Exodus Updates & Community Support

Updates on Exodus’s recovery, ways you can help, and resources for support.

During our annual Harvest Festival in late October, a young boy named Exodus was severely injured in our parking lot. We praise God for protecting Exodus’s life and for this community of believers who came together that night and in the aftermath of the accident to give their gifts and talents to minister to Exodus, his family, and the church community. We are truly blessed by the many people of our church and in the wider community (medical professionals, mental health care providers, prayer warriors, and generous hearts) who have embodied Christ in the midst of this accident.

While there is much to be thankful to God, we are also keenly aware that in addition to providing care and support for Exodus and his family, we also need to provide care and support to the many children, teens, and adults that were affected by this accident.

Below you will find two kinds of information:

  1. Ways you can support Exodus and his family

  2. Resources to help take care of yourself and your family

How to Support Exodus & the Salongo Family

  • Caring Bridge

    Visit Exodus’s Caring Bridge website to learn how his recovery is going. Leave a comment to encourage him & his family!

  • Pray

    Use the Caring Bridge website to guide your prayers. Also be in prayer for Exodus’s mother Esther and his siblings, and the medical professionals attending to his ongoing care.

  • Donate Funds or Provide Meals

    The church has set up a fund to help cover financial needs that arise for Exodus and his family (uncovered medical bills, income replacement for the mother, rent/utilities/groceries, etc). You can donate here. You can also sign up to provide a meal for the family here.

  • Write Cards

    Feel free to drop off any cards your family makes for Exodus at the church office and we’ll be sure to get them to the Salongo family.

Taking Care of Yourself & Family

We all respond differently when a crisis happens and need different kinds of support and self-care as we process the experience. Sometimes the effects of trauma are immediate and other times, it doesn’t reveal itself until long after the immediate crisis has ended. The effects of trauma also looks different for adults, teens, and children. In this section we offer some information and resources to help as you and your family learn how to navigate healing after experiencing a traumatic event.

Common Effects of Trauma

Adults:

  • trouble sleeping, nightmares

  • headaches and stomach aches

  • intrusive thoughts — unwanted images replaying in your mind

  • losing touch with reality in the middle of the day; feeling foggy

  • intense fear, anxiety, uneasiness

  • feelings of guilt or shame

  • withdrawing from others/isolation

  • increased irritability

Children & Adolescents:

  • nightmares or fearful at bedtime/trouble sleeping

  • irritable or angry

  • having trouble in school/having trouble focusing

  • regression (i.e., clingy, separation anxiety, toileting issues, increase in “baby talk“)

  • withdrawal or lack of interest in things they used to enjoy

If you or your child are experiencing any of these signs—especially if you/they witnessed the accident—we are encouraging you to seek care from a trusted counselor. If you don’t know where to start, our pastoral care team can recommend counselors for both adults and children. If you are having trouble sleeping or stopping “the movie in your head” of the events, then EMDR may be particularly helpful. Email Deacon Ashley or Ana Howland if you need help finding a counselor.

If your insurance doesn’t cover your counseling appointments, contact Ashley or Ana as reimbursement funds may be available through COTR’s insurance provider.

Sesame Workshop has some wonderful resources for families to help their children talk through their feelings and helping them feel safe after something scary happens.

Ways to Care for Yourself

  • Talk it out: Though the temptation may be to avoid talking through your experience, when people withdraw into silence, it can lead to more trauma and the development of shame and guilt. Even if you see a counselor, find a trusted friend willing to help you process. Parents may also notice their kids talking A LOT about what happened. This verbalizing is completely normal and helps them process what happened.

  • Rest: Get sleep, rest in Scripture, pray the Compline from the Book of Common Prayer before bed, hang out with friends, play!

  • Exercise: Moving your body can help regulate stress hormones. Taking a 30+ minute walk or hike can help your brain process the trauma that you either witnessed or heard about.

  • Make a prayer appointment with one of our prayer ministers or get connected to a Stephen Minister: Visit our Prayer page on our website to learn more & request a prayer appointment. You can also learn more about Stephen Ministers on our website.

  • Make an appointment for clergy care: You can fill out a form to make an appointment here.

Resources

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

-1 Corinthians 12:24b-25