THE La Feuille Pentecostal Church held its annual Couples Retreat this past weekend at the Royalton Hotel in Cap Estate and according to organizers, the four day event was a tremendous success.
It was a non-judgmental and relaxed atmosphere with well-informed presentations, and the focus was on connecting, for the couples in attendance. Group discussions and heart centered methodologies formed a significant part of the event, particularly topics related to commitment and personal transformation.
The 25 plus couples heard from Bishop Timothy Robinson of the Streams of Power Ministries. Timothy was accompanied by his wife. The two are dynamic and fun presenters who teach biblically-centered relationship building concepts.
Bishop Robinson spoke to the VOICE following one of his sessions on the topic, ‘Cultivating a life of intimacy in your relationship; fostering a more passionate marriage’. He said, “What we dealt with this morning is how do we cultivate intimacy in our marriage/ how do we celebrate our marriage? It was very insightful to see the elements or the principle that we got from the scripture, the Word of God especially the Songs of Solomon that brought to light a lot of the dynamics of how a relationship can exist.”
He said, “A lot of people believe intimacy is sex, and intimacy as we understood it goes beyond sex itself… it is communication, it is cherishing, it is being spontaneous, it is keeping the spouse and keeping the spice in the marriage.”
Bishop Robinson continued, “the main point I wanted the couples to understand was the ‘95% and 5%’. The 5% may not be the things we like, but 95% of your spouse is wonderful and we draw on that. We also understand the 95% and 5% is the same person. We cannot disconnect the 95% from the 5%. With God’s help and strength we believe our marriages will be well grounded with a good foundation and we can just build on it and we can flourish.”
Cathy Johnny, a member of the La Feuille Pentecostal Church spoke about the five love languages, and understanding these to express heartfelt commitment.
“People show love in different ways, and people appreciate certain things from others and if you know what the five languages are then you actually know how to recognize it and appreciate it,” she said. “When you look at the five languages; we look at Words of Affirmation (words that will encourage people, like thank you), Gifts, Acts of Service, Quality Time and Physical Touch.”
She added, “When you recognize these five languages in your marriage you are able to know that you are receiving love… and when you have an act of love it’s a greater affirmation that there is love growing in the relationship. Recognition of the language is very important, because you can be touching me all the time and I don’t recognize it’s an act of love or you can be doing little things and I don’t really appreciate not knowing that it’s an act of love, so knowing and recognizing the languages is key to having a very good marriage.”
Some of the areas touched upon included cherishing and celebrating your marriage, cultivating a life of intimacy, maintaining one’s attractiveness and excitement, showing affection, communicating effectively, accountability, and dealing with conflict.
THAT’S GREAT AND MIGHTY AND VERY BEAUTIFUL; THAT’S THE SORT
OF THING THAT SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED ON THE ISLAND. KEEP
PRAISING GOD AND THANK HIM FOR THE LITTLE BLESSINGS, AND PRAY
FOR GOD’S LOVE IN THE VARIOUS COMMUNITIES, SO AS TO REDUCE
THE RATE OF VIOLENCE AND LAWLESSNESS. ONLY GOD CAN HELP US.