Sunburnt Souls | Faith, Mental Health & Mayhem

In this episode of Sunburnt Souls, the Christian mental health podcast founded by pastor Dave Quak (who lives with bipolar disorder), Dave welcomes Joel A'Bell, former Hillsong Global Director and current Oceania Regional Leader for Convoy of Hope. They dive into the mental and emotional toll of high-capacity Christian leadership and how to maintain integrity and spiritual wellbeing through major life and ministry transitions. What happens when you transition from leading thousands at Hillsong to championing a global mission of hope? Joel shares his remarkable story, focusing on the often-unseen emotional weight of ministry and the importance of spiritual intimacy to prevent burnout.

Together, Dave and Joel explore: How a forgotten exemption note at 14 sparked his faith journey; the unseen emotional weight of megachurch leadership at Hillsong; the key to avoiding ministry burnout and keeping Jesus at the center; finding harmony with his wife Julia in co-leading ministry; and his current work with Convoy of Hope, empowering communities through disaster relief and children’s feeding programs. Whether you’re leading a church, a business, or your family, Joel’s story offers practical insights and encouragement to keep Jesus at the center and stay faithful through every season. This conversation will strengthen your faith and emotional wellbeing! Listen now and find hope for your leadership journey!

Whether you’re leading a church, a business, or your family, Joel’s story offers practical insights and encouragement to keep Jesus at the center and stay faithful through every season. Perfect for anyone seeking purpose with integrity!

Listen now and be inspired!
🌍 Support Convoy of Hope: convoyofhope.org
📧 Connect with us: sunburntsouls.com
💬 Share your thoughts: What’s one lesson from Joel’s journey that hit home for you?

#SunburntSouls #JoelABell #ConvoyOfHope #Hillsong #Faith #Leadership #Humanitarian #ChristianPodcast

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

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In this vital episode of Sunburnt Souls, a Christian mental health podcast, founder Dave Quak (pastor living with bipolar disorder) sits down with pastor, church planter, and creative Ralph Mayhew to explore the raw realities of depression, anxiety, and ministry burnout in the Christian world. Ralph shares his deeply personal journey—struggling with mental health while attending Bible college and serving as a lead pastor—and how he found true joy and identity in Jesus through it all.

You'll hear honest, practical discussion on:

• The challenge of preaching God's truth when your life doesn't feel congruent with what you proclaim.
• Why reframing your identity in Christ is the key to overcoming the stigma of anxiety and depression.
• The role of medication, self-care, and Sabbath in a pastor's life (and why it's not a lack of faith).
• How to build spiritual disciplines (like Lectio 365) that work with the messiness of life.
• Finding strength to keep going, one rung of the ladder at a time, and redefining what a "win" looks like.

This conversation is essential for anyone in Christian leadership, anyone struggling with depression, or those seeking faith-based, practical hope for their mental wellbeing.

Links & Resources:

• Ralph Mayhew Photography on YouTube
• Village Church Burleigh Heads

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

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 In this second part of Ash Morrison’s story on Sunburnt Souls- A Christian Mental Health Podcast, host Dave Quak explores Ash’s journey of rebuilding her life as a Christian woman after divorce. Ash shares the challenges of navigating divorce, parenting three young children (including one with disabilities), and unexpectedly meeting and marrying Zac, a non-Christian at the time. She discusses wrestling with guilt, biblical interpretations of divorce, and the transformative power of God’s grace in her unconventional path to remarriage. The episode highlights the importance of seeking God’s guidance, the messiness of life, and finding blessings in brokenness.

Key Takeaways:

• Ash planned to stay single for years post-divorce to focus on healing and parenting, but God had other plans, leading her to meet Zac just three months after her separation.
• Wrestling with biblical teachings on divorce and remarriage, Ash initially felt labeled as an “adulteress” but learned God’s grace covers brokenness.
• Ash and Zac prioritised their children’s needs in blending their families, allowing the kids to guide the pace of their relationship.
• Despite unconventional choices (like moving in together before marriage), Ash and Zac made deliberate decisions to honor their faith, such as abstaining from intimacy until marriage.
• Ash’s story underscores that God can bless and redeem even imperfect choices, offering hope to those navigating divorce and remarriage.

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

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In this powerful episode of the Sunburnt Souls Christian Mental Health Podcast, host Pastor Dave Quak sits down with Monica Cook, a Sydney-based Christian sexologist from Life to the Full, to talk about faith, intimacy, and healing in a world still bound by stigma and silence.

Together they explore how Christian mental health and sexuality intertwine—why guilt, anxiety, and depression so often hide in the shadows of church life—and how God calls every believer to wholeness in both body and soul.

Monica shares how her work helps people untangle trauma, shame, and disconnection, guiding them toward faith-based resources and practical healing. From the poetry of Song of Songs to the theology of being known and loved, this conversation reminds us that sex and spirituality were never meant to be enemies.

If you’ve ever wrestled with guilt, confusion, or silence around sex and faith, this episode will help you see God’s design for intimacy through a lens of grace and renewal.

