Polygamy, Dual Career Marriages, and African Culture Among Topics at Groundbreaking Conference in Kenya

Three African Adventist regions come together to grapple with difficult subjects.

Delbert Baker
Ron du Preez
Angela Nwaomah
Jongimpi Papu
Elie Weick-Dido
World church Family Ministries directors Willie and Elaine Oliver engaging attendees, flanked by a local youth choir.
Group photo of all presenters and their spouses, as well as ECD and WAD division presidents.
Blasious Ruguri
The Pan-African Conference on Dynamic Family Relations was held on the campus of the Adventist University of Africa.
Attendees enjoying a meal in the overflow dining tent next to AUA's cafeteria.
Sampson Nwaomah
Kagelo and Boitumelo Rakwena
previous arrow
next arrow
 

In another first for the Family Ministries Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, three African divisions, or world regions, came together from March 1-3, 2018 to discuss relevant and challenging subjects in the area of marriage and family.

The Adventist Pan-African Conference on Dynamic Family Relations, was organized by the world church Family Ministries department directors Willie and Elaine Oliver, together with Family Ministries departments from the East Central Africa (ECD), West Central Africa (WAD), and Southern Africa-Indian Ocean (SID) divisions.

The conference was organized for several reasons, primarily to discuss the relationship between deeply embedded cultures and traditions throughout Africa and the biblical worldview as related to families. “We are becoming more like the world instead of being salt and light,” Willie Oliver explained to Adventist Review. “This is just an opportunity to slow down and take another look at the biblical message for families.”

“This conference is important because culture is so important to all of us regardless of where we’re from,” adds Elaine Oliver. “Our culture usually drives what we do, how we behave, how we make decisions, how we live our lives. Specifically, we’re dealing with marriage and family so this conversation that we’re having here these few days is critical because most importantly we need our culture to be the culture of Christianity.”

Read the complete article at Adventist World and Adventist Review