We had a great turnout of 50 military couples for the recent Art of Marriage® event in Honduras. During the first session the couples were reminded that God is involved in every marriage. One vignette in the video presents a football illustration with a wide receiver demonstrating the skill and focus needed to catch a football. The analogy is that we need to receive our spouse as a gift from God. Although soccer is the biggest fan sport in Latin America, the audience really appreciated and understood the football analogy related to receiving their spouse as a gift from God. Dr. Leonel Motta and his wife, Miriam, hosted this event and gave out a small plastic football with the commitment statement inside to receive their spouse. Then each couple read their commitment to each other. It’s amazing that a non-cultural illustration (American football) was turned into a special memory moment for the Hondurans.
During the event, the couples also participated in a “trust exercise”—the wives closed their eyes and trusted their husbands to lead them on a walk. Sounds simple enough, but the exercise created a powerful teaching point for the husbands to be caring and trustworthy leaders in their families.
We were ecstatic to learn later that 39 people received Christ at this event and 14 rededicated their lives and marriages to the Lord. The following week we hosted a second Art of Marriage event—120 more people attended. Seven people received Christ and 14 rededicated their lives and marriages to the Lord!
While in Honduras, we also had the opportunity to organize one of the largest training events we’ve ever done. Over 190 students participated in our basic level training in Tegucigalpa (we normally hope to have 30 to 50 in a class). Why did so many couples show up? Answer: one very motivated pastor and his wife encouraged couples from their church to attend. This basic level training covers the Family Manifesto (biblical foundation for marriage ministry), orientation to HomeBuilders® small group studies, strategy to launch a ministry to families in a church, and how to reach out to couples in your community.
We also learned of some wonderful potential opportunities for ministry in Honduras. Colonel Luis Romero and his wife, Ana, are our FamilyLife leaders in Honduras. They were the key organizers for the Art of Marriage events. Recently Colonel Romero attended a military ceremony with the President of Honduras. The President announced that Colonel Romero was appointed to be the new Chief of Chaplains for all the military branches. This could be a strategic opportunity to use FamilyLife resources to strengthen military marriages. We pray that God will continue to use Colonel Romero to make a positive impact on military couples in Honduras.
To God be the glory for the work He is doing in Honduras!
