Marriage Matters
SOMA Teams consisting of members from the USA, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and UK have just completed two missions in Diocese of Maseno North, Kenya, and Diocese of Rutana, Burundi. The team in Burundi now move on to Makamba.
What has been striking following both teams has been the space and grace given by God to bless and help clergy marriages. The SOMA UK led team in Burundi organised the conference so that pastors and their spouses could gather together for the first three days. Similarly, the SOMA USA led team in Kenya were led to create even more space for marriage ministry:
SOMA USA director Kyle writes: “Instead of a half day of marriage focus, it shifted to a full day, except for the opening topic of intercession and prayer. [As in many parts of the world] some of the marriages are suffering or are starving. We broke into men and women groups for nearly to two hours, took lunch, then came back as a group to debrief. It was quite lively! Then the clergy couples were given time to sit facing each other and talk about how to move forward.
There were a few minor deliverances during a group intercession. We give thanks to God‘s mercy and desire to “set the prisoners free.”
The SOMA UK team had had an immediate response to their travels, with an immense response for prayer for healing after the message in the Cathedral on the first day. Hundreds kneeling, praying and some weeping. They then gathered 30 pastors and their spouses for the first three days of the conference. The Bishop had arranged a female translator to journey across Burundi to help facilitate this. They divided in the afternoons into male and female groups and found there was honesty and openness in both groups. They prayed with and anointed each person individually, and prophesied over them. The challenges are high though as pastors families stay in their home location while the pastor travels into their parish for part of each week. Often the distances are huge, one pastor travelling 51 miles on a bicycle each week between home and church.
As the conference concluded they asked for prayer
…for the pastors as they return to their homes and are reunited with their wives and family. We have done so much teaching on marriage and had good interactions with both pastors and spouses on the dynamics within marriages and homes, so please pray that there will be fruit from this in pastors’ lives in the coming months and years.
Come, Holy Spirit!
As they have ministered in this way these teams have been following SOMA’s original prophetic calling to ‘join the Holy Spirit tending to the nervous system of the body of Christ’. Let’s keep praying for all the marriages under pressure around the world, in the UK, USA, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda and beyond.
Pictures above: The team in Burundi
