Judy Nyokabi Kimondo, 34, could no longer doubt her sixth sense. Deep down, she knew her marriage was on the rocks. She admits, “I got married 19 years ago to Charles at an early age and despite being blessed with three children, our relationship had started to drift apart and love flew out the window. I sensed in my spirit that we had lost focus in life, always fighting over money, lacking appreciation for each other and never communicating well.” The rift widened so much that they started to attend different churches.
Charles remembers when they acquired a secondhand car and decided to venture into a taxi and delivery business. He says, “Due to the nature of the taxi business I would come home late from work and my wife would not tolerate it. Instead of the business venture becoming a blessing, it tore us apart and our relationship became messy.” One day, Charles was hired to drop off a parcel at a church in Mweiga town. To his surprise he found his pastor and fellow church mates in one of the training halls. Without much hesitation, he decided to stay and see what was happening.
World Vision, through its Transformed Church for Transformed Communities (TCTC) Christian Discipleship program, was conducting the Celebrating Families training for pastors and faith leaders. The training is based on four concepts of creating space for love and grace, finding seeds of goodness, opportunities for forgiveness and reasons for thanksgiving. Through the training, World Vision aims to build a generation of wholeness and to disrupt the cycle of brokenness and poverty.
As fate would have it, Charles found himself at the right place. His decision to stay and join the training paid great dividends to his marriage. “The Celebrating Families training saved my marriage and added a new spark to our dying love,” says Charles. “For sure, I had never heard of the five love languages- words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch as stipulated in the training,” he said. “I swallowed the concept fully and started to practice it at home. Slowly we began to respect and love each other as friends and partners,” said Charles.
Judy noticed the change in Charles. “I noticed his words had changed. Before we would go for months without talking to each other because of the harsh tone and careless words. He also became more accommodating of my feelings and we started to share the vision of our family together,” she explains.
Charles and Judy decided to work on their marriage. Now they have harmony and both attend Jesus Christ Ministry Church in Mweiga town, where Charles is now an ordained pastor. Their home is no longer a theater of shouting matches but is a haven of peace. Their children are happy too. Charles concludes, “Pass our regards to World Vision and we appreciate what they have done for us as a family and our community.”
