An unseen enemy claims more than 700.000 lives every year: suicide. In the Middle East and North Africa, where war, instability, and uncertainty often deepen despair, the struggle is especially heavy.

Walking alongside those who suffer is vital. That’s one of the key focuses for SAT-7 teams working in Persian, Turkish, and Arabic contexts. They provide safe spaces for listeners to understand themselves better and to be encouraged.

Joe Willey from SAT-7 explains, “SAT-7 has programs that will address things — suicide, disability — things that are, at best, really uncomfortable culturally, but often just ignored.”

(Photo courtesy of SAT-7)

In many cultures across the Middle East and North Africa, people facing doubt or fear are often encouraged to turn to Islamic practices. The concept of collective honor can make vulnerability difficult — sharing struggles may be seen as weakness.

Alone with their fears and pressures, some lose hope. This is where the message of Jesus brings healing.

Sometimes, callers reach out to SAT-7’s hotline saying, I just don’t want to live anymore. “They’re listened to first,” says Willey, “but they’re told the understanding of the Gospel and the biblical worldview — that no, there is great hope, and you are made in the image of God, and God loves you.”

For someone standing on the edge — feeling like an outsider in their own culture and ready to give up — a new day begins. It all comes back to this unshakable truth: every man, woman, and child is made in the image of God. Life is His gift, and He has a purpose for each one.

SAT-7 continues to air programs for those facing mental and emotional challenges. Willey adds, “It’s the Christian worldview to say, even though there may be something that is difficult, it’s desperate right now, maybe, there is a disability, there is still great hope in Christ and in God’s plan.”

Pray that as SAT-7’s team creates new programs, they’ll be led by the Holy Spirit to bring healing and hope. Pray also that churches across the Middle East and North Africa will be sensitive to their communities and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus to whoever might need it.

Header photo courtesy of Akhil Nath via Unsplash.

Dean Vander Mey of Set Free Ministries says, “We’re experiencing calls. People are very anxious. They have a lot of fear. It’s troubling. This is unsettling everybody. When that happens, if you’re already a little bit edgy already or unstable, this puts a lot of people over the edge. There’s a lot of people calling, and I’m noticing some of the suicide hotlines, some are up 300%.”

A bank run in England in 2007 as the Great Recession was looming. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

During a stressful time like this, says Vander Mey, everyone’s risk of poor mental health goes up. “The lockdown is affecting people in ways that really can’t be determined. Because this is probably the biggest government intervention since World War II, globally.”

Vander Mey points to other anxious times like the Great Recession, when the US saw 10000 suicides per year above the average.

Vander Mey says the pressure from tough economic times can even affect people’s lifespans, with higher jobless rates often leading to more deaths. “That’s what happens when you have these types of things going on. The lockdown has lots of different effects on people. Not just suicide, but actually are our physical health and our mental health are all connected.”

How can Christians respond?

Vander Mey points to the example in the book of Acts, where they focused on each other, the apostles’ teaching, and providing for each other. “Keep focused on God’s work. [Acts] says that they fellowshipped. We can fellowship! Even if it’s not face to face, there can be lots of fellowship.” Churches need to keep in touch during this time, encouraging and caring for each other.

A US chaplain conducting an online service, as Christians leaders all over the world have been started doing. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Vander Mey says these lockdowns won’t last forever, as new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations drop in many areas. Meanwhile, the drug remdesivir, used unsuccessfully to treat Ebola in 2018, has recently proven effective against COVID-19 symptoms.

It might be tempting to hope for a return to economic prosperity, but Christians need to remember that another downturn could always come. We should not put our hope in wealth and prosperity but in our unity as the body of Christ and in the good news that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again.

Lockdowns have negatively impacted the mental health of millions around the world. (Photo courtesy of Tumisu from Pixabay)

Suicide is a crisis inside church walls as well as outside, Dean Vander Mey of Set Free Ministries observes. The self-inflicted deaths they encounter are often – but not always – connected to substance addiction.

On a daily basis, Set Free’s staff and volunteers utilize Scripture, counseling, and medical aid to help people work through suicide- and addiction-related issues. More about Set Free’s work here.

Vander Mey says local churches need to work in suicide prevention, too. Hurting hearts are everywhere, but few believers offer an introduction to “pele’ yo‘ets” – the wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.

