Prayers of gratitude and intercession

Ben’s parents were mystified and deeply concerned. They had received a call that their 22-year-old son was being taken for a psychiatric exam at the hospital.

He had been a regular kid who was bright, creative, fun-loving and caring. Now he was acting in ways that were unusual for him – making wild accusations, seeming paranoid and going without sleep for days at a time.

Ben had complained about school pressures and his grades had suffered this past term; he wasn’t keeping up with his friends because he was working on a secret project.

The hospital waiting room was filled with people, and there was Ben, sitting handcuffed between two police officers. He had a wild look in his eyes, but his body was slumped in defeat.

He glared at his parents and accused them of trying to get him arrested. Ben’s parents were shocked that their son would say and think such things.

They were mortified, since they knew many of the families sitting in their small-town emergency room.

Ben has bipolar disorder.

What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder has two components: depressive episodes and manic episodes. There are several types of bipolar disorder, with different expressions of the depressive and manic episodes.

A depressive episode includes symptoms, such as a depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure in what used to be enjoyable, irritability, dramatic changes in weight or appetite, insomnia, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or shame, difficulty concentrating, and recurring thoughts of death or suicide.

During a manic episode, a person feels larger than life, needs little sleep, is more talkative than usual, has racing thoughts, and is physically agitated and impulsive, doing things that may have painful consequences (spending sprees, sexual indiscretions, gambling, driving recklessly).

Sometimes a person with bipolar disorder will also have psychosis – hearing or seeing what the rest of us don’t, or having bizarre or unusual ideas. Usually these symptoms are disturbing enough that a person can’t function or may require hospitalization.

The church’s response

When the church seeks to be a compassionate light to the world, how does it do so with individuals or families affected by bipolar disorder? A church community begins by acknowledging and identifying with a person’s suffering. It works to include people in all states of health, physical or mental, in the congregation.

The Bible urges us to care for those who have less (e.g., Philippians 2:1–8, James 1:22–27, 1 John 3:16-18, Deuteronomy 15:7–11, Matthew 25:34–46). Many who are homeless have mental illness. Many with bipolar disorder are not able to work, and even with government support can only access substandard (or even dangerous) housing and not have enough money to care for all their needs.

People who have a higher level of functioning may need supports to finish schooling, return to work, or find suitable work. Could the church find ways to help people help themselves?

Eden Health Care Services, a Mennonite Church-owned organization based in Manitoba, has integrated affordable housing in two communities, and vocational services and transitional housing in another. So much more could be, and needs to be, done in caring.

The list of fundamental Christian values could go on: love, forgiveness, restoration, inclusion, and not judging. Their application to people struggling with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses are endless. As the larger church we’re limited only by our imagination and determination.

Valuing gifts

If we take seriously the image of the church as a body, we must ask what each person has to offer the community. “In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary…So God has put the body together such that extra honour and care are given to those parts that have less dignity” (1 Corinthians 12: 22, 24, NLT).

Often, we think of those with bipolar disorder as a burden to the church. However, each and every person has gifts: enthusiasm, drama, honesty about vulnerability, experience with the mental health system and more.

One of the best ways for a person to feel a sense of belonging is to be a participant, to have something to offer others. The body is made up of many parts, and when we are open to diversity we’re enriched!

Judge not

As previously mentioned, bipolar disorder can cause thought disturbances that lead a person to act impulsively or destructively. In the church, we often have a no-nonsense approach to undesirable or sinful behaviour: We tell the person to stop sinning. The complexity of bipolar disorder challenges such a basic approach to behaviour change and raises tough questions.

When, if ever, is a person not responsible for their behaviour? What role do physical factors play with emotions and relationships – how much do our brains affect our relationships? What about choice and tolerance – if a person chooses a behaviour that we have trouble with, can we tolerate it in order to remain in relationship?

There are natural and sometimes legal consequences for behaviours that fall outside the norm. How might we take to heart Jesus’ words, “Judge not lest you be judged”? Might we advocate for a person in the health care system, the judicial system, with an employer, at a store, with family members?

Mental health in worship

A very damaging aspect of a mental health diagnosis is the stigma that comes with it. Society and church sometimes perpetuate that marginalization out of fear and/or misunderstanding.

How liberating might it be to hear Scriptures, prayers, songs and sermons that take mental illness as seriously as physical illness? What if mental health issues were spoken of using “us” language rather than “them” language?

When we have the courage to speak about mental health compassionately, intelligently and publicly, we begin to make our congregations safe places for people whose lives aren’t all in order (all of us!).

When things are spoken aloud they become less secretive, less shameful, less binding; they have less ability to produce fear and fearful reactions.

