We all know how important it
is to have Christian friends who will pray for us and support us when we’re going
through troubling times or when we’re sick. People undergoing mental health
problems need such support as well. When a person has depression he or she
often needs someone who will have faith for her at times when God seems
distant. And yet, all too often such support is not available to them.
As someone who relies much
on Christian friends to help me with my mental health issues, I can see how
tragic it is not to have such support. And yet it happens frequently. It hurts
me deeply to know this. It doesn’t just hurt, it makes me angry. Lack of
acceptance of people with mental illness is not what Jesus wants for us.
At Friday’s Living Room
meeting someone who is having a very rough time shared how she has not had
Christian support at all until she started coming to Living Room. Churches she
has attended have not been open to hearing about such problems. The pastor of
the church she currently attends knows of her illness but has warned her not to
let anyone in the congregation know about it. “They wouldn’t understand,” he
says. As a result she has had no
Christian friends with whom she can be open about her struggles.
A while ago she spent three
weeks in hospital. She didn’t feel she could tell anyone from her church, so
had no one from church praying for her or visiting her. How alone she must have
felt!
I’m just so extremely proud
of my church’s attitude of acceptance towards people who suffer in this way.
So very thankful that my church has supported and encouraged the Living Room
support group program. Thankful for the support I personally receive.
This lady is only one
Christian of many with mental health issues, one of many who are starving for
spiritual support – support too often lacking in churches. Living Room fills
the hole for them.
