Lisa Rumpel is a writer for Behold in Vancouver. She wrote a vulnerable and beautiful story of her journey with depression and bipolar disorder.
“I was inspired to write about this topic so people with mental illness feel less alone. I wanted to share that you can lead a beautiful life with a mental illness. And that it’s okay to seek help. I hope that by writing about mental illness it ends the stigma around it.” - Lisa Rumpel, Behold Author
Her article was posted in Behold Vancouver and displayed on Tilma sites all over Canada and the U.S.
“Community and faith are what saved my life from deep depression when I was 17 years old. I was in my last year of high school. I felt depressed and suicidal. It became difficult to sleep and I would have bouts of crying in my bed. Hallucinations and negative thoughts left me feeling scared. I didn't know what was wrong. I felt sad, alone, and abandoned. I couldn’t feel God’s presence.
It was a dark time but I believed God could heal me. I had grown up reading about it in the bible and learning about it from my parents. I had seen proof of it throughout my life—I had a disease as a baby that miraculously went away and a car accident at 5 years old. I attributed these events to His merciful love when I looked back at them.
But this time, was a little different. I needed to ask for help, I just didn’t know how to reach out for it.”
“How Jesus Met Me In My Depression and Bipolar Disorder”
By Lisa Rumpel
In a parish in the U.S., a volunteer read Lisa’s article and was greatly impacted. She resonated with similar things in her journey with postpartum depression and wondered if others were looking for solidarity like herself. Because she was a trusted volunteer and because of Tilma’s unique permission structure her pastor was able to empower her through their version of Tilma parish, she used the Tilma database to filter and select all the women in her parish. She created an email list and sent an email, seamlessly linking the article and asking, “Have any of you experienced this? What advice would you give a mother like me?”
The response was beautiful and overwhelming as others responded to feeling the same way. Using Tilma again, she created a private event for this group of women to gather and share their hearts. From there, she created 10+ small groups with this list of women.
We know these kinds of things only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit, but our aim at Tilma is to provide as many open doors as possible. Like the interconnected fabric of the original Tilma, we want to offer up the simple tools we have and allow the Lord to do something miraculous on top of it.
Interested in how Tilma could help mobilize your people? Set up a call with us or get started.
