Last week I had the incredible privilege of attending the Philippi Trust International conference in Namibia. I met people I have heard about for many years first hand and they were even more amazing in person. I loved being a recipient of new learning and the hard studies of other academics around me... dots joined and I left the conference yearning to know more, a long book list and a desire to jump into the next phase of my studies.
When I was 17, I really wanted to be a theologian... the adults around me told me as a girl I should consider teaching or missions instead. I followed the advice I received and as a result have got to do many amazing things with my life. The truth is however that I have felt the need to expand it all for quite a while now...
At the conference I was thinking long and hard again about the amazing door that has opened for me to study next year. It sunk in as I listened to the main speaker that I am passionate about theology... I breathed a long sigh of deep relief when I realised that this is what I am studying next year. I am doing an honours in theology and care-giving... pastoral theology.
I have found a growing uneasiness in myself in the past 5 years of my life... mental illness has touched me in personal ways right through my life and the older I get I realise that church as I have experienced it the majority of my life has not been a safe space for those I love who suffer... and my own theology and knowledge is limited... my diploma in counselling is not enough.
I am going to study theology in a specialised way and grapple with mental illness crisis as I have never before... after all Jesus died so that ALL people can have peace with God, self and others.
When I was 17, I really wanted to be a theologian... the adults around me told me as a girl I should consider teaching or missions instead. I followed the advice I received and as a result have got to do many amazing things with my life. The truth is however that I have felt the need to expand it all for quite a while now...
At the conference I was thinking long and hard again about the amazing door that has opened for me to study next year. It sunk in as I listened to the main speaker that I am passionate about theology... I breathed a long sigh of deep relief when I realised that this is what I am studying next year. I am doing an honours in theology and care-giving... pastoral theology.
I have found a growing uneasiness in myself in the past 5 years of my life... mental illness has touched me in personal ways right through my life and the older I get I realise that church as I have experienced it the majority of my life has not been a safe space for those I love who suffer... and my own theology and knowledge is limited... my diploma in counselling is not enough.
I am going to study theology in a specialised way and grapple with mental illness crisis as I have never before... after all Jesus died so that ALL people can have peace with God, self and others.
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