Elim Retreats
Come unto me... and I will give you rest.

ABOUT ELIM RETREATS


The Heart and Vision of ELIM

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.