Julianne “Juli” Wilson is the wife of famous pastor Jarrid Wilson who tragically took his own life on Saturday.
Jarrid Wilson was the founder of Anthem of Hope, a non-profit dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention, and a pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in southern California. He was also an author who wrote the books Love Is Oxygen: How God Can Give You Life and Change Your World and and Wondrous Pursuit.
He was known for being an outspoken advocate for mental health and talked publicly about his own struggle with depression.
He tweeted about his illness in September, “Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety. But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort. He ALWAYS does that.”
Julianne was born and raised in Franklin, TN and married Jarrid in April 2013. The couple has two sons together, Denham and Finch. She is a self-described “stay-at-home-working mom” who raises their two children and works closely with Jarrid.
Following Jarrid’s passing, she posted a heartfelt message on Instagram with a series of photos of her late husband.
“My loving, giving, kind-hearted, encouraging, handsome, hilarious, give the shirt of his back husband went to be with Jesus late last night.” She wrote, “No more pain, my jerry, no more struggle. You are made complete and you are finally free.”
“Suicide doesn’t get the last word. I won’t let it. Your life’s work has lead thousands to the feet of Jesus and your boldness to tell other about your struggle with anxiety and depression has helped so many other people feel like they weren’t alone.”
Like Jarrid, she’s a well known influencer and voice in the Christian community.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. She’s a Writer
Wilson is a writer and an editor in her spare time who writes for her personal blog and for the Christian lifestyle website Live Original.
On her personal blog, she writes posts from a Christian point of view. She posts about life advice, relationship advice, and advice on being a mother. She also posts about mental health and dealing with uncertainty and negative thoughts.
Her blogs all relate to her personal experiences and how readers can learn from her successes and failures.
In her one post for Live Original, she discusses conquering fear through an anecdote about seeing a mouse and how “We unknowingly allow fear to guide us, to make decisions for us and to unfortunately, hold us back from what we were created for.” She then tells readers to place their trust in God’s plans.
She also works as an editor at Live Original.
2. She Runs the Non-Profit Anthem of Hope
Anthem for Hope is a “A faith-centered organization dedicated to amplifying hope for those battling brokenness, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addiction and suicide.”
It was founded by Jarrid who handed the reins over to Julianne to oversee it.
The non-profit offers counseling and resources for people suffering from mental illness including a live chat feature and public speaking from Jarrid. They also have a support group for those in need and a specialized service to help women during pregnancy.
They also offer QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) training and certifications to help those with friends suffering from depression prevent them from committing suicide.
Julianne regularly retweets the messages from Anthem of Hope on her Twitter account. The Anthem of Hope social media accounts are meant to raise awareness for those suffering from mental health disorders and post uplifting messages and urge users to get help if they need it.
“The Team” section of the website lists Jarrid and Julianne as the only two employees.
3. She Met Jarrid Wilson After a Bad Breakup
According to posts on her blog, Julianne was recovering from a bad breakup when she met husband Jarrid.
In a blog from 2014 titled “To the guy who broke my heart”, she writes an open letter to her ex thanking him for treating her poorly.
“You showed me the importance of looking for someone who cared for me enough to work hard, lend a helping hand to those in need, speak with kindness and even do those things you considered “outdated” and “uncool” she wrote, “I don’t hate you, and although I certainly can’t say I miss you, I just had to set free the pain I allowed you to build in my heart so very long ago.”
She also praises Jarrid because “He works hard to provide for our family, isn’t “too cool” to pray with/for me, speaks with grace and treats me like a lady.”
She also wrote about a different relationship in 2016 calling that breakup a “gift from God” writing “Thank you, God, for your gift of failed relationships. For your better plans. For your patience with crazy ol’ girls like me.”
4. She Supports a Christian Charity in Honduras
According to her Instagram posts, Julianne is a supporter of Point of Impact Global Missions (POI), a “faith-based ministry founded in 2006 by David Hamilton of Memphis, TN, USA”
The charity supports two churches, three clinics, three children’s homes, and four children’s programs in Honduras. It’s mission is to “support, empower, and strengthen Hondurans with the Word of God, through the love of Christ.”
She posted a photo of a young man’s legs next to some new shoes and wrote “This little boy got a new pair of shoes through POI Honduras :) #photoaday #may #nosocks”. She also posted a photo from a classroom in Honduras though it’s unclear if she was in Honduras or was sent the photo.
She posted another photo of the Honduran students later in the year and wrote “Thinkin about these sweet babies tonight :) Thankful that they are going to bed with full bellies & will wake up w teachers to guide them not only educationally but spiritually as well.”
5. She’s an Influencer in the Christian Online Community
In addition to running the Anthem of Hope Twitter account and spreading the hashtag campaign #yourlifematters, Wilson posts popular content in the Christian influencer community.
She has almost 68,000 followers on Instagram and 1,100 followers on Twitter. The Anthem of Hope account boasts over 10,000 followers.
She helped her husband go viral with a tweet campaign in response to Alyssa Milano. The actress was quoted as saying that if she hadn’t opted for two abortions in 1993 ‘my life would be completely lacking all its great joys’.
Jarrid responded by starting the hashtag #greatjoys where parents shared photos of their children.
Pastor @JarridWilson celebrates the #GreatJoys of parenthood on social media to counter actress Alyssa Milano’s recent celebration of her #abortions.
Share the #GreatJoys of your children below 👇 👇 👇
The hashtag spread like wildfire throughout the Christian online community. “I don’t hate Alyssa,” Jarrid said at the time, “I want nothing but the best for her, her family, and her career. But I would encourage her, in love, to really re-think the impact her words may have on other people.”
She recently posted another heartbreaking message and video on Instagram about her husband’s passing.
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