The women enjoyed a game using balloons

One of the goals of the Way of Life Couples' Conference was to give people the sense that they are not an isolated minority but part of a larger group of believers.

A big problem for families who come to faith is providing suitable marriage partners for their sons and daughters. In this Asian culture it is the responsibility of the parents to find spouses for their children. Meetings like this allow families to get to know each other and to develop the relationships that will enable future marriages to be established.

There are a large number of discipleship and training seminars held each year for believers in Christ from the majority background, but due to the culture here, mostly men end up attending these. However, one of the unique aspects of the ministry of Way of Life is its emphasis on the family. Husbands were not allowed to attend unless they brought their wives. A total of 60 couples met for three days of teaching, worship, and fellowship. There was a wide variety of speakers, both national and expatriate.

A Family That Shows Forth Light

While family relations are strong in this country, there is not a strong sense of the importance of the family in God’s plan. One speaker referred to the family as “God’s factory” for completing his plan on the earth. He said that God wants to shine his salvation light through your family. He used words in his language that mean a “family that shows forth the light.” He stressed the need for the parents to share the message of salvation with their children.

He also stressed the equality of the husband and the wife in God’s eyes. This biblical teaching is quite counter-cultural. The men and the women separated for their times of study during some of the sessions. The women remained upstairs in the meeting room while the men went outside and sat on the ground around a large tree. They did this as a way to show honor to the women. It was an illustration of the desire to elevate the women in this culture. The women smiled, showing their appreciation.

Praying Together

For most of the conference sessions, husbands and wives sat on different sides of the meeting room (the cultural norm). For the last meeting, the room was arranged so that husbands and wives sat next to each other. At the end of his talk, the speaker asked the husbands and wives to stand up, face each other, and join hands. This kind of display of affection is not the norm here, and it took a few minutes for everyone to buy into the idea.

After some initial resistance, nearly everyone in the room faced their spouse and held hands.The men and women spent time in public prayer for each other, asking God to lead and direct them. It was a real blessing to be part of this meeting and to sense God’s Spirit at work in the prayers of these couples.