Familylife are so thrilled to have trained four more facilitator couples this April. We had a fantastic time sharing the principles and vision of Familylife along with the ‘how to’s of preparing a talk. It was very exciting to bring together the trainers, the existing team and this bunch of newbies.

Karen and Etiene Van Der Poll, Sara and Daryoosh Zareian, Mark and Odette Clayton and Miriam and Sean Conrad. Although you may not tell from their names, I’m sure you can from the photo(s) that this is the most diverse group we have ever trained. Our new facilitators are British, South African, Sri Lankan and Iranian (although not all of them, all at the same time!) We’re hoping that having a more diverse team will help couples from different background engage with Familylife.

The feedback from the couples was good, Miriam wrote: ‘I’m so encouraged and impressed. I would highly recommend …being trained as a facilitator couple…to anyone and everyone.’ Etiene wrote ‘Keep up the good work. We love you all and are really excited to know that we have met new family that we didn’t know we had!’

Time and time again the highlight for couples who come on A Day Together is sharing in the stories of ordinary people. Hearing the experience of others can help couples to see that most difficulties that we experience in marriage are not unique to us alone, but that many couples have travelled that road before. At Familylife, we love to encourage couples to think that having a thriving relationship is possible and that problems and issues that arise can be dealt with – we don’t have to ‘make do’ with a miserable marriage.

The joy of these four couples is that they share that same heartbeat, but they are unique in background and experience. Having them on our team will enhance what we do and soon, at an event near you, they will be sharing their stories and how they have journeyed together so far on this road called marriage.

If you are interested in finding out more about joining our exciting and most excellent facilitator team, email christinedaniel@familylifeuk.org

Jo Arkell, May 2016