 Thank you so much, my friend and colleague, Dr. Mta'i. What a privilege to stand before God's people and take this rare, poorly understood, highly stigmatized area of the mind. I am here and I want to appreciate that the church can now understand and see the role of the mind even in our Christian work and the hope of the family. Christ's ministry consisted of three areas, the preaching, the teaching and the healing. And indeed, if there is healing, then it means people get sick. And if people get sick, it is not only the physical, but now we are looking another area that has been neglected for a very long time, the mind. I want to start with the book of the third episode according to John chapter verse two, which John is writing to us, me and you, as he wrote that time to his friend Gaius. He says, dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you even as your soul is getting along well. This, I believe, is the wish for each one of us and that is why health has been integrated in our talks, including the family life where I am talking about hope. My friend, I want to tell you that you can only understand that is hope when your mind is okay. If the mind is not okay, then you may not even appreciate what hope is. That is where we are integrating mental health in this week and I am happy for those who are in there in the morning. Our powerful speaker has put the theme for this week using three words, build, establish and the word and flourish. I also want to follow that and use three words as far as mental health is concerned, that please be aware, that is the first word, creating awareness, be aware, accept that the mind is there and take action. So mind will be three a's, aware, accept and take action. When you hear somebody saying accepting, it means that for a very long time we have been in denial or we have decided not to accept that issues of the mind are there and they are very important. If you recall the WHO, the definition of health which John is writing to us, he says that it is not just a mere absence of disease or infirmity, but it is a state of being physically, socially and mentally well-being. The part of mental for a very long time, people don't talk about it because it is thought not to exist. If I had time, sometimes I ask somebody to tell me the mind, what is the mind, the definition and I want you to imagine and divine the mind yourself in a few seconds. What is a mind? Because that is where we drive the issues of mental from. Mental is about the mind. If somebody ask you to divine the mind, just divine but I don't know what you have divine. And it goes along with what we know very well about the brain. All of us know the brain, I've listened about it many times and we can appreciate and accept that yes there are diseases of the brain, but are there diseases of the mind? I am here to confirm and tell you yes the mind may not necessarily be an organ but it has diseases. In this era of computers allow me to just simplify it so that you can appreciate the role of the mind and where it is found. The mind is software of the brain. Those who have dealt with the computer I believe now we are together. It is the software of the brain whereas the brain now is the hardware. And in that then just the way the computer has issues with the hardware it also has issues with the software which increase the viruses. I just want you to work with me so that you can be able to appreciate when I will be going deeper talking about mental health. So we see the mind as a software of the brain and using the computers our analogy meaning that the issues of the mind cannot be touched, cannot be felt, they cannot be seen yet they exist. That is exactly what the software of the computer is. Those who know about the computer. And this helps me so that we can be able to work along with you when we talk about mental health and mental health issues it means these are issues many at times when you go to the hospital and somebody is trying to explain your issues or your symptoms, your pain, your vomiting, your diarrhea and all those things. We check them in the laboratory and we check blood, we check stool, we go to the x-rays and do x-rays, MRIs, CT scan and name it we can only pick the hardware part of it because the software cannot be picked in any of those. And when these things are checked and you say we can't see anything then many at times we wonder what is the problem with me then because that is exactly what you are told in the hospital we have checked everything we have done investigations my colleagues who are there, others are my teachers that we have really checked everything and we can't see anything is it really true that there is nothing with you given the definition of health that is a state of social, mental and physical many at times it's only the physical part of it that one has ruled out a problem. My friends, nobody is going to pick social issues in your blood Hello? Ya, nobody will see a social issue in your blood at the same time mental health issues will not be seen in your blood and that is why for a very long time there are a lot of myths and misconceptions that have been associated with issues of the mind that when you can't see anything then it means that person is not okay only that it can be explained maybe with witchcrafts and many other things and because I'm in church and then the issues of demons Yes, I am here to say that yes besides those two witchcrafts and other people call it kill and whatever and demons there is something beyond that that is affecting you as a person because the mind is not easily explained by the routine investigations that we go about and that is why today I'm here that I may create this awareness that the mind is to be considered and taken seriously the way we have taken serious our physical ailments or disorders One time in a church like this allow me to give