THE POWER OF
CONNECTION ANDY BANKS | Northland/Auckland Youth Consultant, SUNZ
I
n our time of lockdown, we experienced both presence and separation. Bubbles were formed creating constant presence of housemates and, at the same time, wider connections with extended whānau and our communities became physically disrupted. As we came out the other side into a new post-COVID world, we could be forgiven for thinking that life should be quickly getting back to how it was before lockdown. The reality though, as we know, is very different. Many people are still experiencing a huge range of emotions and displaying symptoms similar to those seen after major trauma and grief. In reality, that is exactly what many have experienced over the last few months as they faced separation from loved ones, redundancy, cancellation of travel plans, major celebrations and life plans—or simply the loss of the life they had before. The natural flow-on from this has been increased rates of anxiety, depression and suicide in our communities. Where do we begin, as followers of Christ, as
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we look after ourselves and support those around us? The SUNZ Āpōpō programme, which seeks to support communities responding to mental health and suicide, picks up on two factors commonly seen as mental health spirals down and people begin to consider suicide. One is a lack of meaningful social connection and the other is a lack of hope. Being connected to each other is a basic human need and although this lockdown period has brought about a lot of disconnection, some new ways of connecting and an increase in checking on and looking out for others have developed. The shared experience of lockdown has certainly brought about some stronger relationships which we don’t want to lose, along with the renewed desire to be connected which has been a real positive. I love the verse in Romans 12:15: ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.’ It’s about love in action, it’s about journeying the good and bad of life
