Faith

  • Coaching

  • Counselling

  • Debriefing

  • Cross cultural training

Some people say faith is a ‘crutch’.  Some people ridicule, persecute or oppress it. But faith is simply a belief that there is Someone who knows more than and better than we do and can do more than and better than we are able.  Faith takes humility. Faith is not the same as religion.  Religion is a set of rules.  The Christian faith is a relationship.

Since the age of 20, my faith has been core to who I am as a person and the life that I live.  It changed my life and has given purpose and direction, and shaped the places I’ve lived in and the work I have done.  It has led me to step out of ‘the ordinary’, leave England and move to different countries with a focus on helping people, as well as raising my own family in a morally and spiritually-conscious way.

Faith has not given me a perfect life, but it has given a me a full and purposeful one, and given me strength and help, comfort and joy, and supported me in the most difficult times.  Have you ever needed help?  None of us are islands to ourselves.  Broken bones need crutches to mend sometimes.  There is nothing shameful in that.  In fact, using a crutch to mend a broken bone in the leg or foot is essential to recovery and nothing but good sense. In the same way, belief in God is about recognising that we are just human, and we do need help, not just from our fellow man, but from the One who knows and can do so much more than we can.

But it is so much more.  It is also knowing that we are forgiven.  Having a relationship with God begins with being forgiven. He is so pure and good.  There is no sin in Him at all.  But we, for all our good works, do, say and think wrong things.  It’s like light and darkness trying to mix.  It doesn’t work.  His forgiveness removes the darkness from our lives and turns on the light in our hearts.  Once that light is switched on through forgiveness, suddenly we can see Him for Who He really is.

 

Fit & Free Church

Here is my space for issues such as women in the church, spiritual abuse, cross-cultural work, and walking in true freedom.  A lot of it is the stuff that got avoided for years but was always going to ‘out’ in the end.

Check out my Blog for my posts under ‘Faith’, ‘Church’, and ‘Mission’.

My Story & How to Know God

Finding Jesus Christ changed my life. That’s the simplest way to put it really. It was probably more a case of Him finding me. At a time when I was suffering the effects of a broken home, confused about the future, boyfriend-hopping, disillusioned, and becoming increasingly angry and bitter, He sent someone my way who told me about the love Jesus had for me.

Some people like to think that ‘religion’ just takes advantage of people who are vulnerable or at a difficult stage of life, but to me it just made sense. Kind people are there when people need help. Jesus is kind. I needed help and He sent it. When I heard about Jesus, it touched something inside that nothing else could touch. He helped when nothing else did. When I gave my life to Him, I asked Him to forgive me my sin and come into my heart and make me new. He did. He gave me a changed heart, a new life, greater understanding and wisdom, and a purpose to life. Suddenly, I knew who I was, where I was from, and where I am going.

Jesus says of Himself that He didn’t come for the healthy. He came for the sick. We’re all sick in some way. Sick of life. Made sick by our experiences. Sick from disappointment, disillusionment, loss, pain, unfulfilled dreams. Or sick in body. And all of us are sick from sin. What’s sin? It’s the stuff you think and the stuff you do that is wrong. Think you don’t have any sin? Then you have the sin of pride. Pride is man’s greatest problem. Pride is the idea that we don’t need a God, that God had nothing to do with the Creation of this earth or us, that we can live without Him, that we are self-sufficient. Turning our back on God and rejecting Him is the greatest sin of puny humans who think we know everything!

Rejecting God leaves us ‘without God and without hope in the world’. If you think you have hope without Him, it is a man-made one with no foundation. You know real hope when He gives it to you!

When we are sick, we search for so many things to make us feel better. I was sick in soul and I recognised that I was. I knew that I needed help. Jesus came for sick people who know they need help, not for the self-sufficient who don’t want any. He won’t push Himself into your life. If you want to try and make it by yourself, He’ll let you. But He longs for you to call on Him and come to know Him so that He can get involved in your life.

