The CDC estimates that 20% of adults sought out mental health therapy in 2019. Since the pandemic of 2020, the number of people suffering from anxiety and depression has only gone up. One group of churches is providing local support in the Wauseon, Ohio, area through a trained team of 15 lay counselors from four churches. Ashley Zimmerman leads the In-Step Counseling Center in Wauseon that engages Christians in crisis with the Word of God and the Spirit of God so that they can experience transformation.
Ashley experienced hardship firsthand when her sister was killed in 2008. Over the next 10 years, she battled anger, depression, and suicidal thoughts even though she followed and trusted Jesus in the difficult times. Then, in 2018, she attended a six-day seminar with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC), hoping to learn how to help other people who were facing challenges, and at the seminar, she also found help for her own suffering. In 2020, she joined Crossroads Evangelical Church as a resident and began working toward ACBC certification. In 2021, she helped to launch In-Step Counseling Center in partnership with Crossroads Church in Napoleon, Pettisville Missionary Church, and North Clinton Church in Wauseon.
In-Step Counseling Center provides Christians with biblical counseling in their challenges with parenting, marriage, drug abuse, anger, depression, grief, and more. The cost of partnering with the center is a $25, one-time donation. Learn more about the ministry at www.instepcounselingcenter.org.
