Family Life National Office

 

ABOUT

 

Natural Family Planning (NFP) was started in 1962 at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Nairobi. Its aim was to assist married couples in spacing births of their children using natural methods. In 1981 the then Kenya Catholic Secretariat’s Medical Department was mandated to start the Family Life Programme; an office that was charged with the provision of NFP and Family Life Education (FLE) services. This has grown over the years to include other family life programmes.

 

The National Family Life Office (NFLO) is mandated with the responsibility of promoting and supporting human life and providing holistic care to the institution of the family and its mission according to God’s plan.

 

VISION

Witnessing Christian family life.

 

MISSION

Journeying with families to evangelise in promoting sanctuaries of love and life.

 

OBJECTIVES

  1. Promote and defend authentic teachings of the Church regarding the nature of marriage and family life.
  2. Provide appropriate services and training for the integral development of all family members.
  3. Maintain standards in teaching NFP and FLE.
  4. Assist Catholic institutions in the implementation of marriage and family life activities.
  5. Articulate anthropological and theological principles.
  6. Respond to pastoral and public policy issues that concern marriage and the family.

 

PROGRAMMES

The dioceses have continued to implement activities of the following Family Life Programmes through their respective Family Life Offices which are headed by Diocesan Family Life Coordinators:

  1. Natural Family Planning (NFP)
  2. The Faithful House (TFH)
  3. Positive Parenting
  4. Marriage Preparation and Accompaniment
  5. Family Life Education
  6. Living Marriage and Family Life to the Full
  7. Prolife
  8. Ending Violence in Catholic Families
  9. Family Life Celebrations
  10. Counselling
  11. Abstinence and Behaviour Change

 

 

 

 

  1. Natural Family Planning

“…The teaching of the Church on responsible parenthood is founded upon the inseparable connection, willed by God and unable to be broken by man on his own initiative, between the two meanings of conjugal love: the unitive meaning and the procreative meaning…” [Humane Vitae, 12].

 

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is in line with the teaching of the Catholic Church on matters relating to family planning. Our trainings on Natural Family Planning are fertility awareness based methods which include: Billings Ovulation Method, Temperature Method and Sympto-Thermal Method. This calls for proper training by fully trained and qualified NFP instructors.

 

NFP increases self–awareness and knowledge of both the husband’s and the woman’s fertility, enhances effective communication, intimacy with partner, promotes responsible parenthood and encourages male involvement in family planning and for some, the ability to adhere to religious and cultural norms.

 

  1. The Faithful House (TFH)

The Faithful House (TFH) program is intended for young people and married couples. It is an essential step in building a strong marriage and family. It is part of an effort of “family evangelization,” a family-focused initiative for human and social development. Through the implementation of The Faithful House, we want to see thousands of families empowered with social, spiritual, moral, material and relational tools that will help them in the realization of authentic integral human development. The program emphasizes chastity and faithfulness, before and during marriage, in building strong and committed marriages and healthy families, and as proven ways of reducing HIV infections.

 

The program is divided into five (5) modules:

  • Module One: The Frame of The Faithful House
  • Module Two: Completing The Faithful House
  • Module Three: Living in a Faithful House
  • Module Four: Challenges Within a Faithful House
  • Module Five: Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM)

 

  1. Positive Parenting

Positive Parenting is designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society. “Since they have conferred life on their children, parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them; hence they… have the right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions, taking into account the cultural traditions of the family which favors the good and the dignity of the child; they should also receive from society the necessary aid and assistance to perform their educational role properly” [Charter of the Rights of the Family – Article 5, 1].

The family is the first school of life and parents are the primary educators of their children.

 

Teaching Self Government (TSG)

In November 2015, the KCCB – GS, through the National Family Life Programme, was awarded a certificate allowing us to conduct parenting courses using the designated curriculum of Teaching Self Government. This curriculum was reviewed and contextualised into “Parenting: A House United”.  

 

  1. Marriage Preparation and Accompaniment

Marriage is a gradual and continuous process. Subsequently the Church promotes intensive marriage preparation and calls upon pastoral agents to accompany the Christian family on its journey through life with solid spiritual catechetical formation (cf. CIC 1063, PC 65-69). This entails 4 main stages: Remote, Proximate, Immediate and Ongoing/accompaniment.

