Video » Virtual Workshop: Transforming the Practice of Mental Health Care

On April 2, NIMH convened a virtual workshop that brought together mental health leaders and experts from different fields to think through where there may be opportunities to leverage research and existing resources to transform the mental health care landscape.

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Blog Post » Piecing Together the Genetic Puzzle of Autism

In this Director’s Message, Dr. Gordon looks at new findings that help shed light on the complex causal web that leads from genes to autism.

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Science News » Infant Temperament Predicts Personality More Than 20 Years Later

Researchers investigating how temperament shapes adult life-course outcomes have found that behavioral inhibition in infancy predicts a reserved, introverted personality at age 26 and for some, a risk of internalizing psychopathology such as anxiety and depression.

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In Lockdown, YWAMers Stay Connected

In the weeks since the Covid-19 virus has cause lockdowns around the planet, YWAMers have heeded the directives about social distancing and have found many ways to stay connected. 

Here are just a few examples:

–The YWAM Coronavirus Prayer Group on Facebook has become a place where thousands of YWAMers are praying for each other and posting requests. You are welcome to join.

–In Brazil, some locations have started 24-hour prayer chains, many have WhatsApp groups for prayer, and some are offering mini-workshops online. One team is leaving food baskets for street prostitutes. 

–YWAM TV has started a talk show called Connect, which focuses on issues YWAMers are facing during the Covid-19 pandemic. The second episode looks at how to maintain interpersonal relationships. In this edition, host Maarit Eronen talks with Kristine Bresser of Le Rucher Ministries, Yohanan Rempt from Seattle, and Tony D’Alessandro from YWAM Ragusa, Italy.

–Hundreds of YWAMers across North America have gotten together for weekly video calls. You can listen to the one-hour meetings as they hear from YWAM’s co-founder Darlene Cunningham, and YWAM leaders Jim Stier and Lynn Green.

–YWAM’s monthly prayer day, called The Invitation, focused on the coronavirus situation in April, and plans to do so again in May. You can pray along with YWAM and can sign up to join the prayer every month. The prayer material is translated into Portuguese, Spanish, French, Korean, and Thai.

–Many YWAMers are putting out devotionals regularly. Here is one example from Spain. Some locations are using Facebook’s Workplace or Microsoft Teams to share information like this with their community. Many are participating in worship together via live streaming. Here is one worship time from YWAM Harpenden, England.

–In the Middle East, a YWAM location is providing boxes of food to low income people who are out of work. The team is collecting donations (choose “Neighbors Relief” from the list) to help them reach out to more people in their community.

Connecting in Many Directions

YWAM leaders hope that initiatives like this will continue to spring up in more and more locations and language groups across YWAM. 

Sean Lambert, who leads YWAM’s work in San Antonio del Mar, Mexico said he feels both discouraged and encouraged by what he has seen so far. He is concerned about some YWAMers who have limited connectivity to others in their part of the world.But he added he is excited about all the new kinds of communication he has seen. “What is encouraging is the unbelievable flurry of communication initiatives taking place in our mission during this crisis season. Its actually stunning. I have never connected with so many different YWAMers (mostly in Zoom calls) and I have never gotten so many emails and Facebook communication updates. It’s like all of YWAM is now communicating and connecting at a new level and rapid pace.”

Sean looks forward to seeing more and more connections taking place. “I think Gods heart is that all YWAMers communicate to those in their relational sphere of influence. I actually have great hope and faith for the future of our communications as a movement.”

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Blog Post » Coping with Coronavirus: Support for the Autism Community

In this autism awareness month Director’s message, Dr. Gordon addresses the challenges faced by individuals with autism and their families during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Video » Mental Health Minute: Eating Disorders

Got 60 seconds? Take a mental health minute to learn about eating disorders. For more information on eating disorders, please visit: https://ift.tt/34B5qIE.

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Science News » Digital Mental Health: Innovating in a Time of High Anxiety

Joshua Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, and P. Murali Doraiswamy, M.B.B.S., of Duke University School of Medicine, discuss the use of apps to manage mental health during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Easter Messages from Loren and Darlene

In the days before Easter 2020, YWAM’s founders Loren and Darlene Cunningham each shared a message for the YWAM family. They spoke outside their home in Kona, Hawaii. 

Loren spoke on the year of breakthrough (31 minutes):

Darlene spoke about pruning, hope and multiplication (15 minutes):

Loren said, “Right now, following this time, people are going to be so open. There is going to be a hunger. There is going to be a wave, a spiritual wave of awakening. Don’t miss this!”