you a story as I continue to explain more in my church not the current one we were almost finishing our sabat like now and then I'm trying to say about the mystery and the demons I hope we are following it and then a lady all of a sudden falls down and starts shouting there they are, they are coming so pastor was there and with all these spectates now these are the demons then he really prayed and cast out but they refused to come out and they said they are coming having had a knowledge of what was happening I told pastor now I think if they have refused to come let me try to see whether they can listen to me but not in that from the spiritual angle so I talk to this lady I'm giving a real live, not long time ago I talk to this lady and realized that issues of the mind are real she was going through a very difficult time and she had not paid her rent for three months and the day before the landlord had told her that we were coming to close that house and when we finished the sabat after saying happy sabat happy day she was faced the reality that she was going so her house probably was closed and they had come and that is what was the struggle we went to her and we truly found that the house had been closed I am trying to explain the mind in that manner that it is not always necessary demons but it is about the issues of the mind which you may not be able to see allow me to say this that in the course of this week I am going to try and demystify and try to explain and really demonstrate that indeed the mind is real and it has issues we have diseases of the mind before I finish today I also want to ask a question is there a difference between mental disorders or mental illnesses and madness that is another problem that we always have but when people talk about mental health issues somebody says it is only those people on the road it is only those people who are talking things that you cannot appreciate but I want to tell you that statistics have shown that one in every five please count yourself one two three four five the fifth one could be suffering from a form of mental illness hello yes I can see people accounting that is what the statistics are showing it is not mine they are actually real that has been demonstrated so when you think that you are so well and you are okay they are mental health issues and I want to say please if you can't take anything home from this topic please take this that madness is not equivalent to mental illness but it is just one type of a mental illness what have I just said that madness is a type of a mental disorder or a mental illness but it is not equivalent unfortunately what we all think is that when you talk about mental illness hello that is what is equivalent to that but I want to tell you many many mental disorders we will be looking at them and you will be surprised that at any one time you as a person must have actually had that issue in your life and if you have not gotten you are likely to get one hello are we together and I believe as a family in the morning we were told that most issues are coming from family even mental health issues are within the family because the person who is suffering will obviously belong to a family and that working together with the family life week I think it is very very important that we may be able to understand brothers and sisters I want to say that many families have suffered some have left some have broken just because of issues of the mind I say that mental health is highly stigmatized poorly understood and it is always at the bottom of the food chain whether you are talking about funding whether you are talking about in terms of priorities it is always given the last priority and we are saying that actually that is where it starts tomorrow we will be looking at what are these functions of the mind and you will be surprised you are nothing but the mind hello we will be looking at what is it that the mind controls I know my colleagues will be looking at and saying you know this mind is neither here nor there but when you look at the mind and what it controls and especially when we are looking at issues diagnosing the ailments or disorders of mind we look at what you actually do most of the time and if all of us could be able to understand and appreciate what the role of the mind in our lives are we will take serious we will take it very seriously and take a lot of time to develop a health mind that is what I hope that by the time we finish we will be able to appreciate what is expected of us or what we need to do to develop that mind when I was asked to speak my colleagues told me department told me that please I know there is so much about mental health but emphasize more on prevention of mental illnesses and that is where I will be sticking but before I do that before I tell you how to prevent I need to help you to understand what a mind is did you know that your mind is actually determines whether you are coming even to church and how you are coming I am talking about your appearance look at your friend please look at one another it is a product of the mind hello your appearance is a product of your mind the state of the mind that really determines how you are going to look today and of course that things are very new that yes sometimes when one is not the mind that's how you can be able to say I so so understood how it was looking I don't think everything is ok do we sometimes make such comments yes so it is the mind that will determine how you are did you know that it is the mind which will determine whether you are going to pick anything that has been preached here or not many at times if your mind is not in the right state if the mind is not healthy you will stand here and when you go out there somebody is asking how was church today it was so wonderful what was the sermon it was very powerful hello don't say it was