In the wake of the recent tragedy at Real Life Church, I was blessed by a phone call from Kay Warren. As many of you may remember, Rick and Kay Warren, pastors at Saddleback Church in California, lost their 27-year-old son Matthew nearly six years ago to suicide. She called to encourage our church and to offer any help for Jim’s widow, our staff and our community.
She will be speaking at Real Life Church Valencia on March 13, 2019, at 7:00 pm for all who have been impacted by the devastating act of suicide.
She also gave us a list of resources that may be of assistance. I have found many of these to be so helpful and I wanted to make sure you had access to them as well. All of this and so much more can be found on her website kaywarren.com/suicide.
Please share these with others… and invite others to join us on March 13, 2019 at 7 pm.
Real Life Church Valencia
23841 Newhall Ranch Road
Valencia, CA 91355
BOOKS and CDs
- Grieving a Suicide by Albert Hsu
- A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser
- When Your Family’s Lost a Loved One by David and Nancy Guthrie
- Psalms of Lament by Ann Weems
- No Time to Say Goodbye by Carla Fine
- Beauty Will Rise CD by Steven Curtis Chapman
- Scripture Lullabies CD
TO TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT DEATH AND/OR SUICIDE:
- The Child’s Loss: Death, Grief, and Mourning (PDF)
- Someone I Love Died by Suicide: A Story for Child Survivors and Those Who Care for Them
- Sometimes Life is Just not Fair: Hope for Kids through Grief and Loss
- What Happens When Someone Dies?: A Child’s Guide to Death and Funerals
- When Mom or Dad Dies: A Book for Comfort for Kids
- When Someone Dies: A Child-Caregiver Activity Book
SUPPORT GROUPS:
- SOS – Survivors of Suicide Loss sponsored by AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). Local chapters are everywhere.
- The Compassionate Friends – Support groups for parents/sibling for loss of a child to any cause. Local chapters are everywhere.
Camp for Grieving Children
The RLC mental health Care Group is in complete agreement and will be sharing the information/opportunities with the SCV/SFV mental health community and faith community partners.
I have found that even when the person who is continplating it reaches out people will dismiss what they hear or ignore it. Everybody is in their own little worlds. Too busy to help. Some people who are thinking about it don’t reach out, because they have tried and no one is there. They are afraid to call suicide help lines or say outright that they are going to do it because they are afraid they will be thrown in a hospital lock down and fed drugs to keep them sedated. Not the answer they want to be stuck in a drug induced state they need their church family, friends, for that matter places they can go for treatment that are Christian based.
They usually don’t have the money for the fancy rehab centers like Cliffside in Malibu.
Did you know that Tarzana treatment center has a mental health program but you can’t get in if you are privately insured or want to pay out of pocket? Same with Family guidance center. Medical only! Sad! Nothing else available in San Fernando Valley. Even the site that is on Ms Warren’s site has no upcoming schedule.