Crises and illness and seeking professional help : a pastoral perspective

Abstract

The context of this research is the Shigalo Tabernacle Worship Centre, where the researcher is currently ministering. The faith community is within Shigalo Village in the town of Malamulele in the Vhembe District, which has been plagued by numerous forms of violence, inflicting emotional, physical and psycho-spiritual pain on the community. Yet it has been the observation of the researcher that very few members of the community, particularly members who are also members of the faith community, seek professional help – help that is freely offered to the community by medical and other professionals, psychologists, social workers as well as pastors. The narrative that the researcher has identified in his involvement with this faith community was that some members of the faith community choose to rather suffer, by keeping all their physical, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual problems to themselves than to seek professional help. In the community there are various possibilities of seeking professional help – from doctors to psychologists, social workers as well as pastors. The research journey explores and describes how families of Shigalo Tabernacle Worship Centre perceive (view) professional help (counselling). The research sought to understand this perception within the context of their faith and their culture, trying to determine what narratives informed this perception. The objective of the research was first to understand this practice and second to seek ways in which these attitudes and perceptions can be overcome. To do this research, a sample of members was chosen, together with various professional caregivers: Two nurses, two social workers, two educators, two pastoral counsellors, one Medical doctor and a psychologist, who have been in the field of their specializations for more than five years and who are from the Malamulele area within the Thulamela Municipality of Vhembe district. The research was mainly to listen to the stories of the members and complementing these stories with the stories of the professional caregivers, trying to understand how these families constructed their view of faith and how it relates to seeking professional help.