By Susan Akyeampong
A new mum began to put words to the depression she had been experiencing during a video call with Gina McConley, a trained psychologist and fellow SIM mission worker. She described feeling as though she wasn’t contributing enough, that she wasn’t able to work in the way she once had, and that some days were harder to manage than others. She was grappling with questions about her identity, capacity and sense of worth during an understandably demanding time in her life.
Depression had started shaping the way she saw herself, planting doubts about whether she was cut out to be a mum or a mission worker.
These patterns were familiar to Gina. In her work as a psychologist, she often meets people struggling with negative thought patterns. “People start to believe things about themselves that simply aren’t true,” Gina explains.
She and her husband serve as mission workers with SIM, and she was put in touch with Gina through our Member Care team.
Member care sits at the heart of how SIM supports its workers. It’s about walking alongside people, recognising the pressures they carry and offering practical, emotional and spiritual support when it’s needed. Our hope is that mission workers remember they are valued by the Lord for who they are, not for what they do.
In their sessions, Gina helped her slow those thoughts down and examine them more carefully. “We look at questions like: What’s the evidence for this? What’s the evidence against it?” she says. “It’s about helping people take those thoughts captive and challenge them with the truth.” Over time, this new mum began to see that what she was experiencing was not a personal failing, but the impact of depression during a demanding season of life.
Our hope is that mission workers remember they are valued by the Lord for who they are, not for what they do.
Today, this mum is experiencing better relief from depression and plays a key role in a hospitality ministry, where she and her family welcome visiting mission workers onto their field. She and her husband were also able to support raise efficiently during their home assignment so they can return to this role and advance in language learning and evangelism. She no longer wrestles with daily negative thoughts, and her work in ministry has really taken off. It didn’t happen overnight, but the Lord has shown her the path to recovery.
Gina, an SIM mission worker sent by SIM USA and based in Lyon, France, felt called to mission work in her 30s. In 2008, she sensed the Lord leading her to focus on people’s emotional and psychological needs, seeing this as a reflection of how God himself ministers to us. “God calls Himself the Wonderful Counsellor,” she explains, and this work mirrors the way He draws us to Himself. This led her to what she now describes as “caring for the caregivers.”
A trained psychologist, Gina spends three days a week in telehealth for SIM member care, supporting mission workers around the world. “Telehealth removes the obstacles mission workers face in accessing quality, affordable mental health care,” she says. In her role, she connects workers with local counselors or provides remote sessions herself. Her work is an extension of the gospel: just as she and her colleagues share Christ through their service, she brings care that reflects Jesus’ love.
Please pray
- For mission workers facing emotional or psychological strain, that they would find safe spaces to seek help and be reminded of their worth in Christ.
- For Gina and the SIM Member Care team as they provide compassionate, wise support across many time zones, often carrying heavy stories with grace.
- For this new mum and others like her, that the Lord would continue to strengthen them, sustain their ministries, and bring lasting healing.
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