Faith and Mental Health: A Christian GP Explains What Actually Works

Dr Afiniki Akanet sits down with us and names the thing many people feel but rarely say out loud: you can treat the body and still feel empty. From the first minutes, we dig into a whole-person view of mental health, where spirit, soul, and body interact, and where medication and therapy can be lifesaving without answering the deeper questions of meaning, hope, and purpose. If you have ever wondered how faith fits alongside a mental health diagnosis, this conversation brings clarity without shame or shortcuts.

We talk about the difference between mental illness and mental well-being, and why that distinction gives people room to breathe. Dr Afiniki Akanet shares how spirituality can support mental well-being through community, practices that steady us, and a source of strength when life feels unbearable. She also describes what it looks like to bring faith into a real UK medical consultation with sensitivity, asking the right questions at the right time, and honouring patients who believe differently.

Then the story widens. Dr Afiniki Akanet opens up about moving from Nigeria to the UK at 16, the reality of persecution in northern Nigeria, and the long path to becoming a doctor through financial setbacks, extra degrees, and starting over. We connect those experiences to resilience, to her “Happiness Over Stress” message rooted in boundaries and intentional living, and to her new book on Joseph, family dynamics, and perseverance. We close with a practical, faith-filled encouragement for anyone struggling: God is sovereign, healing is possible, and your hard season can still hold purpose.

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Dave Quak 0:00

Welcome to Sunburnt Souls. On this show we speak about life and faith and our mental well-being, and I'm so excited because of technology. I get to speak to my sister in the UK, who is a GP with a mental health focus and so much insight into what it what it's like to live with faith and mental well-being. So, sister, I want to introduce you, but my name is one of those names that people get wrong every time. And I'm looking at your name, and it is awesome and exotic, but I'm gonna get it wrong. So can you introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Yes, I'll help you out, Dave. So violent is Akinicki Akanet. I always say it's pronounced as spelt, although I've had some people in the UK try to make it more posh. Oh yes, A without the T at the end. Just Dr. Akanet, it's fine. But most people call me Nikki. It's lovely to be on your podcast.

Dave Quak 0:52

Oh, it's a blessing because you've got your experience as a GP, but also you really do focus on mental well-being. I have so many questions because since we started the podcast in the early days, our catchphrase was life on the intersection of faith and mental health. And then I had some friends come up and go, okay, tell me, what's that intersection? Like what is and I'm like, I I don't think I can answer that because you know I'm a pastor and I've got lived experience with bipolar, but I don't have your qualifications. And so, you know, I've been watching what you've been doing and your book and looking at some of your resources. I'd love it if you could kind of explain to us how this like faith, mental health, um, mental illness mess all kind of meshes together and how we live with that.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

So, first of all, the way I like to explain it is the fact that as human beings, we're not just people made up of body, physical health, or the mind, mental health, but we also have spirits, which is why it's spirit, soul, and body. And that's why I believe good medicine involves looking after the whole person, spirit, soul, and body. And that's where spiritual health is also important. And in my work in mental health, I find that when people focus too much on physical health or just uh mental health and completely ignore spiritual health, there can still be that massive hole that's still there, that people feel very empty and people feel like things are not just connecting. So the way I explain it to patients usually is yes, it's important to look after your physical body because that can affect your mood. You know, when you're tired, you're hungry, we talk about hungry, you know, that affects your mood as well. But then when you're talking about um mental health, the physical side of it would give them medication to deal with the chemicals in the brain to try and adjust things to help you feel better and to function better. But then the spiritual side of things, medication cannot help with, you know, um going to the gym is not particularly going to help with that. The spiritual side of things is that inner hole. So we're Christians and we know it's that God-shaped hole in our hearts, which I tell people, because I've got patients from all over that may have a faith, may not have a faith, and people choose to believe what they believe in. Some people believe in the universe, some people believe in themselves. My lovely atheist friend tells me she believes in humanity. So it's been intentional about that spirituality side of things, not completely ignoring it. You know, so if you choose to believe in Jesus and to accept Jesus, then take it seriously as this is my spiritual health side of things. I need to look after that as well. Because if you're not looking after that and that's going downhill, that can also affect your balance with the mental health and the physical health, because then you start feeling like things are just not quite making meaning, not quite making sense. And there are people that have specifically diagnosed mental illnesses, which we would class in GP as um uh severe mental illness. So it's not necessarily because um they went through something or something's happened recently that's caused them to feel depressed or anxious, or because they forgot to look after certain things. No, it's something that can happen to anybody. You know, we talk about your example with bipolar disorder, they have people that have schizophrenia diagnosed in teen years, you know, lots of conditions and nothing to do with what we've done, what we've not done. Sometimes it's a genetic predisposition. But even in that, your faith can be helpful because it faith. So the research with um uh um the psychiatry, the spiritual, spiritual group for psychiatry generally talks about how um spirituality is good for mental health, not just in the fact that you have your own personal relationship with God or whoever it is people believe in. It's also the fact that it encourages community, it encourages certain practices that are good for well-being. So I tell patients that yes, you might have a mental illness, but you still can have mental well-being even with that diagnosis. So that's why spirituality is important.

