Oceania

Australia

Love that Lasts--Australia's new marriage conference targets the unchurched
By Lynn Menhennitt, Australia FamilyLife staff 

The divorce rate in Australia has steadied—that’s good news. However, 75% of Australians under the age of 35 have never been married, over 900,000 couples are cohabiting rather than marrying, and almost one third of our nation’s children are being born to unmarried couples. 

Those facts are concerning enough, but consider this: 60% of Australians do not even know someone who is an active churchgoer, let alone truly following Jesus. A research campaign into the condition of “the church” in Melbourne, a city of four million, discovered that on average less than three people per church per year are becoming believers in our 10,000 churches across the greater metropolitan area. In the 34 and under age group, only 4% attend church. Our challenge in FamilyLife was how to reach out to this demographic who would never really consider attending something offered by a church.

In response to this, FamilyLife Australia has been on the move with a new weekend marriage conference called “Love that Lasts—a relationship getaway” designed to reach out to the general public—particularly unchurched couples (married or cohabiting). We piloted our first event in Melbourne the first weekend of June for 34 couples. The conference covers topics like resolving conflict, sexual intimacy, communication, and roles. Sessions are covertly built on biblical principles with the final session on Sunday morning offering a personal testimony and a gentle challenge to faith.

The pilot event was a success, and many attendees shared how the conference had positively affected them:
 
“We came with a huge issue that had been boiling for some weeks. This weekend gave us the time, space, frame of mind, and motivation to communicate, forgive, and work on some solutions. It was a gift in the midst of some really hard times. Thank you.” 

“The topics have prompted so much discussion on issues we have not talked about before. Great preparation for married life.”      

“It has made me see three things I am doing that are damaging our relationship: the ways I react, the ways I communicate, and the ways I critically focus on the 20% negative instead of the 80% fantastic attributes my husband has.”

One of our staff chatted with a young woman during the weekend who shared that she was raised in a Christian family but had spiritually drifted over the years—she described herself as a “heavy-drinking party girl.” As a result of this weekend she now plans to reconsider her relationship with God, and she expressed interest in being involved with our ministry so that she could do something positive for others. She is now on a journey to discover what being a Christian is all about.

Two more relationship getaways are scheduled during August—one in New South Wales and the other in West Australia. The conference is generating interest in many places, so we are now making plans for 2012 in a number of locations around the country.

For more information about this conference and for details on upcoming events, visit www.lovethatlasts.com.au.

New Zealand

A weekend, a dog, and a marriage changed   
by Andy Bray

A couple attended the Weekend to Remember in Rotorua, New Zealand, in July who attracted a lot of interest because of the beautiful, friendly Labrador they brought with them. They stationed themselves at the very back of the auditorium—my guess, to “be out of the way.” Everyone, including our team, wanted to pat the luxurious coat of the dog. To do so meant having to speak to the couple. 

My word, the challenges that faced this young married couple. The reason for the dog? He was blind. She his care giver and main bread winner, but she was also suffering from depression and burn-out. We heard how they were staying in a caravan down at the cheapest campground, which in the bad weather meant wading through numerous puddles before reaching their car.
 
Our hearts went out to them, so we offered to treat them by putting them up in the hotel for a night. They were over the moon! We had time during the weekend to hear more about their struggles and tried to encourage them.
 
Some weeks later, we were holding a Day to Treasure in Wanganui. One of the couples on our team was attending (they also went to the Rotorua conference). They ran into our couple with the dog while getting a quick meal at McDonalds. They told our FamilyLife couple how they’d gone home and watched the “Power” DVD that we give every couple as they leave. They said they watched the video and straight away he prayed to receive Christ—an answer to prayer for his Christian wife.
 
