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This article is taken from newsletter Number 929. That means that every week since Father’s Day, September 2002, Dads4Kids has sent a newsletter out for 929 weeks in a row to encourage you and all our many readers to be the best dad possible for your children.

The goal of Dads4Kids is to equip you, resource you, and challenge you to accept excellence in fathering as the norm, not the exception.

The mission of Dads4Kids is to turn the tide of fatherlessness that is afflicting the children of our nation and the world, with all manner of heartbreak and relational turmoil.

Every week, without fail, a newsletter has gone out to encourage all dads to go for gold in their relationships.

From our research, the Dads4Kids newsletter is the largest and longest running weekly fatherhood email in the world.

How can this be possible?

Nothing happens in a vacuum, so the question is what or who gives the fortitude and inspiration to keep on keeping on, serving the children, grandchildren and fathers of the world in such a way?

Firstly, Dads4Kids has a wonderful board: Ryan Milne (Chairman), Trevor Suitor, Warwick Marsh, Graham Jones, Alison Marsh, Peter Lim and Nathaniel Marsh. All are volunteers, as Dads4Kids is totally run by volunteers.

If the truth be known, we are a relatively small organisation and many of our volunteers are women, who not only sacrifice their own time to help edit, collate, research and administrate, but also sacrifice to allow their husbands to do the same.

Then there are those who edit, contribute, do layout and select photos, such as Jeff Boundy, Ben Pratt and our many readers, all of them ordinary dads.

Just this year, in January, Paul Lassig joined Dads4Kids as our Business Development Manager. His job as our first paid employee is to help Dads4Kids to grow. His simple goal is help Dads4Kids achieve its mission and help give our kids the best start in life.

So, what really keeps such an organisation ‘keeping on’ with a lack of funding in a father-hating world?

The answer lies in a 6 letter word – PRAYER. Thirty-four years ago, a certain man (me) uttered a prayer that said, “How can I make this world a better place?” Interestingly the answer came through an Aboriginal Elder, who said, “Fathers are both the problem and the solution – fix fathers and you fix the nation.”

Our feminist friends love the first part of that sentence, “Fathers are the problem”, hence their rabid denunciation of patriarchy and men in general. But the feminists seem to despise the second part of the sentence, “Fathers are the solution”. Feminists are for the most part afraid to admit the reality that men are indeed by nature and nurture leaders. Testosterone, which is essentially a male hormone, sees to that.

It is not that women cannot be leaders. Many women lead nations, companies, and families. Any mother worth her salt is a leader par excellence and that is inarguable. To fix fathers, we need to help them be the leaders they need to be for the sake of their children.

If fathers can be fixed, most of the problems in modern society will be fixed, saving governments billions and billions of dollars per year. For example, Australia would save a conservative 13 billion dollars a year, while USA would save one hundred billion dollars per year, not to mention fixing the deep emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds caused by fatherlessness in the lives of the children.

When Aboriginal Elder Ps Ronnie Williams first identified fatherlessness as the Western world’s and Australia’s most pressing problem, in a public meeting at Parliament House, Canberra in 1998, I had not read any literature about the problem of fatherlessness and the social science data. All that came much later, but it all started with a prayer, that six-letter word.

Prayer is not very politically-correct, but neither is encouraging and advocating for men and fathers, so what have we got to lose! As Albert Einstein said,

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

The team at Dads4Kids has chosen the latter. Personally, I hate all forms of political correctness, whether religious or secular. It really touches me when I get letters and emails from Dads who are Atheists, Hindus and Muslims who thank us for our Christ-based service to them through Dads4Kids.

So, don’t ever underestimate the power of PRAYER!

A prayer started Dads4Kids, and prayer keeps it going, week in, week out.

As Australia’s Constitution, ratified in 1901, says, “Humbly relying on the blessings of Almighty God”. Dads4Kids is no different. This is what gives us the fortitude to keep going.

To be a father is one of the hardest jobs in the world. To be a good Dad is well-nigh impossible. When our children are young, they look at us as if we are God. Sooner or later they discover that we are not like God and that we have many weaknesses and imperfections.

That is why it is important to tell them about our weaknesses first, before they discover the awful truth. Having said that, we still need to do our best to live up to their expectations. Children need role models – and that is why we need our Father in Heaven’s help. As Kanye West said in his recent song, “Follow God”.

Lovework
As Sting sang, “We are spirits in a material world”. In the light of our human limitations and imperfections, we see how impossible it is to be a truly good father, so why not join me in a Dad’s Prayer at the end of this newsletter. Think of it as a 12-step program. What have you got to lose?

Yours for our children,
Warwick Marsh

PS: For us to keep going, the team at Dads4Kids needs to see a miracle release of finance by 30th June 2020. We would greatly appreciate your prayer for this miracle. Dads4Kids is probably the most cost-effective Harm Prevention Charity in Australia. Your donation will certainly make a difference. If you would like to help us, we would greatly appreciate it. DONATE NOW!