Michele Gyselinck
I am a 62-year-old woman. I was born in Montreal and grew up in a western suburb of the city. I became a confessing member of the local CRC, First Christian Reformed Church of Monreal on May 15, 1977, so this year will be the 43rd anniversary of that event. I have two B.A.s, one in LInguistics and the other in English Studies with a Major in Professional Writing in English. I developed schizophrenia around the age of 28.
Posted in: Youth Ministry and Mental Health
As a Regional Advocate who has written extensively about mental illness on this network I was rather discouraged to see that after all these years we still have to tell people that mental illness is actually a thing. Haven’t people learned anything yet? Mental illness is a reality regardless of how old people are. Schizophrenia was not mentioned in the list of illnesses kids can experience, but many teenagers can be afflicted with it as well as bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. When I was reading this post I felt as though some people haven’t been paying attention because in 2024 we shouldn’t still be at the stage of needing to tell grownups that the young people under their care can suffer from mental illnesses, and they should take it seriously. Good grief!
Posted in: "What?" Is the Question (Fall 2021 Breaking Barriers)
Congratulations on your award. I am one of the people who have not learned your speech patterns yet, and I never seem to get the chance to do so. I guess I would need more exposure, but so far it hasn't happened.
Posted in: "What?" Is the Question (Fall 2021 Breaking Barriers)
Congratulations on your award. I am one of the people who have not learned your speech patterns yet, and I never seem to get the chance to do so. I guess I would need more exposure, but so far it hasn't happened.
Posted in: When the System Fails a Child
How sad! Why do those agencies always assume that bad behaviour is caused by abuse in the home? You'd think they would at least do their homework and check things out before removing a child. In Québec the Direction de Protection de la Jeunesse (Children's Aid), was put into trusteeship because it failed to intervene in a child abuse case. I know that seems to contradict the above, but kids can be abused in foster care as well as in the home environment, and there is no guarantee that removing them from their familiar environment will protect them from abuse. Nor that their home is necessarily more abusive than foster care would be.
Posted in: Bringing Our Pain To God: Michael Card and Calvin Seerveld on Biblical Lament in Worship
Last year while I was attending the Conference in Windsor, I bought the book Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah, and the Scripture text that speaks to me the most is Lamentations 3:19-33. Feel free to read the whole thing, but I had to stop somewhere. I DID NOT choose this text. It grabbed me and never let go.
Posted in: The Wrath of the Lamb: A Tenebrae Service
At First Montreal CRC, we have been holding Tenebrae services on Good Friday for AGES. I don't even remember what Good Friday services were like BEFORE that.
Posted in: Advance Directives and 5 Wishes: Now Is the Time to Make Your Wishes Known
My mom took care of that by getting my cousin who's a notary to write it down. She's 93, so she doesn't want to be resuscitated if her heart were to give out, and we know about it. At her age that's normal. I have a hand-written will because getting a notarized will is more expensive than I can afford on social assistance. Being poor affects all aspects of life, even what happens after you die.
Posted in: When Women Are Accused of Complicity
I am not implying that it's a simple issue. Ghislaine Maxwell, for example, was hoping for a marriage proposal from Epstein and never got it. Roger Ailes's assistant got a mere pittance in his will for her efforts, and the character in the novel The Handmaid's Tale ended up being arrested and tried for crimes against humanity for her participation and support of the regime that oppressed other women. I guess she was hoping to get children in this way because she couldn't get them otherwise. The power ultimately rests in the hands of the men who use these women to get their own ends, and their guilt is all the greater because as Jesus said in Matthew 18:6 ff. "6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." In other versions stumble is replaced by the verb to sin. Anyway, I would not want to be in the shoes of these men on Judgment Day.
Posted in: 10 Ways Churches Can Partner With Mental Health Services
In Québec psychiatric patients are referred to their local hospitals for health care. They can also visit their CLSC (Centre local de services communautaires/Local community services centers). Then there are also day centers for people with mental illnesses, where psychiatric patients can participate in various activities to pass the time, and if they are well enough to consider a return on the work market or to school they are encouraged to participate in back-to-work activities where they can take courses to complete their high school education or post secondary education, or even participate in make-work projects. And then there are also crisis centers for those who have psychotic episodes or who are suicidal. I mentioned these resources to my church council.
Posted in: 10 Ways Churches Can Partner With Mental Health Services
As someone who has sat on the board of directors of a local day center for people with mental illnesses for several years, even though I am not a professional in the field I was able to provide that information to the Church Council. It's a very good article although the information in it seems geared almost exclusively to Americans. Then again, in Canada mental health resources vary from province to province, so what goes for Ontario doesn't apply to Quebec or Manitoba. It is up to churches to figure out what is relevant in their province, but they could probably find it by Googling it. Or call their local hospital.
Posted in: Why I Am a Disability Advocate - Reg Laws
WAY to go Reg! Keep it up.
Posted in: Why I am a Disability Advocate - Michèle Gyselinck
Miriam,
While looking at the summary I noticed that my family name is not spelled correctly. There is a c missing before the K. My name is of Belgian origin and those names often have double if not even triple consonants. I've seen names of streets spelled Edmond Nerynckx. My late paternal grandparents used to live on a street with such a name in Hal, a suburb of Brussels.