Dave Quak 4:48

That's awesome. I like how you made that delineation because I think sometimes you'll be talking to a friend and unwillingly they'll use mental illness and mental well-being and mental health interchangeably but incorrectly. And I like what you just said, you can still have mental illness and mental well-being. So I do have mental illness, but I still have some great times, and my mental well-being can be great. And it can be horrible too, but it can be it can be great as well.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

That is so true. And it's knowing that because you have a diagnosis, even if the doctors have said, oh, this is a lifelong condition, doesn't mean you could you need to give up on looking after your well-being, because that side of things is really important. It's the enjoyment of life, it's the being able to function, it's the being able to still achieve things and feel fulfilled in your life. And amazingly with that. And that's why I was really attracted to your work because you're showing not just by what you're saying, but by what you're doing, how much you can achieve and still live a fulfilled life, even with a diagnosis, and that's important.

Dave Quak 5:50

Well, I like that you spoke about it still can be good because like mental illness, yeah, it's terrible, but it there it's not only terrible. And you know, one of your um your podcasts is called happiness over stress. You know what I mean? So it's not saying the stress isn't there, but there's happiness on top, like it's better. Tell us about that.

Happiness Over Stress And Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Yeah, so the podcast is a funny story how I started it. I started a very busy job as a GP partner, which you know made me realize I'm not gonna have as much time for writing, which is something I enjoy doing for my mental health, for my feeling of fulfillment and purpose, because that's the way that I disseminate knowledge to share and actually reach people before things get bad enough to come and see a doctor. So that's basically my way of helping people before it gets to illness and doctor level. But when I realized I couldn't do the writing as much anymore, I thought, you know what, we'll do this as a podcast. I actually prefer writing to talking, but it's fine. I'll make some time to record some of these things and share that way. And it called I called it happiness over stress because that's the subtitle of one of my books that did really well called Life Without Coffee. Subtitle to I did see that one.

Dave Quak 7:00

I didn't know if you'd tell any books about life without coffee, but continue.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

I know, I know. I got a lot of backlash with that. The book just had so many, so many issues. So, first of all, the cover of the book had the picture of someone else because I was too shy to put my own face. People kept going, is that you on the book? It's not me, it's someone else, but it's called Life Without Coffee, and it's my book. And then they said, How can you live what life without coffee? That is not a life. And I was like, Well, the book is not really about coffee because it wasn't, it was a joke on the fact that I don't drink coffee. Oh, and for years, people kept saying, Oh, when you start university, you'll drink coffee, and I didn't. When you have children, you'll drink coffee, I didn't. When you start working as a doctor, you'll definitely drink coffee. I didn't, you know, when you've got this and that. So I've done busy jobs and I've I still don't drink coffee because I just don't like the taste of it. And I've found ways to manage my time and stress so that I don't feel like I need more hours in the day. So the book is basically about time and stress management, so that we don't feel like we need everything, every single hour of the day to be working and to be achieving things. So it did well because people found that it was the simple things, it's the um having boundaries, it's the knowing yourself, intentional living. So those are the kinds of things I talk about in life without coffee. The subtitle was choosing happiness over stress. So I just took the bottom part of it, the happiness over stress, to make it as the title of the podcast. And I enjoy doing it. Now I'm trying to get more guests on it because I feel like I'm getting tired of hearing just my own voice.

