text:
California has mourned the deaths by suicide of two beloved pastors in under six months. Although tragic and sad, the deaths of Pastors Jim Howard and Andrew Stoecklein leave many of us—especially within the church—scratching our heads. What happened? Aren't pastors supposed to be filled with the joy of the Lord? And the dreaded but often unspoken question: Will a pastor go to hell for committing suicide?
On the bright side (if there is one in this situation), the recent deaths also point to the need for mental health care within the church. As the editor of Southern California Christian Voice, I had questions, too. But most importantly, I wanted to know what we, the church, can do to help. I figured the best place to start was by talking to pastors.
When I reached out to several pastors about the issue of mental health struggles as a pastor, most were willing to share and answer questions but wanted to remain anonymous. While frustrating, the responses also brought perspective to a 2015 Lifeway Research study, that reported among evangelicals, 44 percent said suicide was selfish (compared to 36 percent nationally), and 32 percent said those who die by suicide are going to hell.
With a report like this, it's no wonder mental illness, especially among pastors, remains a taboo topic within the church.
Author of From Pastor to Psych Ward and former Pastor, Steve Austin aims to change the stigmas often associated with mental illness. Austin travels the country speaking about his experience and the events leading up to it. He offers advice to struggling Christians and pastors. His message: No more shame.
Below are Austin's candid responses to my questions.
Q: What did your personal experience teach you about the need for mental health awareness within the Christian church and ministry? In what ways did the church fail you? In what ways did the church offer support?
A: I grew up in a fundamentalist church culture that demanded outward performance, to the detriment of genuine faith. Because my brain didn't work like other Christians I knew, I learned to blend in and keep my mouth shut.
For those of us with mental illness, the church can sometimes feel cranky and unkind. We often hide in the shadows, for fear of being thought of as less than a full Christian. But we continue to stubbornly white-knuckle the back of the pew, hoping to one day be accepted, just as we are.
Anyone who has spent time in a psych ward would love for the church to look a little more like an in-patient unit. We don't expect the psych ward to immediately "fix" us any more than we think church attendance will magically remove all of our doubts or struggles. But respecting the process and cultivating a community where honesty rules the day has the power to shatter our shame.
Q. Do you think we place unfair expectations on pastors? How can we do better?
A: 100% yes. We say we want pastors who show up and are genuine and authentic, but as soon as a pastor shows weakness, or peels back their leatherbound mask to reveal the humanity underneath, our stomachs pitch. We expect pastors to have all the answers we seek, all the time we need, and to never complain. In short, we expect our pastors to be little gods. It's unhealthy and unfair.
Q: Tell us about your books and why you chose to write and speak on the issue of mental health.
A: I was a pastor when I nearly died by suicide. I survived childhood sexual abuse, plus years of toxic theology, but the effects rippled through my life for the next twenty-five years. This isn't your typical Christian story. I wrote From Pastor to a Psych Ward to chronicle the years leading up to the suicide attempt, and to give people the practical steps I took in the first year of recovery after nearly dying. There was no "magic Jesus pill" that suddenly made life better. Recovery from a suicide attempt is a living hell, but it is possible. Faith was a part of my journey, but so was medication, a powerful support system, and grueling hours in therapy. This book is for anyone who has nearly died by suicide and is left wondering "what's next". It's also a great resource for people who care about someone with a mental illness.
I wrote Self-Care for the Wounded Soul about six months after releasing From Pastor to a Psych Ward because people were asking for more practical steps to find healing and hope. The result is a 21-day self-care journal, rooted in the messy grace of Jesus.
After spending ten years of my life at the intersection of Christianity and mental health, I realized there were far more people who needed hope than just Christians or those with a mental illness. I wanted to cast a wider net, to spread a larger table, so I wrote my latest book Catching Your Breath: The Sacred Journey from Chaos to Calm. This book is one-part memoir and one-part self-help. It's a book for anyone who is overwhelmed by the pressures of daily life. If you're desperate to come up for air and catch your breath, you'll find simple ways to cultivate calm and practice self-care while living courageously and authentically.
Q: Do you have advice for pastors struggling with mental health issues?
Get out. Full stop. Get out from behind the pulpit and rest. Even Jesus felt overwhelmed by the crowds and drew away to a quiet place to rest and recover. Sabbath is rarely practiced by pastors. Sabbatical is almost unheard of these days. But if you want to see your soul restored, you've got to take a break. Whether it's blocking off a day each week away from your phone and email or taking three months away to find yourself again, you have to do it. Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to express about the issue of mental health and the church?
