Child Abuse Prevention Takes All of Us

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny-  CS Lewis

April is Child Abuse Awareness month. As a part of Project 1.27’s community, you are aware how abuse negatively impacts a child’s body, brain, behaviors and beliefs. Every single incident of child abuse is horrific, yet abuse does not have to be the primary theme of a child’s life.
I’ve been reading three books by Dr. Nicole Wilke that share a different theme – overcoming!

My favorite, likely because it is fun, simple and bilingual, is Caleb Koala’s Comeback Ride, A Journey to Overcoming. This is a kid’s book about how his grandpa helps Caleb Koala change his inner language from “this is too hard” to “I’m an overcomer!” Written for children ages 2-9, Caleb’s story illustrates the resilience practices in Wilke’s adult book, Overcoming, What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience.

Overcoming, Wilke’s book for adults, is for anyone who cares deeply about children who have experienced significant childhood adversity. It combines God’s Word, neuroscience and everyday practices so we can provide the children we love the best opportunity to thrive. 

In their introduction Wilke, and her co-author, Amanda Hiles Howard, share-
If we believe these children are made in God’s image – and we do – then it is our responsibility and privilege to honor that by giving them the very best we have to offer. 

Overcoming provides eight resiliency practices. Resiliency Practice #4: Watch What You Say and Think, addresses the powerful negative impact hearing words like “trauma kid” or “behavior problem” can have on a child. Practical tools in this chapter include leaving diagnoses to the professionals, memorizing Scripture together and focusing on life-giving language and scripts like Caleb Koala’s, “I’m an overcomer!”

Wilke’s third book, written with coauthors, Caleb and Pangborn, Created to Heal, How Neuroplasticity Offers Hope for Children & Their Families, provides one of the most accessible, practical guides to understanding neuroplasticity. In less than twenty pages, Created to Heal shares how brains develop and change, respond to stress and heal from trauma! The next thirty pages provide practical principles to support healing. Bonus, there are QR codes at the end of the book which lead to additional resources. 

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month. It can be tempting to avert our attention from the ugliness of child abuse or feel defeated when children continue to struggle with the aftereffects of child abuse and neglect. Instead, let’s take Wilke’s advice and focus on God’s Word which reminds us, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us.” (Romans 8:37) Or to paraphrase Caleb Koala, through Christ, you can be an overcomer! How can you do that?

Pray
Father, you grieve over children experiencing the horrors of child abuse and neglect. I ask you to provide each one with a person who can love and support them in healing. 

Thank you for creating our brains with neuroplasticity, the ability to change both physically and functionally so children can recover from early childhood adversity. 

I ask that you empower the caregivers of children who have experienced toxic stress, with the faith, strength, support and tools needed so children can be more than conquerors through him who loves us.
Amen

Learn
Borrow or purchase one of Wilke’s books or other resources about neuroplasticity, protective factors for healing and trauma-informed parenting. 

Connect
Connect with other kinship, foster and adoptive parents, Project 1.27 staff, or others in your community caring for children who have experienced complex trauma.

You can pray, learn and connect at Hope for the Journey, Saturday, May 3. Register today. A set of Wilke’s books will be given away at each location. 

By Shelly Radic, Project 1.27 President