by Joy Roque
When Pastor Oyette asked us to lead the Young Couples Ministry, as originally called, we were hesitant to commit to this new ministry. We were not close to being the perfect couple, but we realized it was God calling us to do His ministry.
God knew that our experiences, trials, tribulations, and joys of being married will be a helpful testimony to other couples. So last year, we kicked off M.E.M.O. (Marriage Enrichment Ministry Outreach) and set out on the mission to bring couples to understand God’s provision for their marriage. Last year’s Young Couples Ministry was a good starting point. We started with 17 couples and fewer than 12 couples attended each session. In the end, we felt blessed that we were able to accomplish the series. We had made it and we had pretty good and positive feedback.
Late last year, the Pastors once again appointed us to lead the couples’ ministry. But this time, due to complaints that older couples were not able to participate last year, it had to be open to all couples. Once again we accepted God’s calling, but I told Romy that I wanted it to be different. Romy and I wanted to create a series that would get couples to focus on their roles as husband and wife as well have them participate in the sessions, homework and fun activities. So for a few months, we just left it at that. Since last December, Romy and I were dealing with some career issues. I had the opportunity to pursue my dream of running my own business. It was very exciting that I can finally push forward with my long- awaited dream! The process quickly changed from excitement to overwhelming; since this will impact our family in so many ways. For days, I couldn’t sit still or sleep at night. I had that impending knot in my stomach that something was not right. My husband and I prayed for this new journey and then God answered my prayers. The day before we were to sign the lease papers, I had a dream the night before. This dream had such an impact on me. To make a long story short, Romy and I decided that now might not be the right time to do this. It was mid-January. I had also forgotten that we were scheduled to the start the couples’ ministry. Our last thought on it was, “we wanted it to be different. “
After we told the agent that this may not be the right time to commit; my mind quickly focused on starting the couples’ ministry. Valentine Day was only 2 weeks away and we still needed to finalize our sessions. But Romy and I thought this would be a great time to do the kick off. We didn’t have that much time. However, we felt that God was prompting us to make this happen. As it turned out, Romy and I were so overwhelmed by the attendance of that day. We had over 27 couples attend and 24 committed to the 4 sessions. We were so overjoyed with the response that confirmed God was showing us that He’s at work! We started the first session two weeks later. We titled this year’s session, Couples Pursuing Revival (CPR). All couples need a little CPR to revive their relationship. It is not about creating a perfect relationship, but understanding our roles as husbands and wives through the Word of God. By understanding God’s provision for our marriage, couples will be more aware of their actions. The sessions are as follows:
Session 1: Do You Take? Receiving Your Spouse
Session 3: To Love, Honor and Cherish: Planting Positive Words
Session 4: To Have and To Hold: The Power of Prayer in Marriag
Session 2: To Be Your Husband/Wife: Making your Relationship a PriorityWe researched and found different materials. Combining them to form the sessions, we then added some flavor of our own thoughts and experiences. We are very excited about this series and we pray that couples are benefitting from these sessions so far. If you missed signing up this year, we pray that you can join us next time. For those who committed, we hope you are enjoying and finding the sessions helpful in enriching your marriage.
To God be the glory and praises!
