My story

RHEMA OUTREACH is the name of the ministry of Geoff and Gina Poulter.

Directors of Catholic Bible School:
www.catholic-bible-school.org

Gina, Geoff it was honour for me to meet you in person. I was impressed by your attentiveness, love and respect to one another after 45 years of marriage. What would you recommend to new couples if they would like to be so happy after so many years of life together.

This is a BIG question but we would say that couples need to work at making their marriage good and healthy and not simply expect it to happen. All relationships go through three stages; romance, disillusionment and joy and these are three constantly recurring phases in all marriages. Sadly it is too easy to not work through the second phase, that of disillusionment so that they can reach the ‘joy’. It is very easy to settle for ‘second best’ instead of realising that God does not want us to have second best – that is not His plan for our marriages, He only wants the best for us. As married couples we are called to be a sacramental sign in the Church.

Marriage is often a time that we have to be willing to change – not change each other but change ourselves. Also there will be time when confrontation is necessary but always for the sake of the relationship not for our own glory. Confrontation if constructive is lifebuilding.

We would encourage all couples to take time out for the two of them, some advice we were given many years ago was ‘that the best way a dad could love his children was to love their mother and the best way a mother could love her children was to love their dad’. Sometimes we forget that the couple relationship needs to come first. Keep on romancing each other, don’t take the other for granted, keep the marriage young and alive. Why not set aside one evening every week or month for just the two of you – your date night.

Respect each other at all times, listen to each other, recognise each others gifts and strengths, honour each other for who they are. Treat your husband/wife as you yourself would like to be treated – they deserve nothing less.

You offer people spiritual counselling and guidance as Directors of the Catholic Bible School. What mistake are the most common mistakes people couples make in their marriages and what do they need to be focused on if they want to live a happy and holy marriage?

Marek – another BIG question.

We would say that the root of most of the common problems that couples experience can be traced to poor communication between them. Couples often will not talk about difficult areas in their relationship in a constructive manner. Open, honest BUT loving communication is the key.

Often couples talk only about things in their lives and not about their own personal feelings and it is the latter that builds intimacy, trust and love between a couple.

We believe that God made man to be the spiritual head of the family and the woman to be the spiritual heart. Neither of these are greater than the other – God designed it for them to compliment each other and bring strength to the couple relationship and the family.

Couples should also pray together each day, preferably in the morning before the busy day begins. ‘A couple that prays together stays together.’

What advice would you give to people who are single, desire to have a partner, but they have not met the right one? How should live those single persons?

We would say be patient and trust in God to make the introduction in the way he will choose but while waiting live chaste lives in accordance with the teaching of the Church which is based on the Word of God found in the Bible. It is helpful to try and ensure that you have a group of friends that hold the same Christian values as you do. Also do not let yourself be drawn into difficult and dangerous situations.

I know that you love the Catholic Church, but I know that you are open to cooperate also with Christians from other denominations. Why do you believe that the Catholic Church is your home and what can we learn from other denominations?

We nearly left the catholic Church over 30 years ago out of frustration and because we saw other denominations being more open to moving with the Holy Spirit but we clearly heard God tell us to stay in the catholic Church and help put His heart back into it. There are many things that people in and of the Church or Church structures that we find difficult and would seek to challenge. Having said that we do believe that the Catholic Church has the fullest expression of Christianity and a heritage that we can trace back to the Apostles. Also. and central is of course the Eucharist.

We do work with other Christians and have learnt a great deal from them in many areas of our Christian journey. We like to think of the church in it’s broadest sense – all believers [ from whatever denomination ] in the Trinitarian God as being like a diamond. When you hold it up to the light it has many facets which each reflect a light that is slightly different but when they come together the beauty of the jewel is seen at its best.

We think that other denominations have good teaching on the Holy Spirit, on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and are often more open to using and encouraging these gifts. We think other denominations can be better at fostering and developing leadership in their churches than the Catholic Church. Another gift they bring is that of free praise and worship outside a liturgical service.

The Holy Bible is full of prophecy, why do we not believe and practise prophecy more in Catholic Church according to ( 1 Kor 14:1-5)?

We don’t think it is just prophecy that is not practiced but most of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is sad but perhaps this is one of the reasons that the Holy Spirit has raised up the Charismatic movements within the Church which are fully recognised by the Vatican. We pray for the day when the Gifts will be used more freely in the body of the Church.

The Lord uses you both prophecy into people’s lives and from my experience with you I was encouraged by what Lord spoke to me through you. Some Christians think that prophecy is like divination. What are the roots of Catholics fear from prophecy?

This is probably due to a lack of understanding and good teaching on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. You always have to test prophecy and the first test is it Scriptural. Does it conform with the Bible and you could add to that does it conform to the teaching of the Church. If it does not then it does not come from God. Also it is important to know or check thew standing of the ‘prophet’ – are they Godly people. Also does the prophecy edify and encourage and be certain it is not manipulative. We need to apply some common sense rules.

One thing that Lord spoke to me through you was that I should listen more to Him. I need less to talk to Him and more listen to Him. This is true. What should Christians like me do, If they wants to grow in listening/hearing of Gods voice?

We all tend to talk at God rather than listen to Him in prayer. We come before him with our lists of needs not to primarily listen to Him. We need to bring a new discipline in to our time of prayer. Set aside a specific time each day and if you can have a special place that you can pray in. It may just be a corner of a room, possibly light a candle. Have a prayer journal and pen with you. Still yourself and just come into His presence and be at peace with Him. If you sense anything then simply write it down in your journal; it may be a feeling or sensation, a picture that comes into your mind or something that you simply sense the Lord is saying to you in your Spirt. We have to be disciplined and get into the habit of doing this but it will become very natural in time. Its good to review what you have written down in your journal on a weekly basis so you can get the bigger picture of what the Lord is saying to you – you will be amazed.