EXCERPT 4 – I WILL NOT HIDE

June 2007: I’ll be going to Bible study in a little while and I know that one question our facilitator, Mary, told us she will be asking is, “How is your soul?” I would have to answer that it’s rather dizzy right now, though it is improving. I’m beginning to settle down. Better able to focus on the jobs at hand.

For such a long time my main goal has been to reduce the stigma toward mentally ill people within the church. For so long I have been striving to educate Christians by writing articles, promoting a pastor’s mental health workshop and writing a book. But now things are coming together.

canadianchristianity.com has asked me to contribute regularly on the topic of mental health and the church. The more I think about it, the more I realize this is a wonderful opportunity. This is exactly where I need to be. God is good.

In May their website published my testimony. Soon they will be publishing an article I wrote a couple of years ago for Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Mental Illness: The Result of Sin?

Other questions we will have to be prepared to answer this morning is, “How have you seen God at work in and through your life since we last met?” and “What God-given dream are you nurturing?” My answers to these will be easy. God has been at work leading me to fulfill my dream and, bit by bit, it’s becoming a reality.

That isn’t all. Another great thing is happening. A woman in Abbotsford, a town forty-five minutes from here, is working to start a Living Room group in her church. This could be the beginning of my vision to see Living Room groups in many churches.

Not long ago, a call came from a therapist wanting to learn about Living Room. He is hoping to send his Christian clients to us. So often they feel they’re bad Christians when they’re depressed. They don’t want to take medication. Living Room would be helpful because it draws from the Bible and recognizes the medical nature of mood disorders.

It’s amazing where God leads us when we let him!