WHAT IS ‘KYRAP’?
Marriage Encounter KYRAP (Keeping Your Relationship A Priority) activities are
enrichment and fellowship events based on the five tools presented on the Marriage
Encounter Weekend to help couples keep their relationship a priority. KRYAP was launched
in Ohio Area Lutheran Marriage Encounter in March of 2006 after several years of prayer
and thought as to how we could better serve the post-weekend support, enrichment, and
fellowship needs and desires of ‘today’s’ encountered couples.
Dwindling desire for a long-term commitment to monthly, recurring small groups (love
circles/spirals) was one impetus that led us to prayerfully seek out additional ways to live
out the part of the LME mission to provide ongoing community support. KYRAP offers
couples the freedom to pick and choose events throughout the year that work best with
their schedules, needs, and/or interests. Couples can attend one, more, or all events.
Early on, the KYRAP ‘program’ in Ohio expanded to include pre-encountered married and
engaged couples when possible, allowing them to experience not only enrichment events,
but the fellowship of the encountered community as well. Although only a small number of
pre-encountered couples generally attend KYRAP events in Ohio, most who do, eventually
attend an M.E. Weekend.
In its first six years, 32 KYRAP events were held in Ohio, with 510 couples in attendance.
With inclusion of family members, 1494 people shared in these enrichment/fellowship
activities.
In Ohio, four to six KYRAP events are held (on a mix of Saturdays, Sundays, and full
weekends) at somewhat evenly spaced intervals throughout the year. Included within this
schedule are events held four to six weeks following our local LME Weekends. This allows
KYRAP events to serve as post-weekend ‘renewals’ as well as serving as inviting events and
as community enrichment and/or fellowship events.
To help facilitate well-attended events, we try to schedule (and begin to publicize) the
next full calendar year of KYRAP events by our current year’s Fall (September or
October) Area Planning Gathering (known in some areas as board meetings). This helps
couples to schedule the events into their brand-new yearly calendars by early January
(hopefully before their weekends are filled with other activities). We publicize events in
our local Area Newsletters, through e-blasts, email reminders to registered participants,
in Weekend Care Packets, at end-of-the-Weekend Receptions, at Area Planning
Gatherings, in church bulletins, at all KYRAP events, and at any other venue appropriate to
an event.
All couples who are willing to lead and/or facilitate an event are welcomed and encouraged
to do so. Ideas for events can be shared at our Area Planning Gatherings or by email,
phone, or personal visit with our KYRAP Coordinators. Guidance and/or assistance in
Page 1 of 4
planning or preparing events is given when requested or needed. “Outside-the-box”
thinking is encouraged.
When feasible, on-site babysitting is offered at couples-only events. If offering
babysitting at a full-day workshop/event, it is recommended that some type of
program/planned activities be offered for those in childcare. (Generally, more than a
couple of hours of unscheduled ‘free-time’ proves to be too much for most children in such
settings).
To give you an idea of the kinds of activities offered in Ohio, below are some of the
KRYAP events held.
Two events, the annual Ohio Area Encountered Couples Retreat Weekend and the annual
Ohio Area Family Campout Weekend, which were both offered prior to KYRAP’s existence,
now fall under our ‘umbrella’ of KYRAP events. Due to space limitations and some event
content, these are two events that are open only to encountered couples/families.
Annual Encountered Couples Retreat Weekend: For the past 33 years in Ohio, these
bible–verse-themed weekend retreats for couples who have previously attended a
Marriage Encounter Weekend have enriched ~20-60 couples annually. They are generally
held at ‘destination’ locations throughout Ohio and occasionally in nearby states. For
example, our retreats have been held at State Park Lodges, Bed and Breakfasts,
Conference/Golf centers, a Niagara Falls hotel, and at Amish country inns to name a few.
Led by a committee of encountered couples that meets throughout the year for retreat
planning, this event generally offers an icebreaker activity, three to five or so enrichment
presentations, dialogue times, small group sharing times, prayer-partners activities, an
elegant dinner-dance, pool-time, free-time, fun, and fellowship. Each couple pays their
total cost to attend this event no later than one month in advance of the event, with
current per couple event cost at $325.00. Monthly payments toward the total event cost
are accepted by the event treasurers, so couples can budget the cost throughout the year
leading up to the event. Some examples of additional/specific activities offered
throughout the years as part of the retreat weekend are horse-drawn carriage rides,
couples’ foot massages, local area attraction tours, skits, small and large group games,
mini-dates (based on the 10-Great Dates book by David & Claudia Arp), cross-country
skiing, a camera assisted scavenger hunt, couples’ prayer walk, ice cream social, and service
activities for the ministry (writing letters/cards to invite couples to attend Weekends,
writing sharing letters for Weekends, sending encouragement cards to encountered
widows/widowers, signing up to bag-drag on upcoming Weekends, etc.).
Annual Campout for Encountered Couples & their Families: For the past 12 years, this
fun-filled themed Weekend has been offered to encountered couples and their families. A
small committee of encountered couples plans and coordinates the event. Average
attendance runs about 20-25 families with anywhere from 95 to 160 people participating.