Darlene said, “I love hearing your stories. We are going to have lots more stories to tell. We do have a story to tell to the nations. And we are going to be able to keep on doing that in bigger and better ways than we’ve done before. I can’t wait to see what God does.”

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Science News » Media Advisory: NIMH Experts Available to Discuss Mental Health Concerns Related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Experts from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) are available to speak on a variety of topics related to mental health and the coronavirus pandemic, such as the effects of the pandemic and isolation on those with and without mental illnesses; healthy ways to deal with stress, anxiety, and loneliness; how to talk with children and teens about the coronavirus; and how people can find mental health help and support if they need it.

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Coronavirus Prayer – Part One

This month we join with many around the world as we pray for the Coronavirus. Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray and hear from God.

This month, please join the YWAM family as we pray for people caught up in the coronavirus pandemic. Please pray with us on our prayer day, April 9, or feel free to pray at a time that works best for you.

For this month’s prayer time, the majority of us will be joining from our homes since, in most locations, governments have restricted movement in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic. This means we will be praying alone, with our families, or perhaps connecting with others online. May you be encouraged and filled with hope as we pray!

If you only have a few moments to pray, please pray for YWAM’s leaders to be led by God in how to respond, and for people in the nations most affected by the virus right now. Thank you for being part of The Invitation. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org. Please also share any coronavirus stories you have that might guide our prayer time in May which will be Coronavirus Part Two.

Listen to the Letter

Additionally, Ramadan begins this month on April 24 and we have an opportunity to pray for 30 days for the Muslim world (see below in Take Action).

Photo credit: kingjamesonlinebible.org

Prepare to Pray:

Let’s prepare our hearts by reading Psalm 91. Even if you are alone, it can be helpful to read out loud.

1. Read the psalm aloud three times, noticing each time the words and phrases that connect with your mind and heart.
2. Repeat aloud or write in your journal those phrases that especially catch your attention. For example, this might be, “He is my refuge and my fortress,” or “He will save you.”
3. If you are praying alongside your kids, they might want to draw a picture or find a magazine cutting that conveys one of these images: a refuge, a fortress, a shield, a safe dwelling.
4. Spend a few moments in silence, using your imagination to feel what it is like to run away from fear, perhaps through a dark wood, and into a strong tower. How do you feel when, legs screaming from exertion, you arrive at the tower, fling open the door and lock it firmly behind you? How might God want to be your strong tower, your place of refuge, in your present circumstances?
5. Consider singing along with this song (or perhaps another that comes to mind). As the song closes, offer your hope and trust to the Lord.

How To Pray – Coronavirus:

Like many of our training locations, the YWAM community in Kona, Hawaii, recently met to discuss their response to the coronavirus pandemic. At that meeting, YWAM’s cofounder Darlene Cunningham communicated some thoughts that can guide our prayers.

• Pray the promises of Psalm 91 over those who are suffering with illness, the loss of loved ones, or the fear of what could happen. Pray that God would bring rescue, healing and comfort.
• As you pray, name the nations most affected by the virus right now. Pray for the sick in China, Iran, Italy, Spain and other countries.
• Psalm 91 contains this promise from God: “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (v.14-16). Pray that in the face of current circumstances those in government would call on the name of Jesus; and that in this time of trouble, those in positions of responsibility would turn to Him. May they and those they serve experience the deliverance of God.
• Pray for healthcare workers and healthcare systems that are under great strain. May the Lord grant strength and wisdom that will both contain the threat of the pandemic and lead to creative partnerships that will protect and sustain populations.
• Please pray for companies to produce enough masks and other protective equipment, test kits, ventilators, and other necessary supplies wherever they are needed.
• Pray for scientists working to create a vaccine.
• In Darlene’s talk to the YWAM community in Kona, she said the global pandemic imposes on us uncomfortable and distressing circumstances that are beyond our control. And yet, at the same time, God is inviting us to trust Him. Pray that around the world rather than feeling swept along by the tide of uncertainty we would turn with hearts of faith to participate in the activity of God at this time. May God’s people offer leadership, wisdom and courage to their communities.
• Darlene and Kona leader Andy Byrd explained to the community the decision to commission trainees and staff to return to their families and home locations with the intention of seeking the blessing of the people there. That is, rather than mission trips to international locations they would now be on mission in the places they had first come from. Many YWAM teams around the world find themselves facing the same challenge and opportunity. Join us in praying that we would see a fresh wave of missional living being expressed all around the world, as those with hearts to see God’s kingdom come would live from that place of purposeful desire in their home locations.
• Pray especially for those who would ordinarily still be taking part in YWAM’s Discipleship Training Schools that began in January. May they receive the support they need from their DTS staff and leaders (pray that God grows us in our capacity and wisdom to extend discipling help from a distance) and may they daily experience the empowering of the Holy Spirit to live with integrity alongside their families and local communities.
• At this same meeting, Darlene mentioned the word “sabbatical” and the invitation from God to go deeper into Him during this time. Many of us may feel busier than ever, with emails and Zoom meetings galore as we navigate postponed conferences and training times. Still, this time offers us an invitation to create rhythms of resting in God that would usually be interrupted by travel or face-to-face meetings. Pray that, along with the global YWAM family, you would resist the temptation to fill your days with alternative activity, and instead respond to the opportunity to cultivate an awareness of the presence of God with you. Consider how this might be for you a time of reflection, realignment, and readiness for what God has next.
• These unexpected events are unfolding during the traditional period of Lent. Lent is the time leading up to Easter when we find ways to get in touch with our very real need for salvation. In this letter to the Roman church, Paul described the “groaning of creation” as though with labor pains (Romans 8, 22). As you consider the global crisis created by Covid-19, in what ways do you find yourself more aware of this groaning of the world for redemption? Pray that all of creation would be “set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (v.21). (You might find that this song aids your prayers.)