Bringing Faith Into UK Medicine

Dave Quak 8:28

I know I hear that. You do get a bit of voice fatigue, hey, or like just want to change things up or chuck something in, you know. Yeah, yeah. When you first started medicine, like studying medicine, did you think you'd go so overtly into bringing Jesus into medicine? Like, is there any conflict over in the UK with being so overt as a Christian?

SPEAKER_00 8:47

This this is the thing. A lot of um people focus so much on the fact that oh, you could get into trouble talking about Jesus, but now, especially after the pandemic, I feel like people are asking for it. Honestly, they won't believe it. My consultation on Saturday, I worked this Saturday, and don't worry, it's not a stress thing, it's not an overworking thing. I choose to work on Saturday morning because my family likes to have a lion, and I'm not a lying person, so I go in on Saturday mornings to see patients that are busy during the week. Sorry, I'm okay. But yeah, I went in on Saturday morning, and this girl I was speaking to, she was off medication, and I asked her, Oh, you know, did you come off the medication safely? What's been going on? Because she had a really bad um history with her mental health. Things were really bad for her the previous years. I could see what had happened, and I said to her, anything in particular? I was very happy that she was doing really well. I could see she was doing really well, and I could see she was no longer taking the medication, which she confirmed she had been off it for months and she's still doing well. She came in with her grandmother and I asked her about it and said, you know, is there anything in particular that might have happened um that might have helped with this? And she said, I found God.

Dave Quak 9:56

She just said that over.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

She said that just I found God, and I thought, oh my goodness, you know. Then she um then I said to her, Oh, are your parents Christian? She said, No, no, no, they're not Christians, but my grandmother is. And as a Christian, I quickly tweet, somebody must have been praying. I just grandmother and smile. What you know, when you just think, oh my goodness, people are hungry for God, people need God. And there are conversations I've had where I don't even particularly want to talk about spiritual health, but then people bring up, I don't know whether people have heard I'm a Christian doctor, so maybe that could be it as well. They bring up and say, So when I've talked about something like their diagnosis or their possible investigations for their investigations for possible diagnosis, they say, Oh, and doctor, I pray as well. And then I encourage them in that and say, you know what, it's good, it's good because that will help with your faith, that will help to reduce your anxiety. And people want to talk about these things. I've never had anybody complain about the fact that we've talked about that, and generally it's about bringing it in sensitively and in the right way, because even it, you know, psychiatrists will tell you that's part of the mental health um uh consultation. So when we talk about the things that help you to feel stronger, to help you to feel hopeful, you know, you need to talk about what are their sources of of um hope, their sources of strength, and a lot for a lot of people it's their faith. And in this country, because people generally like to feel like, oh, two things you don't talk about, religion and politics. Me coming from Nigeria, we talk about faith, you know, whenever, wherever, you know, when something bad is going on, you talk about, you know, we'll talk it, we'll pray to God about it, I'll pray for you. It's part of our language, which sometimes you think it can be taken for granted because people just talk and sometimes they're not walking the walk. But I just realized because I trained here, I know yes, there's a time and a place for these things, and when it's appropriate, it's a disservice not to do that for the patient. Because when we're talking about your life and your challenges with your mental health, I've seen patients who are struggling financially, especially in the current situation. They're talking about how they're getting thoughts of wanting to end their lives, they're so depressed, they can't talk to anyone about it. We talk about all different things that they could do. Have you spoken to citizens advice about death management? Have you tried this? Have you tried that? We've talked about medication, we've talked about lifestyle changes, and then people are still finding, you know, I've done everything, I just feel so hopeless. And you're asking, okay, do you have a faith? That's a question I would ask to bring it up. And if the person shuts it down and says, you know what, no, I don't, and I don't believe in those kinds of things, then we move on and we talk about something else because it's not for everyone. But if the person spoken to it and said, actually, I used to go to church as a child, I think maybe it's a good time for me to go back to my faith. That's a great consultation to have conversations have with your doctor because they go out leaving it, feeling like, oh my goodness, I can't believe the doctor was a Christian and she talked to me about this and that. Or even when I worked in psychiatry, give people a diagnosis of dementia and they're feeling very hopeless and thinking life is horrible, they can't believe they've worked all these years and then now they're about to enjoy their lives. Suddenly, now they've got a diagnosis that is possibly life-changing. And then I ask them, Do you have a faith? And they mention, actually, I'm a Christian, and I'm able to have the conversation with them as a Christian doctor about you know what, in everything, all things work together for good for those that love God. God is still with you in all this, and they go out feeling so amazed. I've had patients come back and say, Oh my goodness, it's like she's a changed person after after she saw you, you know, it's she's taking it completely differently. And then I'm thinking, it's nothing to do with me, it's just God in the situation. And I love being able to do that as a doctor and as a Christian.

