Happy International Day of Families! One of the many ways we get to care for families around the world is through our Families for Life program in India. We empower local churches to serve their communities by strengthening marriages, protecting families, caring for those affected by AIDS and preventing the spread of HIV. Through couples-focused interventions, we aim to address to root cause of HIV/AIDS – broken relationships.
The local Church is at the heart of this mission. We equip the local Church and train church leaders with a curriculum to bring healing and reconciliation to broken families and communities. Once pastors and their wives have been trained, they take this program back to the members of their own communities.
Pastor John Duraisamy of Open Door Churuch brought the Families for Life curriculum to his church after hearing about it at a World Relief training meeting. He saw a need for marriage and family strengthening curriculum in his community. Now, he teaches couples in his church and his community about the importance of respect, communication and faithfulness in the preservation of marriage.
In the picture below, Pastor John leads couples in his congregation in a discussion about how their marriages have developed since their wedding.
After the seminar, one woman said, “I have learned that I should be a friend to my husband […] We should be more committed to one another.”
“We should talk more openly and intimately,” said another participant. “Discuss[ing] issues and [making] decisions together.”
We know that by strengthening vulnerable families around the world, we are empowering people to be heroes in their communities. Strengthened families can bring needed transformation to address larger issues of poverty, hunger and diseases like HIV/AIDS. Help us empower more families to be the heroes in their own communities.