They also wrote us a letter: “We want to thank all those involved in the Weekend to Remember in Rotorua in July. This was an amazing weekend, unforgettable. A huge learning curve. In my family there isn’t one first marriage that has not ended in the last two generations. This weekend has taught us both skills we have never had and helped us grow together. It will have a lasting impact. On our return home we watched the DVD Power session that you gave us as a gift, and my husband gave his life to the Lord! This has changed our lives in so many ways. It has impacted our marriage and also led to my husband’s salvation.”

New Zealand

Although the first couple of years of marriage were at times a little turbulent, Steve and Leanne Hooper settled into a comfortable relationship that they felt was pretty good. They had been married for two years when they attended a Weekend to Remember® in Auckland, New Zealand. Although they had a good marriage, the conference showed them what was really possible.

“After attending the weekend, we came away with a purpose and a plan for marriage that would ensure our relationship was better than just ‘good’!” says Steve.

Working at the bank, Steve spent a lot of time in the loans department doing settlements. “What I found was that a significant portion of the settlements I was doing were for couples who were separating—people who found themselves in a position where they had to sell their assets and split the money; half would go to him and half would go to her. This really disturbed me because I felt like I was indirectly helping these couples to separate, and I wished there was something I could do.”

Volunteering with FamilyLife seemed like the perfect opportunity to help other couples have a great relationship.

Although volunteering was great, God had something bigger in mind for them. It wasn’t long before Steve and Leanne felt God leading them to give up their careers at the bank and join the ministry of FamilyLife full time, where they would be required to raise their own financial support.

“For me to leave my secure, paying job and move to a ‘by faith’ system... that was a big step,” Steve says. “But then every time I opened my Bible, God would show me a verse like, ‘Do not worry about tomorrow’ or ‘Consider the birds of the air, or the flowers of the field... God looks after them; how much more will He look after you?’ I eventually ran out of excuses.”

Since 1990, FamilyLife New Zealand has organized hundreds of events with thousands of  people in attendance, many of whom have prayed to receive Christ or rededicated their lives and families to God as a result of the events.

The numbers are impressive, but it’s all about the individual changed lives—like one couple who was planning to separate on the Monday following the conference, yet was restored in one weekend when they allowed God to come into their lives. Their little boy told them afterwards with tears in his eyes that he couldn’t stop smiling because he knew something was different.

Steve and Leanne have also noticed the impact FamilyLife continues to have on their own marriage. “Every time we run a FamilyLife event, we ourselves are again reminded of something we can get back on track with,” says Leanne. “What a privilege to be surrounded by this positive input continually!”God is using Steve, Leanne, and the New Zealand FamilyLife team to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of couples every year.

Testimonies from a marriage conference:

“I’m writing to say a huge thank you for an amazing weekend.  We were in such a traumatic stage that we wondered if we would still be together by the time the conference was held. During lunch on Sunday, my husband turned to me and said. ‘I will never leave you.’  They are words I have longed to hear and I was quite overcome.  I can now relax in my love for him, knowing that in the hard times we will stick together.”

“I commend and encourage you to keep speaking at these seminars.  Your voices are needed.  The strength you demonstrate to positively impact couples is truly inspirational.  We have family members who need your message.  I will be canvassing them actively to sign up to attend a weekend.  Thank you for staying the course."

Fiji

Before You Leap Singles conference in Fiji--Impacting the next generation!

• 28 students Prayed to receive Christ 
• 21 Rededicated their lives to Christ and prayed to receive the Holy Spirit 
• 50 made commitments to purity

Comments from youth conferees:

“I need to think first before opening my heart to someone; to pray for my life and the life of my future spouse; to put God first; there are consequences to bad relationships.”

“Seminar has been an eye opener – appreciate the frank talk.”

“Enabled me to be more careful in my future decision making; I’ve already had boyfriends and realize that most of the things I did were wrong and honestly regret them.”

“Taught me importance of knowing each other well, setting priorities right, gifting my purity to my spouse.”  

“I was challenged about having relationships; the seminar has specified that God has a plan for us already about our future so He knows about our future spouse.”