Miami, Florida, [Libna Stevens/IAD]
As broken marriages, shattered homes and wrecked lives are prevalent in today's society, so it is prevalent in our church today. That's why Seventh-day Adventists leaders from throughout Inter-America's major regions met for a Family Ministries training workshop to gain more knowledge and in turn help strengthen marriages and families across the vast church membership in the territory. The training brought 35 family ministries directors to the Inter-American Division (IAD) headquarters in Miami, Florida, for the 6-day event from Oct. 2-7.
“If there was ever a time when a generation needed family life education, that time is now,” said Pastor Jansen Trotman, Family Ministries director for the church in Inter-America.
“The church must respond with decisive and aggressive action,” he continues. “We have not a moment to lose. The power of the gospel must be unleashed against the hellish forces that are attacking the family.”
Aggressive action was set in motion as new family ministries directors joined together during the quinquennium to re-train family ministries directors in the local conferences and fields and then to the local churches with a Biblical Christ-centered approach on family life education.
“The ultimate goal for training family ministries directors throughout the IAD is to produce stronger families among our members,” said Pastor Trotman.
“We have set a pattern of motion, for empowering the families, enriching the families, energizing and evangelizing the families, and we feel and we have based our principles on Ellen G. White teaching that our work should begin in the family, that if somehow we could get the family then lots of the other issues in the church, would almost take care of itself,” he adds.
Participants of the event went over the Family Ministries curriculum framework outline set by the Adventist World Church. Attendees reviewed the biblical philosophy of family life, were given tools on how to conduct a successful seminar and established contacts among themselves to network with each other to share the current family programs in the territory, among other things.
Part of the plan of this training event was the need to address some issues and challenges which came out of a survey done throughout the Inter-American Division a few years ago. The study found that communication problems, conflict and anger management, and forgiveness were among prevalent issues that had to be addressed in the family.
“The problems that are in larger society are also in the church,” says Trotman. “Maybe part of the problem is that with our aggressive evangelistic program, we have brought in people with problems so it doesn't necessarily mean that the people got these problems after being Seventh-day Adventists, but they come in and have to be ministered to.”
The General Conference did not establish the Family Life Department until 1985. According to Trotman, that means the church as some catching up to do.
“There are not enough people at the level of the unions, conferences, and mission fields that have been involved in family ministries,” he says.
Montemorelos University in Mexico currently offers family ministries certification through the course of four summer sessions, and a certification program designed by the General Conference is taking place in some local regions.
At the conclusion of the event, participants were given seminar training materials to continue their Family Life studies.
The next IAD training session for Family Ministries directors will be in 2009.
For more information on Family Ministries materials, visit https://recursing-golick.147-182-135-0.plesk.page/www.interamerica.org or contact the Family Ministries department at 305.403.4700.