“If we’re going to be the body of Christ, and… God’s heart is to seek and save those who are lost, to search for the strays and to bring in [and] bind up the wounded, then – as the body of Christ – we should be doing that,” he says.

“That’s going to include prayer, but it’s also going to include action.”

Suicide prevention and you

God’s Word instructs believers to “be doers of the word and not hearers only,” as recorded in James 1. If you know someone’s hurting, first tell them – immediately – that you care and hope is readily available in Christ. Then, connect with Set Free through email, or call the ministry at (616) 726-5400 for direction regarding “next steps.”

“Love covers over a multitude of sin. Reach out,” Vander Mey recommends.

“The number one trick of Satan is isolation.”

He points to Genesis 3 as an example.

(Stock photo by Pexels)

“When Adam and Eve sinned, the first thing they did was run and hide. They thought they were bad and God was mad. God actually pursued them, came into their darkness while they were hiding, and says, ‘hey, let’s talk.’”

Vander Mey also describes a process Set Free uses to help someone who’s suicidal. “[Suicide is] a spiritual, emotional and physical issue,” he begins, outlining steps the ministry follows to help a person in need.

“If a person is a danger to themselves or others, I say, ‘let’s get help immediately,’” Vander Mey says. “Get that person to the hospital because… they might need some medication to settle things down so that they can start to get out the issue.”

Once the physical crisis is resolved, “now let’s find out what’s causing all of this,” he continues.

“Let’s get to the real issue, because – usually – there’s something underneath that (suicidal ideation).”

Visit Set Free’s website to learn more about their work.

Header image courtesy of Gabriel via Unsplash.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 129 people take their life every day. As we reported last year, the national suicide rate has been steadily rising since the late 1990s.

Set Free’s Dean Vander Mey says, “There [are] multiple reasons why the suicide rate keeps going up. But, I think it can all be attributed back to…we’re turning our back on God and now the stats are showing that.

“It’s just kind of proof that you can live life any way you want, but there’s going to be consequences.”

U.S. suicide: a spiritual perspective

(Photo by bruce mars from Pexels)

Youth suicide tends to get the most media attention, especially given the recent spike and an alleged connection to the Netflix show, ‘13 Reasons Why.’ However, the most recent suicide statistics reveal that middle-aged men have the highest suicide rate.

In Oregon, 90-percent of suicides involve people over 25 years old; many victims are men.

“A lot of it seems to correlate with economics and what happens in economics,” Vander Mey observes.

“When you have men who have worked their whole life, and they think they’re going to have a nest egg and then it all collapses and goes away – that causes a lot of despair.”

This Reuters article also cites a connection between economic stability and suicide rates. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) points to celebrity suicide as a possible trigger event. The NIMH study examined data surrounding Robin Williams’ self-inflicted death in 2014 and its influence on suicides during that time period.

The factors and circumstances leading people to commit suicide vary widely. However, Vander Mey says a spiritual cause is largely unacknowledged and unaddressed. “What I see going on today in the USA is we’re turning our back on God; we’re going secular,” he explains.

(Photo by Ethan Sykes on Unsplash)

“We’re choosing our own path…[and] God will let you do that. The Bible kind of says, ‘Love God or love the world, make your choice.’”

Even when people choose a life path that brings them far away from God’s side, He doesn’t give up on them. That’s why Set Free Ministries exists – to rescue and remind people of the redemption available through Christ. Based in West Michigan, the ministry helps suicidal individuals on a near-daily basis.

Learn more about Set Free Ministries here.

“For those contemplating suicide, I would say there’s hope — just know there’s hope.”

The conversation continues tomorrow with a look at warning signs and practical ways to help people who are suicidal.

Header image courtesy of Nathan Cowley via Pexels.

Dean Vander Mey of Set Free says for many veterans, transitioning back to domestic life reveals a new type of battle.

“When I think of combat warriors coming back—they’ve never been taught how to come back and win this battle for the mind. They were taught how to kill and to be the warriors that they were. They come back home, they’re released from their duties, they lose their band of brothers, they lose their mission, their meaning and purpose, and they’re left with all the horrors of war.”

(Photo courtesy of Warriors Set Free)

This new battle, he explains, takes place in the mind and heart as soldiers deal with the emotional and mental baggage they’ve brought back.

