There were five of us on the team - the other two being Soo Hoong and Alfred who both work full time in Methodist churches in Singapore and also offer spiritual direction and run retreats.
There were 30 participants. Most were from Singapore with two from Malaysia and one from Cambodia. Most of them were working in various forms of Christian ministry. The culture of Singapore is such that the norm is to work extremely long hours and to have only one day a week "off" - and even that is often taken up with family responsibilities or the overflow of yet more work. So many of the people on retreat were quite exhausted. At least those who come on retreats are already aware of the importance of time out with God to be refreshed and renewed but it is very hard for them to keep this as a pattern in the midst of daily life in such a culture.
For one person close to burnout the scripture that became her lifeline and her freedom was The Message paraphrase of Matthew 11:28-30:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
There's a very good book expanding on every phrase of this text: Rhythms of Grace by Tony Horsfall.
You can look up more information and excellent photos of the retreat centre here. Take the "photo tour" and you'll get a great idea of the wonderful setting and facilities we enjoyed.
