Seeking to reach people outside their walls, more than 200 Adventist churches across North America, including several in Washington Conference, hosted the short mental health series, MindFit, this past spring. Voice of Prophecy produced the event to empower churches to be practical and spiritual resources for their communities in battling a continent-wide mental health crisis.
“On a global scale, 1 in 8 people struggle daily with mental illness — 1 in 5 in North America. The implication is clear: It is nearly impossible to live on this earth and not be affected by mental illness,” said Alex Rodriguez, Voice of Prophecy associate speaker.
Each session of MindFit, a four-part event, commences with audiences watching a 30-minute episode of a docuseries hosted by Rodriguez, who traveled across North America to speak with mental health professionals and patients. The series sheds light on the history and prevalence of mental health challenges. It emphasizes that effective treatments are available and amplified by biblical principles. After each episode, a local church leader guides the audience through a provided study and discussion.
Karen Hackett, Enumclaw Adventist Church elder, and Kaori Ominato, Enumclaw Church health ministry director, coordinated MindFit at their church. Both witnessed the event impact attendees in powerful ways.
“Many who came were really helped,” Hackett explained. “Some didn’t realize the statistics of how many people have mental illness, and it was good for them to hear that there are resources out there. Even those who may not struggle were happy to receive the information to help others they knew.”
Ominato was impressed by the audience’s engagement, stating that several people — including herself — felt encouraged by the docuseries and discussions.
“We had a very good interactive follow-up,” Ominato said. “We broke up into groups after the video and people really opened up their hearts. We had prayers. Those were very powerful experiences.”
Nearly 60 people attended the event, and approximately 10 were non-members. Hackett wants to hold the series again, hoping to draw in even more.
MindFit brought in a record number of event attendees to Bellevue Adventist Church, according to Ritchie Hammen, Bellevue Church health director, who organized the series for his local community. Each session averaged 80 people and about 10 came from the community.
“Eighty was unheard of in our church, at least in the 20 years I’ve been here,” Hammen enthused.
Hammen was also excited about the hunger his audience had for the presented material. A non-Adventist couple came to each session, even driving an hour and a half one night to attend. Some attendees expressed interest in helping with other mental health–related church events. One regular churchgoer approached Hammen one night and opened up about a traumatic experience.
“It was a very special moment when the person said, ‘This is the horrible stuff that I went through, but I feel like I’m already healing. And this event has just helped that journey even more,’” Hammen recalled.
“I’ve always expected quality from Voice of Prophecy,” he continued, “and this was a quality program — something people outside the church would pay to watch. I appreciated how the spiritual elements were presented in a way that was compelling and evidence-based. They didn’t feel forced. I was floored with the quality of the presentation, the content, the shots — I thought, ‘Our church needs more of this.’”
For churches interested in hosting the event and receiving an advertising boost to draw in more community members, Voice of Prophecy will conduct a continent-wide MindFit campaign on Sept. 19–21, 2024 and again on Jan. 2–4, 2025. In the weeks leading up to these dates, host churches will benefit from a mass social media campaign promoting the series.
“With approximately 6,500 Adventist churches dotting the landscape of North America, our denomination is uniquely positioned to be a center of healing for those who are struggling,” Rodriguez observed. “We filmed MindFit to place churches at the forefront of the mental health conversation. May the love of Jesus be reflected through us as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in bringing physical and spiritual healing to a world perishing in hopelessness.”
Visit MindFitEvent.com/host to join the myriad churches serving their communities through this unique evangelistic event.
Bellevue Church leaders pray over MindFit.
One church member drew the MindFit logo.
MindFit attendees eat together and discuss what they learned at the event.
Many Bellevue Church members got involved with MindFit. Some created centerpieces representing the event’s topic.
