[Note: This post is taken from an article by Herb Reese entitled, “A Comprehensive Church-Based Ministry to Fatherless Boys.”]
[Also Note: Since writing this post I have concluded that two adult men should be involved at all times in mentoring relationships with boys, and this includes providing transportation to youth groups.]
How to Do Something Significant Right Now for a Fatherless Boy in Your Church
If you are a man reading my latest posts on ministering to fatherless boys, you may be wondering what you can do to help a fatherless boy in your church. It is tempting to think that you have to get something going officially in your church before anything can be done.
But, as Pastor Mark Strong writes in his book, Church for the Fatherless, “The fatherless problem is enormous. You may face gnawing anxiety that comes from feeling you need to minister to the fatherless in a complex or big way…. Don’t feel that the call is either to do something big or to do nothing at all. Start where you can.” (Church for the Fatherless: A Ministry Model for Society’s Most Pressing Problem, by Mark E. Strong, p. 163.)
Pastor Strong is right. Start where you can. Here is a suggestion to do just that: volunteer to provide transportation to and from your church’s youth group for a fatherless boy. This is a simple way to start ministering to fatherless boys and it requires no particular expertise.
There are a couple of reasons why this service is invaluable.
First, fatherless boys hate having their moms drive them anywhere, let alone to youth group. Most teens wouldn’t be caught dead with their parents in front of their peers. A teenage fatherless boy having his mom drive him to youth group is especially embarrassing.
And second, volunteering to drive a fatherless boy to youth group every week provides a great opportunity to get to know that boy on a regular basis.
But note, driving a teenager to youth group is not the same as driving a bus or a van full of kids to church, which I have done. Driving kids to church is a needed ministry, but it’s difficult to develop close personal relationships with multiple children.
Of course, you will need to submit to a background check and any other requirements your church has for adults working with children. (Please see my post, Safety Considerations for Men Mentoring Boys.)
The reason I suggest providing one on one transportation for a fatherless boy to your church’s youth group is because I have done this myself on a number of occasions.
One teen I drove to our youth group got saved and went on to become a missionary in Latvia. Because of his service, the Latvian national parliament, in a nationally televised ceremony, awarded him their highest civilian medal of honor.
Another teen I drove to our youth group also came to Christ and became a chaplain in the Navy.
Another teen I took to youth group also became a Christian and now teaches high school in Texas.
Over the years, every time I reached out to a fatherless boy, he responded positively. The few hours I spent taking fatherless boys to church youth groups were well worth my time. Taking a fatherless boy to your church’s youth group will be worth your time as well.
Since 2003 New Commandment Men’s Ministries has helped hundreds of churches throughout North America and around the world recruit teams of men who permanently adopt widows, single moms and fatherless children in their congregations for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called New Commandment Men’s Ministry Learn how to mobilize your men’s ministry to meet every pressing need in your church at newcommandment.org.
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Learn how to form teams of men for every widow, single mom
and fatherless child in your church at NewCommandment.org.
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