Many Bible passages speak comforting words to those in distress. Some mental health organizations have lists of resources that can be used in worship.

Preventing burnout/fatigue

While everyone has abilities to offer the church, there are some who require much care and support. In small churches or towns, it may seem as though the same person (or the same few people) are available for crisis or support help. After a time, these people may become exhausted from their efforts.

There are ways to prevent fatigue. They take effort to establish, but eventually make the quality of caregiving and of the caregiver’s personal life go up.

First, find a group of people to support a high-needs individual. If one person isn’t available at a certain time, another can be called. People may have specific abilities and roles: offering practical aid, social contact or spiritual care.

Second, set personal boundaries. If Saturday is your family day, set a limit on caregiving activities. Being direct is helpful, since it provides clarity in the relationship.

Third, know your limits. These limits may include time (I can’t spend more than two hours per week), comfort factors (I can bring food, but I’m not a great listener), and awareness of your own well-being (I have been struggling with depression myself lately and don’t have the same emotional resources I used to).

The church is made up of human beings in all our diversity, uniqueness, abilities and difficulties. It’s a place where we can come together to explore our common humanity and grow together into people who express our greatest potential.

This is a journey we take together as we encounter a world that’s often challenging and often delightful. Let us delight in our relationships with one another!

‚ÄîJoanne Klassen, M.A. (Marriage and Family Therapy), M.A. (Theology) This piece was originally written for Meetinghouse, an association of Anabaptist editors in Canada and the USA. 

This article appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2017.

How should the church think about mental health ?

Our mental state is connected to body and spirit, and, like them, can be in a state of unhealthiness. In this perspectives section, leaders and health practitioners from Anabaptist-related congregations around the world address how their church has a role in caring for the mental health of their congregants.

Churches and psychiatry: “it’s complicated”

One of the things that surprises me the most in my work in psychiatry is the high number of people of faith hospitalized under our services. More precisely, the number of Christians.

“Of course, the patients speak about their beliefs and hopes more than in the other specialities.” But if one uses an objective marker, such as the presence of a Bible at the patient’s bedside, the impression seems to be confirmed: psychiatric services are overrun with Christians. Word has it that even Mennonites have been hospitalized.

Fear of loss of control

It is difficult to accept that a Christian would suffer from a psychiatric illness. We understand that people suffer from Alzheimers or that mental confusion can follow an illness because we have an explanation for these events. On the other hand, psychiatric troubles are not explicable from a direct cause. This frightens us because it suggests we are not immune. If the reason is unknown, why couldn’t it happen to me? And who knows what I might say in a moment of delirium? Even the most nonviolent Anabaptist could become threatening if he or she were subjected to a feeling of intense persecution. We feel overwhelmed and we look for answers.

Therefore, we ask: “Don’t you think that the mentally ill are often/sometimes/usually possessed?” It is difficult to accept that psychiatric diseases are often a consequence of the Fall. The person must have done something bad to have lost control of his or her thoughts, words and actions. We try to reassure ourselves by assigning responsibility for the illness to the one who is suffering.

According to a 2013 study by the l’Association Française Fédérative des Etudiants en Psychiatrie (French federal association of psychiatry students), the number of believers interning in psychiatry is significantly smaller than in other specialties. And yet, our patients speak of their faith more than in other service areas of the hospital.

Our patients pray. Our patients go to mass.

And the doctors ask: are these vulnerable people not at risk of being drawn into abusive cults? Do we need to protect them, and, if so, how? Where is the line between faith and mystical delirium?

Faith amid illness

When a person enters the psychiatric hospital where I work, he or she will quickly notice the chapel. It’s not a simple room converted into a chapel, but a real church that holds religious services and staffed by chaplains. Recently, a psychoanalyst said to the interns that priests excel in diagnosing mystical deliriums precisely because faith experiences offer another perspective.

Do churches have a role to play for people who are mentally ill? Well, why shouldn’t they? All churches are already home to people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, chronic depression, etc. I daresay that if a church welcomes more than a hundred people and none of your members has mental health challenges, the church either doesn’t know its members very well or should question its hospitality.

The church is involved whether it knows it or not. An estimated .8% of the population suffers from schizophrenia; that’s around 600,000 people in France. Do the math: how many people with schizophrenia should be in your church? How many are actually? This is not to cast blame on churches for not accommodating these people. In the majority of cases, the progress of the disease results in withdrawal from social contact and resistance to other’s overtures.

What a challenge for our churches!

And then there is anxiety, a common denominator among mental health disorders. The church offers a reassuring framework that can contribute to anchoring people in reality: the regularity and liturgy of worship, re-encountering resource people each week, participating in a family that does not give up.