The name we’ve applied to this situation has changed over the years from shell-shock to battle fatigue to PTSD, but it’s something we’ve known about for a while. Because of the shockingly high suicide rate among veterans in the United States, there is a greater awareness of the problem, and a push to destigmatize mental illness. However, as a whole, there is little recognition of the spiritual battle that is being waged—not even within the Church.

Hidden things

Set Free Ministries recognizes that mental battles are usually paired with a spiritual reality. There is something going on in the heart that, left undealt with, will continue to plague the person harboring it. These are the hidden things of the heart and Vander Mey says, “We the Church of Jesus Christ have all the answers to deal with this dilemma.”

It’s important to recognize that the enemy, Satan, uses these things against us. He is most successful when he can keep the root of our struggles hidden, or have us deny them altogether. We see this happening all throughout biblical history, beginning in the garden.

It is here that we first see how the enemy isolates mankind, causes them to blame others, and makes them feel like they can’t approach God with their problems. But in this isolation, people are more likely to make poor decisions that further destroy relationships.

Later on in the Old Testament, we read of King David’s most infamous mistakes: taking another man’s wife and making sure that man was killed in battle. It was an extreme burden of guilt that most likely resulted in the writing of Psalm 38.

Vander Mey says, “He turns into a psychosomatic mess. And then read Psalm 51 and you watch a man who’s set free and forgiven. And it’s only because Nathan had the courage to go confront that guy and say, ‘we’re going to deal with the junk in your trunk, we’re going to deal with the lies, we’re going to deal with what’s hidden right now.”

Psalm 51, the well-known repentance psalm, is a clear picture that God can redeem any situation, no matter how horrible.

Freedom

Maybe it’s not poor decisions that are plaguing you, but the inability to let something go. Maybe, like Kevin Kruk, you are holding on to guilt that isn’t really yours. Maybe there is someone you blame for a hardship that took place. Bitterness and anger are very difficult burdens to get rid of, and they can destroy a life.

Vander Mey says these two conditions are common among veterans.

“So we have to deal with these guys who come back hurt, angry, bitter. Angry at commanders that made poor decisions that led them into harm’s way. Angry at the enemy that did horrible atrocities to them and their men. There’s a lot of anger and a lot of hurt.”

As we’ve mentioned in the past, a lack of forgiveness seems to be the most common burden of people struggling with depression, suicide, or addiction.

“You take a vet who’s angry and bitter – he doesn’t know that an angry man cannot see he’s lost his way. That’s in Scripture. He doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know that if you let the sun go down on your anger, you give the devil a foothold. Nobody told him that. He doesn’t know that when he drinks, he can’t be vigilant, and if he can’t be vigilant, the adversary, the devil, is going to devour him. He’s not told that.”

Like David, people carrying these burdens need somebody to walk alongside them and get to the real heart issues that are taking place.

“They just need to be walked with. And it’s a spiritual war that’s taking place and we’re not talking about that. And it needs to be talked about.”

Counseling at Set Free does not cost the counselee anything. Counseling specifically for veterans is available through Warriors Set Free. To sign up for an appointment or to contact Set Free, click here.

If you’d like to support the work Set Free is doing, click here.

There is a shockingly high rate of suicide among veterans. Based on 2014 data, the VA estimates that about 20 veterans commit suicide every day.

(Logo courtesy Set Free Ministries)

Set Free Ministries has a branch of counseling specifically for veterans called Warriors Set Free. They recognize that for many veterans, discussing their experiences is most comfortably done with other veterans.

Last year, we spoke to Kevin Kruk who went through a Warriors Set Free appointment several years ago. Since that appointment, he has been volunteering in the program. We caught up with him to see how he is doing.

He says he’s been volunteering more and more at Set Free in order to help other veterans in need and is expanding his training each day. By leading these appointments, he continues to grow his understanding of his own battle with suicide.

Afghanistan

Kruk’s problems began when a fellow soldier died in the dining hall where he was stationed in Afghanistan. For a long time, Kruk felt responsible. The man was killed by a rocket attack in the place Kruk would have been sitting– if he hadn’t decided to eat in his room that day.

Survivor’s guilt is common among soldiers. For Kruk, it manifested in trouble sleeping.

He says, “I started having nightmares probably about a month later. And the nightmares were so bad that I didn’t want to go to sleep. I would get about an hour’s worth of sleep and wake up terrified that I was going to have another nightmare.”

