We believe strong, healthy families make for a strong, healthy society and nation. One of our firm commitments is to help young adults build good, godly, healthy foundations for their families. Family Ministry is Ukarimu Ministries’ other arm of ministry. Chip and Chari work together in this area and it has grown considerably in the last few years. Here’s what we offer…

Premarital Counseling: Often the students we have worked with come back some time later requesting premarital counselling when they have met someone they want to settle with for the rest of their lives. Other times we work with churches helping to facilitate premarital counselling with their many young couples. With roughly 75% of the Kenyan population being under 35 years of age (according to the 2019 census), churches are kept very busy with weddings.

Reality Check:. This one year programme for newly married couples has become one of Ukarimu Ministries’ most popular programmes. Here, through 5 full day seminars, spread out over a year’s time, couples grapple with the same basic topics covered in premarital sessions, only now from the vantage point of when the reality of married life sets in. The highly interactive sessions are designed to face challenges early on, while such challenges are still small and manageable. This programme helps young couples build their marriages on a solid stable foundation.

Marriage Mentoring: For those couples having difficulty in their relationship and feeling a need to have another couple walk the tough road with them for a season.

Marriage Enrichment: This is usually done in a seminar format, hosted either at Ukarimu House, at churches, or even a public venue. Sometimes Chip and Chari have spoken at marriage retreats. During the COVID-19 lockdown time, we even were guest speakers at an online seminar, hosted by a church. A new addition to the marriage ministry is a totally online marriage support discussion forum Ukarimu Ministries was invited to join. Couples Konnect interviews guests, which then stimulate discussions on a wide range of topics related to marriage. Any couples needing more in-depth help are then referred to counsellors who work with them in private.

Parenting Seminars: Ukarimu Ministries also offers parenting sessions, covering a wide range of topics from discipline, to having family devotions, to raising children with special needs, to what to do with sibling rivalry. These sessions done with small home groups, in churches, community centers, or schools, are also highly interactive, making use of the collective wisdom of the parents present, as well as current research on the topic.