VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 08:21:47 07/09/06 Sun
Author: Brad Campbell
Author Host/IP: 64.12.116.72
Subject: Real Life Scenario / Prayer Request

An elder in your church is married to a wife who has
developed severe mental disorders due to an inherited
chemical imbalance. The situation has gotten progressively
worse over the past several years to the point that she
is continually verbally abusive to her husband as well
as to practically everyone in their circle of family and
friends. The man has chosen to stay with her and care for
her because of his vow to love and cherish "in sickness and in health". The man has been unsuccessful in any attempt to
get her to take medication or to seek any kind of professional help because in her mind she does not have a
problem. (Everyone else does).
The man has two sons who have all but abandoned their
relationship with their father and mother mostly due to
the fact that their wives have become fed up and
embarrassed at the continual conflicts that arise. They
both question whether there is indeed any "sickness"
and have even speculated that there may be demonic influence involved. They see the man's willingness to
stay with his wife as weakness. One has even told her
husband that she would leave him if he pursued any
further ralationship with his parents. Both have all
but totally denied the man any real relationship with
his grandchildren unless he leaves his wife because they are afraid of the influence it could have on the children.
The sons are, in a way, "caught in the middle". But,
given the choice, they feel that they must choose their
wives and children over their parents.
The man is a very dear friend and very devoted member
of the church. He is always responsible in all of his
duties as an elder, but has offered to resign his office
because of his situation. One of the sons is one of your
closest friends from childhood and also a deacon in the
same church. He has never offered to resign his office,
but because of the stresses of the situation he and his
wife do not attend nearly as regularly as they once did
and he is practically inactive in any of his duties as
a deacon. Both men were ordained years before the
current situation developed by a previous pastor.
You are the assistant pastor to a very good man who is
also very close to the family as well. Thus far, the
only thing that has been done is to give the situation
time and prayer, but in a small church family problems
often become church problems and the situation is
causing great stress on the fellowship as a whole.
Your earnest prayers and advice are greatly appreciated
in this manner.

Sincerely in Christ,
Brad Campbell

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Forum timezone: GMT-6
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.