Few understand ministry leadership pain. We do.
The Journey to Kineo
OUR MISSION
How does one recover from the hurts, the exhaustion, the demands, and the disappointments of ministry leadership? This question frames the mission of Kineo. There are very few designated places for soul, mind, and body recovery for those who have given their lives so faithfully to the local church.
Kineo’s unique approach brings together the beauty of the rainforest, compassionate-coaching, therapeutically-informed processes, Jesus-centered guidance, and proven renewal-based tools.
Since 2020, over 500 leaders, both women and men, from 14 denominations have walked through our one week renovating experience.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“My time at Kineo has been some of the sweetest times. Dan & Tonya carefully walk through your hurts and empathize with you but they don’t leave you there. Their model is very relational and highly personal and allowed me to experience God in ways I never had before. Whoever you are, however you are feeling, this is for you!”
“This was exactly what we needed. In a place where nature is surrounding you with beauty, I was often reminded of the beauty and faithfulness of our story and our ministry. My wife and I received so much comfort and compassion in our sessions but also stunning illumination into things we had not seen in ourselves. We left with serious clarity and so many concrete tools to guide us into the future.”
“I’m so grateful for my time at Kineo. I came holding a mixed bag of personal and ministry related pain. Our daily sessions skillfully discerned the roots of that pain and nurtured my soul. The beautiful grounds and comfortable rooms helped me disconnect and slow down, and I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever slept as much at I did in those five nights! It was a deeply transformative and restful experience.”
“Our ministry team came to grow together and explore our team dynamics. But we found something much deeper during our stay at Kineo. We found God’s explosive life coursing through our stores and our our hearts. The way Dan and Tonya guided us into this was a work of art. Now, we will leave as not only a growing ministry team, but as more reflective disciples. We are permanently change by this healing experience. ”
Theological Framework
God is Revealed in Jesus. There is mystery around the Divine but our best and fullest glimpse is in the particularity of Christ. What is God like? God is like Jesus. Jesus reveals who God is and what God looks like. If you want to understand God, look at the words, ways, and works of Jesus.
Creation is Beautiful and Broken. Both sin and goodness reside in our souls and in our world. We dwell in the in-between: we bear the image of God, while also carrying the destruction of sin. We must not be afraid to explore our belovedness and our brokenness. History is messy and tragic but headed somewhere. God is renewing, restoring, and reconciling all things.
The Good News is for Everyone. Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, is King. No politician, no pastor, no powerful personality holds our allegiance. The Good News is too big, too beautiful, too expansive, and too subversive. God is inviting all of us to submit to His reign and reorder our lives around his alternative ways. This will put us at odds with the empires of this world.
The Kingdom of God is Real. God’s loving, healing, rescuing reign has been launched by Jesus on earth as in heaven. We do not wait until we get to heaven to experience this, we get to experience this in part now. A table of peace, with Christ as the host, is being built for strangers, foreigners, and even our enemies. We are invited to join in.
Salvation is a Rescuing and Recruiting Mission. Without God’s self-emptying move towards us, we are wanderers, we are homeless. God comes to rescue us from ourselves and from the grip of The Enemy. When we awaken to this rescue, it is simultaneously a recruitment to join God’s mission in the world. We are sent ones.
The Church is a Local Community. We cannot follow the way of Jesus without being interdependent with others, in a particular place. Online connections, podcasts, and books are wonderful but they cannot replace God’s design for discipleship in our lives—in vulnerability and accountability. Community reshapes us through its highs and its lows.
The Gifts are For Us All. Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher are distributed to both men and woman. We believe God needs the whole body working together without favoritism towards one gender over another. We must discern our gifts and seek to grow in maturity in how we use them.
God is Nonviolent. The way of Jesus is the way of love, forgiveness, generosity, peacemaking, and creativity. Jesus does not coerce or control others in his work to change the world. His primary tactic for change is the scandal of self-emptying love. It is clear from the mouth and mission of Christ that retaliatory actions shall not be the actions of God’s people.
The Bible is God’s Story. From Israel, to the early church, to us, the Bible is a God-breathed gift. We sometimes read it literally, sometimes metaphorically, and other times we read it narratively. It is a complex and profound book. We don’t just study the story for meaning, we must live the story to find new depths of meaning. The Bible illustrates for us how to be disciples, on mission, in God's world, in the way of faith, hope, and love.
We are Being Transformed. Daily we are invited into contemplation, repentance, and surrender. This is our pathway to union with the Father, Son, and Spirit. This work of letting go of “old creation” for “new creations” is not forced upon us, rather it is an invitation to us. Certainly, there is an internal resistance to this but also compelling vision pulling us forward.
Embracing the Common Good. “Every good and perfect gift is from above . . . from the father of heavenly lights” (James 1:17). This means that every act of goodness, justice and beauty—no matter who does it—is in some way enabled by God. It is a form of grace. We can learn from all sectors of the world - from clinical psychology, to neuroscience, to nutritionists, to theology. We can discern what might be helpful and what may not be.