Get Acquainted With the Families. Go ahead and preview the four families listed above that you have a choice of studying. Pick just one family that seems most interesting or relevant to the members of your team and use this family for all six skill sections.

Next time pick a different family and you can complete this curriculum up to six times without repetition. Each family type will study different aspects of each skill section. So the more families you study the more thorough your knowledge will be in each area.

Curriculum Objectives

 

Building a community of faith. We want to build a community that is able to pass our beliefs from generation to generation through socialization. The mentoring experience accomplishes this objective, it is a time for praising God and sharing what God has done in our lives. The men as well as the women should spend special time alone away from their spouses with their prayer partners. They should talk about how they wish to grow spiritually and then they should hold each other accountable for their goals.

Families also spend time exploring the traditions and values of the church so that they can make their own personal response to follow Jesus. As a result, they will form a common connection with each other, participating in a supportive faith-nurturing atmosphere. Allowing each person to grow closer to God in his or her own dynamic spiritual experience. Mentoring needs to include the older children. Letting them see how Christian growth occurs by enculturating them into the beliefs and practices of the church. Family mentoring intends to influence youth to avoid at risk behavior by providing role models and building supportive, loving families.

Mentoring is how faith learns how to act. Values are transferred as we connect with one another. The youth learn from the experience of multiple generations as we all learn from our experiences that we share together during the week. We plan Friday night vespers and extra special events for welcoming the Sabbath. Special events may include candlelight song services, a special treat like cinnamon rolls and writing in a prayer journal. By recording prayers and answered prayers teams can rejoice in seeing how God answers prayers. In addition, during the week they can plan fun activities for Sabbath afternoon, with picnics, nature walks, or missionary activities. By this we are teaching through our socialization because you may teach people about religion from behind the pulpit, but you cannot reach people with how to live their faith without practicing it with them in a mentoring relationship.

With this family curriculum, churches can both inwardly spiritually nurture their members and outwardly witness to friends to produce church growth. In other words this curriculum can be adapted to be used between both member to member as well as between member to nonmember. Family mentoring can be both a friendship evangelism and small group ministry.

The Elijah Message is God's final plan for preparing His people for the Second Coming of Christ. The Family Curriculum will strengthen troubled homes; it will bring spiritual growth to families and as families mentor outside of their churches it will help their churches grow as we mentor our friends and neighbors. However, most importantly, it will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of families toward God, as Malachi 4:5,6 prophesied. Family mentoring is the key to finishing the "Elijah" reformation which Malachi prophesied would take place before the return of Jesus. This curriculum uses the example of Elijah when he was commissioned by God to mentor Elisha. Mentoring in the same way that John the Baptist was called to be the Elijah of his day, preparing the hearts of Gods people before Christ's first coming. The Bible teaches that families are the Elijah of the last generation today.

 

Family Studies Diagram | Learning Outcomes Presentation