Lausanne Movement Podcast

Mental health challenges affect millions of people around the world—but what if caring for the mind and emotions is not just a pastoral concern, but a critical part of the church’s mission?
 

Summary

In this episode of the Lausanne Movement Podcast, Jason Watson speaks with Dr. Gladys Mwiti, a Kenyan clinical psychologist, trauma specialist, and founder of Oasis Africa Wellness. Drawing from over three decades of ministry and counseling experience, Dr. Mwiti explains why mental health care is essential to God’s mission of restoring the whole person. The conversation explores how addressing trauma, burnout, and emotional health strengthens evangelism, discipleship, and Christlike leadership in the global church.

Main Points

Mental health is central to holistic mission. The gospel addresses the whole person—spiritual, emotional, relational, and social healing.

The global church faces a growing mental health crisis. Mental health disorders are among the leading causes of disability worldwide.

Ignoring mental health weakens the church’s witness. Trauma, anxiety, and depression affect families, communities, and ministry leaders.

Pastors and ministry leaders often carry hidden burdens. Many leaders experience stress, burnout, and isolation while caring for others.

Burnout develops gradually. Warning signs include emotional fatigue, decreased motivation, cynicism, and social withdrawal.

Young leaders face increasing pressure. Social comparison, high expectations, and limited mentorship contribute to rising anxiety.

Healthy leadership begins with inner health. Emotionally healthy leaders are better equipped to demonstrate humility, wisdom, and compassion.

Sustainable ministry requires intentional rhythms. Rest, Sabbath practices, journaling, peer accountability, and counseling help leaders finish well.

The church can respond through community care. Congregations can train members to provide basic support and referrals through collaborative mental health ministries.

 

Links & Resources

Oasis Africa Wellness - https://www.oasisafricawellness.co.ke

 

Connect with Dr. Gladys Mwiti

LinkedIn: Oasis Africa Wellness

Email: [email protected]

Admin contact: [email protected]

 

Lausanne Articles by Dr. Gladys Mwiti

Turning the Church’s Attention to Mental Health - https://lausanne.org/global-analysis/turning-the-churchs-attention-to-mental-health

Task Shifting for Mental Health and Trauma: Implications for the Global Church- https://lausanne.org/gathering/task-shifting-for-mental-health-and-trauma-implications-for-the-global-church

 

Guest Bio

Dr. Gladys Mwiti is a Kenyan clinical psychologist, trauma specialist, and founder and CEO of Oasis Africa Center for Transformational Psychology and Trauma in Nairobi. With more than three decades of experience, she has equipped churches, leaders, and communities across Africa to respond to trauma, mental health challenges, and leadership development. Dr. Mwiti has served as chair of the Kenya Psychological Association, co-chaired the Lausanne Congress Mental Health and Trauma Advisory Group, and has written several books and articles on Christian counseling and holistic care in mission.

What if the true measure of your leadership isn’t how far you go — but how far the mission goes after you?

In this episode of the Lausanne Movement Podcast, Ian Conolly explores how organisational health — rooted in servant leadership and Christlike character — determines whether ministries flourish across generations. Ian shares insights on strengthening leadership, teams, and structures so that mission impact outlasts any individual’s tenure.

🔗 Link to the Lausanne Podcast Community:
https://collaborate.lausanne.org/share/FF0jv_MJcqEcpuoK?utm_source=manual

Main Points & Key Takeaways
• Impact over tenure: Leading with longevity in view reshapes priorities beyond personal legacy.
• Health as mission strategy: A healthy organisation better sustains vision, people, and Kingdom work.
• Servant leadership anchors culture: Christlike leaders shape teams by humility, clarity, and shared purpose.
• Systems support sustainability: Governance, processes, and clarity fuel organisational resilience.
• Generational thinking expands influence: Leaders think beyond seasons to generational outcomes.

