Marriage Seminar

Sept 1 | Written by Erin Mulder

Today, Pastor Mike Arzie had the opportunity to teach a marriage seminar for the couples of the church here in Mindoro. The room was setup nicely with tables, flowers and snacks with the seating arranged for couples to sit together and have discussion throughout the seminar. Half of our team served these couples by helping with childcare. The team sang songs with the kids, played games and had dance parties. It was great time to overlap with the other young adults helping with childcare too! During the seminar, Mike spoke about what sacrificial love looks like from Jesus’ example and how that needs to be the foundation of their marriage. He showed them that good communication, forgiveness and serving one another is only able to be done by keeping Christ at the center of their relationship. The couples were able to start putting this into practice at the seminar by reflecting together with discussion questions and having time for the two of them to talk about what they learned. At the end, the church served them a meal, and they continued their fellowship and reflection.

I got the opportunity to ask some couples what stood out to them from the seminar. They mentioned that life gets busy and children naturally can take a lot of their focus. This leaves little time for them to have quality time together. This seminar encouraged and motivated them to keep Christ at the center of their relationship and as they grow in their relationships with Him, they too will grow closer to each other. It was a joy to see their motivation to pursue this and have practical steps for implementation. The couples mentioned what a gift it was to have this time together as just them and other married couples. It’s not often that they get to do events like this and it ministered to their hearts.