My calling to the mentally ill. Colourful Dave Longworth
Let me tell you more of what I call my personal “calling” from God which is why I started with a newsletter called THE ENCOURAGER; A newsletter for and by Christians struggling with mental health. It eventually spread further.
Way back in the 1980’s I felt that God was ”calling” me to some sort of Christian missionary work but not knowing what type of work it was, where I was to go or how to pay for it with little money etc. But I still plodded along, stumbling and searching for HIS answer. I went to missionary meetings, went forward at “altar calls” to say publicly before God and my friends that I was willing to go to wherever and whoever God called me to. Well within all of this time period my own mental illness that had always been there was getting steadily worse. I would go in and out of psychiatric wards and hospitals. At the time I really began to doubt and wonder just what was God leading me to? When would I gain enough strength and self confidence to be about to go overseas as a missionary? How would I finance bible college training or airfare? How would I tell my parents and family who I felt at the time, understandably would not understand or agree? Well the answer took years but eventually it came through. One day I was reading in the bible from Isaiah and in particular the first few verses;
”Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem” Isaiah 40:1 -2
Now I was really confused! Was I to go to Jerusalem? I knew nothing about Judaism! How could I seriously think God wanted me to go to Israel? Yet that was what was in the verse that God had just given me. With time, prayer and common sense came my answer.
God was calling me to minister to his people; Christians and not so much Jews. How? By comforting them with a message of encouragement because of their mental illness. Now that made more sense! The answers didn’t all come clearly at once, except that I had to comfort God’s people. I searched in various areas though; sometimes comforting grieving people at appropriate times as well as for quite a while cards and letters of individual encouragement were posted out up to 15 a week.
There were lots of things that led to my final realization. My own struggles in finding healthy Christian teaching on mental illness in churches and in Christian bookshops. If there was anything at all it sometimes revolved around mental illness being caused by evil spirits.
One person who did encourage me was my Baptist pastor of the time, Rev. Joe Westlake. He showed me Christ my Hope in a dark place and inspired me to write the book of the same name, ( which sold all 50 copys in three weeks). Joe, little did he know also gave me the title for the newsletter and this website. Then it came to a head when in early 2002 I published the first copy of the newsletter; The Encourager from a second hand typewriter. The first issue was delivered to 11 struggling friends. So it was born!
Well it grew with advertising in Christian periodicals and an article in The Salvatian Army magazine;THE WAR CRY 8th June 2002. After that requests came daily and it went for a while on the W.A. Baptist Care website. Also the self publishing in print form of the two books I wrote and now available on this website called Hope in a dark place. and Why suicide Lord? All that from seemingly so little. Lets go on and give God the glory.