Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Data provided by the National Fatherhood Initiative states, “according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 19.5 million children, more than 1 in 4, live without a father in the home.” Please see the National Fatherhood Initiative.
This data is not only startling but a revelation of the crisis occurring right now in homes, schools, communities, and social service agencies nationwide as service providers attempt to grapple with the impact of overwhelming fatherlessness. The National Fatherhood Initiative goes on to report that “involved dads improve their children’s overall emotional and social well-being.” Essentially, fathers matter, and a man’s impact in a child’s life makes a difference.
When a man assumes a fathering role in a child’s life, the impact is less about biological connection and more about the commitment that a man makes to be an example and a source of safety and stability for that child. Foster fathers, adoptive fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and men of the community are the preemptive linchpin that can allow a child to safely navigate the challenges of growing up in an increasingly violent, rapidly changing world.
It is time for men in families and communities not only to step up as fathers for this generation of children. Stepping up requires a financial, emotional, relational, and time commitment that children can’t repay. Fathering is selfless work driven by responsibility to sow seeds of hope into the next generation, despite the opposition and the challenges that can and will arise.
Men who affirm life will engender an appreciation for life in the hearts of children. Through exemplary fathering, men affirm children’s value and resist any narrative that attempts to make the lives of children irrelevant or insignificant. A father’s example of personal accountability and personal sacrifice shows a child that each life is worth defending, supporting, and fighting for.
Children are great imitators, and it’s time for men to imagine what our homes, schools, and communities would be like if children were surrounded by men who would father, support, encourage and value them. The Pro-Life narrative falls flat if it ends at the delivery of a baby. Pro-Life values mean that children are affirmed and supported from conception through adolescence. The goal is not only to ensure that children are not destroyed in the womb. The goal is to secure children’s healthy futures as they grow and encounter the world around them.
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This is the October 2019 edition of the Issues4Life Foundation‘s Pro-Life|Pro-Family Initiative video series. The series is based upon the biblical model for both life and family. Jamie and Tiffany Wells (husband and wife) are the initiative’s representatives. Understanding that God is the author of life, this initiative promotes the sanctity of all human life (and in particular, life in the womb) along with the blessings of family based on the biblical definition of marriage.
Our Pro-Life|Pro-Family Initiative Director
Dr. Ashley W. Harrell serves as our Pro-Life|Pro-Family Initiative Director. Ashley is an educator and leader whose commitment to the next generation spans throughout her professional career as a teacher, administrator, and non-profit ministry leader.
If you’re interested in topics such as marriage, dating in marriage, breaking soul-ties, dealing with in-laws, divorce, parenting, supernatural childbirth, spiritual maturity, breaking generational curses, prayer, sexual intimacy, abortion, purity, deliverance, and friendships, you’ve come to the right place.
It’s our goal to deliver video content monthly. Please lift us up in prayer.
The playlist to the video series:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKj9zjIhVjgLFz8fuA_kl8tENox5fkO6y
