Local residents attend NFP teacher training classes in Wichita

Citing a study conducted by the Family of the Americas Foundation, Judith Leonard, director of the Natural Family Planning office in Wichita, said that while the national divorce rate stands at approximately 38 percent, couples who practice NFP have a divorce rate of an astounding .2 percent.

If accurate, Natural Family Planning is as much about empowering married couples as it is about planning family size.

Classes in Natural Family Planning have been taught for several years in the Diocese of Dodge City, but it will soon be made far more available. Dodge City resident Robin Winkler recently organized a group of seven women to travel to Wichita to attend the Master Institute Teacher Training for the ovulation method of Natural Family Planning. Within one year, all will be certified to teach the method in the diocese.

NFP offers several natural methods for charting ovulation, and thus increasing chances of achieving or avoiding a pregnancy. Although Winkler and the local women working toward certification will teach the ovulation method, there are others available, such as the sympto-thermal and Creighton methods.

"You have to kind of pick and choose what works for you," Winkler said. "Ovulation is a very simple method to learn. But it’s not the only method. I’ve referred a lot of women who are trying to achieve pregnancy but who are having difficulty to go with Creighton."

One of the primary directives of NFP, and just one of many differences between the natural family planning method and contraception, is the maxim that with every act of intercourse, one must be open to the creation of new life.

At a Mass for an NFP gathering at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2004, Bishop Ronald Gilmore said, "Our tradition does tell us that our sexual powers are used properly only when they are a sign and cause of love, and only when they are open to the possibility of new life. There is a unitive and a procreative meaning to sexual activity."

Barbie Flax, a para at Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Dodge City, was one of the women who attended the recent training institute. Flax and her husband of 17 years have used NFP for two years.

"It was wonderful," she said of the training institute. "It made me much more comfortable in what I’m being called to do.

"NFP has been life changing," she added. "That is what has drawn us to wanting to get the message out to others. This is something that everybody needs to know, that God made our bodies this way for a reason. I so much want people to know they have better choices."

Before the couple had a "conversion of heart," Flax said they had decided that "having kids was our business – the what, where, and when -- but now we look at it differently. We look at welcoming children into our lives a lot differently now. It was a journey with God that has greatly deepened our faith and our commitment to each other."

Winkler, who will monitor the continuing training of the teachers, became an NFP instructor through the Wichita office in 2003. She has taught the method for about three years, and, with her husband, Wayne, has used the method for nearly 15 years.

"For us, the number-one positive attribute is the communication in our marriage," she said. "The closeness and intimacy is amazing. Second is the naturalness of not putting any chemicals into my body, not putting any barriers between us. Number three is the beauty. Any time we welcome a new child into our home, that’s the beauty of Natural Family Planning.

"NFP promotes deeper spirituality and love in the family," she added, and asserted that the program is "99 percent effective when used to postpone pregnancy. We have found that NFP helps couples to appreciate more fully God’s gift of children."

The teacher training class in Wichita only comes around every two or three years, when instructor Mercedes Arzu Wilson — Founder and President of the Family of the Americas Foundation, can make the trip from the main office in Maryland. When Winkler, Father Wesley Schawe, director of the diocesan pro-life office, and Father Ted Skalsky, cathedral rector, heard about the class, there was a full court press to get local people involved.

"A big reason why we have an interest in getting more teachers is that we are starting to offer the course for engaged couples as an introduction to marriage and family planning," Winkler said. "It’s offered each month in English now, but soon will be presented in Spanish, too. It is such a beneficial tool to marriage."

People from the Diocese of Dodge City who attended the training session included Maria Guadalupe Gallegos, Dodge City; Marina Alvarado, Ulysses; Mindee Limon, Liberal; Barbie Flax, Dodge City; Guisela Cardenas, Liberal; Heidy Ramirez, Dodge City; and Claire Albert, Dodge City. Wally Limon and Jose Cardenas also attended.

For more information about Natural Family Planning, go to www.familyplanning.net/index-home.html. For local class information, call Robin Winkler, at (620) 408-9752.