Partnerships Are a Key Part of Building a Movement

Pastors and missionaries are servants of God who work to transform lives with biblical principles. FamilyLife Global has a heart is to support their dedication with specialized training and resources related to families. The purpose is to equip pastors and missionaries with the tools they need to strengthen their own families, the families of their congregation, and the families of their communities. The biblical blueprints for building strong marriages are applicable in every country and congregation in the world and provide the foundation for a growing, thriving church and community.

One example of this partnership is Equator Ministries lead by Kent and Gulni Leander who use HomeBuilders® to encourage couples and strengthen marriages in Ecuador. Rodrigo and Rosita Porras, FamilyLife speakers from Quito, Ecuador, presented a “Day to Remember” marriage conference organized by Kent and Gulni.  More ministry occurs by training leaders like the Leanders who are already at work in their area of influence.

Trinidad and Tobago 

FamilyLife in Trinidad and Tobago was launched several years ago through the leadership of Steve and Cecile Mohammed and the influence of a key business couple, Subesh and Debbie Ramjattan. Each year the Trinidad team conducts a national Weekend to Remember conference.

Two years ago after their annual Weekend to Remember conference, FamilyLife Global staff conducted a Movement Maker training with the Trinidad team. One of training activities involved having the team evaluate each stage in the family life cycle and identify the issues and needs unique to their culture. The second part of the activity focused on how to address those issues and needs. The family life cycle covers: independence, marriage, parenting, empty nest and retirement years. 

From that group activity, the Trinidad team has launched several ministry initiatives and outreaches to address the different needs in their culture. One is a monthly event called “Mastering Family Building Series.”  These short, interactive seminars on marriage and parenting are open to the public and address the specific stages of the family cycle. At one meeting, over 100 kids aged 10-18 came with their parents. 
One couple on the team has developed a weekly two-hour radio program called “Love of a Lifetime.” The owner of a secular radio station invited them to address family and marriage issues.

Another couple on the team launched a HomeBuilders movement and has already seen 150 couples involved this past year. One of their groups was a HomeBuilders for engaged couples. Often, their meetings would go until 1:30 AM with the couples eager to learn more.  The Trinidad team is making a difference!

Latin America

FamilyLife has partnered with HCJB Global on this project.  HCJB is assisting with translation, production and distribution of the radio program from their headquarters in Quito, Ecuador.  HCJB also helped in obtaining the actors who voice the parts of Dennis and Barbara Rainey and Bob Lepine.  The program is 15 minutes in length.

Vida en Familia Hoy can be heard on radio stations in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Listener comments:

"Vida en Familia Hoy has brought a huge blessing.  It has inspired and strengthened the faith of many people.  We thank you for being such a blessing and we hope to work together for a long time.  We bless you and thank God for your lives.”
—Radio Salem, México

“This is a super program. It’s real.  There are things that need to change so that we can reach people who are used to moving quickly and have a different worldview; and that is Vida en Familia Hoy.  It reaches, it reaches, it reaches.  Thank God for this program.”
—Radio Municipal, Perú

Guatemala

Esdras and Rosita Perez, FamilyLife staff, have a new HomeBuilders group they are leading for deaf couples. The couples cannot hear or talk, but with the help of an interpreter, they are being helped with their problems.

Equador

A New Style of Life in Ecuador
“Despite having 17 years of marriage, we had not understood the importance of the rescue of the family. We appreciate very much the training we received to guide other military families in our beloved Ecuador.”

A pilot project for the strengthening of 120 families in the San Eduardo Base began with marriage seminar workshops planned by Alfredo and Amparo Figueroa—“The Five Threats to Marriage” and “How to Resolve Conflict.”

They decided to follow up this project by selecting ten couples trained as facilitators to provide care to 20 marriages that were having serious conflicts. They used the HomeBuilders Couples Series title Building Your Marriage. As a result, from November 2007 until June 2008, cases of intra-family abuse, have considerable decreased according to the Department of Housing Prosecutor.

Parallel to this project, the New Life Training Center was begun with 15 military couples. They were trained in basic aspects of how to share their faith. This training helped develop three additional leader couples. This new project is called “A New Way of Life” and ministers to the families of the Armed Forces of Ecuador. It includes clubs for couples and young people which help improve family relationships. Another result is improved performance and potential of each military person serving our society. “The strength of a nation is in the strength of their families” is the motto for the Armed Forces. That is why in the coming months, there will be more FamilyLife workshops for couples.

A November marriage seminar for 400 couples will be presented with the principles of the Word of God and how to restore and strengthen marriages. Plans for continued growth will be through their involvement in HomeBuilders small groups beginning next year. We are preparing facilitator couples from the New Life Training Center to lead groups of seven to ten couples. This is a dream come true for God to be in the Navy of Ecuador providing eternal principles for homes.

