Over the past seven weeks, Westside took a deep dive into some difficult—even scary—territory. We descended into some of the darkest and loneliest life valleys common to man.

Worry, lies, anxiety, depression, suicide, burnout, self-esteem. If you’ve ever dealt with any of these personally, or with a loved one, you know how dark it can get. But if this series proved anything, it’s this: you are not alone, and it’s OK to not be OK. Even some of the most significant Bible “heavy weights” dealt with these very mental health issues, which is comforting!

Week after week, our Westside team, counseling staff, and connection center volunteers were greeted by people—many with tears in their eyes—who shared things like:

Thank you for leading out in this way. I’ve never heard a church preach this way. I’ve only ever heard things like, “You’re only struggling because you don’t have faith or don’t pray enough.” This really helped me.
This really brought some relief/healing to my heart.
I’ve been sharing this series with everyone I know.

My family member committed suicide. (OR) My son/daughter/spouse tried to take their life. I’m so thankful for this message and will share it with other family and friends.

People came or tuned in from all over the place for this sermon series. One family shared with our team that they drove an hour to attend this series in person every week after finding out about it by happenstance.

God continues confirming that Westside’s call to focus on mental health is indeed God-directed. It’s part of the way we believe God has called us to wrap His family around your family and hurting people in Kansas City.

As we finished the Through the Valley series, we wanted to share (with permission) a few stories of how it impacted the lives of Westsiders. It’s our heart and prayer that you find encouragement in these stories.

“Goodness, where do I begin?” Cindy Hines reflected when she talked about her boyfriend, Mark. “Mark was one of the kindest people I have ever met, and he loved to have fun. Live music was his favorite, and we constantly went to concerts or saw a band somewhere. Every Friday, we split an enchilada plate at Jose Peppers and then went to see a movie - something simple but one of the things I miss most.”

Mark lost his battle with extreme depression and anxiety three years ago. Looking back, Cindy can begin to see some warning signs. Mark, who previously loved his job, began “working from home” and sleeping more than working. As Cindy put it, he had lost his spark and began to talk about how anxious he felt all the time.

“I understand now that he was in such pain; he just wanted it to stop and didn’t know how,” Cindy reflects.

As Cindy moved through the grieving process, she was invited to attend Westside’s Suicide GriefShare Care Group. The small group provided a safe space for her to talk about Mark, his choice, and the bad theology surrounding suicide that she had heard over the years.

In 2022, when Westside began rolling out the vision for “Unshakeable” with a focus on mental health, Cindy was hooked. The fact that a church was actually “rolling up its sleeves and digging into real issues” was refreshing to her.

“I have never been so excited to go to church,” Cindy said.

The Through The Valley series brought everything together for her – the sermon covering suicide ideation and self-harm especially touched her deeply.

“I kept thinking, ‘Oh my gosh! Someone is actually saying the words that will help someone,’” Cindy remembered. “That sermon was so cleansing for me. A lot of people think that just because you live in Johnson County, everything is all sunshine and roses, but it’s not. We have to get down to the nitty gritty and be the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s a relief for me to see Westside leading in this way – we are walking the walk.”

On Sunday (May 28), Pastor Randy ended the series with a message about Hope. During the message, he shared a story from a young man who attends Westside. A year ago, this young man (who’s story we can share on the condition of anonymity) found himself in a similar situation as Cindy’s boyfriend, Mark, but there was a very different outcome.

Crushed by severe anxiety and depression after years of bullying and rejection, he couldn’t see a way out of his misery.

In the letter he wrote to Pastor Randy, he shared that in April 2022, “I was having a pretty big anxiety attack, and I was spiraling. Spiraling to the point of considering suicide. Thank goodness for my Mom, she thought something was up. So, her and my dad came and picked me up in the car. And in that car is where I told them/anyone for the first time that I didn’t want to live anymore. And I just sat in that car and cried. After I had settled down, we started talking again and my mom asked me a very important question: Has God ever tried to tell you something? And I knew exactly what she was asking, week after week, month after month every time someone during church service would bring up ‘if anyone would like to be baptized,’ I would get a fuzzy feeling in my chest and stomach, and I would always bury it time after time again. Until that moment when I told my parents that I think God wants me to be baptized. So, that night around 10:30 pm, I was baptized.”

He continued, “Now, it all doesn’t change to sunshine and rainbows overnight; it was just the first day I didn’t feel alone in the valley anymore. I could now feel that God was there to hold my hand and guide me.”

Like many others, this man told our teaching team that the entire series was especially meaningful to him. “…The biggest help it gave me was a sense of comfort. Comfort in knowing that I am not alone. There are people just like me that are in pain and others who may not know where to turn, who to talk to.”

Another Westsider named Taylor participates in Westside Online gatherings from out of state. She reached out to share how much the series resonated with her. Like many others, she felt “seen” and understood she wasn’t alone in her journey toward restored mental health.

Taylor shared: “I have struggled with suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety since I was twelve. I have always been able to fight through, find the right medication or see the correct therapist. That all changed after becoming a mother, I had postpartum depression with all three girls. After my last daughter, I thought I was going to finally lose my battle to this disease.”

Taylor went on to share that as she prayed an “angry” and raw prayer one night, she sensed the closeness of God as he spoke into her heart, “You have fought this alone long enough.” From then on, she determined to surrender to Jesus, read her Bible, pray more, and listen to worship songs. She continued meeting with her therapists and eventually received a new diagnosis and prescriptions, which have really helped her.

“The work you are doing is so important to people like me,” Taylor wrote. “For a long time, I was ashamed of my mental health struggles and would even refuse to pray for it because I didn’t want to bother the Lord with it. Speaking up and reaching out to others is what the church is supposed to do and is what will save lives. It makes my heart sing joyfully to see my home state making a difference.”

Mental health tragedies impact us all. According to the Centers for Disease Control:

More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness.
Over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18), either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness.
About 1 in 25 U.S. adults have serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression.

The CDC also reports that in 2021, more than 12 million adults considered suicide.

For information on our care resources, including counseling and care groups, visit our Care & Counseling webpage.

If you are struggling with suicide ideation, please call or text 988 and get help now.

Perhaps you can relate to one—or all—of these stories on some level. We want you to know Through the Valley is not a “one and done” effort around mental health at Westside. Caring for and helping those struggling with mental health challenges as well as preventative care, is central to the Unshakeable mission we believe God has called us to. Through our Unshakeable initiative, we are now in the planning process of building our new Westside Family Care Center.

As we look to Jesus’ pattern of ministry, Westside’s heart is to wrap God’s family around your family to bring love and healing to our community. That is at the very center of this effort as we expand our counseling team to meet the needs of our neighbors with gracious excellence.

If you want to get involved with our Unshakeable initiative or have questions, please get in touch with sarnold@westsidefamily.church.