Are you a church person who doesn't understand mental illness? It's okay. Just remind us that grace is here, even when our life feels overwhelming and dark. Tell us that we aren't a lost cause and that our life isn't over. Remind us that God makes all things new and accepts us exactly as we are.
As I continue to recover from my suicide attempt, I am learning that life isn't neatly boxed and bowed, and neither is faith. When it comes to church, I'm not asking for my pastor to be my psychiatrist. I don't need my Sunday School teacher to try and fix me, or for any clergy person to have all the answers. I just need people to choose kindness, even when they don't understand.
For more information or to contact Steve Austin go to iamsteveaustin.com
Article first published on Southern California Christian Voice


text:
Follow @RavingToyManiac
March 2013 - Dark Horse has released these free printable paper doll and paper "in action figure" versions of Jai Nitz's Dream Thief.
Right-click on each image to save it to your computer to be able to print and play!
All images, format, content, and design are copyright © 1994-2018 Raving Toy Maniac. No part of these pages may be reproduced without express written consent of the Raving Toy Maniac. Licensed character names and images are copyright © their respective companies.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Yingluck Shinawatra: Thailand's Novice Leader Looks Back One Year Later
Derided by her opponents as just the puppet of her brother, a populist former prime minister living in exile, Shinawatra is still on a mission to be taken seriously. But a year after her surprise election, still being there is already an accomplishment.
BANGKOK - It is never easy to be Prime Minister. It is even harder to be so in Thailand, the country of the "permanent coup d"état" -- 18 successful or failed attempts at overthrowing the government since 1932. In the former kingdom of Siam, which is still quite conservative, it is also not easy to be a woman Prime Minister. And things get even more complicated when you are the sister of a former Prime Minister who was as despised by some as he was adored by others.
Mrs. Yingluck Shinawatra, 45 years old and the first woman to lead the government in the kingdom's history, isn't in an easy position since her rise to power in August 2011. She enjoys strong support in the poorer countryside, but this heir of a very rich family clan is disparaged by elites all over the kingdom, and especially here in the capital. "Ignorant...stupid...doesn't understand anything about politics...gaffes in her speeches!": the public and private comments roll out a continuous flow of criticism.
"Yes, of course, all of these reproaches hurt me, I'm a human being!" admits "Yingluck," as everybody calls her here. She is receiving Le Monde in the governmental palace, built in a peculiar venitio-mauresque style in the governmental district of Bangkok. "But I accept it: in the end, all of this is part of the democratic debate."
On the eve of her departure for an official visit to Paris on July 20, the Prime Minister has a confident smile on her face. Warm and elegant, she uses her charm without hesitation: her physical appearance contributed to her popularity among the Thai people, in a country where looks are considered crucial.
In the brother's shadow
The victory of her Pheu Thai party in the legislative elections on July 3, 2011 took place in a very delicate situation. In the spring of 2010, supporters of Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and who is exiled in Dubai to avoid a two-year prison sentence for corruption, had paralyzed Bangkok's business district for weeks.
Most of the protesters were from the peasantry and the lower classes, thousands of so-called "red shirts' because of their scarlet garb. They wanted the government to resign to make way for the return of their hero Thaksin, a former policeman turned millionaire thanks to a telecommunications company, who had built up his popularity by setting up an unprecedented social security net for peasants during his 2001-2006 term.
The situation ended badly: the army intervened to "clean" the heart of the capital, and more than 90 people were killed during the repression. In May 2011, just before the organization of new elections, Thaksin, who had been playing the big shot from his middle-eastern exile, decided to nominate his sister Yingluck to be head of his party. She was the president of a real estate company, the mother of a young child, and she had no direct experience in politics. Pansak Vinyaratn, a former right-hand man for Thaksin who has just been picked as a top advisor for Yingluck, recalls the unique formula. "Her first quality was exactly that, not having been part of the internal struggles of Thai politics."
This triggered instant criticism: the press believed that the real Prime Minister was the brother, and that Yingluck was just a puppet manipulated from Dubai. What does she think? "It's almost been a year since I became Prime Minister. If I had to depend on my brother for everything, I wouldn't have made it through," she says.