Nigeria To UK Faith And Perseverance

Dave Quak 13:24

I love that, sister. Over here, my friends are sick of me saying it because I tell them all the time, everybody's in ministry, not just us pastors, not just those that are at the front of the chaplaincy. It's every one of us, and what you're doing is ministry, you're ministering to the people that God sent to you. It's so cool. Were you a Christian when you came over from Nigeria?

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Yeah, so thankfully, I grew up in a Christian family, but then I know that that doesn't make you a Christian, which is something that I try to teach my children and to um tell young people about. It's not your parents' faith, it's your own faith. So I gave my life to Jesus in Sunday school as a child. Um, when you hear about Jesus and you get convicted and you realize actually, I want to follow this Jesus, I want to make my own personal commitment. And then the number of times as a child, when you go to church again and you remember you did something naughty and you give your life again to Jesus all over again. So we all have those Christian child giving your life to Jesus 10 times as a child. So I don't actually have a specific date when I gave my life to Jesus. You know, I did it as a child. But a big turning point for me was when I came to the UK at 16. I realized my parents aren't here, I can do whatever I want. I could decide never to go to church again, I could decide to just forget about Jesus and live life the way I want to. There were lots of people who were living in different ways to what I was brought up in. Um, but and also interestingly, I never got baptized in Nigeria because I was scared of the water. It's a funny time they used to do it in a river, and I just kept thinking, I don't want to go in that river. I know, and then when I came here, um, first thing I did found a church because I genuinely I loved Jesus and I did want to keep following Jesus, and I had a personal faith, I would read my Bible by myself, not just my parents telling me to read my Bible. So I found a church, and the church um leader explained that they had baptism classes and then they wanted to do baptism, a whole baptism morning for people that were interested in getting baptized. And because I noticed, oh, it was in a nice swimming pool, I can't possibly drown. It's quite clean, it's all right. Put my hand up. This is terrible. Obeying God with conditions.

Dave Quak 16:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

So I agreed to be baptized, and I think that was a big turning point for me. It was my own faith, my own journey. And that's that's kind of how you know. I know we're gonna talk about books later, but that's kind of how that story of Joseph was so relevant for me because he came to a different country as a teenager, and it was that his own journey with God, his own faith. There are no parents there to tell you what to do, no family support there, and that's kind of my own journey with Christ. So it's become such a personal thing. It's not a my family are Christians or my my that's what the only thing I know. I've had opportunities to talk to Muslim friends, atheist friends, Buddhist friends, and I've explored other things, but I know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that's why I stick with Jesus. Also, coming from the north of Nigeria, where there's a lot of persecution for Christianity, um, it wasn't a case of being a Christian because you just had to choose one religion or whatever. It had to be something you genuinely believed in because you could die for it. Yeah. So I there were times when you would go to church, coming back, you'd be seeing churches were bombed and people killed for their faith. So you had to really know whether this was something you believed in for yourself. And I love Jesus, uh, you know, it's my faith, it's it's he's proven to me over and over again that he's real and he's true and he loves me. So it's really my faith.

