Fathers in the Field leads boys outdoors, away from distractions, where they can relate one-to-one with a man they admire. We seek boys aged 7 to 17, who urgently need male role models. We reach them through single mothers, eager to give sons a father figure – a role they cannot fill alone. We charge them nothing – we are funded by charitable sponsors and participating churches. We do require a three-year commitment (one year at a time) from participants, to provide constancy. We require that boys ‘earn’ the program’s blessings by serving others. Above all, we strive to impart unshakable faith in a Heavenly Father who will never abandon His children.

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Fathers in the Field is a complete turnkey program, providing all the tools and resources you need. Mentor fathers and boys meet four times a month and, using these tools, gain insight and understanding, serve others, worship, and plan a special outdoor activity (camping, hunting, fishing, riding, whatever they decide to do together) so they have a year-end ‘rite of passage’ celebration to prepare for and look forward to.

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The Fathers in the Field program works to achieve three important goals:

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- Faith

The sense of abandonment strikes at the very core of the young boy’s faith-center. So often he has been disappointed, lied to, or worse, abused, that he has great difficulty in trusting anyone. If he has difficulty in trusting those he can see, how much more so someone he can not see, namely, God? This is where the strong faith and the consistent love and companionship of the Mentor Father come in.

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- Fatherhood

What chance does an abandoned boy have in becoming a good father? The unrelenting cycle of dysfunctional relationships produce the next generation of abandoned sons and daughters. This cycle is perpetuated unless someone intervenes and trains this young boy how to truly respect women and those in authority. Certainly there have been countless mothers of abandoned boys who have done a stellar job in raising boys that are respectful to women and to those in authority. However, there is no replacement for a father in a boy’s development. Mentor Fathers help stop the endless cycle by bridging the gap between dysfunction and healthy fatherhood. Unfolding the truth that the Heavenly Father loves the abandoned boy and will never abandon him gives the boy hope that he, too, can become a loving father.

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- Forgiveness

The Bible’s clear teaching on forgiveness will be an essential guide for the abandoned boy. How extraordinarily difficult it is for a boy to forgive a father who has abandoned him. The years of unfulfilled longing for a father who truly cares for him is so often replaced with anger and rage as the fatherless boy grows into adulthood. This anger is often acted out and lands the boy in increasing trouble with the authorities. That stored-up anger can only be dissipated as the boy comes to understand the forgiveness he, himself, receives through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for his sins. As Christ’s forgiveness is understood personally, the fatherless boy is challenged to begin the healing process of extending forgiveness to his own father.