 

Remote (0-18 years): This begins in the womb, through to infancy, childhood and adolescence and takes place first of all in the family and also in the school and Church, other peer formation groups, as a valid assistance to the family.

 

Proximate (19-25 years): This stage is subsequent to and a gradual build up on the ground laid in remote formation. Ordinarily it takes place during the period of courtship or engagement.

 

Immediate (26ff): Successful completion of foundational formation (remote and proximate) leads to immediate preparation aimed at synthesizing and evaluating previous formation stages. It is prior to the celebration of matrimony and comprises a series of meetings with the pastor and other significant pastoral agents with a final role in preparations.

 

Ongoing/Accompaniment: This is a primary element in pastoral care of families. Marital-family life formation is a continuous process comprising ongoing formation, and accompaniment for the new and young couple.

 

The three process of Accompaniment are:

  1. Accompanying: age 0 – 5; 5 – 10; 10 – 25; 26-35; 36-50 years of Marriage
  2. Discernment
  • Integration

 

  1. Family Life Education

Focusing on healthy functional families, family life education aims at teaching and fostering knowledge and skills to enable individuals and families to function optimally. The course also offers programmes that provide support to meet the needs of all family members on human development, human sexuality, healthy inter-personal relationships and family functioning, positive self-esteem, parenting, and spirituality, among other societal issues (cf. CSDC 213).

 

  1. Living Marriage and Family Life to the Full

A manual by Africa Family Life Federation (AFLF) in collaboration with KCCB NFLO, comes as a tool to contribute to the promotion and protection of marriage and family life in many of the dioceses of the English speaking countries of Africa. Among the authors of this new intervention The topics of the manual are intended to help couples to fulfil their vocation of bearing witness to Christ as married persons in a very special way.

 

  1. Prolife

The Catholic Church upholds the principle of respect for human life from conception to natural death. The moral right to life begins at conception and the human beings must be respected and protected in his/her integrity from that moment of conception to natural death. Hence abortion is the deliberate and unjust killing of the unborn baby in violation of its right to life (cf. CSDC 155; CCCC 470; EV 2).

 

The Family Life Programme is committed to supporting all prolife initiatives, which include but not limited to crisis pregnancy counselling, praying to save unborn babies and pregnant mothers, post abortion assistance to those in need, prolife marches and walks, prolife presentations, and lobbying the Government for prolife policies and laws.

 

  1. Family Life Celebrations

As a means of strengthening the family life apostolate, dioceses have been encouraged to celebrate Family Feast Days or Family Days at diocesan, deanery and parish levels. The following have been realised at different levels:

  • Wedding anniversaries or special days for married couples where they renew their vows.
  • Celebrations of World Marriage Day.
  • Celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
  • Solemnisation of Marriages in mass weddings.
  • Annual Family Day
  • World Meeting of Families (held after every three years)

 

  1. Ending Violence in Catholic Families

In partnership with Pax in Familia and AFLF, this programme was initiated in Kenya in 2018. The goal of this project is to strengthen the Catholic Church and relieve the suffering of Catholic families plagued by Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), by transforming the pastoral response to IPV in Kenya.

  1. Counselling

Counselling is engrained in all our interventions in support, promotion and protection of family and marriage institutions.

 

  1. Abstinence and Behaviour Change

This intervention targets young people. So far the Programme has been carried out in collaboration with Education for Life Kenya, Youth Alive Kenya, Human Life International – Kenya and Heartbeat Life and Family Ministry’s Pure in Heart.

 

AFFILIATION

  1. The Africa Family Life Federation (AFLF)

 

SOME OF THE FAMILY LIFE GROUPDS

  1. Human Life International – Kenya
  2. Family Life Counselling Association of Kenya (FLCAK)
  3. Education for Life Kenya
  4. Marriage Encounter
  5. Engaged Encounter
  6. Retrouvaille Movement
  7. Couples for Christ
  8. Youth Alive – Kenya
  9. Emmanuel Community
  10. Heartbeat Life & Family Ministry
  11. Protecting Life Movement Trust
  12. Kenya Christian Professionals Forum (KCPF)

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