As a psychiatrist in a secular country, my work consists of helping people to feel better, to be able to communicate with others, to be present in the world and to lead “a normal life.”

The work of the church regarding people who struggle with mental health is to be a place of safe and healthy relationships, where each one finds a place to belong, where the members are ready to welcome and walk alongside. Our role is to view those who are mentally ill as people who are created, loved, and capable of receive grace through faith in Christ. Don’t underestimate the impact of expressing compassionate concern for others devoid of fear. Effectively integrating people with mental health challenges into the church is both possible and extraordinary. I am convinced this exactly the kind of people among whom we would have found Christ when he was on earth. And so, church: to work!

—Alexina Yoder, originally from église de Delle in Belfort-Montbéliard, is a member of l’église mennonite de Strasbourg, France, and a psychiatry intern.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2017

How should the church think about mental health?

 Our mental state is connected to body and spirit, and, like them, can be in a state of unhealthiness. In this perspectives section, leaders and health practitioners from Anabaptist-related congregations around the world address how their church has a role in caring for the mental health of their congregants.

Stress management for mental health

Stress is a major problem in Japan. When someone becomes mentally or physically ill in Japan, we often say that it is because of stress. We feel stress most in interpersonal interactions: with work colleagues, family members or even among church members. When we feel stress in relationship, we lose inner peace. In this sense, “stress management” is important. We need to learn how to manage our stress to create inner peace.

Stress causes not only mental illness, but also physical illness because our bodies and minds are related to each other. Similarly, if we are physically ill, our mental state may also become weak.

Mind and body are connected

So when we think about mental health, it is important to remember that body and mind are not separated. Though stress is often understood as something we feel mentally, it is our bodies that first react to stress.

Imagine that you feel stress. Muscles of some parts of your body feel tension and get stiff. We need to know how to relax. I would like to take a look at “emotions” and “boundaries with relationship” to release stress by two approaches of body and mind.

First, the key issue is “feeling,” that is, emotions, especially negative ones. When we have a conflict in relationship, we likely feel stress with negative feelings toward other people. When we have negative feelings, we feel bad or even guilty, because we are supposed to be kind, nice, gentle and so on, especially as Christians. We lose inner peace.

We need to control or renounce those negative feelings somehow. It is difficult and may take a long time, but first we need to be aware of and admit to having those negative feelings as human beings. Then we need to learn to how to deal with them.

Meditation and moving our bodies – exercising, dancing, walking and so on – are ways to release our feelings. My husband and I practice Aiki. This Japanese martial art was made for self defence; however, we practice it for our mental training. It is easier for me to meditate while moving my body, like doing Aiki or walking. And as a chiropractor, I believe it is useful to care our bodies physically. When our body is relaxed, our mind is also relaxed. Body influences mind.

Power of confession

A challenge for Christians to take care of negative feelings is probably that we find it difficult to admit to having them. Because it means we do not have peace in ourselves or with the others. If we have spiritual friends to meet periodically to share and pray together, that would be a wonderful way to work through these feelings and reduce stress.

As a Christian community, we need to create a safe place to confess our negative feelings to uplift them to the light of God. I would like to have a silent retreat for my congregation to look inside ourselves carefully, then share and pray.

Another key issue is boundaries in relationship. We need to learn to have healthy boundaries. Japanese people are not good at saying “No.” That is a stress. Because we want to keep peace or harmony with others, we often hesitate to say “No.” I see the troubles caused by unhealthy boundaries in churches.

I have a group that is learning about boundaries together. We use the book Boundaries: When to Say Yes, When to Say No To Take Control of Your Life by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. It is helpful to know that God has boundaries in the Bible. As a group, we are looking at some stories in the Bible with the aspect of boundaries.

I find Aiki is also a way to learn boundaries. Maai, space and timing with others is important in Japanese martial arts. We get the sense maai in practicing. And ai of aiki means timing and connection; ki is a kind of energy in our body. We need to connect with the opponent through ki. The opponent is not an enemy but becomes a part of myself. Unless we are connected and become one, we cannot throw our opponent. This sense of timing, space and connectedness can be practical for our relationship with others.

I think that it is helpful to learn how to deal with stress to create inner peace for mental health. I found meditation and moving body to deal with negative feeling, and learning boundaries in relationship are useful.

—Miwako Katano a member of the Mennonite church in Sapporo, Japan.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2017

How should the church think about mental health?

Our mental state is connected to body and spirit, and, like them, can be in a state of unhealthiness. In this perspectives section, leaders and health practitioners from Anabaptist-related congregations around the world address how their church has a role in caring for the mental health of their congregants.

