As we arrived in Brazil at the end of 2009, we dedicated 2 years to street evangelism going to very challenging places (at least for us!) such as: Drug addicts/dealers, prostitutes, alcoholics and homeless…
We were very shocked as we found out that the majority of those people had come from Christian homes and were disappointed with church and/or the home they belonged to. From there, God gave us a clear vision: minister to parents – whom God given the primary responsibility to raise the children in the Way. We then invested much time preparing a material that would be very biblical but very practical as well. Meanwhile, we started seeing the media, new laws, school projections and materials become more and more against the “traditional family” and calling it a “failed institution”…
As things started getting harder and harder for the ‘traditional family’, we started seeing the invitations to minister in churches and some schools rise quickly…That was the confirmation that we needed to reaffirm our hearts we were on the right path while in Brazil – having had the time to prepare the content in advance.
“There is a generation of parents that that are orphans of Christian references…”
We have seen in all the seminars we minister that the great majority of parents did not come from Christian homes. That is, when we are orphans of Christian references, the way we do family will be very similar to the way we saw growing up.
Well, certainly many have learned good things from the homes they were from – even if not Christians. But unfortunately very few have expressed a history of a happy home or a place where their faith was nourished.
Fights, yelling, absence, substitution of father/mother for gifts, indifference, among so many other things left many children “scarred” in their souls and moving on with the same difficulties ou even amplified difficulties while they now try to live out the parent life. And the results, you already know observing within your own circle of friendships, relatives or sometimes your own home.
“It is no shame to recognize we have difficulties. The problem is when we live in denial while we hurt the people we love the most…”
Today we face great challenges within the family. For this reason, our goal is to search for God’s purpose for our home and learn how to apply the Word of God in a practical way on a daily basis. That’s where the greatest challenge is! Many times we do recognize there is a Creator but we reject his instructions for the good functioning of our families.
We know it is not an easy thing (we experience that everyday!) but we know the answer is found in Him. So let us not give up on the One who has the answer for each one of our families!