The fact that husbands are instructed to dwell with their wives with understanding implies that there is something there to be understood. Husbands, consider this a challenge and a lifetime project to understand your wife. She is more than a task or special project to accomplish, but an heir together with you in the grace of life. A weaker vessel, but worth all the honor you can give. And when their is misunderstanding take the low road and give her honor and respect.

The Re-Definition of Marriage: A View From Africa

It is exciting to see the ministry moving forward and trying new things. Our prayer is that this ministry will bless the Body of Christ in any way it can. I also recognize that Family Life Mission is about more than events and seminars. It is principles we live out everyday. My prayer is to be a minister of the gospel wherever and however God chooses.

Walter Trobisch used to say, “The family is one of the greatest landing strips for the gospel.” I saw the reality of that as I attended my sister’s wedding this weekend in Las Vegas. I traveled with my 2-month-old baby boy to take part in the celebration. I was overwhelmed by blatant displays of sin that I saw, yet in the haze of excessive drinking, ads for illicit sex, and other immoral activity, light shone through the darkness. The sight of a mother with a young baby was so unusual that it made people stop and notice. My prayer was that in the midst of their pleasure seeking, they would realize the truth of what was important in life and the love that God the Father has for His children.

I was able to live out  my walk of faith, and even share what salvation meant in my own life with some of my family members. I believe the message was illustrated as I  mothered my child, spoke with respect about my husband, and cherished my relatives. I know that God was present, even in a city known for sin. It reemphasized to me that the work of ministry is not just about elaborate sermons or great teachings, though there is definitely a need for both of these things. It is about living out the truth of the Gospel. Jesus left His Father and mother to bring our salvation, He cleaves to the Church, His bride in an inseparable way, and becomes one with us, so that all that is His becomes ours.

Thank the Lord for His great gift of salvation and let us live it out faithfully in this fallen world!

~Courtney Lemon

In my childhood home, the art of conversation was taken seriously. Sometimes we would spend an hour after dinner talking around the table. I don’t recall the little ones fussing. Mother would hold the baby and Daddy would hold the next and I suppose I’d hold the next. There was togetherness in it. Mealtime conversation bonded us and taught us to get along with all kinds of people once we were out on our own.

In the Walter Trobisch family, my husband would announce, “Children we’re going to have devotions.”

Our youngest…would say, “Okay, but make it short!” And he did.

Ingrid Trobisch
taken from
Keeper of the Springs: Making Home The Place For Which You’re Longing

by Ingrid Trobisch

There is a verse in the Bible which has not yet received due attention in this respect. It is Genesis 2:25: “They were both naked, the man and the wife, and were not ashamed.”

Naked and not ashamed.

“Naked” is not meant here in a physical sense only. It means to stand in front of each other stripped and undisguised, without pretention, without hiding anything, seeing the partner as he really is and showing myself to him as I really am – and still not to be ashamed.

Naked and not ashamed.

But this ultimate goal of mature love is promised only to those who, as the previous verse says, have left father and mother and cleave to each other, in other words, those who have been publicly and legally married.

These two – not the ones before or outside of marriage – become one flesh

These two – not the ones before or outside of marriage – shall succeed in the tremendously difficult task: to face each other as they really are, to live with each other – naked an yet not ashamed.

Naked and not ashamed – this is what the Bible means by the word “to know”. “Adam knew Eve, his wife.”

To know in this way is not possible outside of marriage. If it is tried beforehand, love is hurt or even killed.

Therefore, love has not only to be learned; it has to be protected as well.

It has to be protected by divine will. By listening to human reason we cannot protect love…love has to be protected by the One who is love Himself. There is never a contradiction between love and divine will. There is no action of love which goes against a commandment of God.

Excerpt from
Love is a Feeling to be Learned
by Walter Trobisch

I know that sickness is often contagious, but I believe that health is also contagious. Our purpose is not to battle disease, but to spread good health, helping good marriages to become better. Every healthy marriage is like a knot in that great net, which helps people to find Christ. Family Life Mission is at work in 16 African countries. I think of the many couples there who are witnesses that one healthy couple can change a whole village. That same is true in Europe and America.

In 1979, Walter and I made our last mission trip together. We were invited to speak at a Family Life Conference in Indonesia where 2000 Christians were gathered for one week to talk about the future of the family. It was the first time that we met followers of Islam who had become Christians. When we asked them why they had become Chrsitians, they replied, “It is because we see how the Christian families in our neighborhoods live in peace. Husbands and wives do not fight. Parents are kind to their children. We want to live like that. Walter often said, “The best landing place for the Gospel is the family and its needs.”

Roland Bainton, noted Luther scholar, says “One effect of the Reformation was to eliminate the monastery.” The home became its functional substitute where “the gentler virtues of the Sermon on the Mount” could be practiced. If monks wanted to earn their way to heaven, Luther once observed, the home would be a better place to do it: it offered more difficulties.

The “sacramental”aspect of the marriage emphasizing the lifelong relationship is at a low ebb today, Bainton observes. While romance and companionship are valid elements in a marriage, they are unstable. If the romance and common interest ceases, the marriage may also. “The wine goes out, only the water is left. Christ does not take away the vexations in marriage, but he does turn the water into wine.”

I believe the family does have a future!

-Ingrid Trobisch Youngdale
taken from correspondance March 2007