powerful when he asks you what was the topic hello meaning that for sure you got nothing and that is because your mind was not there so this mind this thing which you can't touch which you can't feel which you can't see yet it is so important so when we talk about mental health what is it it is a state of the mind that is going to help you to cope with the day-to-day work and balance in terms of the stresses of life the demands hello there is the demand and what the supply that is the mind that will make you to be able to when you look at your productivity is a product of your mind so allow me to say that our minds many at times have let us down and we don't know about it issues of the mind are the ones which I want to determine whether you are appreciating your life or you are seeing like nothing happens and you are always hopeless and I was sharing with my friend she was like somebody who is clearly can contemplate suicide I said yes it is planned very well but that does not mean that the mind is okay and I shared with her over a lady you could see and think that is okay two areas I want to share I explain and try to emphasize the state of the mind that we don't know or we don't appreciate yet it is not your mistake one sabat afternoon or one sabat day like today a lady was you know the quiet it was a quiet day in one of the towns and people was very happy you remember the quiet is the way they can be very nice people love quiet isn't it in one of the quiet members a lady was very very passionate and sang nicely with a big smile all of us can smile hello when you smile it doesn't mean your mind is always smiling that is why we always think that the people on the road having a problem with the mind you can smile with your mouth and inside there is nothing so this lady sang it's a sad story and she was very nice if you told her happy sabat she would tell you happy sabat with a smile and imagine she left that went home little the members know that this lady had already bought food and prepared for a funeral because she left that place and hanged herself when they went home the food was ready everything was ready for her funeral brothers and sisters I am talking about the mind it is not something that we want to look at somebody and decide this is the state of the mind of this guy you can't see anything many at times yes there sometimes you may see and that is why creating awareness is very important in the course of this week we will be able to see the signs and symptoms of mental health disorders please don't miss that one and sometimes you may not see anything you may see nothing nothing completely many of you I'm sure you may be having acted some cases where so and so was doing very well and the next thing you hear he or she went what was in her mind you didn't see I managed a very young promising lady who was a lawyer third year lawyer in school and you know these are very I know the lawyers inside there you know they are learned friends very tough she was doing low and one morning she just wakes up and she was completing a plan that she had actually planned for quite some time and her mind it was very clear she had to die and she could smile she said yes I had to die you know I'm talking about suicide which we have always had and for her she told herself I would die but I want to die in a five star hotel you know five star hotel is not cheap so she had time the mind had time to plan and save for that so she had enough money and that day came she rescued her niniya plans and she went to the hotel true to her nini you know I'm talking of somebody that I managed and she's now giving me the story so when she went there because she had to be known that she has actually accomplished her long desires her long desired act she wrote a message the one which I don't know about it I'm not so much digital but with digital tendency wrote and she timed the message so that it can reach her friend when she has died and so she had act in the hotel and she finished and she planned sometimes I don't want to talk about the methods of water because I don't know what is going through your mind I might give you one of the methods so allow me not to say that so she actually tried her first method unfortunately she failed and remember the timing the message had gone that is how I came to go unless I got to meet her so the message went and reached the friend and the friend was like what when the first one failed she tried the second one and in the process of waiting for sure to go in the second one the friend had looked thanks to the digital world had looked for the contact of the hotel and everything and had alerted the hotel and they said do you have a guest by so and so he said yes she is in which room he said please rush and break the door and they went and broke that door and actually rescued her and she was able to find me in a hospital or I found her there I am giving this as a story this is now the poorly understood mental health when this lady came and now we had stabilized her of course I had to ask for the next of kin to come the father was so arrogant you know what he told me you guys anybody with a card you want to admit my daughter was so well how can you tell me she is in a hospital doing what hello isn't it so to her is because we saw that card the insurance card and we really wanted money from her and therefore we admitted her I tried to explain she could not appreciate but then that lady because now she was realizing that things were not okay because she was like doctor you mean I am sick I knew what I was doing I said no it is the needness and of course we went with her a checklist they said yes I was feeling like this I had not been sleeping a lot but that was not a big deal not only me who doesn't sleep well hello and then he said this thing we actually met a criteria for severe depression yet no one could pick it