I should also mention that the Hampton Roads team is fully integrated with the FamilyLife staff for these events. Keith Tully and Dave Peery made the planning and execution of the weekend seamless as the FamilyLife representative and planner, respectively, while our speaker couples of Tim and Joy Downs and Chris and Susan Willard did everything possible to honor the military couples and make the weekend a great time of outreach.  Our couples really connected with the speakers and their frequent military illustrations.  We heard them quoted frequently by the couples throughout the event.  Keith and Chris both attended the breakfast and spoke words of encouragement to those attending.  We appreciate their hearts for our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guard couples!

What can you do?

Invite them to come.  Attendees heard about the conference in a number of ways, but the personal invitation dominated (37%), followed by the chapel (24%), and the church and FamilyLife website (16% each).

Offer HomeBuilders and other small group Bible studies

There were numerous professions of faith and 50% of the individuals responding to our survey recommitted their marriages to one another and the Lord!  These folks should be encouraged with follow-up through small group Bible studies.  Are you ready to start one after the first of the year?  If so, we want to connect them to you!

Read these testimonials and be encouraged!

“Wonderful affirmation in our marriage to keep God in the center.  My love and appreciation for my husband was boosted in particular this time.”  – Wife of 18 years.

“Becoming more aware that our oneness in marriage only comes from a oneness in Christ.”  – Wife of 7 years.

“The principle of pursuing oneness; the principle of choosing/deciding to build our marriage; leaving a legacy.”  – Husband

“We have recommitted our marriage to God. This conference opened my eyes to my own selfishness.”  – Husband of 11 years.

“We have made a true commitment to putting our relationship first.  After 3 kids and 11 years of marriage we let ‘family’ get in the way instead of taking time for us!” — Wife of 11 years.

Our objective is to have HomeBuilders groups already identified during the conference so couples interested in continuing the study of their marriage can connect with you quickly.  Please follow this link to register your group and “Get on the Map!

Military Couples: FamilyLife appreciates you for your faithful service and understands the challenges of your demanding lifestyle.  But more than just appreciating you, they want to help in a significant way, by seeing that all available military couples, married and engaged, attend a Weekend to Remember.  FamilyLife is so committed to this goal, that they offer a military discount to any active duty, Guard, or Reserve couple.  Click here to register online and receive your discount.   Conference details for the Williamsburg event, now  just 30 days away, are also available at this site.

But don’t take our word for it.  See what others have said:

“There is hope after all and we are on the right path travelling together.  We are talking.  We are sharing.  And we are forgiving!” — Military Wife – married 3 yrs

“It has enhanced our reconnection after spending 9 months apart last year due to a Navy deployment.  It should be mandatory! In fact, we are sending both sets of our parents who have been married 40 years ” — Military wife–married 9 yrs

“It provided tools to improve our communication, opened new lines of communication, brought us closer together and gave us hope.” Senior Navy NCO – married 15 years.    “We realized we were not alone.” Navy reservist — married 4 years   “We have learned communication skills that we didn’t have and we have learned to put each other first!” — Navy Wife — married 9 years

This conference opened up the communication between my wife and I.  It has helped steer our marriage back on track and I am excited – and nervous – to get back home and implement the things I have learned.” Husband — married 4 yrs

“It re-opened some closed lines of communication.  We are talking and sharing like never before.  We are so much closer.  I love my wife!” — Pastor — married 9 yrs

“We want to do whatever we can to support military marriages,” said FamilyLife President, CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Dennis Rainey.  “We recognize and revere the tremendous responsibility and stress placed on our servicemen and women, and that such a career can truly take a toll on one’s marriage, family, and soul.”

In addition to the FamilyLife Military Marriages website, FamilyLife also offers a special military rate of $69 per person ($60 off the regular price).  To register, military couples may call 1-800-FL-TODAY.  For a complete list of the 100+ conferences nationwide, visit www.FamilyLife.com/Weekend.

“Making a marriage work is never easy, and it is difficult for any husband or wife to not ‘bring the office home,’” said Major General (Retired) Robert Dees, executive director of Military Ministry.  “When ‘the office’ is a battlefield, and a couple isn’t equipped with the necessary tools to deal with those experiences, the separation and the fear of losing one’s life or one’s spouse, the results can be disastrous.  In that spirit, FamilyLife and Military Ministry are committed to strengthening the bonds between the heroes who serve and the spouses they love.”

To date, over 380 articles have been published in major US newspapers and the WTR in Hawaii was featured on Honolulu TV station KHNL Channel 8 newscast as seen here.

Area churches are announcing numerous small group studies starting in September and October–on both the Peninsula and Southside! 

The barbecue dinner was excellent, the table talk inspiring, and our three speakers cast a vision for what can be done to serve God “for such a time as this.” Navy Chaplain Bob Christian described his facilitation of four HomeBuilders Couples Studies® while the U.S.S. San Jacinto was underway for seven months. That’s a lot of marriage training while at sea! Chaplain Christian structured the studies to include the spouses at home—by using their email responses to questions submitted in advance of the weekly gatherings at sea. Lisa Wenschlag told how she used the Bible studies she received at last year’s HOP and experienced God’s leading to teach Loving Your Military Man at her church. Lisa and her husband, Jim, also teamed with their church leadership to use the movie Fireproof, begin HomeBuilders studies, and promote the two area Weekend to Remember conferences. Our evening’s final speaker was Mike Carkhuff. Mike and his wife, Carole, began Family Ministries within Military Ministry back in the 90s and have been instrumental in leading and guiding our efforts ever since. Mike challenged all of us to remain true to our calling as Christian leaders—to proclaim the gospel message and always to exalt the name of Jesus Christ in our ministry to marriages and military.  We were amazed at how long these key leaders stayed around after the event to “connect” with one another.  We are already making plans for next year’s HOP—August 28, 2010, Lord willing. The hope is also that other regions will catch the vision for this networking-friendly event.

One additional highlight of the evening was the participation of our FamilyLife partners, Keith and Trish Tully.  Keith and Trish intentionally scheduled their trip from Little Rock and their city team’s training schedule to coincide with the HOP and six of their city team couples were able to join us for the event.