Pastors Conference Day 3 - Noche de Amor (Night of Love)

For those of you who were wondering what the men were doing while the women had a special event- we were working!  One of the greatest weaknesses in a church is the uncared-for marriages of pastors.  After God as his first priority, the second priority of every pastor should be the care and spiritual growth of his wife.  Frequently however, as the pressures of work and church mount, and the seemingly important (and publicly more visible) needs of the church supplant the real needs of marriage and family- the very things which the pastor must serve as the example to his church.  It's also rare in Mexico for couples to have access to counseling if they have more profound difficulties or addictions.  This is the reason we emphasize marital restoration and healing.  One of the exercises we use at each conference is a love letter that each husband writes to his wife.  So while the women were relaxing, eating cake and making a craft, the men were writing letters to their wives.  In the evening on Wednesday we hold a raffle where letters are selected, and the husband has to read the letter he wrote to his wife.  Then the entire group votes on who wrote the most romantic love letter to his wife.  As the leader of the conference, I put my letter in the pile, and out of 47 letters, they picked mine 3rd!  I guess everyone has to serve as an example at some point!

Reading my letter to Colleen

Pastor Oswaldo reading to his wife Natividad

We know what he's thinking: "Whew,  I wasn't chosen again!"