Chile

Marriage Conference a Great Success!
The first FamilyLife Conference for Chile took place in Santiago in 2006.  Thirty-one couples from two churches and the community of Lonquen participated in "A Day to Remember".  During that weekend these couples were treated to talks on The Five Threats to Marital Unity, The Roles of the Husband and Wife in Marriage, Sexual Intimacy in Marriage, Resolving Conflicts in Marriage, and The Marriage Pact: Understanding the Secret of Marital Harmony.  After each session the couples were given projects to implement what they learned.  Couples spoke highly of how the conference met a need in their marriage to pull away from the business of everyday life and talk about issues important to having a strong marriage.

The Church of Lonquen that sponsored the conference continues to involve people who came to that conference in HomeBuilders small groups.  Seven couples at the conference committed to meet in small groups to discuss the contents of the conference.  The pastor of this church located in an affluent area said, "Marriage conferences like this one and the small groups studies that follow are some of the most effective ways to reach out to people here in this community."  Chileans value family and since many families and marriages are in crisis these days, the FamilyLife Marriage conferences that are based on Biblical values and a Christ-centered approach to marriage are a great way to serve the community and reach out.

Mexico

How God Used a Healed Marriage
Antonio and Dolores faced significant real-life adjustments when they first were married in Cancun, Mexico.  They were both in a routine of independent living for several years prior to marrying.  Their independence led to significant problems in communication.  The problems were so severe that Dolores concluded that divorce was the only solution. 
 
They began meeting with a missionary couple, John and Shirley Wind, who gave them godly counseling and introduced them to the HomeBuilders Couples Series.  Antonio and Dolores worked through their issues of poor communication skills and self-centeredness.  They began to realize that not only did God have a blueprint for marriage; He also had a plan and a purpose for marriage.  They really were challenged and changed by the blueprints for marriage they found in the HomeBuilders studies. 
 
Dolores said:  "God used the HomeBuilders studies to heal our marriage relationship and gave us a new pattern for communication.  Our marriage would never have survived without godly counseling and the HomeBuilders materials."
 
So how does God use a "healed marriage"?  Antonio and Dolores lead  HomeBuilders groups. "We see the results of marriages that are being strengthened."  Antonio and Dolores are part of the FamilyLife leadership team for the city of Cancun.  They have joined with other couples to train more couples to be HomeBuilders leaders and to help organize and host Weekend to Remember events and exposure events in the city.
 
Editor's note:  John and Shirley Wind attended Global Outreach training in Little Rock in 2004 and City Ministry Team training in Guatemala in 2005.  God used them to build a FamilyLife team of volunteers in Mirada, Mexico.  The FamilyLife team in Mirada then helped to start another FamilyLife team in Cancun.  The Global Outreach strategy for launching spiritual movements really equips couples to reach out to other couples to help make "every home a godly home".

San Salvador

Movement Making in Latin America

"Only as small-group spiritual movements multiply abundantly
is the Great Commission likely to be fulfilled."  -Steve Douglas, CCCI

Latin America is experiencing the tremors of spiritual movements in many ways.  One of our international representatives flew to Latin America to work with Leonel Motta in several diverse ministry activities.

Movement Maker training with Pastors

Manuel and Ceci Avendano attended City Ministry Directors in 2005 and made a 3-5 year strategy to expand their outreach to families.  When they returned to El Salvador they recruited a team of couples--all pastors from churches in San Salvador. 

They gathered this team of 11 couples and helped them develop an outreach ministry to families in their churches and communities.  At the end of the Movement Maker training each couple presented their five-year plan using FamilyLife resources and strategies.  They caught the vision of building a spiritual movement throughout in the city of San Salvador and to other regions in El Salvador.

The Avendanos also hosted a parenting seminar (35 attended) plus two seminars for men and women (97 attended).  The good news is that Manuel and Ceci were not the lead couple for each of these events.  They had brought together a team, trained them and then delegated these events to each of the couples.

On the College Campus

The moral climate on the campus of The University of Jose Matias Delgado was wide open to casual sex...not just between boyfriend and girlfriend, but between students just hanging out together. At the invitation of Professor Stella de Arias, Gabe Buchholtz presented a four-hour lecture series to 50 students using the Before You Leap seminar material as a guest lecturer. 

As a result, 27 students asked for follow-up information, to attend additional seminars, and to participate in small group discussions--all led by Campus Crusade student leaders and staff.  They really wanted to know how God's principles could change their lives and their lifestyles.  These students have a great interest to learn how to develop lasting relationships and they have a great need to hear the gospel.  Before You Leap covers it all!