trauma from the pulpit. They have to preach and teach that God restores and heals. By talking about it more, churches can de-stigmatize things like sexual abuse and allow people to process these things freely.
Evan: Can you give some stories about how you have seen God heal people who are carrying trauma?
Mike: The second person I ever prayed for in this way was a veteran who had to receive a medical discharge for all the chronic nerve pain he was experiencing. When he came to our meeting at Bethel in 2013, he was using a walker. He had horrific nerve pain in his arms and legs. It was so bad that he couldn’t have anyone touch him; he couldn’t hug his wife or play with his kids. He had to sleep in a separate bedroom. The root of it was the PTSD he was carrying from all the memories of the wars he had served in and everything he had seen. When I prayed for him, the power of God just came on him; he literally lost the majority of the traumatic memories he carried. He felt the chronic nerve pain leave his body as well. And he has now been credentialed for ministry and is able to work. He has a couple more kids and a great relationship with his family.
Later, I encountered a lady from Boston; she was a runner in the marathon when the Boston Marathon Bombing took place. She was knocked down by the blast. After that, she was tormented constantly by flashbacks, night terrors, etc. It was so bad that she was almost institutionalized. What I didn’t find out until after I prayed with her was that she grew up in the strife of apartheid in South Africa. The Boston bombing opened a lid, and all these other memories of the terror and killings she and her family had witnessed in her home country came back. The Lord brought such wonderful healing to her; she was set free, and now she has a ministry to other Boston Marathon Bombing survivors and she brings healing prayer to them. God is using her in a powerful way.
Rev. Dr. Evan Rohrs-Dodge is the senior pastor of Belvidere United Methodist Church in Belvidere, NJ, and a member of Firebrand’s editorial board.
Dr. Mike Hutchings is the Director of Education for Global Awakening (www.globalawakening.com) Find out more about his ministry at www.Godhealsptsd.com. You can pre-order his new book, Supernatural Freedom from the Captivity of Trauma at Amazon.