Fox Lo, Associate General Secretary and Director of Fellowship Department

[email protected]

 “I’ve heard God loves so many—likely, I’m one of them…”

The phrase “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16) unexpectedly became a “bit hit” in Hong Kong’s pop music. The official music video of “For God so Loved the World ”, sung by Tang Siu-Hau, surpassed a million YouTube views within six months—far outpacing the reach of contemporary Christian worship music. What’s truly trending in Hong Kong’s music industry isn’t the doctrine of Christianity, but rather “scar literature”[1].

The opening verses of “For God so Loved the World ” say so:

“The weeping you, the weeping you, embraces
The suffering me, the suffering me.
The grieving you, the grieving you, infects
The wounded me, the wounded us.
Like a sudden confiscation, a sudden void,
Drowning all feeling,
As if the lights cut out, the door slammed shut.” [2]

The lyrics depict an encounter of two wounded souls, a mutual support and a mutual contagion, two wounded individuals inadvertently reopening each other’s scars, submerged in shared darkness.

When Wounds Go Mainstream

Those living joyful, untroubled lives, the “happy families” rarely listen to these songs. Only wounded hearts resonate with this desolate imagery. The popularity of these “scarred songs” in Hong Kong reflects a generation’s collective trauma. As urban shepherds, do we recognize this reality?

Has Hong Kong truly “returned to normal” post-pandemic? Have businesses, schools, and churches resumed as before? Or is the past too painful to revisit—or perhaps unreachable? While many cheerfully reclaim their former routines, others feel displaced, as if decades have passed. A qualitative shift has occurred. Fragments of trauma litter our communities. The question is: Do we see them lurking beneath the surface?

Since the Vietnam War and the clinical naming of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma theory has flourished across disciplines: medicine, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, literature, philosophy, and even biblical studies, theology, and pastoral care. To minister to a traumatized generation, Hong Kong’s churches urgently need a trauma-informed pastoral approach.

Trauma-informed care

Trauma-informed care requires organizations to embody the “Four Rs”:

1. Realize trauma’s widespread impact and pathways to recovery.
2. Recognize signs of trauma in congregation, co-workers, and stakeholders.
3. Respond by integrating trauma knowledge into policies and practices.
4. Resist re-traumatization through proactive safeguards.

This hinges on six principles：

1. Safety: Physical and psychological security for all.
2. Trust & Transparency: Decisions made with clarity to foster confidence.
3. Peer Support: Survivor-led mutual aid.
4. Collaboration & Mutuality: Collaborative partnership with both co-workers and recipients, without therapist monopoly on healing.
5. Empowerment & Choice: Recognizing and honoring individual and communal strengths and experiences.
6. Cultural, Historical & Gender Awareness: Dismantling biases tied to race, sexuality, age, or faith that perpetuate trauma. [3]

Basically, the practice of the above principles in pastoral setting is an attempt at trauma-informed pastoral care.

In recent years, we have witnessed people leaving the church because of trauma, pastors suffering vicarious traumatization while caring for traumatized people, and returnees retraumatized by institutional insensitivity. Are these outcomes inevitable? Trauma-informed pastoral care may offer a way forward.

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1. Chow, K. H. (2024). [傷痕文學視角下的後社運香港流行曲：沉默、抒情與暗碼書寫] Popular music in post-movement Hong Kong from the perspective of scar literature: Silence, lyricism, and coded narratives. Taiwan Journal of Communication Studies, 45, p.109–145.
2. ”For God so Loved the World”, written by Lin You-Jia(composers), Chan Ming-Yeung/Lin You-Jia (Lyrics), and vocalist Tang Siu –Hau.  
3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4884  (Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014).