Dave Quak 17:23

Yeah, yeah. I was talking to a friend who works with open doors, uh, ministry to the persecuted church, and he said that Nigeria's ramped up again over the last couple of years.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

It has, it has. It's really sad, and sometimes it affects my mental health when I wake up in the morning and see messages from my family about places that have been burned, people that have been um displaced. So, my grandmother's house, people used to run away from their attacked villages and come and end up in my grandmother's house. So sometimes my charity would help them um to be able to feed people and maintain themselves until until they're able to go back and find somewhere safe to stay. Children having to be displaced out of schools, they can't carry on with their education. Even growing up, I remember in the 90s there were times when we would just schools would just be closed in the middle of the day, you'd all have to leave. And my uncle was a general in the army, so we'd all have to run to his house. And for us children, it was just like, oh nice, play, sleepover, play dates, fantastic. But then later, growing up, I realized, oh my goodness, those were times when there were riots, religious riots, where there were killing, killings, and things going on. But you know, growing up like that just makes you really decide: is this is this faith worth it? Is is Jesus worth it? Is it my faith, or is it just a thing that we're just doing out of culture? And yeah, it really strengthened my faith.

Dave Quak 18:37

Man, what's powerful is when I hear it, I'm trying to picture it. But when you tell the story, you're picturing the village, grandma's house, the general's house. You know what I mean? Like it's actually one step away. That's that's really intense.

Joseph Resilience And New Book

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Honestly, one of my cousins is doing really good with this, promoting um raising awareness about the issues going on in other Nigeria on Instagram. And sometimes when I look at her page, because I haven't lived in Nigeria for many years now, when I look at her page, I think, oh my goodness, this is this is worse than what I remember as a child. But you know, people don't talk about it much, and it's important to be aware that you know, these are our brothers and sisters that are struggling as well because of their faith. But thank God for his grace, thank God for his mercy. People are still strong in faith, still worshiping, still praising happiness over stress, even in those situations. They feel like some of the happiest people, even in spite of all of this. It's amazing. It's amazing.

Dave Quak 19:28

Yeah, and then for you to come at 16, like that's a quite a young woman, like that that's really early. So no wonder you resonate with um Joseph. I see behind you you got your book, The Favorite, there, or favorite, not the favorite, just the word favorite. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Yeah, so it's the newest one. Hey, the newest one, yeah, it's coming out next month, 3rd of May. But I um for a while I had the idea of writing that book, and I kept thinking, oh, you know, everybody knows the story of Joseph, what's the big deal? Um why why should but I haven't got that much time really, so I can't start writing something that's not worthwhile. But I had a dream, actually, convincing me to be. It isn't that great.

unknown 20:12

I actually had a dream.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

So I started writing it, and it was something I enjoyed writing because I realized that I did have a different perspective to bring. It wasn't just uh writing the story of Joseph because it felt similar to my own story or because it encouraged me. It was also coming at it from a medical point of view, talking about the mental health lessons we can learn from that, teaching people resilience from that story. I brought up a lot of issues to do with family dynamics as well, you know, parenting, you know, the idea of having a favorite child and what it does to the other siblings, and the whole log and you know, dynamics when children become adults, and now you don't have to be close to your siblings anymore. It's it's your choice whether you want to be close to them or not. And then how Joseph dealt with everything that happened to him, the betrayal, the unjust imprisonment, and the fact that he just had a spirit of excellence throughout, in spite of everything that happened to him. So there are lots of lessons we can learn from that story, and then the mental side of things is just an added bonus. And then I did some practical tips as well for people, which I'm really excited for people to read and give some reviews, please, so I can improve everything.

Dave Quak 21:20

Is that going to be available paper, ebook, or is it audio as well?

