When and why did you begin your ministry?
Originally, my ministry began out of
another men's small group. I was never married to my daughter's mother and
about 8 months after my daughter was born, I gave my life to Christ. The
following year my friend invited me to join the small group. Instantly I was
intimidated by all of the guys in the room. They all seemed to be sound in
their walk with the Lord; they were all married, successful career-wise, and
great guys overall. I was none of those. When posed from the group leader the
question "What are you all working on that's big for the Kingdom?" I
immediately was like, "What! What can I bring to the 'Kingdom?!'" I
didn't even know what that meant. But then it dawned on me: I was the ONLY
single father in the group! After going home and doing some brief research only
to discover how little there really is in the ministry world for single
fathers, I knew I had found my niche. Thus, a few months later, A Father's Walk
was officially launched.
What have been some of your challenges
and successes?
Some of the greatest challenges have been just to get men engaged. Many of these guys do not have a strong foundation when it comes to Christ and perhaps life in general. They may have good intentions at
first, but unfortunately they don't always "stick it out" when it
comes to allowing the ministry to help them grow. It is really frustrating to
have the heart and desire to help others improve themselves, but then they
don't want to take it seriously. I also watch on a regular basis when really
great dads are helpless at the hands of unfair court rulings or spiteful moms
who attempt to keep their interaction with the children to a minimal. On the
flip side, I have seen some dads grow tremendously in their walk with the Lord
and as fathers. Many have made a great comeback after a horrible breakup or
divorce. We even had one time several years back where we were able to raise
enough money to fly a single father out to California at Christmastime (where
his kids had moved with their mom) to see them...AND we paid for the car,
hotel, and some spending cash too!
What feedback have you received
regarding your ministry?
Overall, the response has been
great. A "single father ministry" is a very unique field and usually
catches other's attention. I regularly get phone calls, emails, and thank you's
from around the nation and world for our work. It truly is humbling and
exciting to see God working through AFW!( A Father's Walk)
You recently had a book published.
What was the motivation behind writing your book?
I originally met my coauthor Dawn
Walker at the 2013 Grand Rapids Single Parenting Expo. Dawn is a single mom to
a son and was up visiting from Lexington, KY. After the Expo she presented a
short article entitled "The Daddy Gap" for me to review. The article
was based on her ex husband's arrest and when they had to break the news to her
then 6 year old son. Upon hearing the news that his father had gone to jail,
this little boy posed the question that we are calling the question of this
generation: "Who's going to take my Dad's place?" My heart was
instantly lit up when I read Dawn's article. I asked her when she was going to
turn it into a book. Her response? "Do you want to coauthor it with
me?" And here we are one year later with what we are hoping will begin a
movement in the Church when it comes to ministering to single moms and
fatherless kids.
Who is your book written for and
where can we find it?
The book is for everyone! Almost
everyone knows a single mother, fatherless child, church leader, or has
suffered from "father wounds" of their own in the past. Ideally,
pastors and lay leaders of churches who would be willing to take the bold step
into reaching this extremely valuable (yet often overlooked) segment of our
nation and of course any single mother would be our primary audience. The book
can be found on Westbowpress.com, Amazon, and BarnesandNoble.com. We also have
social media pages too: www.facebook.com/TheDaddyGap and Twitter @TheDaddyGap.