Episode Themes

• Breaking the stigma around sex and mental health in the Church
• Understanding the links between anxiety, depression, and intimacy
• How theology and psychology meet in Christian sexology
• The redemptive message of Song of Songs
• Healing shame and finding God’s presence in pain

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

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Host: Dave Quak

In this solo episode of Sunburnt Souls, a Christian Mental Health Podcast, Dave Quak explores the role of AI chatbots, like Wysa, in supporting mental wellbeing, particularly from a Christian perspective. He examines their benefits, limitations, and ethical considerations, drawing on Christian thinkers to provide a balanced view on integrating AI into faith and mental health practices.

Key Points:

1. Introduction to AI Chatbots:
   • AI chatbots mimic conversations with therapists or friends, using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques.
   • In Australia, long waitlists for mental health services (months for psychologists, up to 8 months for psychiatrists) make AI a potential stopgap for immediate support.
2. Testing Wysa:
   • Dave tests Wysa, an anonymous chatbot, with hypothetical scenarios (e.g., feeling angry after a fight).
   • Wysa responds empathetically, asking reflective questions like, “What triggered this anger?” or “How could you communicate better?”
   • It handles absurd inputs (e.g., “I have skiddies and I’m embarrassed”) without judgment but flags harmful statements appropriately.
3. Pros of AI Chatbots:
   • 24/7 Support: Accessible anytime, ideal for late-night struggles.
   • Judgment-Free: Safe space to share without fear of personal criticism.
   • CBT-Based: Offers evidence-based tools for anxiety, depression, and stress.
   • Privacy: Anonymous and convenient, fostering emotional awareness.
4. Limitations:
   • No Spiritual Depth: Lacks Christian revelation or Holy Spirit guidance.
   • No Human Empathy: Mimics but doesn’t feel emotions.
   • Risk of Over-Reliance: Could become a crutch, diverting users from seeking God.
5. Christian Perspectives on AI:
   • Akos Balogh (The Gospel Coalition): Advocates cautious engagement; AI is useful but ethically risky, reflecting human biases. Avoid outsourcing moral or spiritual decisions.
   • Dustin Ryan (Christ Over All): Sees AI as a tool for the Great Commission, aiding Bible translation and evangelism, but warns of biased outputs.
   • Kate Lucky: Notes AI’s formative influence, shaping thinking and expectations of instant spiritual growth. Stay anchored in Christ-centered practices.
   • Biblical View: Scripture emphasizes human roles (e.g., pastoring, encouraging) that AI can’t replace. Use AI for mundane tasks, not divine callings.
6. Ethical Concerns:
   • AI can feel all-knowing but is trained by imperfect humans, sometimes giving answers contrary to Scripture.
   • AI voice replication (e.g., Dave’s voice reading a book) raises risks of misuse, like creating fake audio.
7. Conclusion:
   • AI chatbots are a valuable tool for mental health support but cannot replace human connection or God’s guidance.
   • Use AI with wisdom, ensuring it aligns with faith and serves kingdom purposes.

Call to Action:

• Try a mental health chatbot like Wysa and reflect on its usefulness.
• Stay anchored in prayer, Scripture, and community for spiritual growth.
• Join us next week for an exciting guest on Sunburnt Souls!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your presence in our lives. Grant us wisdom to use tools like AI to honor You, keeping our hearts fixed on Your truth. Amen.

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

• Listen and Rate on ...

It's a powerful lie: that a mental health diagnosis means you can only receive support. On Sunburnt Souls: A Christian Mental Health Podcast, Dave and Jess Quak flip the script! They share honest, real-life insights into how individuals, including those with depression or anxiety, can actively contribute to their family's healing and well-being.

Tune in as they unpack five key areas of reciprocal support:

1. Spiritual Leadership: Showing up authentically, regardless of your mental state.
2. Household Help: Breaking the cycle of self-focus with practical tasks.
3. Financial Management: Building transparency and stability (especially with challenges like bipolar disorder).
4. Practical Support: Dividing tasks based on capacity and strengths.
5. Personal Growth: The most profound gift you can give your loved ones.

Stop carrying the guilt and learn to practice collaboration rooted in faith. Your struggle doesn't disqualify your purpose—it deepens it!

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

• Listen and Rate on ...

📝 Podcast Show Notes

Episode Summary:
In this powerful episode, we follow one woman’s raw and redemptive journey through decades of mental illness, childhood trauma, sexual abuse, postpartum depression, stage 3 brain cancer, epilepsy, and a massive stroke. From the depths of despair to the heights of hope, she shares how Jesus carried her through the darkest valleys—and how a 75-mile bike ride became a lifeline of purpose and faith.