She refutes that she is in permanent contact with him, or that she is only here to recite a script that is written in Dubai. "I use my own qualities as a leader in power. I need his support, yes, but the clear message that I send to everyone is this: I am the Prime Minister," Shinawatra says.
In Bangkok, many don't believe her. "She is completely ignorant. But I have to admit that she has improved her way of talking to journalists. She is shrewd," says Manith Sriwanithpoom, a famous artist.
Ing Kanjanavanit, a film director, adds: "Yingluck uses her femininity for politics in an unacceptable way, it's an insult to Thai women!"
Is it really so hard to be a woman politician in Thailand? "Yes and no," answers the Prime Minister. "Some say that women have more difficulties understanding the complexities of politics. But I think that we are more subtle in our judgements."
Success and compromise
Pointing in her favor are a 40% increase of the minimum wage, now at eight euros a day, and a guaranteed 380 euros monthly minimum salary for university graduates - the Gross National Product per capita in Thailand is one of the region's highest.
Her populist policies geared towards peasants are more controversial: the promise of a fixed price for a kilo of rice has caused an accumulation of unsold stocks, even though Thailand is the biggest exporter of the crop.
Yingluck's greatest quality? Her ability to avoid pitfalls and to refuse direct confrontation with her opponents. But some within her own party are critical of this approach: among some of the more radical "reds," she is accused of compromising too much and of reaching out to her brother's fiercest opponents. She has cautiously promised her brother's return to the country in the name of what many say is an impossible national reconciliation.
"She has formed good relations with the army, the king and many of her opponents," says Jaran Ditapichai, one of the "red shirts'" former leaders. "She has the image of a likable, soft person. Without her, there would have already been a coup…" he says. And so why hasn't there been an attempt to overthrow her since she came to power? "Because the army realized it doesn't work!" he says, laughing.
In Paris, after meeting with President François Hollande, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to extol Thailand's virtues, what will she do? With one last, big smile, she says: "Shopping!"
Read more from Le Monde in French.
Photo - WEF


text:
We received inquiry and someone will shortly be in contact with you.
You will get a notification to your email address.
If you have any questions feel free to contact us anytime.
From USD 25
+1 Additional options
Book Online Budget Private transfers by latest model Air Conditioned Taxi from Cairo International airport to Great Pyramid Inn Hotel, Cairo with Emo Tours Egypt, save your time and get your peace of mind available 24/7 upon Request Safe and always On Time even if your Flight gets delayed our representative will keep waiting until you arrive Just Book Now and we`ll Contact you with Confirmation.
Prices Quoted Per Per Vehicle
Available 24/7 Upon Request
As per Requested Time You will find our Representative outside the Terminal Holding a sign shows your name then you will be transferred to your Requested Great Pyramid Inn Hotel,Cairo .The Distance from Cairo international airport to Great Pyramid Inn Hotel,Cairo is usually takes from 30 to 60 Minutes in depends on traffic
Note: Arrival details is requested i,e Airline Company name,Flight Number and Landing time


text:
Web ExclusivesSmiles of Innocence Memorial Charity
The Smiles of Innocence Memorial Charity is an organization...Ladies on the Links
On Sept. 27th, 2012, the hard-working businesswomen of the...Gourmet Food & Wine Expo
The 18th annual Gourmet Food and Wine Expo took place on...Vaughan Film Festival
Toronto, Cannes, Vaughan! The magic of the movies hit Vaughan...View more articles
CelebrityRocco DiSpirito: Rocco's Road
There's a sizzle of spirit spilling through a Vaughan...Elvis Stojko: Ice King
Elvis Stojko is peering out of his office window, directing...Measure of Success
Decades ago, the Bhutanese government developed the concept...View more articles
Success StoriesMichael Snow: The Transformer
It's tough to keep up with Michael Snow. The 84-year-old...The Sky's the Limit
After capturing Canada's only gold medal at the 2012 Olympic...From the Ground Up
"I still feel his presence here all the time," says...The Florences and the Machine
Learning that your child suffers from cerebral palsy (CP)...View more articles
FashionChanging Spots
Whether you're standing under the mistletoe or the office...Naughty or Nice
HOLIDAY WISHES FOR HER 1. SIGN ME UP Sweet, rustic touches...Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
Bursting with fresh colours, bold patterns and striking...View more articles