A crisis

Today our church's Comfort & Care ministry hosted a workshop "How to Love and Minister to Those With Mental Health Issues ".
We heard that people in Wake County with mental health issues are facing a world with few places to turn when the two Wake Mental Health Centers, one of which is Dix Hospital, close in the near future.
And insurance companies do not cover mental health crisis, or if they do, it's only a token amount.
NAMI, a national organization for the support of mental illness, is trying to change things.

What is the role of the Church in this crisis? How are Christians called to comfort and care for these people who sometimes don't realize they have a problem, who may not be easy to love? How can the families be supported and ministered to? Somehow Churches need to be safe and welcoming places for people who struggle with mental issues. Will Churches take the initiative to offer 'caring centers for the mentally ill' in the future? Things to wrestle with.....and ponder and pray about.

Mental illness has a negative connotation even here in 2007. Fear of the unknown is the primary reason. We need to listen and learn from one another--and be willing to step out in faith and love in order to break down the walls.