Janene and Rommel have both been discarded and rejected by those who thought they were beyond redemption. However there were those who extended Christian grace, as did our Lord, who restored them for the ministry to His Glory.

They believe that when the shepherd of the flock is refreshed and encouraged, the repercussions are felt throughout every life that he/she touches from that point. There were people who made that difference for them, that is why they are still in active service today.

They desire to be that person for others so they too will not depart from their call to ministry believing that God is asking too much of them. They share a passion for those who are struggling in ministry largely because they have both been victims of burn-out. We have lived the depressive and debilitating disease of discouragement.

They have asked the questions:
Does God care about this situation?
Why is the Christian life and ministry so different and more difficult than what I thought I’d signed up for?

Why Eaglesrest?

The name comes from the book of Isaiah, chapter 40:28-31 where it says:
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Our Target Group

As the target group will be God's wounded Asian laborers of ministry, these verses hold beautiful promises of hope.
Eagles are known for their strength, they are mighty 'warriors' but they still need a place of rest far away from danger, a place where they can evaluate things from a distance. While waiting, an eagle has time to meditate.
Verse 28 tells us that no one can fathom the understanding of God.

Sometimes we feel that no one could possibly understand what we are going through. God assures us that He does.
In verse 29 we are promised ‘strength for the weary’ and an ‘increase of(the) power (of the Holy Spirit) for the weak’.

Verse 31 likens the result or fulfillment being evident as despair makes way again to hope in the LORD and He renews our strength enabling us to ‘soar on wings like eagles’.
*The wounded are just eagles in rest mode, being renewed and restored.

Pastors and Missionaries, by nature, are pioneers. "The tendency is just to push, push, push, to the point where burnout is a fairly common thing. They're doing it out of dedication, a love for the Lord, a passion for the lost, a love for people, but often, don't know how to put necessary boundaries in place and have balance in their lives."

The term "burnout" was first coined by New York psychologist Herbert J. Freudenberger, who was involved in the free clinic movement in California in the 1970s, to describe severe drug addicts. Freudenberger, who experienced burnout himself, began to study burnout in physicians, clergy, childcare workers and others.

He began to observe similar problems and symptoms and came to define burnout as "a state of depleted physical and mental resources." A burned-out person becomes fatigued and frustrated by striving to reach an unrealistic goal or by devotion to a cause, a way of life, or a relationship that has failed to produce the expected reward.

Christina Maslach, of psychology at the University of California-Berkeley, is a pre-eminent writer and researcher in the field of burnout and stress describes it as follows:
"Burnout is the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do," the authors' write.
"It represents erosion in values, dignity, spirit, and will—an erosion of the human soul. It is a malady that spreads gradually and continuously over time, putting people into a downward spiral from which it is hard to recover."

The major symptoms of burnout said professor Maslach are: physical and emotional exhaustion; cynicism, which is an attempt to protect oneself from exhaustion and further disappointment; and finally ineffectiveness. The opposite of burnout is a positive state of well-being, enthusiasm and motivation.

_{*Taken from The Truth About Burnout: How organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it, by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter.}