Mental Health, Cross-Cultural Ministry, & Social Media

Ministry and mental health needs

Have you ever met someone who thought the need to seek counseling or care for a mental health issue meant someone is weak?

Pastors often carry heavy loads for others, but may be reluctant to get help for themselves.

In a piece on Baptist Press, Jesse Masson asks of pastors, “Does your need for mental health discredit your leadership? Does this make you a bad leader? No, it actually confirms your humanity—just the way God designed you. Did you know your limited-ness is actually a good thing?”

He points to Jesus’s regular retreats for prayer and rest as an example. He writes, “…limitations actually point you in the direction of the One who can help and the Savior Jesus Christ, who knows how to navigate troubling storms of the holistic self.”

You can read the entire article asking if it is ministry failure to see a counselor.

Reaching Arab-speakers in Cincy

Amer and Vicki Safadi weren’t sure at first that Cincinnati was where God wanted them to plant a church. They’d been there before, just after leaving the Middle East, and it hadn’t been easy.

But then they met Travis Smalley, lead pastor of Lakota Hills Baptist Church, who said his church wanted to come alongside them. And then when the Safadis moved there from Milwaukee, God immediately began putting Arabic-speaking neighbors in their path in providential ways. Within three months of planting a church, they had 55 Arabic-speaking people from eight countries, and new people continue to come through its doors each week.

The livestream ministry they started during the COVID-19 pandemic now reaches Arabic Christians and non-believers around the world.

The Safadis are praying the Lord would continue to open doors for them among Arabic speaking residents of Cincinnati.

Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.

Social media harming Gen Z

There have been mountains of data collected in the last few years that point to a clear relationship between increased social media use and increased experiences of anxiety and depression. Perhaps the most dramatic example of the correlation between social media use and symptoms of anxiety and depression come from the current teenagers that make up Gen Z.

In a piece on Baptist Press, Chris Martin talks about the deep impact social media making on boys and girls…and much of it isn’t healthy.

Find more stories at BaptistPress.com. Thanks for listening to Good News for Today. I’m Brandon Porter.