“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
The choices that we make have a profound impact on those around us.
While the focus of Fathers in the Field is helping the 13+ million fatherless boys in our country, we are keenly aware of the impact we have on the people connected to our ministry. One such person is single mother Celeste in Chandler Texas.
Celeste first heard about our ministry at a backpack drive where West Lake Baptist Church had a Fathers in the Field booth set up. Lead Church Champion, Kerry Birdwell explained the ministry to her and set up an interview to make sure this ministry would be a good fit for her son.
During the interview, Celeste disclosed that she had attended West Lake Baptist twenty years ago but had stopped attending due to drug use. Her addiction got so bad that her son Matthew, three at the time, was placed in a foster home. Sadly, Matthew suffered horrible abuse in that foster home.
By the grace of God within a year Celeste was off drugs; she has been clean for the last 7 years.
After the interview, the Church Champions agreed to move forward with having her son Matthew become a Field Buddy. 10-year-old Matthew has no relationship with his biological father and like all fatherless boys, suffers from that deep abandonment wound. Despite this wound Matthew agreed to meet his potential Mentor Father, Keith at the Meet and Greet. After that meeting Matthew agreed to commit to doing the ministry. This is a key part of our ministry: a boy must agree to the committed mentoring relationship.
Celeste started going back to church when Keith started mentoring Matthew. As she plugged into the life of the church, Celeste began to respond to the work God had been performing on her heart. In November of 2021, Celeste gave her life to Christ. Between the transformation God made in his mother and the commitment of Keith, two weeks later Matthew also gave his life to Christ.
Celeste continually praises God for His mercy and for His provision of Fathers in the Field which has so greatly impacted her son’s life. She said that Matthew loves spending time with Mentor Father Keith, and she is already seeing the fruit of it in his life.
This all began with a Pastor who chose to utilize Fathers in the Field to help the fatherless in his community. From there it impacted the Church Champions who lead the ministry and the Godly men who stepped up to be Mentor Fathers. All this has resulted in the eternal salvation of a fatherless boy and his mother. Imagine if just one of those people had said no to God’s command to His people to be the Champion of the Fatherless and the Widow (Isaiah 1:17).
Choose today to answer the call of our Heavenly Father to be a voice for the fatherless. I look forward to talking with you!
Standing in the Gap,
John Smithbaker
Founding Servant
P: 1-844-472-4241 e: info@fathersinthefield.com
