“This is truly the most epic journey I have ever been a part of.”
You would expect to hear this while sitting around a campfire at the end of an amazing hunt or maybe after backpacking the Grand Canyon, yet these are the words of Kenny Tomsen when asked to describe what it’s like being a Mentor Father. Kenny has been on some amazing journeys and lived a full life, but for him being a part of his Field Buddy Isaac’s life is the crown jewel. So who is Kenny Tomsen?
Kenny came to know Jesus as His Savior when he was 26 years old after an empty search for meaning in all the wrong places. God changed his life and Kenny knew that God wanted to use his life to reach other troubled young people; to help them see beyond the lies of the world and find hope in their Heavenly Father. God then blessed him with a job at a boy’s ranch in California, where troubled teenage boys were sent to help them learn to live an honest life. “These were the types of boys who, if left on the path they were on, were headed for jail or death. For me it was a great opportunity to share with these boys what God had done in my life and could do in theirs.”
Over the course of the next forty years Kenny worked with troubled teens and served as a Senior Pastor helping to shepherd God’s people. In every aspect of life his heart longed to find that perfect ministry that would merge his desire to help young men make good choices and his love for the Gospel. Then in October of 2016 he heard our missionary Mike McNeil share about Fathers in the Field at Calvary Worship Center in Colorado Springs and he instantly knew this was the ministry he had always longed for.
“At the time I had been out of full time ministry for 15 years. That whole time I kept praying that God would bring me back to a ministry that He thought was impactful. Here was a ministry directed towards boys that were fatherless and it touched my heart. Mike’s message was an answer to prayer.”
So Kenny took the first steps on this epic journey to help the fatherless boys in Colorado Springs, one boy and one Mentor Father at a time. Five other men answered the call that day and together in June of 2017 these six men stepped into the lives of six fatherless boys. They have hiked, fished, they have taken in as much of God’s great classroom, the outdoors, as they can get. Yet for Kenny the best parts of this journey happen when they are talking about Jesus and God’s amazing love for us as His children.
“This ministry is almost too good to be true. I tell other men just how much they are missing by not doing this ministry. You get to take your hobbies and passions for life and throw a fatherless boy in the mix. Stir in the Gospel and not only are you obeying His command to make disciples but you are helping a boy understand how priceless he is to His Heavenly Father. It is impossible to loose in this scenario!”
When I founded this ministry that sentiment is exactly what God had laid on my heart. As you read through Scripture it is impossible not to see that God is the Champion of the Fatherless (Isaiah 1:17) and that so are all who call Him “Abba” of Daddy. God’s people are commanded to care for the fatherless and to share the Gospel. Fatherless boys hearts are broken and they need so desperately to hear the Gospel. Kenny is doing just that, applying the Gospel to Isaac’s broken heart because he has experienced the healing of the Gospel in his own life.
This epic journey Kenny is on is missing one thing, you. Will you join us? Will you stand with the Heavenly Father and invest in the life of a fatherless boy?
Contact me today; we would love to have your help.
Lord Bless,
John Smithbaker
Founding Servant
P: 1-844-472-4241 e:info@fathersinthefield.com