📚 Lausanne Movement Podcast Archive — Related Episode
Building Healthy Ministries for Kingdom Impact: Neil Hart on Leadership and Organizational Health
Discover what it takes to build ministries that endure — including leadership as the foundation, organisational health frameworks, long-term thinking, and tools like the 9D assessment from FiftyFour.
👉 https://lausanne.org/podcast/building-healthy-ministries-for-kingdom-impact-neil-hart-on-leadership-and-organizational-health

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned
• FiftyFour (Organisational Health Tools): https://www.fiftyfour.global
• Mergon Foundation: https://mergon.co.za/
• Lausanne Podcast Community: https://collaborate.lausanne.org/share/FF0jv_MJcqEcpuoK?utm_source=manual

🎧 Call to Action
If this conversation challenged or encouraged you in your leadership journey:
❤️ Subscribe to the Lausanne Movement Podcast on your favourite platform.
⭐ Leave a review to help more leaders discover this episode.
💬 Share this conversation with leaders, pastors, and ministry teams who need encouragement toward sustainable mission.
📍 Join the Lausanne Podcast Community: https://collaborate.lausanne.org/share/FF0jv_MJcqEcpuoK?utm_source=manual

👤 Guest Bio: Ian Conolly
Ian Conolly is the Executive Director of the FiftyFour, an initiative founded by Mergon, Maclellan, and 3W Foundations to equip ministry leaders worldwide in building healthy, thriving organisations. Ian previously led his own consulting practice, strengthening leadership capacity and operational effectiveness across ministries. He has led the launch and growth of FiftyFour, developing organisational assessment tools and resources to help leaders navigate challenges and scale their impact. FiftyFour has been accessed by over 20,000 leaders from every country in the world. With a passion for leadership development, Ian brings expertise in team building, strategic planning, financial stewardship, and organisational transformation. He finds deep fulfilment in walking alongside ministry leaders, enabling them to maximise their impact and build sustainable, mission-driven organisations.
🌐 Find out more: https://www.fiftyfour.global/en

What if the greatest obstacle to Global Mission isn’t persecution, secularism, or other religions—but the people of God themselves?
In this prophetic message from the Third Lausanne Congress in Cape Town (2010), Dr. Chris Wright delivers a call to the global Church. Drawing from the sweeping narrative of Scripture, he argues that the greatest hindrance to God’s redemptive mission is not external resistance but internal idolatry among God’s own people. He names three seductive idols—power and pride, popularity and success, and wealth and greed—and calls the Church to radical repentance marked by humility, integrity, and simplicity.

MAIN POINTS

The greatest obstacle to God’s mission is not the world, but God’s own people.

Idolatry remains the central threat to authentic Christian witness.

Three seductive idols distort and corrupt Christian mission:

Power and pride

Popularity and success

Wealth and greed

Jesus himself resisted these same temptations in the wilderness.

The Church must undergo ongoing reformation, beginning with repentance.

There is no biblical mission without biblical living.

The marks of Christlike mission are humility, integrity, and simplicity.

Before we seek to change the world, we must return to the Lord ourselves.

CALL TO ACTION
After listening, take time to pray and reflect:

Where might power, recognition, or comfort be shaping your ministry more than Christ?

What would humility, integrity, and simplicity look like in your leadership?

Subscribe to the Lausanne Movement Podcast and share this message with a ministry leader or team who needs this challenge.

LAUSANNE MOVEMENT PODCAST ARCHIVE

Theology and Mission: A Conversation with Dr. Chris Wright and Dr. Ivor Poobalan on The Lausanne Movement’s Theological Influence on Global Mission
https://lausanne.org/podcast/theology-and-mission-a-conversation-with-dr-chris-wright-and-dr-ivor-poobalan-on-the-lausanne-movements-theological-influence-on-global-mission

Let the Church Declare and Display Christ Together: Dr. Patrick Fung on the Theme of the Fourth Lausanne Congress
https://lausanne.org/podcast/let-the-church-declare-and-display-christ-together-dr-patrick-fung-on-the-theme-of-the-fourth-lausanne-congress

Training Christlike Leaders for the Harvest
https://lausanne.org/podcast/training-christlike-leaders-for-the-harvest

GUEST BIO
Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright is a missiologist, Anglican clergyman, and theologian, and one of the leading evangelical voices on the theology of mission and Scripture. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament economic ethics from Cambridge University and has served in global theological education and leadership, including teaching at Union Biblical Seminary in India and serving as principal of All Nations Christian College in the UK. Dr. Wright currently serves as the Global Ambassador and Ministry Director of Langham Partnership International. He has written extensively on biblical theology and mission, including The Mission of God and Old Testament Ethics for the People of God. Within the Lausanne Movement, he chaired the Theology Working Group and played a pivotal role in developing the Cape Town Commitment at the Third Lausanne Congress in 2010.

In this powerful talk from Cape Town 2010, Antoine Rutayishire reflects on reconciliation, healing, and the church’s role in mending nations broken by violence and division. Drawing on his experience from Rwanda’s tragic history and Christian renewal, Rutayishire reframes wounds not as weaknesses but as invitations to participate in Christ’s reconciling mission.