What You’ll Hear:

• Growing up in a chaotic, abusive home as the youngest of nine
• Battling depression as a child and teenager
• Finding hope through church, community, and movement
• Postpartum depression and the overwhelming pressure of motherhood
• A shocking brain cancer diagnosis and the mental spiral that followed
• How a charity bike ride gave her a reason to live
• Seizures, brain surgery, stroke—and the brutal road to recovery
• The healing power of adaptive sports, community, and worship
• A transparent look at PTSD, bipolar depression, and psychiatric care
• Why she still believes in God’s redemption after everything

Why This Story Matters:
This isn’t a neat Christian testimony. It’s messy, real, and full of both breakdowns and breakthroughs. If you’ve battled mental illness, faced overwhelming circumstances, or doubted God in your suffering—this episode is for you.

☀️ CONNECT with Sunburnt Souls

Discover more from Sunburnt Souls — a Christian mental health podcast sharing real stories of faith, hope, and healing at sunburntsouls.com.

Explore our library of Christian mental health resources, including podcasts, free devotionals, and online courses designed to help you strengthen your faith, overcome anxiety and depression, and experience emotional and spiritual renewal.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, $28 journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

🙏 SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 ...

This week on Sunburnt Souls, Dave Quak is back with another raw, real, and at times ridiculous episode—recorded while on family holiday, but packed with depth. He reflects on how short radio soundbites have unexpectedly spread across 14+ stations in Australia, sharing stories that connect faith and mental health in bite-sized doses.

In this episode, Dave takes us on a journey that includes:

• Singing the Home and Away theme in Thailand—and what it taught him about embarrassment and boldness
• Bipolar mania and making dumb financial decisions (again)
• Learning to recover quickly after stuffing up—why guilt is not godly, but grace is
• A fresh take on Charles Spurgeon’s cigars, melancholia, and unapologetic ministry
• A biblical look at Elijah’s mental crash after a mountaintop miracle
• And yes… why bacon proves that beauty often follows the stinkiest seasons

This one’s a blend of humour, honesty, and healing. If you’ve ever felt disqualified by your struggles, this is your reminder that God uses broken people—on purpose.

🎧 Also featuring: a never-before-aired soundbite on bacon and mental health that might just become your new favourite analogy.

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

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Dave Quak shares five real-life stories pulled from our one-minute soundbites airing on 14 Christian radio stations around Australia. From impulsively buying a house during a manic episode to watching a pelican steal a puppy, these moments are strange, hilarious, painful, and deeply human.

Topics we cover:

• 🏠 Mental illness & impulse control (bipolar mania and regret)
• 🐭 Carrying invisible burdens (the mouse on Mum’s shoulder)
• 🧠 Responding to criticism and trolls with God’s truth
• 🐦 Coping with grief and unexpected loss (yes, the pelican is real)
• 🧘‍♂️ Learning to be still in a noisy world

Plus, Dave and his family are broadcasting from Bali — honouring a dear friend, Tony, who recently went to be with Jesus, and finding space to rest, dive, and reflect.

💡 Be encouraged that you’re not alone in your mess. There’s grace. There’s healing. And there’s hope.

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

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On Sunburnt Souls, a Christian mental health podcast, host Dave Quak speaks with Lydia Farbach in Postpartum Psychosis: Faith, Fear, and Finding Jesus in the Breakdown — a raw, faith-filled conversation about one of the most terrifying mental health crises a new mother can face.

Lydia courageously opens up about her battle with postpartum psychosis and the haunting fear of inheriting her mother’s schizoaffective disorder. From the chaos of losing touch with reality to crying out to God from the back of an ambulance, Lydia shares how grace broke through the confusion, grounding her faith in the middle of madness.

Together, they explore what the Church can do better to support parents in crisis and how Jesus meets us when the mind unravels. This episode is a lifeline for anyone touched by psychosis, severe anxiety, or mania, offering both practical understanding and spiritual hope.

You’ll hear:

• What inherited mental illness looks like within families of faith
• Lydia’s real experience of psychosis and recovery
• How to find God’s presence in fear, confusion, and shame
• Simple, compassionate ways churches can support mental health crises

Sunburnt Souls Unhinged is here! 

Join Dave for a fun night of comedy, stories, raw conversations and much more. Come connect, laugh, and experience life, faith and mental health in a whole new way.  For more info and tickets, click here

🙏 IF YOU WOULD LOVE TO SUPPORT THE MISSION

Help us keep producing Christian mental health podcasts and resources that bring hope to listeners around the world and breaks the stigma in the Church. 👉 Donate to Sunburnt Souls. ALL DONATIONS OVER $2 ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

🧠 NEW ONLINE COURSE: Loving Life with Faith and Mental Health

A 28-day, FREE journey to help you:

• Embrace your identity in Jesus
• Build life-giving spiritual rhythms
• Navigate anxiety, depression, and burnout with honesty and grace

👉 Start your 28-day journey today

📩 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY

Get weekly encouragement, bonus podcast clips, and faith-informed mental health resources in your inbox. 👉 Subscribe to the newsletter

⭐ LEAVE A REVIEW

Love this episode? Your review helps others discover faith-based mental health resources and find hope for their journey.

• Listen and Rate on ...