Retreat’s focus on ministry leaders

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This article was published 14/05/2015 (3261 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ministry leaders are used to giving of themselves, of their time, and their energies. Sometimes it means lending an ear or a message of encouragement.

But what happens when you leave those responsibilities for a bit, when those who shepherd the flock are being taken care of?

It’s a role-reversal that takes some getting used to, as Sam and Pauline Doerksen has discovered.

“The couples that are coming they’re used to pouring their heart and soul into people, and they find it sometimes very overwhelming to have someone do that for them,” said Pauline.

“For some people, they find it so hard to not clear their dishes, something as simple as that,” she said.

After spending 22 years in an active role in ministry at their New Bothwell church, Sam and Pauline are now ministering to individuals who have also been called to help others.

The Doerksens are the director couple running Focus on the Family’s ministry retreat centre in East Braintree, about to commemorate its first year in operation next month.

Pauline notes slippers are knitted for each guest and one lady attaches a little poem inside.

“We had a guest come in and we said you could pick whatever slippers you want, she just started crying. I said ‘What’s up,’ she said it reminded her of her grandma,” said Pauline.

Sometimes it’s the little gestures that stand out the most.

Kind actions like that have added up for guests who have descended on a gorgeous timber-frame lodge in East Braintree, tucked away from any major highways, for a week of relaxation, fellowship and someone else worrying about the dishes.

The week’s programming is light, with rest the foremost principle. Lunch and dinner are cooked for them. Fellow married couples or single individuals who attend gather at set times. They meet first for an introductory meeting, a few times for a teaching session, and once for a one-on-one session with Sam and Pauline.

Beyond that, their schedules are wiped clean. They can do what they want. That may mean a walk in nature or lounging in the hot tub.

The Doerksens experienced these activities themselves when they visited Focus on the Family’s other centre, the only one in Canada at the time, in Alberta in 2012.

“When we were done, we looked back and thought this was somewhat like an oil change for people in ministry,” recalled Sam. “Not a complete rebuild but it was definitely an oil change, just to get refreshed, rejuvenated.”

Not long after, the couple read in Christian Week that Focus on the Family would open another centre, this one in East Braintree. The Doerksens inquired about volunteering, maybe for one week a year as the host couple for a batch of guests.

When the job opening for director couple came up, they were encouraged to apply and some six months later the position became theirs.

Construction on the facility started in mid-2013, with an opening in June the following year. As the story goes, Focus was half a million dollars short of the 90 percent price tag they needed to begin construction. They were thinking of postponing their project, when a cheque for $500,000 appeared in the mail. “We were very excited to see the Lord’s hand guiding us and reminding us to walk in faith as He leads us,” wrote Randy MacDonald, vice-president of church and community relations at Focus’ Canada branch.

In conversations with guests at the retreat centre known as Kerith Pines, talk of each other’s congregations comes up, but the Doerksens say their priority is the guests. They want to ensure they are doing well in both their ministry lives and outside of it.

“When people come here, it resonates with them, and they’re encouraged to get back out there and keep going,” explains Sam, who spent more than two decades combined as associate pastor and then lead pastor at a church now named Bothwell Christian Fellowship.

The Doerksens have been encouraged themselves. It’s been a new challenge to minister to those who already do. They have also kept busy speaking with many denominational leaders, informing them of the value of a ministry retreat centre, of which they are very few in Canada, for their leaders. The couple said those conversations have been helpful.

The volunteers have been supportive, too.

“When I see the amount of volunteers that pour hours in because they have a heart for people in ministry, that is humbling to see,” said Pauline.

Two of the main volunteer groups are Lauren and Emily Friesen of Steinbach, who lead the host couple volunteers, and John and Marlene Friesen, the facility caretakers, who live next to the cabin.

As the guests’ trip comes to a close, Sam and Pauline say it is evident. They are happy and fast becoming friends.

“By the end of the week there’s an awful lot of laughter happening,” recalls Pauline. “That’s fun to watch.”

To learn more about the Kerith Pines retreat centre in East Braintree, you can visit www.kerithretreats.ca or call 1-800-550-5655.