Downloand September Newsletter

September 2014
www.FamilyFoundationFund.org
Son News
Malik Holman is the son
of April McKissack and the
surrogate son of Greg and
Patty Weldon. This was his
fifth summer to participate in
the mentoring program. On
August 10th the FFF family
gathered at Grace Community
in Whites Creek to celebrate his
passage to manhood. Malik was
presented with an anchor from
one of his mentors and friend
from the Belmont Church youth
Malik Holman with his
group. Each prong on the anchor
mother April McKissock
symbolized a characteristic of
righteous manhood. As the Fathers in his life prayed and
decreed God’s word over him, a prayer shawl, symbolizing
the prayer covering for life’s journey was draped about him.
Malik Holman was born 10-03-98. His mother named him
Malik which means kingly, sovereign, one who will not be
deterred by obstacles. Everyone who knows Malik agrees
that he is a determined leader. We are grateful to each of
you who came to make his celebration passage to manhood
a wonderful memory. The greatest gift we can give him is
to pray for his life’s journey.
We want to thank our partnering summer employers
The StorPlace Self Storage, Huseby Homes Construction,
Informatics Corporation of America, and H.I.G.I. For the past
several summers, these companies have partnered with the
Family Foundation Fund to provide real-world work experiences
for our FFF sons. This experience is tremendously valuable in
teaching our young men the value of work and responsibility and
allows each one to experience the professional world.
Summer Interns: (Left to right) Marquis Miller, Steven Donnell,
Issachar Kirk, Leon Dupree
Alumni News
Austin Krogstie
Austin Krogstie graduated from
the mentoring progr am this summer.
Before graduation Austin interned
at the Brown Center, and StorPlace
Self Storage. Upon graduation Austin
applied at U.P.S. for employment and
was hired. As a result of his diligence,
Austin was able to recommend a friend
who was also hired.
Sandis Cooper a 2013 graduate
interned with Huseby homes, and
StorPlace Self Storage and secured
employment after completing the
program at Dick’s Sports and recently
celebrated his one year anniversary.
Sandis Cooper
Montrel Turner a 1999 graduated
recently stopped by our office to visit
with us and express his
appreciation for the impact
the mentoring program had
been in his life.
Najee Easley a 2007
graduate now lives in
Pennsylvania and recently
Montrel Turner with Onnie Kirk married.
We invite you to pray
for all of our alumni as
they continue life’s journey.
Your partnership in prayer
for the FFF mothers and
sons is much needed and
appreciated.
Najee & Chelcie Easley
September 2014 (Page 2)
www.FamilyFoundationFund.org
Enrichment Trip to
Hershey Pennsylvania
Summer for the Foundation sons are filled with camps,
internships, recreational Fridays, life lessons, and plenty of
adventure! Over the duration of the summer the sons who
accumulate 200 award points for their summer involvement
are rewarded with an enrichment trip before returning
to school. Previous summers we’ve visited Florida,
Colorado, The Bahamas, and various other places. This
summer we made our way up to the East Coast for some
uncharted waters. We kicked off the trip by stopping through
Gettysburg, PA., where the sons were exposed to some of
our nation’s great history at the Gettysburg National Military
Park (GNMP). While at GNMP, the sons experienced the
Gettysburg Cyclorama (State of the art cinematic screening)
that dramatically depicts the war between the Union and
Confederacy, The Soldiers National Cemetery, and the
National Park Service Museum. After leaving Gettysburg
we continued up the coast toward our final destination of
Hershey, PA. While in Hershey, we resided at the Hershey
Lodge and were greeted with chocolate bars. The resort
was quite marvelous as well. The sons had a wonderful
time enjoying the thrills at Hershey Park, experiencing
the ambiance of the Hershey Gardens, seeing the sights at
Chocolate World, and learning the history of Milton Hershey
and his heart for youth at the Hershey Museum. The sons
also had a chance to simulate what it was like to work in the
chocolate factory and experience the Hershey history first
hand. All in all, it was a great experience for the sons and
we are grateful for our supporters that make this possible.
Son Farm Update
As reported in our last newsletter, we have transitioned
our farming methods back to the Garden of Eden. No, this
does not mean we now farm in fig leaves! What it does mean
is we have covered our farm with six to eight inches of wood
chips and this covered soil principle has revolutionized our
farming methods. No plowing and very little weeding. This
covering enriches the soil and holds the moisture, resulting
in an abundance of delicious succulent fruit and vegetable. If
you would like to become a Community Serving Agriculture
(C.S.A) partner please contact us at familyfoundationfund@
comcast.net. Partners receive fresh organic grown produce
and fruit twice monthly.
Son Farm produce currently in season are: kale, Swiss
chard, green beans, onions, yellow- black- red- green bell
peppers, red chili peppers, green peppers, red leaf lettuce,
melons galore cantaloupe, water melons, honey dew, sugar
babies, tomatoes, beets, green-purple cabbage and more.
The Farm and the FFF sons look forward to serving you.
Remember to come out (bring your family and friends) and
work with us on Son Farm Saturday September 20, 2014,
from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon. Son Farm Saturday is the third
Saturday of each month with the exception of December
& January.
