Nearly 80 Family Ministries leaders from 6 Gulf Field countries gathered for GC led training.
By Gureni Lukwaro
The Gulf Field Family Ministries department conducted a capacity building seminar to equip local church family ministries leaders as family life educators, empowering them to lead in strengthening families within the church and community settings.
The meetings, held from October 1–4, 2025 at the Gulf Field headquarters in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, delivered the General Conference (GC) Adventist Family Ministries Leadership Certification Program 2.0, conducted by GC Family Ministries directors Dr. Willie Oliver and Dr. Elaine Oliver.
Content for this segment of the training comprised four models, namely:
· Biblical and Theological Foundations of Adventist Family Ministries
· The Family: A Center for Evangelism
· Marriage: A Divine Design
· Parenting: A Discipleship Model
About 80 participants from six of the seven Gulf Field countries, namely Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, contemplated together the impact of family on ministry to the larger community and the impact of that ministry on families.
Attendees were encouraged to write their own family ministry mission statement. Resource speakers provided a model mission statement that read, “The mission of our family is to model Jesus’ love to each family member and to share the Gospel message with friends, family and neighbours through a life of sharing.”
The Olivers emphasized the importance and close relationship between healthy Adventist families and ministry, quoting Ellen G. White’s statement: “One well-ordered, well-disciplined family tells more on behalf of Christianity than all the sermons that can be preached.” (Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p.32.)
“Before we consider linking family with [ministry to the community], we must first address ourselves to the task of making sure families have something to share. As we challenge families in the arena of [ministry], let us determine to send them forth as a major source of really good news,” said Dr. Willie and Dr. Elaine Oliver.
According to the Olivers, “Adventist Family Ministries helps the church to take a fresh look at Scripture, to put on what we might call ‘family glasses’ and to see in the Word of God its profound teachings about family relationships. This new look will not restrict or impair our theological vision; rather, it will cast a relational hue over familiar passages upon which we may not have focused in such a special way before.”
The training underscored the Church Manual’s statement regarding the purpose of Family Ministries to uphold “the biblical teaching related to the family and [to lift] up God’s ideal for family living” while also bringing “an understanding of the brokenness experienced by individuals and families in a fallen world” that “fosters reconciliation between the generations promised in the Elijah Message of Malachi 4:5-6 and extends hope and support to those who have been hurt by abuse, family dysfunction, and broken relationships.” (Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, Revised 2010.)
Alvina Edith Rafi, Gulf Field Family Ministries director, affirmed this purpose, emphasizing that Family Ministries focuses on people in relationships, providing “tools to help individuals communicate more effectively, deepen commitment in marriage, and assist in becoming better parents.”
“Family Ministries of the Gulf Field is dedicated to strengthening relationships and empowering ministry leaders and churches in their work with families,” she said, concluding with the words: “Family Ministries helps families grow in love and live in harmony as the family of God as the Bible says in 1 Peter 4:8 ‘Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.’”