When he did have a nightmare, he’d wake up in a cold sweat, unable to fall back asleep. Finally, he was able to convince the Navy to release him due to his mental struggles.

Survivor’s guilt turns suicidal

But even after this, his symptoms persisted. He wasn’t getting sleep, and he was beginning to lash out at people. He was in a constant state of anger and hypervigilance, totally unable to relax. It was beginning to take its toll.

“In September of 2010, I put a gun to my head because I just wanted the pain to end…

“I started pulling the trigger, and for some reason, I stopped. And when I went back later to figure out how far I pulled, I was less than a quarter of an inch—probably about an eighth inch from releasing the hammer on the pistol.”

Overcome with emotion, Kruk broke down in tears, finally admitting to himself that he needed to get help. In his search, he came across a book by Neil Anderson sitting on his bookshelf. He had received it years back when he went to a Freedom appointment at Set Free. Reading the book again, Kruk says he knew what he needed to do.

At this time, the Warriors Set Free program was brand new. Kruk Met with Set Free’s Steve Prince who walked him through the timeline of events. He helped Kruk see that the soldier’s death wasn’t his fault. There was nothing he could have done.

“We prayed and that day the nightmares ended. Well, two to three years later, the nightmares still haven’t come back—I haven’t had one since.

“The anger is gone. I’m usually in a pretty good mood. One day I was wondering why I was in such a good mood, and I [was] like, ‘Oh! I need to make up for all those angry days.’”

Kruk has discovered that it helps to be able to relate to others with similar stories on such a deep level.

Behind the suicidal urge

As Kruk looks back, he realizes that even though he told people he was a Christian, he wasn’t living his life like one. In fact, he says at this point in his life he probably didn’t really believe it himself.

So in his hour of desperate need, he was completely vulnerable to the lies of the enemy. He says he wanted to end his struggle and thought ending his life would help. He believed other people would be better off without him. But really, it came down to total exhaustion.

“My biggest thought was ending the pain and the lack of sleep and the tiredness. My body was beat and I was exhausted.”

Thankfully, God intervened and today Kruk knows how to deal with these thoughts. So much of it was understanding it was ok to ask for help and that there is someone who can help.

“I learned that spiritual battles are very real and I was going through them and they were kicking my butt. But I’ve learned now how to fight back and sometimes I recognize one of those attacks and I’ll just sit there and smile because I can realize what’s going on and I know how to fight back now, and I know how to win.”

A word to veterans and others struggling with mental trials

As Kruk looks back on his experiences and where he is now, there are a couple of things he wants his fellow veterans, and anyone else struggling with depression, suicide, or other mental struggles.

“Get help. There are people that care. I think the biggest lie is ‘people will be better off without me.’ That is a huge lie because you don’t know how many people it really will effect. People that you barely know will be affected by this. You’ll cause more pain than by just asking for help.”

And, he continues, “As veterans, we owe it to the guys that didn’t make it home to live the best life we can. And killing yourself isn’t the way to do it. We need to live and help each other out and just keep going.”

Right now, Kruk is working some other things out in his life as he walks with Jesus. He says, thanks to the Spirit’s prompting and help, he’s been able to quit drinking pop, cut down on his language, and is now working on quitting smoking. Will you pray for him as he embarks on these new battles?

While it is difficult, with the help of the Holy Spirit, he says, “I’m winning.”

If you need help, contact Set Free Ministries, here.

To support Set Free, click here.

This Sunday is World Suicide Prevention Day. We spoke with Dean Vander Mey of Set Free Ministries to discuss the difficulties we face in the United States in particular.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Each year, it takes the lives of 44,193 people. Attempted suicides are harder to track, and so is self-harm, but it’s reasonable to assume those cases are on the rise as well.

Calls of despair

Vander Mey says that every once in a while, they’ll get a call to their office from someone in desperate need. These are called “crisis calls.” They are middle-of-the-night, I-don’t-know-who-else-to-talk-to, I’m-scared-of-what-I’ll-do-next type calls.

Vander Mey says, “They don’t know where to turn anymore and they have hit a place of hopelessness. They’ve been believing lies for years, and they hit a place of ‘life is not worth living anymore.’”

People who seek help from Set Free will find that it isn’t a typical counseling session. Set Free Ministries takes a biblical look at things like depression and addiction. They believe that our mental health begins with our spiritual health. And spiritual health begins with the Bible.

