Portland observer., January 16, 2013, 2013 special edition, Page 38, Image 38

Page 38
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Hate cannot drive out hate:
only love can do that.
January 16, 2013
M inistering
the Fatherless
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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from page 6
torate in Spiritual Formation and Leadership from
George Fox University.
In respect to King’s belief in the beloved community
and taking stewardship to be responsible for one
another, Strong said the issue of fatherlessness de­
manded his spiritual advocacy on the issue.
“Every individual’s biological father may not be
present, but that doesn ’ t mean that a child or young man
or young woman has to have a life void of an experi­
ence of a positive father,” said Strong.
T hat’s where the community and the church have to
step in and be the surrogate father, said Strong.
Strong’s book offers a thorough examination of
fatherlessness. It educates readers about its roots and
provides on-the-ground solutions, ways that the com ­
munity and church can engage.
The pastor says the efforts don’t require much
money. People can utilize the resources they have, like
embracing the good attributes of who they are, and
their willingness to step into a person’s life and make a
difference.
In November, Strong, along with other leaders on
fatherless issues, led a Father-Shift Conference at Life
Change Christian Center, where a thousand or so men
and women showed up to participate in the awareness­
raising event.
After hearing from multiple speakers, the crowd
broke off by gender into separate sessions for healing
and mentoring.
W hile men learned how to cope with the pain of
never having a father and fathers learned how to
become better fathers, single-mothers and daughters
learned how to deal with their own hurt as well as ways
to em power themselves and their children.
Ultimately, those attending were encouraged “to
find a relationship with the heavenly father who will
never abandon them, but will always love and embrace
them,” said Strong.
In healing, there are two sides of the coin, Strong
says. Fathers can be awakened and taught how to be
responsible, said Strong. For the person wounded, he
says, the difficulty is coming to the realization that he/
she is still valuable despite rejection and lack of valida­
tion or approval by a father figure.
A deep bitterness or callousness can develop to fill
the father-void which may trouble the fatherless child
as an adult. Strong has witnessed hardened, grown
men break down about absentee fathers.
In his book, Strong recalls the story of 29-year-old
Los Angeles gangster Sanyika Shakur, a.k.a. Kody
Scott, who at 13, earned the nickname “The M onster,”
for disfiguring a man by stomping on him for 20
minutes.
Shakur showed no remorse for his violent life of
crime until a reporter brought up his father. “Absent!
Missing in A ction!” responded Shakur, before he broke
down and cried. While his father, a professional
football player, was on the field, Shakur said he was on
the streets, and “he never cam e.”
It can’t be denied that the absence of his father
factored into the equation,” Strong wrote. Social
scientists have indicated a link between adolescent
crime and father absence. But while prison may be the
continued
on page 44