Liberty professors write marriage book as a culmination of their calling to counseling and ministry

While in their native Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Drs. Elias and Denise Moitinho, a husband and wife team of Liberty University professors, felt a calling for ministry to married couples. The road they traveled along the journey features a string of amazing accomplishments including learning English, moving to Texas to attend seminary, obtaining multiple degrees, joining the faculty at Liberty, and recently publishing a book for married couples.

Denise said she had wanted to learn English since early childhood, so after accepting the invitation of a local university professor in Rio, she and her sister visited an English-speaking church for the opportunity to listen and learn.

While attending seminary in Brazil, Elias felt that God was calling him to continue his studies in the United States, focusing on marriage and family counseling. After having been inspired by a friend who was listening to a Billy Graham sermon, he also decided to study English. That decision led him to visit the same church in Rio. He met Denise in a Sunday school class, and a year and a half later they were married.

In fall of 1992, the Moitinhos answered God’s call and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, so Elias could continue his study of marriage and family counseling at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It was also at the seminary that both were able to continue their educations. “God provided us with scholarships at the seminary,” said Elias. “I was able to get two master’s degrees and a Ph.D., and Denise got her master’s degree.” And, Denise added, “with no debt. We come from very humble and simple families in Brazil — very poor. I was the last of 16 children.”

While in Texas, Elias pastored a small Baptist church, where the couple served together by ministering to couples and families, a calling that would continue to develop and grow throughout their relationship and careers.

Elias joined the faculty at Southwestern Seminary in 2001, teaching marriage and family counseling, and Denise worked in children’s ministry in a local church while completing her Ph.D. in Childhood Education. But even before she completed her degree, she felt a call to teach online classes and Elias put her in touch with a friend who was teaching online classes at Liberty.

Although Elias never considered teaching online, a telephone interview resulted in both of them being hired as online faculty in 2010: Denise as an adjunct professor in the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity and Elias as an online professor in the School of Behavioral Sciences.

Because of their growing passion for Liberty’s vision of Training Champions for Christ, Elias soon accepted an opportunity to move his family to Lynchburg, Va., in 2011 and work full-time as an associate professor in residential counseling. And now, as the department chair and professor of graduate courses, he continues to see God’s hand in their work and ministry. “Each semester, we get confirmation that this is where God wants us, that this is God’s will,” Elias said.

Denise is currently finishing her second doctorate degree, an Ed.D. in Community Care & Counseling: Marriage and Family, while continuing as an online professor. “That’s where I feel called to be right now, and that brings me closer to my husband because we are in the same school.”

They believe that ministering to families and couples has been a common theme throughout their professional and spiritual lives and the opportunity to write a book together is just another element of their calling. “It’s a lifelong part of our calling into ministry, training experience, and knowledge that we want to pass on to other couples,” Elias said.

Their book, “The Dream Home: How to Create an Intimate Christian Marriage,” uses the home as a metaphor and provides a creative look at marriage from a Christian perspective. Drs. Elias and Denise address the process of creating a healthy marriage and provide practical tips and relationship skills based on a biblical worldview, insights from research, and wisdom gained from nearly 30 years of marriage. The book includes access to a series of short videos which highlight important topics and insights.

To reach couples outside the classroom and the church, the Moitinhos have started their own YouTube channel and website called Motivation and Growth.