The Founders

how Fathers in the Field began

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NIV

John Smithbaker’s Story

Once abandoned, always loved... is the story that John’s life journey of discovery has revealed to him. Fathers in the Field was developed and created by John Smithbaker, who was abandoned by his own father at a young age and keenly felt that loss his entire life. Upon accepting Christ as his Savior in 2002, John started a journey of understanding, acceptance and, most importantly, extending and asking forgiveness. In 2005, he was inspired to create a way to seek and help others suffering the pain of a father’s abandonment, and Fathers in the Field - a natural outgrowth of his faith and love for the outdoors - was born.

In God’s sovereign plan and good purpose, John’s journey opened his eyes to the overwhelming needs and cries of boys who have been abandoned. The societal statistics are nowmanifesting themselves in cruel and damaging behaviors and emotional scars. John’s intimate knowledge of the wounds, heartache and desperate needs of these abandoned boys was instrumental in the design of the program goals and methods for which they are shared and learned. The program intentionally addresses the wounds of abandonment and not just the needs. There are three critical pillars and instructional areas that are essential for abandoned boys to heal their deep wounds, stop the abandonment cycle and grow into authentic Christian manhood. They are Faith, Fatherhood and Forgiveness.

It is clear to John that God ordained the family structure to be the only real fortress we have in this fallen world and that is why Satan has so cruelly attacked our families and distorted the roles God gave fathers as the Pastor, Provider and Protector of God’s children. Once the father is gone, abandoned boys are left to follow the path of darkness and carry the many deep and soulful wounds around for a life-time, unless godly men stand-up and step-into a boy’s life and mentor him in the knowledge of their Heavenly Father’s love for them.

John’s love for the outdoors stemmed from a friend’s Dad mentoring and taking him hunting. This love has lead him to hold prominent leadership positions, such as President, CEO and BoardMember within the outdoor and hunting industries and he has a great amount of respect and passion for sharing God’s truth through God’s creation. John’s prayerful hope, is that Fathers in the Field will challenge and encourage Christian men to listen to the heart of God and share their love for the outdoors along with the love and knowledge of our Heavenly Father. There is no greater call and no greater gift we have to give. Are you willing to answer the prayer of an abandoned boy?

Scott MacNaughton’s Story

After being a pastor for 20 years, Scott MacNaughton finally had a conversion experience. Yes, he was a believer in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ from an early age. Yes, Scott shared the love of Jesus Christ with his congregation. His focus was that he had so emphasized the “word” ministry of the Gospel that he felt he neglected the all important “deed” ministry.

Nearly 30 years ago, Scott wrote his undergraduate thesis on a wilderness program’s evangelistic outreach to fatherless boys. He knew that were 28 million children going to bed without a father in the home. Scott knew that 85% of men in prison had been abandoned by their fathers. High School dropout, teen pregnancy and suicide all correlate very highly with the incidences of being abandoned. Despite knowing all of this, he felt he and his church’s ears were closed to the desperate cries to the abandoned boy. They were doing nothing to meet the “Number One” destructive social issue in our nation today.

God graciously changed all this when He brought John Smithbaker into Scott’s life and his church. Shortly after becoming a Christian, God placed on John’s heart the passion for rescuing abandoned boys and Fathers in the Field was born. Fathers in the Field has transformed Scott’s ministry and enlivened his church. His church had become too inwardly focused, without a real plan to reach the lost in their community. The outdoor mentoring program has shown him that when a church is intentional in reaching the lost generation in their community that God will richly bless and open up opportunities for the gospel that they could not have been imagined. This ministry has engaged the men in their church in a powerful way through one-on-one mentoring; their women’sministry has come along side the single moms and have made significant contributions into their lives; and, their diaconate has been reconnected with their biblical mandate to look after the widows and fatherless.

Scott has had the distinct privilege of being the pastor of the founding church of Fathers in the Field and the champion for abandoned boys within his church.He has been able to assist in the development of the ministry, such as writing curriculum and handbooks. But, far and away, his greatest privilege has been the opportunity to mentor an abandoned boy and introduce him to the Heavenly Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. One of the greatest joys in his Christian life was when his Field Buddy (the abandoned boy) committed his life to Jesus Christ at the end of their first year together and then getting to baptize him shortly afterwards.

Scott’s passion is personal and he has heard the call to introduce Fathers in the Field to individuals and churches and that is why he has stepped down as the Senior Pastor of his church to spearhead expansion in other churches nationwide. As Christ’s Church, we must not stand idly by and let Satan destroy the next generation of our boys.He is absolutely confident that, through Fathers in the Field, God will transform every church and individual who become obedient to God in “defending the cause of the fatherless” (Isaiah 1:17)