He longs for everyone to ‘come to the knowledge of the truth’. He said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.’ Some people don’t like the idea that there is a truth. They think that is narrow. But they didn’t make the world and it’s a good job they didn’t. This world without an absolute truth is a mess. We only have to look at the lies and confusion in the world to know that is true. God gave us truth in Jesus Christ and a way to be reconciled to Him as our Father.

That way was Jesus coming to be among us. He showed us what God the Father is like. Then he died on the Cross to take our sin upon Himself. He rose again to new life. When we accept what He has done, ask Jesus into our hearts and humbly give our lives to Him, He forgives our sin. We don’t have to be perfect to come to God, just forgiven. He will take our sin, heal the sickness of our souls, raise us up too, and set our lives on the right track, with Him. Finally, we are reunited with our Creator, the One who made us, our Father. We don’t need to search any more. We are home.

Will all problems disappear on knowing God? Many did for me. Some problems needed time to be ironed out. We take a life-time making our problems so some of them take a little work! But the fact is, we are not alone any more, struggling along by ourselves. Now we have a relationship with the Creator, a Father who hears our prayers, who helps us to know what to do in life. It’s not all plain sailing. He said Himself that ‘in the world you will have trouble’. But He also said, ‘Fear not, for I have overcome the world’. With Him, we can have strength for and overcome the troubles that show up. Ultimately, Jesus said, ‘I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full!’ With Him, life can be full and rich, and full of purpose and hope, both now and for eternity.

Coaching

Counselling

Debriefing

Cross-cultural Training

How We Can Help You . . .

I have over 30 years experience as a Christian and as a married person with children, and over 25 years of experience living and doing cross-cultural work in five countries on three continents, including China, Thailand, Canada, USA and UK.  With my husband, Stuart, our approach to coaching and counselling is empathetic, gentle, sensitive and empowering.

I have years of experience of church in many different forms and contexts, and cross-cultural mission work.  I’ve also encountered first-hand spiritual abuse and personal trauma.  As a result I’ve carried out significant trauma-related research. and am currently completing a Counselling Skills certificate. My book, Surviving Trauma, Crisis & Grief provides both practical and spiritual steps to help people survive, heal and help others and is endorsed and recommended by counselors and ministry leaders. With a doctorate in Cross-Cultural Mission and Natural Health & Nutrition, alongside years of experience in these areas, I believe I’m well-placed to provide that listening ear and help you think through possible next steps.

The following are some of the services my husband, Stuart, and I provide:

Coaching

My husband is a trained life coach and a Highlands natural ability assessment consultant (see Empower Coaching at www.stuartmsimpson.com).  He is also the author of Empowered! and 7 Keys to Unlocking Your Life P.U.R.P.O.S.E.  These resources and tools can help you discover who you really are and help provide clearer direction for your life.  Teams will gain better understanding of their own and other’s giftings and abilities, reducing friction in relationships, and creating better effectiveness.

Counselling

The purpose of counselling is to provide a listening ear and help guide you to your own solutions.  Phone or counselling using an online platform is possible, and helpful for those at a distance or overseas.

 

Debriefing

Debriefing can be useful after any significant life-event or transition, but is especially important for Cross-Cutural Workers dealing with international moves, changes and transitions, culture shock and reverse culture shock, overseas trips, and personal and team struggles.  Debriefing gives you a chance to talk, off-load, and decide whether or not further interactions may be needed in the areas of coaching or counselling.

Coaching, counselling and debriefing are done on a donation basis.  We do have a recommended minimum donation but will also consider on a case by case basis.

We are not psychiatrists, psychologists or general practitioners.  For severe cases of trauma, PTSD, physical or mental health disorders, we would reserve the right to make recommendations for you to see a specialist.

Cross-Cultural Training

Our cross-cultural work includes work in cities and villages, as part of a team and as the only western family in a pioneering location, language learning, assimilation into the culture, and over 25 house, country or area moves and their transitions and challenges. Much of our cross-cultural training focuses on: How Jesus worked cross-culturally; why is cross-cultural training necessary? respect & honour; being a learner; sensitivity & humility; bonding; cultural practicalities; basic communication skills, and more.  I also use practical activities to help people grasp the concepts.