Church Partners

Intentional Outreach to the Lost and Abandoned

As Christ’s Church, we must not stand idly by

and let Satan destroy the next generation of our boys.Pastor of founding Church

Our Way of Doing God’s Will

The development of an extended church family that will rally around the fatherless boy and his family is a vital component to the whole ministry. Our desire is to demonstrate to the single mother that she is not alone in her struggle to raise a family by herself and that the fatherless boy has many “uncles” and “grandfathers” that will model for him what it means to be a godly man in this world.

The deacons and women of the church will give support to the single mom as well as the boy. But this component of the ministry is not just for the abandoned boy and his mom. Because the negative impact upon abandoned girls is just as profound, our desire is that the local church ministers to the whole family. Fathers in the Field mobilizes the local church into kingdom work and awakens it to the crying needs of abandoned boys and single moms in their community.

Fathers in the Field helps you, the Church, “impress children” using an untapped resource: fathers in your congregation. They may be empty nesters have older children, or be uncles or grandfathers. But, they all have one thing in common: they know the power of a father’s role in shaping a boy’s life. Fathers in the Field pairs fatherless boys with these mentors, who help guide them in building life-long values. For your church, it’s a local mercy ministry of simplicity and potential. For mentors, it’s a richly rewarding experience. For those suffering from abandonment, it reveals the steadfast nature of our Heavenly Father’s love for each and every one of His children.

 

How to Tell if Your Church has a Ministry to the Fatherless?

The way that a church “knows” - without excuses - if it has a ministry to the fatherless, is if there are abandoned children in their Sunday School and worship service. If there are not, then it does not!

Every church must have a ministry to the fatherless and widow. There is no true church apart from the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ AND the discipleship of the believer in proclaiming of the love of Jesus Christ through an intentional mercy ministry to the fatherless, widow, prisoner and alien. When the Holy Spirit irresistibly draws His children into His kingdom, He calls them into service. At the heart of God’s calling is justice and mercy to the fatherless and widow. The missionary field is not only in distant lands, but in our own backyard. In the United States there are 25 million fatherless children that are in reach of every church, and rapidly growing.

From the moment that God brings the nation of Israel to Mt. Sinai, He begins to instill in them the character of mercy to the fatherless and widow. We see this first in Exodus 22:22 and then is expanded in Deuteronomy 6 and 10:12-22. Moses asks the question, what does the Lord require of His people? The answer is given in Deuteronomy 10:

“What does the Lord ask of you but to fear the Lord your God with all your heart, walk in all his ways, serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and observe all the Lord’s commands and decrees that He has given you. To the Lord belongs the heavens and earth, yet he has set his affection upon you-of all people. This God shows no partiality and accepts no bribes-He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,…”

As the children of Israel are about to take their first step into the Promised Land, God gives them this encouragement and exhortation from Deut. 10. God has set His affections upon them. Now, in return, they are to love the Lord, their God with all of their heart, mind, soul and strength. What does that love look like? How does God measure that love from His children?

He measures the love of His children by their reflection of His character and compassion to the fatherless, widow and alien (Deut. 10:17-19).

God’s love for the fatherless, widow and alien is a reflection of His plan of redemption as He sets His compassion upon all who are fatherless, all who are widows and all who are aliens in this world-spiritually, that’s EVERYONE. We are all fatherless until the heavenly Father adopts us into His family (Romans 8:15-17). We are all widows until our loving, loyal husband, Jesus Christ, is wedded to us at the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9). We are all aliens until our loving Father rescues us and gives us a home and a family (Ephesians 2:11-22).

How did the children of Israel do in obeying God’s exhortation in Deuteronomy 10? Not well at all. Isaiah 1 records God’s searing indictment of His children because they had abandoned justice and mercy to the fatherless and the widow (1:16-17, 21-23).

Read those verses and weep. Then ask yourself?

How does God require us, His people, to defend the cause of the fatherless and the widow? Has God changed His standard measurement of love for those of us who live in the New Testament Church Age? Does He still require us to show mercy and compassion to the fatherless and widow? How do the fatherless become part of the Church Family?

Jesus Himself answered these questions very loudly in the affirmative. He came proclaiming the truth of the Gospel through his teaching ministry and ministry of compassion to the sick and the disenfranchised. James, Jesus’ brother, also answers these questions unequivocally in James 1:27:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

There is no wriggle room here-Christ’s Church must respond. If we don’t, God will judge us.

If we don’t, who will?