Warren and Ann Abrameit, an American couple from Texas who both work as doctors, were surprised to hear from
their old friends, Sameh and Mona. The two couples had met ten years ago in the Middle East. Warren and Ann were living and working there at the time and doing ministry on the side using FamilyLife materials in English and Arabic. Although they led HomeBuilders® groups, organized small events, and got many couples involved in the ministry, they left the region after three years not knowing if the ministry in that area would continue.
When Sameh and Mona got in touch with the Abrameits earlier this year, they explained that they had continued doing FamilyLife ministry using the Arabic HomeBuilders materials. They now live in a Gulf country in that Middle East and personally lead three HomeBuilders groups per week. They asked Warren and Ann if they would be interested in leading a marriage conference there to give their groups something new and fresh.
The Abrameits, who had been trained as FamilyLife speakers years ago, contacted the FamilyLife Global office to see if anyone would be available to help speak at the event. Jim and Judy Burrows already had a trip planned to South Asia, but they had five days of unscheduled time in between their planned events. The five days just happened to fit perfectly within the timeframe for the event in the Middle East, which provided confirmation to Jim and Judy that God was opening the doors for this opportunity.
God continued to bless the planning that led up to this event, which was the first ever Weekend to Remember in this particular country of the Middle East. The Burrowses and the Abrameits split the talks and spoke through a translator to deliver the conference in Arabic.
“The responsiveness of the crowd was amazing,” says Judy. “We did a skit on communication, and couples were saying, ‘That’s us!’ They were hungry for the material.”
Because Sameh and Mona were aware of some cases of abuse among the attendees, Jim and Judy covered these topics in separate sessions for the men and women. They also conducted a breakout HomeBuilders session that introduced the audience to the HomeBuilders studies, and they participated with the Abrameits in a question and answer session following the intimacy talk. Once again, the couples were eager for honest, biblical answers and expressed gratitude for the speakers’ candidness. The Abrameits also had the opportunity to talk to teens from two churches about purity using the Passport to Purity® and Passport to Identity® materials.
The Weekend to Remember was fun, informative, and effective, and couples who attended are already asking for another event next year. Sameh and Mona are also hopeful that new HomeBuilders leaders will emerge and continue spreading the ministry not only throughout the Gulf region, but to other fellowships throughout the Middle East.