so the father could not appreciate that the daughter was sick and they refused and refused so the lady tells me now called my uncle and explain maybe my uncle would understand so the uncle was able to understand my friends that is why I want you to understand that there is mental illness and when you are called upon please understand so the uncle was able to come to the hospital and I explained to them the dangers and actions we need to take to be able to stop that he was the one who agreed to sign for this lady the father refused when she improved she was able to actually appreciate and explain how she has been feeling for a couple of months and yet she did not realize it was a problem after all there is what we call psychodynamics of suicide in this mental health whereby somebody yarns and admires the other side and that is all she knew that lady was able to actually appreciate that mental health is real and she even wrote in that social media about it the father came now aware and narrating and he actually cried about it he said I can't believe it the lady said daddy it is true this is me and this is how I was feeling and that is how I have landed here it is my hope that as we continue with the series that we will be able to be ambassadors of mental health when we try to understand remember my three words are be aware, accept and do what act action I want to stop here as part of the introduction by saying that if you cannot do anything about mental health please accept that it is there and it is something that has diseases even when you have been told in the hospital that you are not suffering from any condition before you say that you are being bewitched before you say that you are actually having maybe demons please agree that mental health is real and it is going to present as we will be seeing some of them present with all the physical features I will be talking about a condition called conversion reactive disorder that psychic conflicts which are the near product of the mind presents with literally everything including convulsions paradises the backaches ladies the ones we always complain about some of us have been operated with no good reason nothing is there in the back but you go to operation because the backache is not going regardless of what you are doing minds are not treated by partners or painkillers they have specific medicines that treat them conditions of the mind that when people come to you and say I don't know I'm having a headache I can't go I am not able to sleep please take them seriously many of the people we have lost have actually mentioned there is this feeling that tells me I need to die all somebody tells me that I am not even interested I'm no longer interested in my work one nurse told me she said she just reached in their work she didn't want to do anything and I'm like what am I supposed to tell her doctor I told her that guy is sick when I asked a few questions she said yeah he has complained of that but I've never known that is an issue so many times many of the issues they are not seen as issues because they are poorly understood when somebody tells you I am not myself alo even the person who is suffering doesn't know what the problem is and therefore you don't expect them to tell you exactly what the problem is I want to finish by saying this that in diseases or disorders of the mind it will take another mind to be able to say the mind as a problem I'm finishing there now have you ever removed anything from your eye can you see anything in your eye unless you use a mirror can you see no now if you must see a problem in your mind it will take another mind to be able to see that there is a problem in that mind and that is why my A is very key aware if not for your own for your friend your family members for your colleagues because it takes another mind to discover a problem in the other mind that is why even those in extreme some of you maybe have dealt with when somebody is truly sick and you are telling I think you are sick you will tell me I am not sick maybe you are the one who is sick have you ever heard about that one yes they will always say they have no problem maybe you are the one who has a problem one time I am sitting in our referral hospital and I am seeing patients and one is brought and of course reaching there she knows she is not sick and she takes over and really she runs but she was running towards me though she thought she was running she ran up to me and said you know what doctor I am not sick I said yes you are not sick that one run and bring him here so that I can treat him and for sure she ran the people had brought picked one of them whom she thought was sick brought and sat with me and I treated hello so even the people who are sick I cannot appreciate that they are sick and that is why you have to be your brother's keeper may God help us that this time as we continue to drive in mental health you are not going to miss it because I really want you to understand that the mind can also be sick and the mind needs to be helped the issue is as time goes by, as difficult times comes in the end as we say it in 2 Timothy 3 verse 1 to 5 the mind also finds it very difficult and that is where we are finding very many mental health issues currently and they are not anywhere but they are just right in the family family issues and especially the family of God when you know you are a Christian and the people will be looking at you and saying how how can you have mental health issues and you are a Christian God and we always become in denial when our children start showing something like this and then we say no no no it can't be, it is real we are not yet in heaven until we go to heaven mental health issues must be dealt with may God bless you as you plan to come so that we can be able to look at it my topic is understanding mental health issues may God bless you