SPEAKER_00 21:24

So hopefully audio soon, but then it's ebook at the moment to pre-order on Amazon. The paperback will be available from the 3rd of May. So it's paperback and hardback. So we've done one step extra. So if you like hardbacks, then you've got half our paperback. And it's not too long because my first book was like 100,000 words, and I kept getting told of writing so much. It's so big. I'm thinking that is the point of a good book. You enjoy a book for ages, but people kept saying, you know what, they just want something nice and short that they can get through. So this is just the right amount, I think. I've had somebody came to see me yesterday and gave me a really good feedback about the book because some of the children, so I run a Bible club in my house for children, and they come on Sundays, we do a Bible story, we do some songs, and the story of Joseph is a long one to try and teach in an hour. So I'm gonna write this book. So I dedicated it to the Bible club children, so they both got games in advance. So one of the parents read it and was telling me how how great it was, which which was really encouraging.

Charity Origin And Life Purpose

Dave Quak 22:24

Oh, I love that. I like games, and I should have asked you beforehand. But the first listener that emails you and introduces themselves after listening to the podcast, I want Sunburn Souls to pay for. You to send them a signed copy. Can we do that?

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Oh, yes, we do.

Dave Quak 22:40

So whoever the first listener, so they don't know it's going to happen yet until they get to this part. So it's the early rises. And so we'll work that out afterwards. But you know, any of your resources are worth sharing because it is so uniquely rare and powerful to have somebody with your experience and passion coming together for the glory of Jesus. You know, one thing I love about talking to you is you love Jesus. This isn't just a tick box for you or something you do for a bit of fun. This is your life, you know, and it's shaped so many different things that you've done. Aren't you the founder of a charity as well?

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Yes. Yes.

Dave Quak 23:16

What is that?

SPEAKER_00 23:17

That that is just a God thing. I when I think about when you say about how Jesus shapes my life, I feel like without him it will be so much worse. So what's then not to love? I'm doing myself a favor following Jesus because my life would have been so rubbish. Came to the UK at 16. So that whole story wasn't because my parents thought, let's send our child to the UK, that's a posh thing to do. No, I was just a weird random child. I told you I gave my life to Jesus as a little child, and I believe he was real in my life from even then because he put it in my heart to become a doctor. And interestingly, it was to become a doctor abroad. It wasn't just to become a doctor in Nigeria, to be a become a doctor abroad. And my parents weren't exactly wealthy. Studying abroad would cost 10 times more than studying in Nigeria. But I kept saying to them, I want to be a doctor abroad. In those days, all you knew were American movies. So I thought it was America. I just took like, yeah, go to America, be a doctor. Okay, this is gonna cost a lot, but okay. But bless them, they were very supportive, they are people of faith as well. They they encouraged me in my faith, and God made a way for me to come here for my A levels. And then while I was here studying for the A-levels, money ran out. Of course, exchange rate goes high, business economy in Nigeria, money ran out. I couldn't carry on with my A levels. I had to take a year out, and that was a really tough time. Um managed to get through it, did some work. So I was working while studying to help pay other like rent and little things because I couldn't afford to pay the fees, it was a lot of money. And then through that, finally got into came to study medicine, didn't get into medical school after A levels because I didn't have work experience. This is the thing that I tell my young people when I go to do my motivational talks, find out early what you need to achieve the thing you want to achieve. Because if you don't find out early, you end up paying for it in time or money. So I didn't realize that I needed to do work experience. So even though I had good grades, I was told, well, a lot of people have good grades as well. How do you stand out as somebody that really is passionate about medicine and wants to be a doctor? You need to just show some work experience, show you're well-rounded as well. So bless him, the man who I went to see at the University Admissions, because I was so distraught, thinking, I'm I'm so passionate about medicine. I've always wanted to be a doctor. Why wouldn't you accept me? He said to me, You've got the grades, but you know what? Lots of people have got the grades, have got lots of other things to show that they're passionate about medicine. You haven't got that. I would advise you to study anatomy, for example, to help you so that when you finally get into medicine as a graduate, then at least it's easier for you. So I ended up going to study anatomy as my first degree. My poor parents having to pay for a different degree that they didn't budget for, paid for three years of anatomy degree before I went on to study medicine after that as a graduate. So in that year, when I finally got into medicine, money ran out again because I couldn't pay my fees after the first semester. I had to, I couldn't renew my visa to be able to carry on with my course. And then I had to go back to Nigeria. So it was in that time in Nigeria, tearful, after seven years in the UK with no medical degree to show for it, tearful, waiting and trusting God for the money to be able to pay and go back to university. I was, um I started writing my book, which is how I ended up writing the first book, Fortitude, and then started going to schools to try and promote the book and realized that people were just, you know, so engrossed with the idea of I just want to be wealthy, I just want to be rich. They used to call it I just want to hammer, I just want to work in so-so-and-so places. That kind of idea of corruption of I just want to get there so I can get money. And I started talking to them about having purpose for your life and having and being intentional about how you're going to contribute to society. So not just I want to work in this place to make money. What exactly are you going to be contributing to society? So that's how 4T charity started. So I started going to schools to give the motivational talks, and I started going to my uncles who had money to ask them for money to get books for children who really wanted to read but couldn't afford it. So we started setting up and helping to stock up libraries in some schools, getting furniture for schools where some of the villages, the children were sitting on the floors to study, even outside on the retreat. So we would raise money to do that. So I started with chasing my rich uncles and then came back to the UK, thankfully, after 10 months, went back to medical school. But the medical school said because I'd been away for 10 months, I had to start all over again. So I lost a year of school and had to go back again. But that was all worked out for the best. But that's how the charity started, and it was just God's God's work, really.

