ABOUT ELIM RETREATS

What is an "ELIM Retreat"?

An ELIM Retreat is a cost free, six day gathering of global Christian workers, for the purposes of debriefing, personal spiritual assessment/renewal and pastoral care.

What does ELIM mean?

From Exodus 15:27. Israel was in the midst of her wilderness wanderings. The Lord brings His people from a place of spiritual turmoil, at Mara, to a beautiful place of rest at the oasis called ELIM. ELIM also forms our acronym, "Encouraging Leaders In Ministry".

What is the goal of an ELIM Retreat?

Following the Lord's pattern stated above, the goal is to provide the time and occasion for God's servants to move out of spiritual turmoil to recovery and strengthening in Christ's rest. Matthew 11:28-29

Who leads ELIM Retreats?

Henry and Diane Stewart were given the original vision from the Lord for this ministry. Hollis and Mary Chandler have added their considerable gifting to help shape that vision as partners with the Stewarts. Other individuals and couples are in various stages of leadership training.

What is the relationship of ELIM to Barnabas International (BI)?

Henry and Diane Stewart are staff members of Barnabas International. They carry on ELIM Retreat Ministries as their fulfillment of the BI mission statement. Hollis and Mary Chandler, Barnabas applicants, are heading towards full time ministry as ELIM leaders.

What core values undergird ELIM’s model of ministry?

The key factor that determines whether or not a global servant can withstand the stresses of cross cultural service is the strength of his/her personal walk with Jesus Christ. The fruitfulness of Great Commission work is in direct proportion to the spiritual vibrancy of Great Commission workers.

• While ELIM leadership values and learns from a purely medical/psychological model for sin, dysfunction and healing, ELIM's therapeutic orientation runs more towards spiritual formation and pastoral care.
• ELIM's emphasis is in prevention. We do not offer in-depth crisis counseling.
• ELIM believes that there are stress factors and challenges that are unique to the calling of a full time vocational Christian servant.
• ELIM believes in the primacy of the Holy Spirit teaching through the Scriptures as the source for true repentance, recovery, and healing.
• ELIM believes in the wisdom of God discovered when the people of God share together. Hence small group prayer and discussion is a primary strategy in an ELIM Retreat.
• The "schedule" of an ELIM Retreat doesn't presume to offer lots of new skill sets or task orientation. The goal in the Retreat format is to gently encourage spiritual health and assessment, especially as those impacts relationships.
• ELIM believes in a team approach (10-12 people) of varied gifting in the leadership of a Retreat.
• ELIM believes in training and equipping new Retreat leadership so that the number of Retreats offered global workers can grow.
• ELIM believes in the ministry as a training venue for local church leadership in "doing member care well."
• ELIM believes in building vital partnerships with sending churches and mission agencies in integrated approaches to member care.

How is it that ELIM Retreats are "cost free"?

The Retreats are cost free to participants. The only cost they bear is reaching the retreat site. There are 3 reasons why we hold this policy:

1. The historical commitment of BI to offer its ministries cost free.
2. God told us to offer this ministry as a gift, reflecting the "free gift of salvation".
3. Most missionaries don't have discretionary income to spend for the purposes of spiritual renewal.

How many participants attend an ELIM Retreat?

There are 10-20, depending on the location of the Retreat.

Where are the Retreats held?

There are a variety of Retreat sites in the United States and overseas. See "ELIM Retreat Locations" page for a current listing.

How and when did ELIM Retreats begin?

The first two ELIM Retreats were offered in Michigan in 1999, shortly after the Stewarts came on staff with BI. The only answer to the "how" question is that God told us to do it. He made very clear to us that one of His purposes of preserving 1400 acres of Great Lakes shore property in Diane's family for 150 years was so that we could share it with those in full time ministry needing renewal and encouragement.

What is the challenge God has raised up ELIM to address?

5.1% of the global missions force (about 1 in 20) leaves the field every year. 76% of this attrition is for preventable reasons. ELIM's calling is to be a tool God uses to stem this flood of attrition and keep global workers h3 in the Kingdom work.

How does ELIM meet this challenge?

By providing a "safety net" of low key, but intentional spiritual formation and preventative pastoral care, designed to address the causes of attrition taking place among global workers, both expatriate and national.

Defining key terms used above:

• "Low key". We create Retreat environments of rest that speak to the abnormally driven and performance-based motivations of many vocational Christian workers. The Retreat design provides mental and emotional "white space" without obligations to "do and achieve", but instead hear again the "still small voice."
• "But intentional". Rediscovering a capacity to rest in the Life of Another isn't an invitation to sloth. The Retreat gives quiet but clear spiritual challenge and direction, related to the life stories of participants and hosts. This requires effort and intention on the part of everyone, and for most, the discovery or recovery of personal spiritual disciplines. The spiritual goal of ELIM is that tired, overworked, forgotten, depressed, discouraged workers, recover the fact that he or she is the delight of the God of the universe, who knows and loves him.
• "Spiritual formation". The Retreats include specific times of prayer and counsel with Retreat hosts, who are gifted and trained for this sort of ministry. There is group study of the Word, designed to help everyone more deeply understand the personal reality of "Christ in you-the hope of glory." Small group interactive sessions delve the issues of our growth in Christ, and the challenges to this growth inherent in the stresses of Christian service, from the world, our fleshly nature and the evil one. We seek to teach how God superintends His good through all of these challenges, and how a global worker can personalize an honest theology of suffering.

What do you hope is the future of ELIM?

Our furthest edge of vision is the establishment of ELIM centers in strategic locations around the world, supplying a safety net of pastoral care and encouragement for national and expatriate Christian workers. The potential exists to offer at least14 Retreats at the Michigan site. We see ELIM in Michigan becoming a place of training for leadership equipped for cross cultural renewal ministries around the world. We would love to develop a core group ELIM leadership who are able to offer this sort of care in a wide variety of cultural contexts to national Christian workers.

What challenges does ELIM face in seeing this future realized?

1. There is a need to better understand the how to contextualize the principles of soul care so that renewal and spiritual formation ministry has relevance for national missionaries of different cultures.
2. Funding capacity needs to grow if the ministry is going to grow.
3. There is a need for at least three other capable couples to partner with us in this ministry full time, in order for leadership reproduction/ multiplication to occur at a better pace.