• Finally, in her message to the YWAM Kona community Darlene declared, “We know that God is always greater and we will prove Him great in new ways.”Pray that we would be those who are attentive to God’s loving and redemptive activity in the world. Pray that as we seek to participate with His Spirit at this unique time in history, we would indeed prove Him great in new ways!

Celebrate the Savior – Easter – April 12, 2020. Photo credit: kennethelilard.wordpress

Take Action

• Join the Facebook group “YWAM Coronavirus Prayer Group” and continue praying for YWAM’s response to Covid-19.
• Even though we trust in Jesus, we also need to be wise. Read about YWAM’s response to the coronavirus: https://ywam.org/blog/2020/03/18/ywam-responds-to-covid-19/.
• Pray about ways to serve others within the prescribed safety precautions.
• Make a plan for Easter. It will be different this year. Who can you reach within the current restraints?
• Share Psalm 91 and what you experienced as you prepared to pray this month with someone who is struggling with the coronavirus.
• Commit to pray for the frontline workers in all industries: healthcare, research, food and farming, transportation, childcare and others until this pandemic is over.
• Let God direct you to one or two people each day and reach out to them during this time to tell them how much they mean to you, and the love of the father to them.
• Develop a plan that daily keeps you focused on God and the basic needs of your family and loved ones, instead of being distracted by the chaos.
• Let God speak to you daily. How is he directing your steps now and in the future? What is He teaching you? Share this with others from your location, ministry partners, family members and others. What similarities are others hearing?
• Pray for Muslims during Ramadan. In 1993, YWAM leaders received the word of the Lord to pray for Muslims. The “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” prayer event has been growing ever since, with prayer guides now available in over 30 languages. Learn about Muslim cultures and identities all over the world, and be inspired to pray for their real needs and concerns, and for a revelation of Jesus. Join hundreds of thousands of believers to pray for Muslims during Ramadan beginning April 24. Children’s editions are also available. Get more information and find where to order prayer guides in your country and language from pray30days.org.
• Continue to prepare yourself and your location now to participate in globaloutreachday.org. Prepare each person, regardless of their role in YWAM, to share Jesus with five people during the month of May.

• Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
• Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

March 2020 – Lordship of Christ

• Our post for The Invitation was liked/loved 194 times and shared 33 times.

Future Topics:

• May 14: Coronavirus – Part Two
• June 11: Series: Spiritual Principles from YWAM’s Early Days
  Fear of God (Ramona Musch)  – 4 of 4 in the series
• July 9: Ending Bible Poverty (Loren Cunningham)

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

• Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
• Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
• Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
• You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
• If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

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Video » Introduction to the MRI Scanner

This video describes what it’s like to have an MRI as part of your research study.

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Science News » Supporting Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be stressful – it can be difficult to cope with fear and anxiety, changing daily routines, and a general sense of uncertainty. Taking steps to care for your mental health can help you manage stress.

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Scientific Meeting » Webinar: Responding to the Alarm: Addressing Black Youth Suicide

Hear from experts on the alarming rise of black youth suicide and strategies to engage and care for these youth.

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