Keep Trusting Through Hard Seasons

Dave Quak 27:38

Funny how he just brings that like you know gold out of our worst times. Um, some of the people who speak about you said that your core message is to keep going even when life is hard. And I think that's so evident just in what you shared, you know, the medical side. And you're like you're not talking short times, like years and then another degree, like seven years together. Like this is long, and you know, that that's quite amazing. I um I don't know, I really like hearing about your life. I think you, you know, the Lord is using you. If you could, I don't know, project and look into the next five years, what are you dreaming about? Because you don't seem like a woman who's just like gonna tick a box and go, I'm done now. Like what what what are you dreaming about for the next little bit?

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Well, this is this is the thing that I'm trying to do that I challenge others to do. Keep dreaming. Because I feel like everything I've kind of set my heart to do, I've achieved. Everything I've set my mind by the grace of God, I've achieved. And I'm thinking, okay, what's the next thing, Lord? What's the next thing, Lord? Because really, the things that I thought I wanted for myself. So I wanted to move to a nice area to put my children in good schools, to be able to give them the life that they're living now. God has helped us to be able to achieve that. We're doing our dream jobs that we want to do. So I'm not feeling like my job is controlling my life. I'm feeling like I have autonomy through my work because I've reached a certain level in my career. And God has answered all those prayers and He's done those things. So a lot of the things now that I pray about are more, God, what's the next thing you want me to do? Help me to hear you clearly and obey you promptly. And as we grow older, I feel like the challenges that God gives me now are more faith challenges, things that I'm thinking, oh, really, can this can this actually happen? And I find myself asking God for forgiveness for things like, oh, I'm sorry I didn't believe, I'm sorry I worried, I'm sorry I I doubted. Because God says to me, after everything we've been through, Nikki, are you really doubting that I could do this? Are you really doubting that this can happen? So the kinds of things that God is putting in my heart for other people might feel like, what's the big deal? Everybody does it, but for me and my personality, I'm not very good with publicity and putting myself out there to talk about things. That's a big challenge and a big push for me that I feel like God is pushing me through for the next phase to try and get out there more, speak out more, reach more people with the message, with encouragement, with inspiration. And I think that's basically what the next few years is going to be about. Um through the writing, through the speaking, and through my work, because it's not that I have a particular next step I want to go to with my career, or next step I want to go to with my books. I don't actually have any book I'm working on at the moment, but I'm just waiting to hear what's the next thing you want me to do. So the thing he's got me doing right now, I'm just focusing on doing it well. So this is the thing in my hand right now, which is favorites. I'm like, okay, this is the one in my hand right now. Help me to promote it well enough, help me to speak about it and give the message that you want people to hear from it and lead people back to you because at the end of the day, that is that is the best thing you can give to anyone. Jesus, the gospel is the good news, and we can polish things round and round and talk about things in all different ways. My greatest desire is for people to be living their fullest life and being the best they can be, but the best they can be, really. Yes, I can help them physically to be fit with great cholesterol, great blood sugar levels, and you know, feeling like they can do everything they want to do physically. I can help them to be feeling mentally great, taking their medication and not having any relapses for ages. But then spiritually, if I can do that as well, where people are feeling like, you know what, I I have purpose and meaning in my life, that would be amazing. So yeah, it's it's just quite a journey at the moment.

