08/14/2025
We are finally back in Texas after spending three weeks in Portugal. The first week a team of five volunteers led by Pastor Danny Koonce taught ESL to children of the community as an outreach of Igrejas Evangelicas Baptistas in Monção. The second week Deborah and I conducted two Marriage Enrichment seminars sponsored by Pastor Carlos Martinez of Monção. I was honored to kick off the seminar by preaching at his church in Valença. The topic was The Biblical Fear of God and how it relates to daily life, particularly marriage. The first seminar was held Monday through Friday, 7-11 pm with five couples. The second seminar, an intensive was held on Saturday & Sunday, 4 to 11 pm, with three additional couples. Most couples had never participated in an event like this before. It was all new. The program covered concerns such as communications, conflict resolution, relational dynamics, money management, sexuality and intimacy, shared spirituality, and much more. We used the Prepare Enrich assessment and workbook along with several tools from the Gottman research. I have never seen such an interested, curious, and attentive group of couples who were willing and desirous of learning marital concepts from the biblical perspective! Their participation was inspiring. Even though the gospel truth was intentionally interwoven into every subject, I offered a clear plan of salvation during the Spirituality session while Pastor Carlos led the groups in prayer. Our translator, Hannah Martinez, who is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and can read and write in Mandarin, did an excellent job. She was fully involved in every planning session between Carlos and I that began months ago, and during each seminar and couple’s counseling session. Deborah, who stepped way out of her comfort zone to teach some of the material, also translated English - Spanish when needed. It was a fantastic time of teaching, learning, and fellowship between husband & wife, amongst the couples themselves, and also between us and the couples. Despite their challenges of late nights (after work), having no childcare, limited air conditioning, and typical distractions, the couple’s made the seminars a great success. Laura Martinez made sure we had plenty of food during the breaks since many attendees didn’t take time for dinner. Deb and I were blessed in every way! Our thanks to all involved, to include Cross Church, our home church in North Richland Hills, Texas.
As for our third week, we visited Lisbon and Porto with a couple of friends and had a great time of fellowship.
The pictures give you an idea of the venue and the relationship building that occurred throughout the week.
We have been considering the idea of offering a similar seminar in Fort Worth. Feed back would be helpful in making a decision.
Homestead Hope Counseling exists to help people invest in themselves and relationships today so they can have hope for tomorrow. Feel free to call us at 817.812.3021.