Health of a whole person

Many believers think that emotional or psychological problems indicate a lack of faith. This is not the case. On the one hand, it is clear that faith in Jesus improves the emotional element of our life, just as it does all the other elements of our life. On the other hand, I have worked with many people who have amazingly deep and strong faith and still suffer from severe emotional disorders.

It is hard to know how to respond when emotional problems occur, but implying that the prob1ems are only due to a lack of faith can actually increase those problems.

The biblical description of humanity

To understand emotional problems, we need to understand people. Throughout Scripture, we find humans described as a unity.

In the creation story in Genesis 2, we see that God made Adam from the dust (physical elements) and filled him with God’s own breath or spirit of life (spiritual elements). Adam thinks (for example, he names the animals) and feels (for example, joy when he sees the woman). It is also clear that he was made for relationship with other people and, most importantly, for relationship with God.

Adam is described as a whole person who includes an interconnected mind, body and spirit. This interconnectedness implies that, just as physical problems such as chronic pain can (but do not have to) block spiritual growth, psychological problems such as depression can (but do not have to) block spiritual growth. It also implies that spiritual growth can help physical and emotional growth.

The story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19 is an excellent illustration of this.

Elijah’s depression

1 Kings 19 begins with Elijah emotionally drained. After the excitement of his victory at Mount Carmel, he experiences a normal emotional letdown. In addition, he is physically exhausted after running alongside the king’s chariot on the return to Jezreel. To top it off, instead of being praised as a spiritual hero, he returns to the news that the queen has ordered his death!

Scripture describes Elijah as showing symptoms of the psychological disorder called “major depression.” He is fearful and sad, and withdraws from interaction with other people. He sees no hope and wants to die. His thinking is confused. His belief that he is the only one who still follows God is inaccurate and may reflect a thought disorder. His depression also affects his faith, as can be seen by his lack of trust in God to protect him.

Elijah knows God is his only hope; therefore, he goes to the desert to seek God. Even though Elijah is discouraged, depressed and weak in faith, God responds with grace and love.

It is important to notice that God’s response provides for Elijah’s whole person. God cares for Elijah physically, emotionally, cognitively, relationally and spiritually. God does not immediately speak to Elijah. He knows what Elijah needs and so, before he provides for Elijah spiritually and emotionally, God provides for Elijah physically. He sends an angel to feed Elijah and help him sleep. Then God sends Elijah on a walk to Mt. Horeb. It is not until Elijah arrives at Horeb rested, nourished and physically strengthened that God speaks to him.

When God finally speaks to Elijah, he directly confronts Elijah’s behaviours and thoughts which had contributed to his depression. He confronts Elijah’s isolation by ordering him to join with other faithful believers (Elisha, and Jehu), and he confronts Elijah’s inaccurate belief that he is the only one who still served the Lord, stating, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal.” And, by his presence, God restores Elijah’s faith.

What we can do

So what can be done to help with emotional or relational problems we face, such as depression, anxiety attacks, eating disorders or a marriage crisis? There are a number of practical steps a Christian can take:

• Pray. Jesus is Lord and the source of all healing.
• Read Scripture: it has much to say regarding many issues.
• Seek support and encouragement from friends.
• Ask for advice from your pastor, elders or other mature believers.
• Read good books that offer solid information.
• And, God can use counselling to bring healing and growth.

When it is needed, it is poor stewardship to not use all that God has provided to reach his goals.

It is a mistake to explain away all emotional and relationship problems as the result of disobedience to God. It is also a mistake for us to tell God how he will help us cope with those problems. As a professor explained to me years ago, “Jesus does not keep us from the same problems that everyone else in the world faces. What he does do is help us cope with those problems when they come.”

—David Bruce Rose is a professor of marriage and family studies at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, a Mennonite Brethren university. A version of this article first appeared in the MB Herald.

This article first appeared in Courier/Correo/Courrier April 2017

The International Community of Mennonite Brethren (ICOMB) is made up of 21 national churches in 19 countries with approximately 450,000 members. ICOMB exists to facilitate relationships and ministries to enhance the witness and discipleship of its member national churches – connecting, strengthening and expanding.

Igreja Evangélica Anabaptista em Angola (IEIMA) general assembly

José Arrais (Portugal MB church) represented ICOMB at the Angola MB church assembly. Emerson Cardoso (Brazil MB church) also represented ICOMB in a future way: Convenção Brasileira das Igrejas Evangélicas Irmãos Menonitas (COBIM) is preparing a new missionary couple for agricultural projects and theological training. Emerson trained 200 pastors. We prayed that the Assembly would settle some conflicts and secure the future executive team. Pray for Jean Claude Ambeke, elected president.

—David Wiebe, executive director