ForeverONE Family

By Ruber Leal

Family Ministries in the Texas Conference would be impossible without the wonderful support of my wife, Ketty, who has actively assisted me in this area for the past 15 years. Our motto, “Turning Hearts Toward Home,” is inspired by the invitation Jesus gives in Luke 1:17 for us to join Him in helping every family member turn toward God and one another, to make people ready for the coming of the Lord.

Our theme for the last four years has been “Making Family Education Fun and Creative.” The foundation of a healthy family is a solid spiritual and emotional connection with God and with one another.

To achieve this goal, several members of our team got together with other volunteers to produce six family games. The family spinners help families connect in a fun and creative way. Couples time, family fun, and family worship are the most popular spinner-game themes.

At the International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wis., in 2019, more than 8,000 families from around the world took home the family worship version of the spinner, courtesy of the Texas Conference, the Southwestern Union and the North American Division.

During this term, we introduced Family Festivals. We joined with Texas Conference Children’s Ministries to travel across Texas, offering a Sunday of fun, community service and education for families of all ages.

A lovely group of engaged couples attended a special retreat for them at Lake Whitney Ranch in Clifton, Texas. One couple liked the ranch so much that they decided to hold their wedding there.

We are so grateful for our team of speakers, who during these last four years

Ruber Leal

Family Ministries Director & Local Church Pastor have provided over 120 family workshops and spoken in over 100 churches in the Texas Conference.

During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, we still held over 25 online workshops and created the 30-Day Family Challenge to help families stay emotionally and spiritually healthy during the lockdown.

In 2021, we partnered with Marriage Academy to train lay members to facilitate marriage enrichment activities in local churches. Over 200 couples joined the academy and downloaded the Marriage Academy app to foster a healthy marriage.

In 2022, with the support of Ministry & Evangelism and Ministerial Spouses, we offered four marriage enrichment luncheons for pastoral couples. The event included marriage and ministry enrichment talks by Alessandra DeMoraes and Javier Donate. Another highlight of 2022 was that more than 700 couples registered to attend the ForeverONE Marriage tour in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and McAllen.

We thank God for providing resources and volunteers, and we are grateful that our amazing Texas Conference administration wholeheartedly believes that investing in healthy families helps create a healthy and thriving Texas Conference.