| In response to the growing rate of divorce in the U.S. Army, I developed a comprehensive marriage intervention program that would assist married couples in overcoming the various stressors that they encounter, One significant and unique stressor in military life is the short and long term deployments. The program I developed for this Doctor of Ministry project was based on the model provided by the Army's "Building a Strong and Ready Family Program" and Marriage Ministries International's "Married for Life" Program. This course is entitled Building a Strong and Healthy One-Flesh Marriage. The seminars were conducted over a fourteen week period at Fort Sam Houston, Texas and Fort Leonard-Wood, Missouri.;The Core of the Building a Strong and Healthy One-Flesh Marriage Program was a fourteen week One-Flesh Marriage Seminar. During these fourteen weeks seven couples met weekly for two and a half hours to learn and discuss foundational issues with respect to building and sustaining a Biblical marriage. The One-Flesh Marriage Seminar was culminated with a couples retreat weekend. In which eighteen couples from diverse Protestant denominations and Catholic affiliations met and celebrated the sanctity of their marriages.;The initial goal of the project was to assist couples overcome the stressors of deployment. However, upon completion of the field trial, I realized that my focus was too narrow. The Building a Strong and Healthy One-Flesh Marriage Program is a comprehensive Biblically based tool. The various seminars and activities included processes that have been noted as effective tools for helping couples overcome the many major stressors of marriage.;Recommendations are made to conduct a more comprehensive program in which multiple small groups and couple leaders are engaged. In addition survey tools needs to be developed to enable the program leadership to monitor the programs efficacy throughout its duration.;The various ministry workshops and retreats were a comprehensive synergistically coordinated marriage enhancement and preventive maintenance program for Christian married couples who have at least one spouse in the military. It is a proactive, intentional, and well planned program that seeks to strengthen the marriages of soldiers and assist them in dealing with the many stressors of marriage including those unique to military life such as deployments. The program consists of seven components: (1) Biblical Foundation, (2) Financial Management, (3) Marriage Education, (4) Health Risk Assessment and Intervention, (5) Marriage mentorship/coaching and sustainment, (6) Annual Culmination Retreat and, (7) Deployment support and reintegration assistance. |
