Heartfelt Fall and Winter Newsletter

The LORD had a plan for us and for our ministry that surprised us; He led us to south Florida. Being a faith-based ministry, we felt a little like Elijah when the waters from the Brook Cherith dried up. God used natural phenomena to lead him elsewhere. As we considered where He was leading us, we felt that while Grand Rapids has many Christian Counselors, perhaps there would be more of a need in south Florida. We appreciate the support that many of you have continued to send in monthly or during the year as the Lord has led you. We have been able to keep HCM afloat. Our computer recently crashed as we prepared for one of our seminars and we were thankful that we had the money to purchase a new laptop through Heartfelt. We would appreciate your continued donations as we work to help the mentally ill all over the world.

 

 Mind-Mood-Faith
 

We have a new seminar that we presented on October 27, 2012 in Byron Center, Michigan.  Rush Creek Bible Church, under the leadership of Pastor Gene Pearson, hosted the all-day event on Mind, Mood and Faith.  Both of us spoke sharing our own personal stories and our understanding of mood disorders; Steve taught about dual diagnosis, which is the problem of one with mental illness self-medicating with drugs or alcohol which then creates two obstacles, or dual diagnosis. He also taught on mental illness and demon possession showing the similarities and variations. Robyn shared some of her ideas of how to help those with mood disorders, chronicled some of the mistreatment at Bedlam and other early asylums as well as giving an account of their own personal experiences. The comments afterward were very encouraging and we consider it our great privilege to be there to support those who attended.

CAMI Member

               ~~~Speaking of SUPPORT~~

We were perhaps the most excited about the thriving CAMI Group at Rush Creek Bible Church.  We had the great privilege of attending twice with them at their weekly support group. They have been using our own CAMI material and have joined the CAMI movement as our first CAMI Support Group. They meet weekly and are a model of what we had in mind when we established the CAMI movement!
 

Counseling:  One-on-One

Steve continues to counsel. Among the sufferers, he has a niche that serves a specialized group; those with Borderline Personality Disorder. Since he mentions it on our website, he has received calls from all over the world. He has been able to help a woman from England by phone; he is currently meeting with a woman every week and has been dealing on a regular basis with a young woman in Arizona. A college student has been struggling with Panic Disorder and OCD; another student contacted us as he began to experience his first “break” with reality and started to hear voices, which scared him terribly. Steve was able to give him help, advice, support and clinical direction. There are so many that struggle with these disorders and have such an interruption in their lives that the ministry is constantly busy. We can see the need as our voices are used to help, educate, advocate and counsel. Your prayers and financial support are being used to calm the storm within the minds and souls of this special group of suffering individuals.

Churches in Denial~ People in Pain

One of the hardest things for us to understand as Christians in a mercy ministry is the number of churches who stonewall us on our CAMI groups. This is one of the reasons we have been so encouraged by the group in Byron Center.

We were recently told by a small group’s pastor in south Florida that we could conduct our CAMI group and he expressed a real interest in our ministry. We were excited that we were scheduled on the website of this church and we had people calling to reserve their spots. Two days before our first class, we were called into a session with two pastors of this mega church and told we could not have the CAMI group after all. The reasons were sketchy and confusing as they tried to explain their decision. The bottom line was that the group was cancelled, those who wanted to come were told the group was not going to meet and roughly hundreds of people with disorders of the mind were left stranded. Truly this is modern-day leprosy. People are hurting, hearing voices, confused, suicidal, guilt-ridden, manic or exhausted and again, their needs are ignored as the rest of the ministries go on. PLEASE pray for a breakthrough in this area among churches. We have been trying to get our support groups in churches for six years and as our message works its way through a church’s politics, we (and more importantly, the hurting) are repeatedly put aside. We remind ourselves that many ministries have started with a need and a prayer and we will continue to fight for the mentally ill as long as God gives us strength. But please DO pray for this area of need.

 

 
The Persecuted Church Round the World

Another aspect of Heartfelt Ministries is the persecuted church. Many have inquired to the relevance of this in the scope of

Heartfelt. The short answer is that this is another area of suffering saints. We are to remember those as though we are imprisoned with them. We frequently receive emails, even phone calls from those who are under the heavy hands of persecution or live in areas of persecution. We pray regularly for them and they are finding solace and from us, their brothers and sisters who pray and remember.

 

If you would like to support Heartfelt Ministries, please do so by logging on to our website, www.heartfeltmin.org, or send your donation to us at: Heartfelt Ministries

4371 Northlake Blvd. Suite 256

Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Thanks so much! Steve and Robyn Bloem

 

Please read Steve’s blog:

He uses this medium very effectively as he works to educate and advocate for mental illness! http://sbloemreflections.blogspot.com/2012/11/you-can-be-sick-and-be-in-will-of-god.html

 

Uh-oh! Oh, no! Not again!

As I type this newsletter, our van (our only vehicle) has just blown its 3^rd transmission. PLEASE pray for a different vehicle for us. Thanks. May God bless you richly.

 

If like to read more about our book published by Kregel of Grand Rapids, please

 go to: http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Minds-Healing-Youre-Losing/dp/0825421187