Florence, 70, and James, 72, will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary in July this year. Their marriage was however not always easy.
“Just like many other couples, we went through difficult challenges. At times we thought the problems were beyond our strength, but God saw us through,” said Florence, a UCKG member from Berea, Johannesburg.
After they were married, James had to move from the Eastern Cape to work in Johannesburg .
“He visited home and sent money. However, as the years went by this changed. He stopped sending money and visiting. I struggled to raise our two children who lived with me,” she said.
She said that her husband left her for ten years and she had accepted that he was not going to come back again.
One day in 1992 her husband came back home unexpectedly. “He asked for forgiveness and confessed that he had had a relationship that lasted for more than three years,” said Florence.
Florence moved from her home to join James in Johannesburg. Their son, who is now a pastor, picked up the ‘Faith Works Bulletin’ distributed by the UCKG.
“He was so excited and he asked us to go to the church. We went as a family and the pastor called us and offered us counselling,” she explained.
Florence said that their marriage grew from strength to strength since they came to the church. “Prayer changed everything. Since then we have grown stronger in wisdom and love. Our marriage is sustained in God’s Word,” she said.
In Genesis, God created Adam because He did not want him to be alone. He then created a suitable helper for him, Eve.
The UCKG encourages people to strengthen family relationships and also runs ‘Therapy of love’ services for those who want to build a strong foundation for their love life. These services aim to help everyone, married and single, who wants to strengthen their relationships, find the right partners and overcome disappointments.
The meetings take place every Saturday at 2pm.
By: Ricardina Maleka