An M.E. fee of $15 per family if registered by the Earlybird deadline, or $25 per family if
Page 2 of 4
registered after the Earlybird deadline, plus the cost of your own campsite is due to be
paid in full one month prior to the event. Requiring early payment gives the committee
funds to purchase the ‘necessities’ ahead of time (i.e. name tags, campsite signs,
tablecloths, charcoal for the group meal, etc.) and the ‘extras’ (i.e. personalized camp site
mail bags, ice cream certificates, glow sticks, contest prizes/awards, etc.). Each family
brings their own camping, swimming, and sports equipment, plus food for their family and a
potluck lunch or dinner to share. Folks have the option of decorating their campsite in the
campout weekend’s theme. A full schedule of activities is offered throughout the weekend
and may include activities such as an icebreaker, scavenger hunt, outdoor movie night,
group campfires, children’s, teens, and adult games, family craft, horseshoe, bocce ball,
and ladder ball tournaments, devotions, a worship service, and camp pie and campsite
decorating contests. Some themes have included: Christmas (just about everyone has
some Christmas decorations to inexpensively and festively decorate their campsite),
Tropical Paradise (complete with pig roast, tiki-bar, and limbo contest), World Tour (where
folks decorated their campsites in the country of their choice and visited the other
countries with passports in hand), Jungle Fever, Back to the Future (decorating in any
period throughout time), Favorite Holidays, Storybook Adventures, and Games. Although
many activities are offered throughout the weekend, all campout participants are asked to
attend at least one specific activity each day: the Friday welcome and icebreaker activity,
Saturday Potluck Lunch or Dinner, and Sunday Worship Service/Group Photo/Camp Clean
up; other activities can be chosen by families throughout the weekend to accommodate
their own family’s interests/ages. Family dialogues are encouraged; dialogue questions for
the weekend are part of their ‘welcome packet’ (which also includes a schedule of
activities, M.E. group campsites map, ballots for voting for the best decorated campsite,
Weekend list which includes contact info of all families attending, etc.)
2-Hour and 6-Hour Enrichment Workshops: Both ‘stand-alone’ and series workshops
have been held in different locations throughout Ohio. A majority of our 2- hour and 6hour workshops are held in the North East Ohio area because many couples who
consistently attend live in this area; however, if interest is expressed by couples in
outlying communities, events have been/will be scheduled there as well. Average
attendance is ~16 couples per event. Tables with Marriage Encounter Weekend
information and KYRAP Community Events flyers/registration forms/sign-up sheets are
prominently displayed and pointed out at all events. Either a potluck lunch preceding or
following a 2-hour workshop or in the middle of a 6-hour workshop, or a potluck supper
following an afternoon workshop, is included to encourage fellowship time at all events.
Video workshops held in Ohio include:
• Mark Gungor’s “Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage.” This DVD set can be
presented as a series of independent 2-hour workshops or as a full-day conference.
Workshop facilitators in Ohio have “Marriage Encounterized” these by adding small
group sharing questions and dialogues.
Page 3 of 4
•
Dr. Gary Chapman’s “Toward A Growing Marriage” DVD set was presented as a fullday (6-hour) workshop. Workshop Facilitators “Marriage Encounterized” it to
include a 5 & 5, learning your primary Love Language exercise, private couple
reflection time, a forgiveness exercise, and food, of course!
Workshops based on the five tools for keeping your relationship a priority which were
written and/or facilitated by encountered couples include:
• “Couple Prayer”
• “Sexuality in Marriage”
• “Communication”
• “Grow Old with Me…The Best is Yet to Be!”
• “Discovering the Needs Behind Our Feelings”
• “Re-evaluation Workshop”
• “Conflict & Resolution”
• “Your Time Starved Marriage”
• “Hello God, Are You Listening”
Unfortunately, as of this writing we have been unable to procure all outlines and/or actual
presentations for most of the above workshops; however, some outlines and/or actual
presentations for the above, along with multiple additional presentation ideas/outlines may
be found in the resources for encountered couples section of the www.ilme.org website, as
well as on the WorldWide Marriage Encounter ERL (Electronic Resource Library):
erl.wwme.org (no password is needed), or through the NAR Resource Couple, Duffy ♥
Nancy Guthrie (nguthrie@suite224.net).
Fellowship Activities/Events held in Ohio have included:
• Chili CookOff & Couples Games Day
• Family Camping Weekend
• Non-Campers’ Family Fun Day (where non-campers can share in the campout fun on
Saturday at the Family Camping Weekend)
• Date Night: Movie & Dessert (“Marriage Retreat,” “Fireproof,” and “Courageous”
are a few appropriate movie suggestions)
• Community Picnic
• Ice Cream Social
• Bowling
We pray that God will inspire you to begin a ‘program’ of KYRAP events in your area so that
you all may enjoy the blessings of KYRAP in your community, too!
With Love,
Stephen ♥ Sue Rufe
Ohio KYRAP Coordinators
srufe@sbcglobal.net
440-888-1242
Page 4 of 4