Moving forward

A small group of like minded fathers (3 others + me) are meeting tonight at Kopitiam to dream some initial thoughts to Fathers Club. I was expecting maybe only a handful who may be serious enough to commit themselves to this when I preached last weekend. I thought if I can get 20 to 25 men who would do this, we can start small. But we are overwhelmed! Just over the weekend, as many as 105 men have indicated with the form that they are interested in Fathers Club. Out of this, 80 have indicated they will be at our first breakfast meeting and 86 indicated they will join the 7-session study group. Out of the 105, 8 are single men.

This is an overwhelming response and I pray it will translate into a movement of encouraging fathers to Mature, Mentor and Multiply their lives effectively for their families.

I have gotten someone to design a logo for DUMC Fathers Club to give us an identity.

Emails will be sent out to you on the logistics for the meeting. Please respond when you receive the email. My initial thought is to have a simple breakfast at 8 am, start the meeting at 8.30 am and finish by 10.30 am.

Further to that, here's a link to Loong's blog who did a summary of my sermon:

http://ahloong.blogspot.com/2010/06/fathers-day-special.html#more

Interestingly, I came across this book:

Ultimate Goal in Parenting

Our ultimate goal in parenting is not whether our children will behave themselves when we are around. It is when they know how to live rightly and make wise decisions when we are not looking. It's inculcating a godly fear of God in their lives and through that godly wisdom they will have in life to make all of life's decision.

Psalm 111:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. 

A Question to Ask Everyday by Every Father

Welcome to DUMC Fathers Club

Dear fathers of DUMC,

Here's an initiative to encourage you as fathers. In an informal manner, I am starting a Fathers Club to help us grow in the area of effective fathering. We owe it to our children. We recognize the challenges in the world we are living in and we longer can say "When I was your age" because our world was not like theirs now when we were their age. There is no perfect father, only God is. Let's put our imperfection together with our perfect Father in heaven and that's a POWERFUL combination!

If there are fellow travelers, whether grandfathers, fathers or single men, who wants to be learners together, let's come together to encourage each other in this area. I am proposing we meet on the 17th of July, Saturday morning, from 8.30 to 10.30 am for breakfast and let's brainstorm how we can help each other.

I believe fundamental to parenting is the need to understand our God-given biblical role as fathers first. As a start, we can study this book together, The 7 Secrets of Effective Fathers by Ken R. Canfield. I need to know how many are interested so that I can order the book in time for 17th July to be distributed to you. If you have not signed up for this, please email me.

A fellow father,

Pr Chris Kam

The 7 Secrets

Secret 1: Commitment

Secret 2: Knowing Your Child

Secret 3: Consistency

Secret 4: Protecting and Providing

Secret 5: Loving their Mother

Secret 6: Active Listening

Secret 7: Spiritual Equipping