Who pastors the pastor? We do!

October 15, 2020

Dear Pastor, Missionary, Minister, and Spouse,

Everyone knows that when they lay down at night, they may be burdened with cares of family, work, finances, and life.  Not everyone knows that when their pastor’s head hits the pillow, it is with these same cares, but also multiplied by each sheep in his flock.

On top of that, ministers often battle fierce spiritual warfare, extremely tight finances, all while leading a mostly volunteer team and sometimes a troubled congregation or leadership structure.

Missionaries, you are the same but also deal with additional cross-cultural difficulties, including communication barriers, distance from families, loneliness, and travel complexities.

From experience, Katie and I humbly say pastoring is the hardest and most important job in the world.  So, thank you—for serving Jesus and serving the world.

In this hectic, broken world longing for its King to come, sometimes ministers or missionaries need a place to slow down, reconnect with God and their spouse, and in some cases have a skillful counselor to help them restore perspective, heal hurts, and have their strength renewed.

We feel called by God to provide a safe place for ministers to process the pressures of ministry.  In fact, our passion is to lavish the love of God on the servants of God—including you—so you can be refreshed to better fulfill the call of God on your lives.

Welcome to HeartSpring – A Place Hearts Are Refreshed
Imagine arriving at a beautiful but inviting home overlooking a lake in a quiet wooded West Georgia neighborhood.  You’re led to a luxurious guest space with private entrance, bedroom, bath and keeping room.  Over an elegant dinner, you feel welcome, valued as an honored guest, and as comfortable as in your own home.  The only thing missing is the stress you left behind. It may take you a few days to unwind, but you have been encouraged to stay for at least 3 nights.

The first night your hosts, David & Katie, share their story, and you recognize similarities to your own struggles in ministry. The next day you sleep in (the first time in too long), enjoy a delicious breakfast prepared for you, and go for a walk.  In the afternoon (after a nap!), you’re feeling talkative, and you launch into your story, which you’ve been encouraged to share.  The attentiveness, grace, and caring hospitality make it really easy to open up.  You find it refreshing to have someone show so much intentional kindness to you, since you are the encourager in most of your relationships.

Over the next few days and nights, the Spirit and the Reids cooperate together to provide just what you needed, whether it’s navigation through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, clarity for the next ministry challenge, or simply a rest and remembrance that Jesus’ yoke is easy and His burden is light.  At HeartSpring, your heart is refreshed.

Here to Serve
Katie and I would love to have the opportunity to meet and provide refreshment to you. Who are we?

We planted a church and pastored it for 10 years.  We have been married 25 years, and God planted the seeds in each of our hearts to encourage and support ministers who are in the trenches even before we were married. In our full-time ministry experience, we had a front row seat to the amazing power of the Gospel to change lives through the work of a pastor sold out to his calling to undershepherd Jesus’ flock.

But we also weathered clinical depression, periods of burnout, church tragedies, economic downturns, leadership failures, loneliness, and the stress that full time ministry puts on raising a family.  Through it all, we learned that Jesus is faithful to see us through every challenge.  We experienced “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37).

Could you and your spouse benefit from a Refreshment Retreat?
We believe whole-heartedly if you come, you’ll be glad you did. We want to make it very easy for you if you want to come. Scroll down to see your next steps.