“The truth of God’s Word is amazingly powerful. It says, ‘you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.’ We also know that there’s a spiritual dimension to this. Ephesians 6 says our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, rulers, and authorities.”

In almost every case, the counselee is experiencing an onslaught of negative thoughts about themselves. These accusatory thoughts, Vander Mey says, are from the enemy.

“And so we have the enemy that can maybe give us thoughts or insinuations that ‘you’re no good, you’re never going to be loved, it’s never going to change, you might as well just kill yourself because everyone would be better off.’ These are normal things that people think, often. And [the thoughts] get garaged when they get exhausted.”

Exhaustion happens when someone has been worked up about these thoughts for a while, or if they’ve been losing a lot of sleep. It can also happen when they try to find solace in drugs or alcohol.

When a person can no longer think clearly, and they’ve failed to take these negative thoughts captive, they find themselves in a dangerous place. And it’s in this dangerous place that Satan wants us to be. While he cannot himself destroy us, we can destroy ourselves.

“He tries to get someone to do what he’s not allowed to do. He tries to get them to engage their free will to do it. And I think that goes on in the spiritual dimension with the assault on the mind and the emotion.”

A culture growing more depressed

Unfortunately, as our nation grows more secular, fewer people realize there is a very real, spiritual enemy. The mental health field typically only considers the physiological side of what is happening with someone struggling with suicidal thoughts.

“When you no longer have a biblical worldview, you can’t see things the way they are from that dimension. You’re not even thinking that way.”

That means that treating mental health purely from the medical standpoint cannot be comprehensive. Vander Mey believes that the pleasure-seeking, self-serving bent of our culture is what’s behind the growing number of depressed people in the United States.

Everywhere you look there are messages telling you to put yourself first, and others last. Do whatever feels good—whatever you want to do. And as more people grasp this lifestyle, instances of sexual immorality, abortions, and drug and alcohol abuse will rise.

These things, Vander Mey says, are contrary to how God has called us to live. The Bible tells us time and time again that living a life of rebellion leads to death. The busyness of our culture isn’t helping anything, either. In fact, it’s causing people to feel less connected, even to their own family members.

But while our culture can shift, the truth of the Gospel cannot. Vander Mey says it is the job of the Church to be sharing this truth, in love, with people who are struggling. Set Free and many others have seen mental health improve as people engage with the Gospel and meditate on its truth.

A story of intervention

Just recently, Vander Mey received a crisis call from a lady who had tried to take her life at three in the morning.

She set up her car, but when she went to turn it on, it wouldn’t start. Four times she tried, and her vehicle, which had never misfired before, refused to turn on.

Ten hours after this, she was in a Freedom appointment, talking to Vander Mey. “The first question I asked is, ‘why are you alive?’” he says.

She was taken aback until Vander Mey pointed out how unlikely it was for her car not to have started.

“She [said], ‘well apparently, God wants me alive.’”

(Logo courtesy Set Free Ministries)

The woman began to share her story. At a young age, she had given her life to Jesus. But over the last four decades, she had lived her life walking away from Him.

“I [said], ok, forty years in the pig pen. Have you had enough? You can come home now.’ And she wept, and she wept with joy.”

This was the first time she had heard the prodigal story and learned that even with her past, God would forgive her and welcome her with open arms.

“That truth just blew her away and she left here smiling and excited and couldn’t wait for her next season of life. She‘s excited about life. But it was only the truth in love that set her free, but using God’s Word which destroys the power of darkness.”

The enemy wanted to hold this woman captive and torture her with lies and negative thoughts. But it was on Jesus’ agenda to set her free through His Word.

“We have to take the Scriptures very seriously to know what’s going on with us spiritually,” Vander Mey says.

Reach out for help

Are you someone who feels like a captive of your depression? If you’re struggling, Vander Mey says you need to know this: “You have a loving Father who created you in your mother’s womb. You are fearfully [and] you are wonderfully made. And the Lord knows you by name.”

Set Free says on their website, “Suicide touches every type of person in every walk of life. Thoughts of suicide are often present in our deepest darkest times. Dealing with the pain that leads to those times is key to overcoming a problem with suicide. There is hope. Set Free can show you the hope when you are broken hearted.”

To contact Set Free, click here. You can also support this ministry, here.