Keep the FaithFAMILY CONFERENCE
The family is under attack like never before. From all sides there are elements of today’s culture, the internet, two working parents and predators preying on children. As believer’s we know that there is an enemy out there working to destroy us. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph. 6:12. NIV. As I was working to develop Enthusiastic Events, one of the first inspirations that I had was to create a family event that would work to bring the family together and provide resources and information to prevent, protect and help the family heal from all of our hurts. My own family has dealt with overwhelming difficulties of depression, addiction, my wife and I’s past childhood abuse as well as the struggles of raising children in today’s culture. It is these experiences that are one the many reasons that I am compelled to bring an event like this to the public.
THE PROBLEM
Just to give some statistics: 1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused before they are 18 years old, boys it is 1 in 6. Only 10 percent ever talk about what happened. Then as these children grow up they face addiction, depression, dysfunctional relaionships, and in the process continue the cycle of abuse. Twenty-three million Americans age 12 or older suffer from alcohol and drug addiction. More than 15 million of those are dependent on alcohol, roughly 4 million are dependent on drugs, the rest are dependent on both. Half of all American children will witness the breakup of a parent’s marriage. Of these, close to half will also see the breakup of a parent’s second marriage. Among the millions of children who have seen their parents divorce, one of every 10 will also live through three or more parental marriage breakups. Forty percent of children growing up in America today are being raised without their fathers. Of all children born to married parents this year, fifty percent will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach their 18th birthday. Studies showed that children in repeat divorces earned lower grades and their peers rated them as less pleasant to be around. Teenagers in single-parent families and in blended families are three times more likely to need psychological help within a given year. Compared to children from homes disrupted by death, children from divorced homes have more psychological problems. Children of divorce are at a greater risk to experience injury, asthma, headaches and speech defects than children whose parents have remained married. Following divorce, children are fifty percent more likely to develop health problems than two parent families. Children living with both biological parents are 20 to 35 percent more physically healthy than children from broken homes. Most victims of child molestation come from single-parent households or are the children of drug ring members. A Child in a female-headed home is 10 times more likely to be beaten or murdered. A study of children six years after a parental marriage breakup revealed that even after all that time, these children tended to be “lonely, unhappy, anxious and insecure. Seventy percent of long-term prison inmates grew up in broken homes. Children of divorce are four times more likely to report problems with peers and friends than children whose parents have kept their marriages intact. Children of divorce, particularly boys, tend to be more aggressive toward others than those children whose parents did not divorce. People who come from broken homes are almost twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who do not come from broken homes. Children of divorced parents are roughly two times more likely to drop out of high school than their peers who benefit from living with parents who did not divorce.
The Partners
So far we have two fantastic organizations that have committed to partnering with Enthusiastic Events for this project:
Christian Active Parenting and Voice Today.
Active Parenting Publishers, Inc., was founded in 1980 by Dr. Michael H. Popkin, a former child and family therapist and Coordinator of Child and Family Services for Northside Community Mental Health Centers in Atlanta, Georgia.
APP delivers quality education programs for parents, children and teachers to schools, hospitals, social services organizations, churches and the corporate market. The most popular program is Active Parenting 4th Edition, for parents of children ages five to twelve. Active Parenting Publishers is recognized as an innovator in the educational market and is committed to their mission of developing human potential through their programs.
APP products are distributed throughout the US as well as in Canada, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Sweden. Christian Active Parenting (CAP) combines the wisdom of the Bible with an evidence-based approach to give parents the strength and skills they need to raise upstanding children. Active Parenting's successful Christian parenting program contains books, PowerPoint guides, and video to instruct and help anxious parents, to bring families closer to God, and to build a more vibrant faith community.
VOICE Today, Inc., Angela Williams captivates an audience with a powerful message of triumph over tragedy as a victim of child physical and sexual abuse for 14 years and at age 17 attempted suicide. That day was the end of her torment and the beginning of a journey to healing and today she serves the population impacted by child sexual abuse. She holds a Masters in Forensic Psychology from Argosy University, specializing in the victimology and criminology of child sexual abuse. She is a crusader for change and dedicates her life to eradicate child abuse. She founded VOICE Today, Inc. in 2008, a non-profit organization breaking the silence and cycle of child sexual abuse and exploitation. VOICE Today provides advocacy, awareness, prevention and healing programs and resources.
VOICE Today provides several different awareness programs and 9 prevention workshops, 6 for adults and 3 for children. VOICE also provides 4 healing workshops as well as healing retreats for men women and youth. VOICE Today is also working to establish a network of support groups for survivors of child sexual abuse.
We are working daily to bring in more partners and resources to help families with all the areas of our hurts.
What We Hope to Achieve
We have discussed having 4 hour live events with a keynote speaker giving testimony and two to three breakout sessions that would be 45 minutes long with condensed programs to give the audience a sample of the programs that are available. Family members could choose from multiple programs based on their own families needs. We would come back together at the end of the programs for information about the resources that are available for more in depth teaching as well as testimonies from some of the attendees. Then we could have future classes for each area of need. Some could be live and some online. It would take some trial and error to fine tune this program, but It is our opinion that this could make a significant impact in our local communities and help us to heal our families and prevent their destruction.
I propose that we make every effort to bring a message of prevention, protection and healing to every family that we can. My family was blessed that we had some of the resources provided to us as we encountered these challenges. It was because of others who were willing to share their experience with us that today a family that went through years of struggles with numerous hurts was able, with the grace of God, to be together and still working on facing life together as a family. We are not done and In my own strength this is not possible. But with those of us who can, sharing some of our time and our testimonies, maybe we can help save one more family. It is with my sincere thanks for your time and consideration to this proposal that I hope Keep the Faith and Salem Media will join us on this important work.
