WELCOME to the Barlastone Park Seventh Day Adventist Church Family Life Ministries page. This is just but one of the ways Barlastone Park SDA Church seeks to contribute to the wellbeing of communities and societies in its region. This century has witnessed the most sustained attacks on the family ever since the family was created. Families are the building block of any society and any attack on the family threatens the wellbeing of society.

One of the main objectives of this forum is to add to the many voices that are providing solutions to the various challenges that are faced by families. We believe that the last word on families have not yet been written, a lot can still be done to remedy the situation.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

 

The Department of Family Life Ministries seeks to strengthen, inspire hope, and bring healing to marriages, families, and individuals through the abundant love and saving grace of Jesus Christ.

OUR VISION STATEMENT


Prepare families for the Kingdom of God to help hasten the coming of Jesus Christ.

MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES


Focusing on people in family relationships, Family Life Ministries reinforces and encourages wholesome families as they pass through life's predictable stages and contend with unexpected changes in their lives. It extends hope and support to those who have been injured and hurt by abuse, family dysfunction, and broken relationships. The department provides growth opportunities through family life education and enrichment and encourages individuals, married couples, and families to avail themselves of professional counselling when necessary. Specific tasks include preparation of resources and leadership development to equip pastors and lay leaders to offer services to the community in the areas of premarital guidance, strengthening marriage, and parent education, with attention also given to extended families, single parenting, step-families and the family needs of singles.

The Department of Family Life Ministries seeks to:

1.

View Family Life Ministries from a world perspective, staying informed regarding changing family demographics and continually assessing the widely varied needs of families and the family needs of singles.

2.

Develop and maintain a significant level of expertise in the various content areas within the Family Ministries leadership training curriculum.

3.

Prepare and distribute core materials related to the Family  Life Ministries curriculum which are suitable for adaptation throughout the world field.

4.

Monitor and evaluate Family  Life Ministries materials and resources adapted or developed in the world divisions, and coordinate an appropriate sharing of these resources among divisions.

5.

Keep current with regard to trends and methods in family life education, enrichment and counseling and maintain significant levels of knowledge and expertise especially in the primary methodologies of family life education and enrichment.

6.

Develop and maintain relationships with Adventist family professionals and, where possible, form liaisons with non-Adventist family professionals and organizations.

FAMILY LIFE PHILOSOPHY

Scripture affirms the importance of the family and outlines the divine principles which govern family relationships. At creation, God instituted marriage—and with it the family (Gen 2: 18-25)—as God’s primary setting for human development and nurturance. When Christ redeemed all human experience from the curse of sin, He redeemed marriage and family relationships. He calls family members to relate in ways that befit those who have responded to the gospel (Eph 5:21-6:4). Because the family is the primary place where the capacity for love and for intimacy with God and with other human beings is developed and where Christian values are passed from one generation to the next, the family is central to the disciplemaking process (John 8:31, 13:35). As Scripture magnifies last day events, the spotlight again falls upon the family. The Bible predicts that before the great day of the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, God will give a final call to this generation, turning hearts to Himself and family members toward one another (Malachi 4:5,6).

Ellen G White held strong convictions regarding the importance of families and ministry to them. “There is no more important field of effort than that committed to the founders and guardians of the home” (The Ministry of Healing, p 351). “Our work for Christ is to begin with the family, in the home. . . .By many this home field has been shamefully neglected and it is time that divine resources and remedies were presented, that this state of evil may be corrected” (Testimonies for the Church, vol 6, pp 429, 430).

The Department of Family  Life Ministries recognizes the significance of family in the lives of believers and nonbelievers alike. It endeavors to strengthen the home as a disciplemaking center where family members through their interpersonal relationships are encouraged in their relationship with Jesus Christ and His church, and where the relational skills necessary for winsome witness are developed. The department endeavors to keep in perspective both God’s ideals for family living and an understanding of the brokenness experienced by individuals and families in a fallen world. Thus Family  Life Ministries calls individuals, married couples and parents to stretch toward divine ideals, while at the same time extending the redemptive, healing ministry of Christ. Efforts on behalf of families are held to be urgent, vital, and integral to the message and mission of the Church.

 

 Meet the Leaders

Elder & Mrs Simon Chanshika

Highlights and events

Family Life Retreat: 14th October, 2012