The Power of a Father's Love

1 Thessalonians 2:11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
One of the big fears that I had going into this trip was failure. You see Shanna had spent 10 trips telling stories of how awesome I was. She probably had never told one story of me being worn out, snapping at the kids or just having a really apathetic day. I fail as a father and as a follower of Christ on a regular basis. So the real Jerome was about to meet 108 children that call me “Dad Jerome”.  Even if I was amazing the whole trip I still was only one man with so many children. On the orphanage wall as I walked in I was confronted with a message in big letters written “Welcome Dad Jerome”

All the boys gathered around and the suitcases were carried in. After talking to my son Benjamin in person for the first time I opened a suitcase and started giving bibles out to the boys that needed one. Then I preached to them 2 Peter 1 “And we have the word of the Prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it as to a light in a dark place. ABOVE ALL YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT NO PROPHECY CAME ABOUT BY THE PROPHETS OWN INTERPRETATION…”

As I walked about the orphanage that night boys were all over studying the bible. Many brought questions, some ask me to quote scriptures to them and then asked me to teach them. One question turned into about an hour-long bible study with about 12 boys! Some vowed to memorize scripture like me…All the way until about 130 or 2 AM in the morning this went on and on.

The next morning I woke up at 5 AM to an unexpected sound.  The Muslim call to prayer was broadcast loudly all around the orphanage. A few hours later we headed to the soccer field. The boys wanted to hold a soccer game between the high school and college boys. The field was highly un-level and it was covered with sand, rocks and holes. Very dangerous but I could not resist playing with them so I inserted myself into the game. It was really hot and humid but I was determined to play. I felt faint near the end but I kept thinking, “I am not going to let them down by having to leave the game”.  I scored the first goal, broke one of my toes but I survived. Later when Shanna asked my son Solomon his favorite part of the trip he said, “Dad scoring the first goal in soccer and also leading people to Christ with him.” HA!  Not exactly on the same scale.

Later that night the as I was quoting 1 Thessalonians the Lord spoke to me.  I came to this scripture….
1 Thessalonians 2:11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

I felt God encouraging me to obey this scripture. So I sought out several of the older boys and told them how proud I was of them. One by one I saw extreme joy on their faces as I listed reasons I was proud of them. The last was the most notable though. Gabriel was with me about 1 AM when I walked up to my room. I told him I was proud of how well he performed in soccer earlier. I told him I was proud of his hard work in college and I told him I was proud of how bold he is in the Lord. He looked stunned when I was saying these things. He very quickly said bye and left. 15 minutes later he returned with a full page letter talking about how much he loved me and how much he thanked God for me and Shanna. 15 minutes later I walked downstairs and he was co leading a random bible study with about 25 boys! They all had their new bibles in hand and were taking turns telling the stories that inspire them.  Here we sit thousands of years later and boys thousands of miles away are telling THE Story.  The Story of a strong Father. 

I was scared on this trip. What do you say to a boy that has never known his father?  What do you say to a boy that has seen his father slain in cold blood? What do you say to a boy you will probably only see once a year. I do not even do a good job with my boys that I am with every day. You tell him about the strongest Father! The Father who can never be taken away. You tell him of the Father who was slain to protect His children. You tell Him this Father is stronger that death! You tell him “He is strong with Justice and Love!  Compassionate, Loving, Fierce! You urge him to live a life worthy of God who calls you into His kingdom and glory! The only Father worthy of praise!

Can You Help...

I got this email this morning from our DHS case worker...what is your part in caring for the fatherless so these scenerios end in Jesus' Name...

Hello. We have a special foster care need that I would like you to share with yourgroup. This need is critical, and needs to be bathed in prayer to find the right solution.

We have 3 children in DHS custody. Their parents were drug dealers and were in andout of jail. The children witnessed a drive-by shooting. They were shuffled from onerelative to another to another. They lived with aunts, grandparents, second cousins,etc. They have also had DHS involved in their lives from an early age; when the oldestboy was two months old, his mother had left him alone in the home for a day becauseshe was too high to remember him.At last count, each of the children has lived in more than 25 different homes. So youcan imagine the trauma they have dealt with. Then, they were adopted by a DHSworker, who sexually abused the boys. He is now in jail, and the children were onceagain forced to move.At present, the oldest boy is in a loving, caring foster home that wants to adopt him.

Normally, we do not like to break up siblings, but he has requested to the judge thathe be allowed to stay there, and I think that is going to be allowed.So we are left with the two younger children. The boy is 11. He is placed in a group home and has been doing very well since we moved him there. We would like to keephim there for the time being.His sister, though, is having a rough time. She was in a foster home that wasn't reallyequipped to deal with her issues. The foster dad has cancer and was too weak to dealwith her effectively. The foster mom loved her and wanted to keep her there, but thefoster dad said no. So we moved her to a "therapeutic foster home" in Spencer. Thefoster mom there immediately took a disliking to the girl and has sabotaged the placementfrom the beginning. The girl told us she would rather live in the shelter than in this home.

Both children have suffered severe trauma in their lives. Both have been sexually and physically abused. They have trouble trusting adults. They get angry. They will curse.They will yell. They might even throw things.But, they can be taught proper behavior.

The group home the boy is in has taught him"safe" ways to handle his anger, and he is doing very well at it.

We need a home that is willing to take in the girl at this time, with the idea that they would take in the boy once the girl gets settled. The home should preferably be onewith no young children in it. The foster parents should be able to love on these children when they are angry and understand that that is their way of expressing the frustrationsthey feel from a world of adults that have constantly let them down.The home should be willing to allow a trauma therapy counselor to meet with them andthe children on a regular basis to help them through these issues. The home should bewilling to allow the children regular contact with their siblings, previous foster parents,case workers, etc., because the children need more connections in their lives.Most importantly, the home should be people who will stick with them through the rough times and not abandon them like every other adult they have ever known.Please pray about this and forward this to anyone who may be willing to make a differencein these children's lives.

Dave Parker
Child Welfare Specialist II
Canadian County
9A7901 E. SH 66, El Reno, OK 73036
(405) 295-2037, cell 623-6241