To be a conduit of God’s blessings, encouragement and refreshing to touch His servants.

“Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. . . .I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ…..Prepare a guest room for me, be-cause I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.”

Philemon 7, 20, 22

 Bob Russell, lead pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY for 40 years, conducts monthly, four-day retreats for ministers.  Bob said, “While these retreats meet a great need, they only scratch the surface.  We need someone to go alongside the pastors.”

Steve Miles from Church Development Fund travels to churches all over the Midwest and he said “What we need is someone to ‘go alongside’ the pastor.”

Refresh Ministry seeks to “go alongside” the pastor and his wife, letting them know they are appreciated by people all over the nation, but especially those nearby.  Why? Pastors bear the weight of responsibility for people and their souls (Hebrews 13:17).  It is often demanding and depleting, as they are “on call” at all times. In times of grief, they have to have the right word to say.  As people deal with crisis in their lives, they want the pastor to bring a word from God, and the pastor is God’s representative.

Pastors constantly live in a glass house.  They know it is impossible to please everyone, yet they still feel the need to try. As they lead the church, they sometimes have the responsibility of working with others who have differing views of how to accomplish their ministry. Refresh Ministry wants pastors to know that God sees what they are doing and He wants to say “thank you.”