Dave Quak 31:27

I love that. I'll be praying that speaking opportunities open, that podcast opportunities open. Because I think what you have is what people are salivating for. You know, hope in the brokenness and you know, an opportunity to move forward in their life and get inspiration. It's good. It's good. Um I hate this time of the podcast because we nearly have to wrap up. But beforehand, so I always ask our guests to pray on the way out, which I know you're gonna be keen for. But before, do you have any like last thoughts that you would you would love to drop on us before um before we pray?

Closing Prayer For Listeners

SPEAKER_00 32:01

So yeah, I think something I want to say specifically for people who are struggling with their mental health and have a faith as well, is for people to remember that yes, God is all powerful, God is sovereign, he's not a genie, which is the thing I say to my children that come to Bible Club. It's not, I want this, you must give me this. I won't believe in you anymore if you don't give it to me. He is sovereign, he is almighty, and if he's allowed something to continue to happen, let's keep praising, let's keep keep giving thanks in all things, let's keep trusting that he is able to work it all out for good. And because we're accepting that, you know what, God has allowed this to happen doesn't mean that he can't heal, doesn't mean that he can't save. It's like the three Hebrew boys. They still said whether he chooses to um deliver us or not, we will still trust him. So I want to encourage people, still keep trusting, keep walking through that fire, and he will show up, he will be with you in the fire. He might decide to take it all away and you'll be completely healed because God still heals. He can take it all away, he can give you complete healing and complete. In fact, my life, I think my mental health every day is a miracle because I am the full statistics of people that should be in complete depression because of all the stress and trauma of immigrating to a new country on my own, facing you know, different kinds of discrimination because of my background, facing lots of challenges with finances, the poverty um challenges that I face in Nigeria and here. I used to be getting kicked out of school all the time for not paying my school fees, all those kinds of things. But God can decide to turn it around and make it that your story that you think is a problem, is a challenge, can become your testimony that leads others to Him. And even when you don't think that God is doing something about it, there are lots of people watching and being encouraged by your faith, by your joy, by your perseverance through the season. So God sees the big picture. We only see in part, but he sees the book, big picture. So be encouraged, keep praising. My other book, Prayer and Praise. It's all about you know the power of praise. Just keep worshiping, keep praising, because he deserves our praise, he deserves our worship even in the hard times, and he will definitely show up.

Dave Quak 34:10

Yeah, I love that. It has been a delight hanging out with you. Thank you for coming on Sunburn's Holes. I really appreciate it. And I know I'm picturing my friends already listening, going, sending me text going, Dave, good one. That was a good one. Um, if you could finish us by praying, that would be so, so great.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

That would be a pleasure. Thank you so much, Dave. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for being with us in this conversation. Thank you for helping us to say the things that you want people to hear. Lord God, I pray for everyone listening, whatever it is they are struggling with, let them feel your arms of love, comfort them at this time and strengthen them. I pray for healing, oh God, for those who are struggling with their health because you are Jehovah Rapha, you are the healing God. Lord, we pray for those who are struggling to find hope at this time, that you will just let them know that you're there for them, that you love them and you care. Father, we pray that as people continue with their search for meaning, for search for hope, in their search for what you want them to do with their lives, Lord, that you will make things clear for them, that they will see even through whatever challenges they're facing, that you have a purpose and a plan for their lives, and that they will fulfill it joyfully and with your peace and with your favor in Jesus' name. Amen.

Dave Quak 35:25

Amen.