Sabbatical - Refresh and Recharge
After having served 12 years as a Methodist pastor in Grace Methodist Church, it was time to take a rest and a break to refresh and recharge. I am thankful that MCS allows pastors to take Sabbatical Leaves. After discussing with my family, I applied for it and was granted one year’s Sabbatical for 2021.
What is a Sabbatical? Briefly, it is a year of paid leave to rest. It follows the concept of the Sabbath. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word “Shabbat”, literally meaning “to cease” or “to stop”.
In Genesis 2:2 we can see that God worked 6 days and rested on the 7th day.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
And in Exodus 20:8-11, the 4th commandment was about keeping the Sabbath holy. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Therefore, it is HOLY TO REST. We often squeeze ourselves tirelessly, feeling the pang of guilt when we stop to rest while others were busy with work. But God reminds us, it is right to rest. It is good to rest. Keep the Sabbath and rest, and use it as a time to honour God.
Many have asked me what do I intend to do for my Sabbatical? Would I be writing a book? Or do I plan to go for further studies? None of the above. Instead, I planned out a 4 R’s programme of “Rest”, “Refresh”, “Reflect” and “Reach Out”.
Rest – To just rest and recharge. It was quite refreshing to start January 2021 on a quiet note. My phone was silent for the most part, with no frenetic pings and notifications on my WhatsApp. I am also able to find time to rest more, physically and mentally.
Refresh – To refresh my relations with my family. I owe a lot to my wonderful family for supporting me through my pastoral ministry. They have sacrificed much so that I can focus on my ministry. Over the years, I have neglected them. I am very thankful to God for them and intend to spend most of my Sabbatical with them.
Right off the bat in January 2021, I oversaw the renovations of our flat. We had lived there for 13 years and it was time to “refresh” the house to meet the demands of my kids who wished to have their own rooms etc.
I also spent more time with my wife, going for lunches, shopping, and exercises together. We recently found out that we are able to hike from Bukit Panjang to MacRitchie and we have been doing that regularly.
Reflect – To spend time in spiritual reflection. Pre- Covid, I had planned to go overseas for a spiritual retreat. God willing, I would still be able to do that in Chiang Mai later in 2021.
Reach Out – To reach out to others. Despite the Sabbatical being a time of rest, I also intend to use my time to reach out to others. I have signed up as a volunteer to help deliver food to the needy and also availed myself for preaching assignments in churches. God willing, if I can go Chiang Mai for my retreat, I also intend to visit Rev Cassandra Lee and volunteer in the mission field in Thung Yao.
I count myself greatly blessed to be able to enjoy this time of Sabbatical rest. Not many people can have the opportunity to be paid to rest, so to speak. That being said, we must still endeavour to find time to take our own Sabbath, find rest and honour the Lord during that time of rest.
Rev Andy Goh
Elder, Chinese Annual Conference
(On 1 year Sabbatical Leave)