🔑 Main Points & Takeaways

Wounded nations are not outside God’s mission—they are part of it. Even places of deep pain can become fertile ground for gospel transformation.

Healing begins with honest engagement of both spiritual and historical wounds. The church must understand its own role in past failures to offer credible healing.

Reconciliation integrates personal and communal restoration. Spiritual wounds reflect both individual brokenness and the collective scars of society.

The “wounded healer” offers presence and empathy, not just answers. Authentic ministry flows from the experience of healing, not avoidance of pain.

Global mission must carry rhythms of justice, mercy, and restoration. Gospel witness without reconciliation is incomplete.

📚 Podcast Archive — Related Episodes
Here are links to episodes from the Lausanne Podcast Archive that relate to themes of reconciliation, mission in broken contexts, and the global Church’s role in healing:

 From Genocide to Hope: Rebuilding Rwanda Through Healing and Reconciliation- https://lausanne.org/podcast/surviving-the-rwandan-genocide-josephine-munyelis-story-of-forgiveness-hope-god-on-the-move-podcast

The Ministry of Reconciliation: Bridging Divides Between Israelis and Palestinians – Salim Munayer | https://lausanne.org/podcast/the-ministry-of-reconciliation-bridging-divides-between-israelis-and-palestinians-with-salim-munayer 

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned
Related to this Talk

Rediscovering the Gospel of Reconciliation – Advance Paper by Antoine Rutayisire | https://lausanne.org/content/rediscovering-the-gospel-of-reconciliation

Lausanne Movement & Cape Town 2010 Context

The Cape Town Commitment – A foundational statement of faith and mission emerging from the 2010 Congress. | https://lausanne.org/statement/ctcommitment

Guest Bio:
Rev. Canon Dr. Antoine Rutayisire is a Rwandan Anglican minister, theologian, and survivor of the 1994 genocide, widely known for his gospel-centered preaching and leadership in healing and reconciliation in Rwanda and beyond. He has served the church as a pastor and Bible teacher, contributed to Rwanda’s National Unity and Reconciliation efforts, and speaks and writes internationally about forgiveness, peacebuilding, and Christian discipleship.

As cities continue to shape the future of culture, influence, and innovation, what does faithful gospel witness look like in an increasingly urban world?

In this Lausanne Movement Podcast archive episode, we revisit two landmark talks by Tim Keller from the Third Lausanne Congress in Cape Town 2010. Keller first unpacks why cities matter so deeply for God’s mission, then offers a practical and theological framework for how the church can faithfully engage and reach them.

Key Takeaways

Why cities matter for mission: Cities are cultural, economic, and spiritual centers where global influence is formed.

God’s heart for people: In cities, there is ‘more image of God per square inch than anywhere else in the world’.

The church must follow the people: Urbanisation is accelerating faster than the church’s presence.

Contextualised churches are essential: Effective urban ministry requires cultural sensitivity, patience, and adaptability.

Faith and vocation must connect: Urban discipleship integrates faith with everyday work and public life.

From churches to movements: Lasting impact comes through cooperation, prayer, justice, evangelism, and citywide gospel movements.

Hope grounded in the gospel: Christ’s righteousness empowers believers to serve, pray for, and sacrificially love their cities.

Call to Action
If this episode encouraged or challenged you:

Subscribe to the Lausanne Movement Podcast for more voices shaping global mission.

Share this episode with church leaders, planters, and those passionate about cities.

Explore Lausanne’s resources on cities, church planting, and urban mission at lausanne.org.

About This Episode
This episode is part of the Lausanne Movement Archive, featuring historic messages from key moments in the global mission movement. These two talks were originally delivered by Tim Keller at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town (2010).

Links & Resources

Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Cape Town 2010)

https://lausanne.org/cape-town-2010-the-third-lausanne-congress-on-world-evangelization

Lausanne Issue Networks:

Cities - https://lausanne.org/network/cities

Church Planting - https://lausanne.org/network/church-planting

Lausanne Movement Podcast Archive

https://lausanne.org/podcast-series/lausanne-movement

Tim Keller Bio:
Timothy Keller (1950–2023) was the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and a widely influential pastor, theologian, and author. Alongside his wife Kathy, he helped plant Redeemer in 1989 and later co-founded Redeemer City to City, which has supported the planting of more than 1,000 churches in over 150 cities worldwide. Keller authored 31 books, including The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, and The Meaning of Marriage.