A healthy family is one of the core foundations of a healthy society. Since we came to this village, we have felt that there is hardly a field more ripe for redemption than that of marriage and family. The advance of the Kingdom of God comes when people encounter the power of God in their life and he redeems their brokenness. Over the last couple of years, we have been working on several fronts to bring change in this part of our community. We have faced tremendous obstacles, which has further cemented the belief that family health is of spiritual importance, not just social.
This year we decided to host a marriage retreat weekend for our community. As usual, it did not feel like it was going well. Planning felt very disorganized. The subjects were unclear. The day before the event we were still unsure if anyone would even come. We committed our work to the Lord and asked him to send the people in whom he wished to work. To me, it felt like we were bracing for a complete flop.
Friday morning at 9:00 most of the chairs were full. The couples who came were very attentive and eager to learn. The opening session was focused on God’s plan for marriage and why it matters. After that we began to press into the subjects found in Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs’ book Love and Respect.
There were some topics that made our attendees uncomfortable. When one of the pastors instructed them to hold their spouse’s hand, many of the men reached out with the stiff awkwardness of someone who had not practiced that movement. When we gave them a questionnaire to ask each other, several couples went off and silently filled them out with their own answers instead of their spouse’s. But through the course of the weekend we saw change taking place. We saw understanding dawn. We saw couples opening up to one another. We saw tears of repentance. If nothing else, they came back for more.
Leading up to the conference, I had doubts. “Will anybody come? Will the subject matter connect with them? Will they see the importance of it?” Most importantly, “Will it make a difference?” It seems that it did.
We are very thankful for the two pastoral couples that came to help teach, Elvin and Gissela Mendez and Esaú and Nicole Nuñez. Their generosity and faith was evident.
The biggest question we got during the Q&A period was “Can we do this again?” By God’s grace, we intend to.
6 Comments
A godly marriage is a Gospel showcase.
Praise God for His continued work in Rus Rus
Praise the Lord for His faithfulness in the planning. The material used is so very good. We had it in our church. Charlene and I went through it before we were married. It reaches into the heart of the lives that are needed.
Blessings b e upon you.
Uncle Tom
Galatians 2;20
You did the preparation and then gave it to God.
This makes me want to cry! Thank you, God, for fighting the battle and making it possible for these families to experience new fruit, and may it bless them, their children and homes, and communities!!
Thanks for continuing to share your story and mission. Best…always, Lou
Love seeing the testimony of God’s love thru faithful men.