A strategy to reduce marital conflicts in Lingadzi Seventh-day Adventist Churches in the Central Malawi Conference

Abstract

In response to the unresolved marital conflicts in Lingadzi District of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I developed a comprehensive marital conflicts reduction intervention program that would assist married couples in handling marital conflicts that they encounter. One significant and unique stressor in marriage life is the unresolved marital conflicts. The program I developed for this Doctor of Ministry project was based on the modules from Model Marriage, a marriage counseling handbook. This course is entitled Marital Conflict Reduction. The seminars were conducted for four weeks in each of the three churches of study: Mvama, Area 49 and Gulliver. The seminars, family life focused home visitations, and retreats were comprehensively fashioned into a synergistically coordinated marriage enhancement and marital conflict reduction program for Christian married couples. It is a proactive, intentional and well-planned program that seeks to assist in the reduction of marital conflicts and equip married couples of Lingadzi District of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on how to handle marital conflicts including those unique to daily life such as money and sex related problems. The program consists of thirteen modules: the beloveds, the fundamentals of marriage, the marriage relationship, the duties of spouses, understanding the temperaments, the problems and solution, the master key of acceptance, the sexual relationship, the principles of sex, more on temperaments, the improved sexual life, parenting and what it involves, new dimensions. The core of the Marital Conflict Reduction program was a four-week seminar. During these four weeks, couples met weekly for two hours to learn the biblical foundations of marriage and how to deal with marital conflicts. The program culminated with a family life focused home visitation and a couples’ retreat weekend to Lake Malawi in which Seventh-day Adventist and non-Adventist couples from diverse denominations met and celebrated the sanctity of their marriages. The initial goal of the project was to assist couples in reducing marital conflicts and equipping the married couples with the skills to handle marital conflicts. Recommendations are made to conduct further studies on the effects of marital conflicts on the couple’s spirituality, causes of infidelity, and the effects of external influences on marriage. In addition, methods of sustaining the program at the local church by leaders should be put in place.