The Trust Jesus Foundation (JTF) has been launched with a call on Ghanaians to eschew stigmatization and treat mental health patients with care since the condition could affect anybody.
The foundation, in its bid to better the lives of mental patients, will also to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for them to trust God even in their state for a positive change.
“We want to give relief to mental patients through benevolence and also lead them back to Christ. We want to get closer to them so they know that Jesus loves them so they shouldn’t lose their faith,” the Founder and President of the Foundation said on Saturday at the Amazing Grace Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) Church at Adenta, Accra.
In a speech to the congregants during the launch, Mrs. Mary Wormenor Quaicoe, recounted how her many years of association with the Pantang Mental facility provoked in her the desire to champion the rights of mental health patients due to the sufferings she witnessed them go through daily.
Mrs. Quaicoe informed that the foundation would reach out to mental patients by assisting with their up keep as they pray and fellowshipping with them, because in that condition the patients still knew that there was a Supreme God who could intervene in their state.
The President said the TJF would be a hub to champion mental health issues; “We would be holding seminars to educate people about mental health and the need for everybody to come together to champion their cause,” she said.
Mrs. Quaicoe called on Government to pass the Mental Health Act which would help to improve mental health delivery in Ghana since conditions at the various psychiatric hospitals in the country were deplorable.
The Adenta District Pastor of the SDA, Pastor Michael Lowas, informed that quality mental health delivery would help nations build their economies “because if a lot of people are suffering from mental issues, productivity would be low, there would be instability in the country, and people would hold unto little issues which could degenerate into a war situation.”
Pastor Lowas, who launched the Foundation, used the opportunity to ask faith-based organizations to adopt and care for mental health institutions in order to assist government take care of their needs.
“Let the churches lead the campaign for people to care about their mental health since the churches were always with the people, and sometimes somebody just wants an encouragement to save them mentally, but we don’t have time,” he added.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the programme, the Cleric insisted that the focus of the Gospel was to save man on earth for eternity.
“And so if you are preaching that people would live well and people want short cut to the top and it’s not working, they would use dubious means to make wealth and would become restless, depression and stress would set in, and then their chances of developing mental issues would increase, ”he said.
Pastor Lowas was also worried about the demands some churches placed on people which made them seek wealth at all cost just to be respected in church thereby yielding to stressful situations and exposing them to mental instabilities.
“The burden lies with churches to preach good sermons that relates to health and how we can live well on earth and enjoy peace here and rest until the day the Lord would come for us.” he emphasized.
