Your investment is helping Isaiah rise from "The Pit"!
Isaiah trudged up the rickety wooden steps to the small apartment where he lived with his two younger sisters, mom and dad. He grabbed at a long strip of paint, one of many flaking off the outside wall.
As he unlocked the door, he glanced across the street at the teens hanging out around parked cars. More than one fight broke out in the halls at school today, and Isaiah was glad to be home. What was the point of going to class anyway?
Isaiah doubted if he would ever get out of “The Pit” — a neighborhood known as the deepest hole of poverty, violence and drug abuse in Houston. His future looked bleak.
That’s where you come into the story. Your generous support of Focus on the Family makes Raising Highly Capable Kids possible. The program helps children like Isaiah break the hopeless cycle of poverty and violence. It begins with parents.
Parents like Isaiah’s desperately want something better for their children, but don’t have a good example of parenting to follow. Raising Highly Capable Kids teaches them through a 13-week course to instill positive values in their children so that they overcome challenges and succeed in school and in life.
Your gifts enable local churches to take parents through this proven, evidence-based, bilingual course in communities that need help the most. More than once, Isaiah’s parents and other class participants had to duck down as gun shots rang outside. But they were determined to keep going!
Parents learned how to invest in their children by modeling and teaching honesty, integrity, motivation, conflict resolution, and church involvements. They also felt a sense of accomplishment themselves as they graduate the program. “I’ve never graduated from anything,” Isaiah’s mom says excitedly in her cap and gown.
It was a celebration for the entire family! Because of you, Isaiah has a chance to rise above “The Pit” and find a better future. Thank you for investing in this family and changing Isaiah’s future.
Your ongoing gifts help us continue impacting more children like Isaiah and their families. Over 45,000 families have benefited from Raising Highly Capable Kids because of your kindness. However, many more need help.
*Fictional names were used to protect the identity of family members.
Help parents give their child a better future.
The future can look bleak for a child like Isaiah growing up in an at-risk community. How can he possibly prepare for success when surrounded by students dropping out of school, gang problems, teen pregnancy, suicide, bullying and drug abuse? The answer is an involved parent.
Your support today will equip parents with tools to instill values and principles in their children that can transform their lives. The proven parenting program enables churches to offer a 13-week course for parents who may not have had any guidance or example of what a thriving family looks like.
Just $50 provides one at-risk family with a 13-week curriculum kit and ongoing support that will transform lives!
Isaiah’s parents graduated from the program and were excited to put the parenting tools they learned to use! This is the kind of immediate and eternal impact your support today will make. Please give today to send this values-based resource into communities where children and families need it the most.
Restore the Table
The table can change everything for your family. You will be amazed at the difference having meaningful and intentional conversation with your family at mealtime will make. In Restore the Table, you’ll learn how gathering around the table with those you love can help build relationships, improve your quality of life, and go deeper in your walk with Get a copy of this book with your ministry gift of any amount today.
Jim's Heart
Happy Spring! I hope your part of the country is beginning to experience warmer temperatures and new growth — and that you and your family are flourishing in your walk with the Lord and in your relationships with one another.
I know you agree that family relationships are so important. It’s a sad state of affairs in our current culture that the family unit is at risk by a culture that devalues the family of God’s design. But attacks on the family aren’t new.
Nearly half a century ago, the institution of the family was embattled. The cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s was turning long-held values on their head, and the result has been a full embrace of no-fault divorce, abortion on demand, cohabitation and sexual “freedom,” and many other practices and policies that run contrary to everything Scripture teaches about life, marriage, and the family.
Thankfully, friends like you came on the scene “for such a time as this,” to encourage and equip families, and the Lord has done extraordinary things through your support over the years.
Parenting, of course, is one of your key impacts, as moms and dads play an irreplaceable role in the raising of children. There is not a single institution or government entity that can ever hope to take the place of a loving, married mother and father who are committed to guiding their kids successfully toward adulthood. You come alongside parents to equip them for this crucial task.
Additionally, you make a program like Raising Highly Capable Kids possible. You are empowering parents with the skills they need to nurture strong character in their children. Through the 13-week, multilingual program, you offer practical, effective parenting advice for communities around the nation. The goal is to help moms and dads learn to parent in a way that offers the best opportunity for kids to thrive.
Through this program, you are taking resources directly into local communities, many of which are underserved and desperately in need of parenting support. By partnering with like-minded community leaders, you’ve helped reach over 44,000 parents across more than 300 communities in 39 states. What’s more, you’ve helped train over 7,000 folks to serve as facilitators who can implement Raising Highly Capable Kids in their own areas.
This program is structured around the 40 Developmental Assets outlined by the Search Institute, which has identified 40 distinct elements of an upbringing that is most likely to help children grow into healthy adults. The training equips parents in at-risk communities to implement these vital “assets” into their own kids’ lives.
One facilitator reports:
As a social worker I thought I had all the knowledge and information I needed around parenting. I have learned so much — things that I can use with my clients and also my own children. I work with some parents that are neglectful and abusive. Raising Highly Capable Kids has taught me that with the right tools and training, any parent can change for the better. I highly recommend Raising Highly Capable Kids. —Nomfundo, a facilitator
The support of friends like you serves as an uplifting reminder that, even in a post-Christian culture, the Lord is still actively at work. He is willing and able to build up strong families that honor Him and proclaim His truth to our hurting world.
If you need a helping hand, an encouraging resource, or a word of prayer, I invite you to reach out. Send an email to Help@FocusontheFamily.com or call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
I always look forward to the opportunity each month to apprise you of how God is working through you to inspire, encourage and strengthen families. Please know how sincerely we appreciate you. The Lord’s gracious provision through your sacrificial involvement fuels the work for parents and families. May God bless you for your kindness, and may His grace, peace, and abundant blessings be yours in the days ahead!
Sincerely,
Jim Daly
President, Focus on the Family
