A BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”  -Malachi 4:5-6 NASB

This prophecy is unique because it is last God’s word before he silenced for 400 years. And verses five and six are literally last words of this prophesy. What is meaningful itself. These last words are a conclusion for the whole message in the book of Malachi and his desire for the next generations. God says that the reason for the spiritual decline of the Hebrew at that time was that parents and children lost the succession of generations. This happened because parents and children did not have a close relationship from heart to heart. Then men stopped walking in God’s ways as their fathers did. Desire of God is restoring or returning “the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers” in period of the New Testament Church. Also, we can say that this message of warning about curse and blessing for the nations. As fatherlessness is cause of the curse for family, community and even for entire nation, as responsible involved fatherhood is a way of blessing for them. There are a lot of social research that has been conducted in recent years approve this statement.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF A FATHER’S ABSENCE IN THE LIVES OF THEIR CHILDREN

Curse of contemporary society is poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, juvenile delinquencies, mental illness and suicide, and teenage pregnancies. The primary cause of these problems is the absence of a father in the lives of his children.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS IN CHILDREN FROM GROWING
UP IN A FATHERLESS HOME:

• Increased risk of adolescent depressive symptoms
• More likely to partake in drug use during adolescence and adulthood
• More likely to experience abuse and bullying
• Daughters are more likely to partake in risky sexual behaviors
• Exhibit lower academic achievement
• Less likely to graduate high school
• Less likely to attain professional qualifications
• Exhibit higher levels of aggressive behavior

THE RESULTS OF GROWING UP IN A FATHERLESS
HOME:

• 36% of all school aged children live without a father
• 63% of children living in poverty come from fatherless homes
• 70% of teen pregnancies happen in fatherless homes
• Fatherless children and adults are:
  • 4 times more likely to be raised in poverty
  • 9 times more likely to exhibit delinquent behavior
  • 2 times as likely to commit suicide

SITUATION AT CHURCH

Our surveys at seminars and small groups shows that, unfortunately, most of men in the churches identify the good father role typically as a breadwinner. Also, they get trapped in believe that Absence of father is only physical and don’t really figure out kind of emotional and spiritual absence. Even Christian fathers spend 15 minutes in average with children per day. Few surveys at Sunday Schools for elementary and middle school students shows that only 5% of them have daily prayer with their fathers. As a result of poor relationship of faith fathers with their children we can see that today Christian young adults and youth are ok with marriage divorces, liberal ideologues and propaganda, hating at social media etc.

SOLUTION

To overcome the problem, it’s necessary organize and develop education for fathers through seminars, small groups and father – children events. Father 24/7 global men’s movement for responsible fatherhood can be a platform for individuals, churches and other groups for united efforts to develop leaders and make changes in different communities around the world. We believe that Holly Spirit is moving, and he is moves godly fathers to be the leaders and do a difference.