DTC Stories

Defending the Cause: A Champion on Display

Left to Right: Mike McNeill, Rocky Mountain Regional Missionary with Fathers in the Field; Mac McClung, Church Champion, Impact Christian Church, Woodland Park CO.

Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.Isaiah 1:17 NIV

Is your church filled with antagonists or champions?

A healthy Church is one filled with Christ like champions and not those who make excuses for not loving what God loves. The dictionary defines a champion as “a person who fights or argues for a cause or on behalf of someone else.” The goal of the Christian life is to be like Jesus. After all He is undisputedly the greatest champion of all time, having conquered sin, death, hell and the grave! The result then is that all Christians are to be champions and thus a healthy church will be filled with champions of the Gospel.

When God placed the ministry of Fathers in the Field on my heart I knew what I wanted at each church was a champion who would make sure the ministry would be done right, a Church Champion. A person who fights and agues for the fatherless until all those around him rally to the cause to fight alongside them; a person who stands up for them no matter the circumstances and will not back down or quit. That’s what Mac McClung does at Impact Christian Church in Woodland Park Colorado.

Mac knows the struggle and hurts of fatherlessness first hand, his biological father left when he was young. As Mac grew up he was angry and headed in all the wrong directions, until his next door neighbor did something amazing…he stepped into Mac’s life. Roy was a young father with two kids of his own, but he mentored Mac and treated him like a part of the family. Roy shared the Gospel with Mac and helped him to understand what it meant to be a Christian man.

So several years ago when Mac heard about Fathers in the Field he knew he had to be a part of this amazing ministry. He looked at being a Mentor Father but when Impact Christian Church’s first Church Champion took a pastoral job the leadership asked Mac to take over the position. He was flattered that they saw him as a “Champion of the Fatherless” and as the guy who would best lead others to do the same. With a joy he took the position and continues to rise to the challenge.

Mac loves to talk about Fathers in the Field and help others see the needs of the fatherless and how they can help. He explains why the intentional commitment of a Mentor Father is vital to helping heal the broken heart of a fatherless boy. How these boys need to know they have value and need to have a man sit down and talk plainly about the forgiveness they can find in Christ and how to extend this same forgiveness to their earthly father. Then he tells stories of the Mentor Father’s and the amazing adventures with their Field Buddies. “It is such a blessing to see these Christian men investing in the lives of boys whose fathers abandoned them, leaving behind unimaginable hurt. These men are a hoot and too often it is impossible to tell who is having more fun, the men or the boys. The time spent goes beyond just laughter and fun; it extends to the emotional and spiritual health of these boys. You can see these boys maturing and growing because these men are being intentional and committed in their lives.”

I asked Mac what message he wants you to hear: “There is no excuse to not invest in the life of a fatherless boy. Take your passion for life and for God and pass it on to a boy who has no man to lead him. These boys don’t care what you want to teach them, they are ecstatic that a man wants to teach them anything and is willing to spend time with them. It was what Roy did for me; I guarantee that having a man willing to take you and care for you is priceless and life changing. Especially when what he is giving you is a clear understanding of the love of our Heavenly Father and forgiveness in and through Christ.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Contact me and join the thousands of people across the country in intentionally imitating our Heavenly Father by being champions of the fatherless.

Lord Bless,

John Smithbaker
Founding Servant

p: 1-844-472-4241 e: info@fathersinthefield.com