Western Europe

FamilyLife Italy

by Jayna Richardson

Franco and Luisa Bosio are using FamilyLife conferences and materials throughout Italy in creative ways, and they’re seeing good results. Last year, they helped organize conferences in six cities including Biella, Fiuggi, and Milan and conducted a summer camp for families. They are hoping to make these events more and more evangelistic to draw unbelievers and see marriages taken to the next level.

“It is a blessing for us to speak on such an important theme for every couple,” says Luisa.

The Bosios were first introduced to FamilyLife in 1998, when they attended a Weekend to Remember organized by their church. The seed was planted in them to help build godly marriages and families in their country. In 2003, they began actively working with FamilyLife.

The family camp in August had 350 participants. Franco led all of the meetings while Luisa helped with secretarial and administrative work. During the week while the parents attended sessions, the children attended their own camp for adolescents with the theme “Acknowledge the talents God gave you.”

“At the end of the camp the general feedback was very positive. There were some non-Christians among them who gave their life to Christ, and we had three guys from a Church in Rome who decided to be baptized,” says Luisa.

Franco and Luisa also use HomeBuilders groups as follow-up courses to the conferences. “We are grateful to God because two couples began a spiritual walk in our church and decided to get baptized. So at the end of July, two couples that attended our FamilyLife conferences got baptized together with others in our church. One of these couples had serious problems and was on the list of those we had asked special prayer for early in the year. God intervened in their life as a couple, and now they are a witness to their friends and relatives. Furthermore, this couple started the training program for facilitating the HomeBuilders courses. God is great!”

Recently, Franco was appointed the National Director of Campus Crusade in Italy. His role has changed, but his passion for families has not. He has been meeting with leaders of Campus Crusade in Switzerland to begin partnerships on common projects, including FamilyLife conferences.
“In the meantime, we continue to pray and remain convinced that FamilyLife can be a means to reach Italian families with the gospel,” says Franco.
In the months ahead, Franco will be adjusting to his new role as director of Agape Italia. Meanwhile, he and Luisa will continue to help with the upcoming FamilyLife seminars and premarital courses that are scheduled. They are also planning to follow up with some couples personally. Pray for lasting fruit in Italy and a revival within Italian homes!

Switzerland testimony from a conference attendee

Dear FamilyLife team,

Since we attended the Weekend to Remember in April 2008 in Bregenz, Switzerland, our investment in that weekend has had a lasting positive impact on our relationship in several areas. We want to deeply express our thanks to you because of your fresh contribution to our marriage. Your personal openness was crucial. We really enjoyed all the projects and talks of the weekend and learned a lot. From time to time we take the excellent manual from the conference off the shelf to review the biblical principles.

You have really given to us a motivating, multifaceted, and precious picture of marriage and have enriched us with your valuable experiences. Your professional style and diligence in details really impressed us and your kind surprises of little treats and candles etc. have touched our hearts.

We are firm in our decisions which we took there at the conference and we do want to live our marriage together with Jesus—to be positive and reach others.

We wish for your team God’s inspiring and creative love for your valuable work. We have some hope to join you in the project with families.

Yours , Sandra & Thomas

United Kingdom

Conferee quotes:

"I will buy my wife more chocolates on Mondays!"

"I will be more gentle and forgiving."

"I'm encouraged to work on the weak areas of our marriage because I really want us to grow old together and still have fun."

"I am encouraged to reorder my priorities, to make my marriage, as opposed to church, a priority.  My life has been out of sync in terms of balance and priorities.  This has been a wake up call!"

These are just a few of the comments from the recent Day to Treasure one-day marriage event with 45 couples attending. Four couples were also very interested in volunteering to work with FamilyLife.  Another couple wanted to start a couples' bible study group using the resource written by the UK FamilyLife director and his wife entitled Together.  It is similar to a HomeBuilders Couples Series study. 

Switzerland

The Switzerland FamilyLife ministry began in December 2004 at the EXPLO conference in Basel.  The emphasis was on equipping married couples and laying a foundation for pre-marrieds.  They recruited couples to be coaches for pre-married couples.

The FamilyLife staff has grown to three full-time people and four Swiss Campus staff couples as conference speakers.  They have marriage conferences called "Ehe mit Vision"--Marriage With a Vision.

The conferences create great interest in starting or being involved in small group studies on marriage.

Comments from conferees:

"My husband could not be motivated to attend a marriage seminar for 20 years.  Now he is very enthusiastic."

"The talks were never boring, all of them full of good information and touching the heart."

"Now I am open to the Holy Spirit.  For the first time I feel free to pray with my wife."

FamilyLife Switzerland has a partnership with the Alpha Marriage course.  "Der Ehe-Kurs" is a secular, church-based marriage course.  The format is similar to basic HomeBuilders.  There was a one-day seminar that trained couples to lead this course. There were 300 people in attendance representing 19 denominations.

The huge number of attendees and the solid effects did surpass our expectations. "Der Ehe-Kurs" bears the signs of an uncontrolled movement.  God is recruiting couples to help others in their church and neighborhood.  We are glad to contribute to this development by training people and supplying material in the German language.
                    --Hansjôerg Forster, Director of the FL team in Switzerland

Their strategy is to develop a pre-marriage conference by using associate staff to reach the local churches.  They have trained 24 coaches!

Mr. Forster said, "We are not called to lament the disastrous state of marriage and family in our society, but to build up strong relationships as models of the power of God."

Berlin, Germany

The all-African FamilyLife seminar was small in attendance but grand in what the Lord did.  One man prayed to receive Christ by faith.  All the couples in attendance prayed to seek the power of the Holy Spirit in their marriages.  One key African pastor represented the largest African congregation in Berlin.  He is praying that he can conduct a marriage and family seminar in his church.

At a parenting forum, nearly 30 people came to hear about biblical parenting.  There were four leaders who each gave a 10-minute message on a certain aspect of parenting.  Then each leader led a discussion on the issues: discipline, developing your child's character, health and safety, and working as a husband and wife team.  Then came the questions--lots of them. Today's young parents are very hungry for information about the "science and art of parenting"--God's way.  Pray that this forum will lead to parenting conferences.

The vision is to see family and marriage interest expand across Germany to the International English-speaking churches.