When I was a new Christian, I remember going to camp meetings and revival services where the preacher would say, “I would rather burn out for Jesus than rust out for the devil.”  In over twenty years in the ministry I have seen and heard of many sad situations.  Some preachers burn out and quit or end up with a heart attack at age 43.  Others I have sadly ended their ministry in a shipwreck of immorality.  At the same time I have seen those that, as Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV), “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”  There are those that are still in the fight.  An evangelist in his seventies, a pastor that has pastored the same church he planted 53 years ago, and many others are not only an encouragement to me but a challenge to keep going.  I believe these examples have neither burnt out for Jesus nor rusted out for Satan.  No, they chose another option – to burn a steady flame for Jesus.

Things are different on the Mission Field

Life and ministry on the foreign mission field presents many challenges on so many different levels, and having a family raises the number of challenges exponentially.  It has been said that the first term is spent adapting and the second term is when the work starts.  I remember when we first arrived in Haiti.  We had to build our house, and we could only stay in the country for ninety days at a time before we had our permit to stay (kind of like a residence visa).  So we were in Haiti ninety days building a house, trying to learn the culture and language not to mention on the job training in construction.  At the end of ninety days we packed up and went back to the States to continue raising our support.  After ten weeks or so back to Haiti we went.  We did that for a year and then were able to apply for our permit to stay.  The big advantage we had was that we were going to work along veteran missionaries that were already established on the field.  With that advantage we were able to plant two churches in our first term.  So there are definite advantages to a team mentality (future article in the works).  It is easy to head into burnout quickly if you are not careful – and not even realize it.

What does Burnout Look Like

1. You do not care about things anymore.
2. You are critical of everyone.
3. You can’t seem to get rested.
4. You never seem to get a “good night’s sleep.”
5. You are irritated at everyone around you for the smallest of reasons.
6. The “straw that broke the camel’s back” mentality.

Are you getting the picture?  Do any of these sound like you?

How do you Avoid Burnout in the Ministry

There are many books and blogs on the subject, and I do not claim to be an expert on the subject.  All I can do is to tell you what I do.

First, let me explain the clinched fist syndrome as it was explained to me.  If you clinch your fist as long and as tight as you can, you will not be able to hold it forever like that.  Loosen it and relax it and then clinch it again.  To apply that to your life, constant activity can cause damage.  When I was working two jobs, I knew that if I had to go from my 8 hour job right to my next job for a 48 hour shift I might not get but a few hours of sleep in 72 hours; but that was ok because I could go home and sleep for a full 12 hours after that.  I could not keep up the few hours of sleep forever, but I could do it for three days.  The same thing applies here on the field.  When we prepare to go on furlough, we have to shut down the house and pack things up for several months.  I don’t care if I have to go to bed at 4am and get back up at 5am, because I know I have a 4 hour flight that I can get some sleep.  Here in Haiti we do not plan VBS back to back for the different churches over the whole summer.  We try to stagger them so we can have a few days of down time between each event.  So the first principle is to schedule down time.

Secondly is to have some accountability other than your spouse.  I cannot tell you how good it feels when a pastor friend of mine emails me and says, “I read your recent prayer letter and by all that you are doing, I have to ask if you are taking time for your wife and kids and for yourself?”  I could have gotten mad, but I realize his love and concern for me and my family and his desire for our ministry to burn faithfully for Jesus Christ.  My pastor contacts us on a weekly basis and keeps tabs on us in many different areas.  I appreciate this type of deep friendship and accountability.  Find someone you have respect for and ask them to ask the hard questions in order to keep you accountable for how you spend your time. It is necessary to have someone on the outside looking in to help you recognize the danger signs of burn out in the ministry.

The third principle is do not neglect your time with the Lord.   In a previous post (Time management on the Mission field part 2) I made mention of Mary and Martha, and Martha was busy working and not worshiping at the feet of Jesus.  I have to pull myself back from doing Christian things to actually being a Spirit-filled Christian.  Something I do is keep a journal in which I write all kinds of things.  Mainly it helps me to keep track of things I get from the Word of God such as sermon ideas, life applications, ideas for devotions, etc.  I also use this as a type of graph.  If I see that I am not having much spiritual insight for a few days, I know it is time to switch some things up and spend more time with the Lord.

Fourth is to get help before it is too late.  As men, we want to appear as the spiritual giants that can conquer all.  When in reality, we all have feet of clay.  Hebrews 12:2 is plain to say that we all have a sin that will throw us off course quicker than other sin.  Reach out to someone for help or take a vacation before you implode.  I am not advocating a sabbatical every six months, but tell someone that you need time away.

I again admit that I am not an expert on this subject nor is this a complete list.  With that being said I conclude by saying don’t let the balance tip in the wrong direction and cause you to burn out before you really get started.

Serving Jesus,

HGP3