Family Restoration

At the end of August, God lead us to work with a church on the outskirts of Iquitos as we continue waiting for the funding for our boat project. We have gotten very involved as a ministering couple on the pastoral staff. We have seen a lot of changes in the church as we seek to restructure the programs of the church so that everything we do has purpose and a goal in mind. So many times churches get into programs and soon they just work on maintaining the ministry they are doing, forgetting the objectives and purpose for the particular program they have established.
With our experience in ministry and training at Moody, we have been able to provide a fresh pair of eyes to prayerfully accompany the church in the process of assessing both the programs and effectiveness of such ministries. It has been exciting to see changes in individuals, couples, and families as we restructure to build a stronger body.
One of the major targets of the enemy in any culture is marriage and family. Where there are weak marriages, there will be weak families. Where there are weak families, there will be weak churches. Where there are weak churches, there will be weak nations. But where there are strong marriages, there will be strong families. Strong families bring strong churches, and strong churches, strong nations. This has been the theme of the Sunday Night Series on Family Restoration that I have had the privilege of putting together and delivering.
I have seen the struggling family unit before, but never as blatantly as in this culture. Most marriages here, Christian or not, bear the scars of unfaithfulness by one or both partners. The physical closeness in the “infatuated” dating stage quickly dissolves until close physical proximity between married couples is rare. Those who dare to share public hugs and kisses do not do so without strange looks and even laughs from an ever watching culture. But walk to any plaza and a Friday night and you’ll see benches filled with young unmarried lovers “necking” late into the night. The four letter word, “Love,” has not been protectedly taught in the church, but is learned from the world, it is rarely expressed in a pure wholesome way within the Holy confounds of matrimony. It has become morphed into an ugly knockoff, which never results in security and protection. This four letter word also starts with “L,” but ends in destruction, lust. Lust is the best way to describe most relationships in this culture, two people together until it is discovered that what they are truly looking for is not to be found there. Then it’s on to another destructive relationship to try and fill the void they couldn’t in the last relationship.
So there I am, with my series on Family Restoration and it’s been incredibly encouraging to see the difference it’s been making in our church. Last week when we talked about Matthew 12, “A House Divided,” the topic of forgiveness was elaborated on. At the end of the message, we had communion. Before communion, the pastor initiated a time of forgiveness, when he called his wife forward and publicly asked forgiveness for anything he’s done to offend her. I watched with joy as several people throughout the church began turning to one another and asking forgiveness. I must say that Family Restoration has been a wonderful topic and to God’s glory, we are seeing change.
Tomorrow, Friday the 22nd of October, we are going to have another night of prayer, with the theme being “Forgiveness and Holiness.” I am very excited to see what God is going to do in our time together. Thanks for continually being in prayer for the ministry God has called us to!

(I am sorry to say I was interuppted a number of times during the writing of this blog post from home. I was just starting to edit, when Kyliana started crying, waking up from her nap. I apologize, I have not been able to edit.)