WHAT IS A MINISTRY SABBATICAL?

RMIOU defines a Ministry Sabbatical as a period of time when ministry leaders set aside the leader’s normal responsibilities for the purpose of rest and renewal toward sustained excellence in ministry. Often the Lord calls them away to focus on their own Restoration Journey, such as to focus on their impending Marriage Restoration or for deeper healing.

A Ministry Sabbatical is not an extended vacation nor is it an academic sabbatical that normally involves extensive study. A Ministry Sabbatical is a release from the routine of the physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual well-being of the ministry leader.

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SABBATICALS

The word sabbatical is taken from the term Sabbath. The Hebrew word for Sabbath means to “close or rest” and is connected with the last day of Creation when God rested. (Genesis 2:3) God used both models and commands Sabbath rest for his people. “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

The Lord affirmed the importance of rest saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27-28 The Biblical example of the Lord’s own frequent withdrawal to a quiet place to meditate, pray and be renewed is a model for us to follow. In His ministry, the constant demands of people led the Lord to step away on a regular basis.

WHY IS A SABBATICAL IMPORTANT?

The Lord led us to offer a Sabbatical to any of our ministers to take to avoid a state of severe ministry burnout:

• Continual spiritual growth brought about by periods of rest and renewal, with time devoted to simply spending time with Him, which is vital toward being an effective minister.

• Rapid changes and continual growth in EW easily increases the likelihood of burnout without periods of rest and renewal—time spent alone with the Lord.

• And when a minister is experiencing burnout finding it difficult to stay within the Ministry Teams Guidelines, this struggle will make their ministering reflect their lack of time with the Lord—that often results in a minister leaving, or worse, relying on their own “works” and this shows up in fluff and becoming overly “religious.”

• In addition, a Ministry Sabbatical also provides an opportunity for women who are on their Restoration Journey to examine their dependency on the ministry team and consider expanding their own potential future, to focus on their own ministries "for such a time as this" to "save many people alive."

Sabbatical Testimonies

During the last Sabbatical Erin took, she return sharing her praise saying. "I have to confess that the first 2 days I thought I would go stir crazy, so I called on Him and asked Him to help me because I knew He'd called me to take this time away from ministry. Of course, He did just that! He told me to think of Mondays and Tuesdays as just another Saturday and Sunday, the same for Thursdays and Fridays—just another Saturday and Sunday. Wednesdays I'd been taking off at His request, so that was easy.

"By the third day, I was feeling so restful! It's interesting because it's much like fasting—everything always becomes easier on the third day! I realized I was never really at a place of rest, not to the point I needed to be. And to my surprise too, I realized that a skin irritation I was convinced was food-related, was actually due to stress I never really felt but I was clearly under!!

"It took about a week before I began to envision so many amazing horizons ahead for my ministry. I refrained from writing anything at all, but if I couldn't stop thinking about it, I made a short, one-line note on my phone. That helped me to let go of that thought. And surprisingly, He never really led me to go through my list once I returned.

"The most amazing part of my Sabbatical was resting in Him, falling in love with my HH—truly like the honeymoon amidst all the chaos in the world. “He MAKES ME lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3

"After this experience, I honestly hope and pray He leads me to take more time off. It served me well but also my team members who were able to carry on without me and keep the tasks when I returned—allowing me for more new ministering opportunities I would not have had without taking this Sabbatical."

Hello Beloved  Lota:

I hope you are very well, I can just write now because I was in final exams, as you know on the 24th my Sabbatical at RMI ended, but I did not send a form because my Beloved guided me to take another course which involve my whole family in a beautiful ministry that will be led by my husband and me! We are happy for such a beautiful gift from God: His love, my husband, my children, my sister healed (her sister had cancer and now healed) and much more than He has done in these 2 months while taking my Sabbatical.

I wanted to thank you for every detail that you have had with me under the guidance of our Beloved, many beautiful things happened during my rest—one of them is the beautiful teaching that my Beloved gave me about putting my trust in Him and leaving everything in His hands. Today I am very grateful to you for always urging me not to run a person but to run into the arms of the Lord.

I will always keep the most beautiful memories of my days at RMI, I say goodbye happy to know that I gave
the best of me, for my BELOVED in RMI, and I met beautiful people like You, I learned something from all of them, came away with my own ministry with my husband and that is the most important thing.
Many blessings,

With love,

~ Ziva in Peru RESTORED