The Third Annual ITAF Conference
Wraps July 31st
A Letter From Dr. J
The Third Annual It Takes a Family conference was a great success! The participants were enchanted by the gorgeous setting of Point Loma Nazarene University, right on the Pacific Ocean. Throughout the day, we saw the students going off to the water’s edge during breaks.
We broke new ground with the opening event as a combination of presentations by student activists, showing of the prize-winning Reel Love Challenge videos and short talks on strategy by Yours Truly! Many of our friends from the greater San Diego came to show their support for the students, and to be inspired themselves.
Our students came from all across the country, and from a variety of disciplines. Our participants included graduate students as well as young professionals, and seminarians. Our students traveled from Guatemala and Argentina to join us. In addition, we discovered that some of the students attending US universities actually hail from different countries, or are first generation immigrants. Counting this way, we had students from Taiwan, Japan, China and the Philippines and probably someplace I forgot.
The lectures over Friday and Saturday were the high quality, substantive presentations the Ruth Institute has become famous for.
- Bill Duncan explained how the law of marriage and parenthood interact with each other, so that redefining marriage will necessarily redefine parenthood.
- Brad Wilcox regaled the students with statistics showing that having married parents is the “gold standard” for the well-being of children.
- Dr Freda Bush illustrated just how much success in marriage turns out to depend on behaviors and habits developed prior to marriage.
- And Rob Gagnon did his usual stellar job of showing what Jesus and St Paul really had to say about marriage, divorce and homosexual practice.
Best of all, the participants learned from each other. The evening panel discussions allowed them to share ideas about what is happening on their campuses, and best of all, what they can do to make things better on their campuses. The friendships they formed will surely be among the most lasting benefits of the “It Takes a Family to Raise a Village” conference.
You may be sure that you will be hearing more from these young adults in coming weeks and months! For now, please accept our deepest and warmest thanks for all your support, both material and spiritual!
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