Please visit the FFF sons at Farmer’s Market on the corner
of Whites Creek Pike and Old Hickory Blvd in Whites Creek
about a third of a mile north of the Fontanel Mansion. Stand
is open every Wednesday 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
September 2014 (Page 3)
www.FamilyFoundationFund.org
How Do We Return to Joy
In Metro Nashville during the 2013-2014 school year,
11,191 students were suspended from school with 69% being
African-American. In the same school year, 485 students
were expelled, 76% were African American. In Alabama 49%
of African Americans fail to graduate from high school. 23%
of African American males who dropped out of high school
are in prison. As a result of this pandemic social demise,
cities, states and the federal government are searching for
solutions. There is a direct correlation between these statistics
and the absence of fathers. 70 % of African-American homes
are fatherless.
In the past two weeks we have been made aware of four
suicides. Most are familiar with Robin Williams, a wellknown actor/comedian and three others that were not well
known, one of which hung himself from a tree in front of a
University’s library. In our modern day educational systems
we now teach that we evolved through an evolutionary
process. This lie makes it easier for us to exit this life when
our soul is in turmoil, anguished and confused. Williams once
made a movie about the afterlife and his wife committing
suicide to join him on the eternal side. Teach your children
the history of creation and mankind’s beginning as recorded
in the book of Genesis, chapters 1 and 2. Teach the children
that they were created in the image and likeness of their
Heavenly Father.
Why is there such hopelessness?
Fathers were designed by God the Father to carry the
seed of the generations. From the beginning of time fathers
were endowed with the grace to impart destiny to the family
here on Earth. After the disobedience that Eve initiated and
Adam agreed too. God the Father came to the garden and
inquired …”Adam where are you”? God the Father did not
ask for Eve because she had not been endowed to impart
destiny. Adam’s disobedience causes the entire destiny of
mankind to change.
Rather than man ruling the earth he now would eat his
bread by the sweat of his brow. Man became a servant to the
earth. He would no longer live eternally but would be given
a time span and his life would end and his body return to the
ground and his Spirit would ascend back to God who gave
it, Ecclesiastes 12;7.
The seeds of life placed in the man’s body/temple were
precious to the Heavenly Father, from those seeds would be
born the human race. When father fashioned the body/temple
out of the dust of the ground these seeds of life were placed
in the testes of man. The testes were engineered and placed
in a secure, covered and protective corridor in the male/
body temple to keep them safe and secure. The father was
the appointed husbandman to insure that the seed, became
an obedient seedling, then grew to a strong sampling, and
matured to a tree of righteousness.
Pre conception the father was entrusted with the care of
the seed. He would marry and place the seed in his wife’s
womb. Now he is responsible for the wife/mother and the
child growing inside of her. He protects them from all
natural and spiritual predators. He is the priest of his home
that will lead his family in the path way of righteousness. As
the father is in communion with the Heavenly Father, he has
wisdom and understanding pertaining to his household and
their journey of life. His household flourishes because he
has laid a solid foundation built upon the eternal principles
of his Heavenly Father. The fruit of the Spirit permeates
the environment of his home. Galatians 5:22, “the fruit of
the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.” Children who
grow up in this atmosphere of the “fruit of the Spirit” will
flourish and learn to trust their Heavenly Father who they
have not seen, because they had an earthly father who loved
and cared for them and represented an expression of the
Heavenly Father’s love.
This is why the scriptures tell us to care for the fatherless
and widow (single mothers) in their troubles, James I: 27.
We are not to leave them isolated alone and trying to cope
with life’s challenges without the governance and care of
a father. This is an eternal mandate. If we ignore it, the
downward spiral of our world as we know it, will continue
resulting in unbridled moral decadence, global anarchy,
chaos, and confusion.
Signs of the downward spiral as a
result of father absence
Leviticus 19:28, “ You shall not make any cuttings in your
flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the
Lord” In the United States one out of every eleven people
have marked, scarred, pierced, or disfigured their flesh.
Romans 1: 22-25 “Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man and to
birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. God also
gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served
the creation more than the Creator, who is blessed forever
Amen.” Gender confusion, incest, adultery, fornication, and
date rape are pervasive in our modern day culture.
Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.” Annual number
of youth (between ages of 13-24) suicide 4,600 with 81%
of these are male. In the United States we have killed
59,000,000 babies through abortions. The nation languishes
as a result of this disobedience. Lamentations 5:7 “Our
Fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne
their iniquities.”
I John 1:9,”If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
September 2014 (Page 4)
There are many other examples of our world spiraling
downward and out of control. The question we must ask
ourselves is will we stand by and observe the demise, or will
we obey our Heavenly Fathers and care for the fatherless?
Fatherhood must be restored. It is difficult for the gospel
of God the Father to take root in the hearts of the fatherless.
There is a major disconnect because they have never
experienced the love of a father. When there has been no
earthly model of a loving, caring father. It is difficult for a
soul to embrace the heavenly reality of God our Father.
How Can You Help?
As Fathers we can repent and ask our Heavenly Father’s
forgiveness for our sins and spiritual neglect of the souls he
has entrusted to our care.
You can become a surrogate dad to a young man that
desperately needs to experience the grace of a father. If we
are willing to submit our will; Father will give us the grace
for the administration of His will in our lives.
Commit time to pray for the FFF sons, their siblings and
their mothers. Also pray for the restoration of relationships
between fathers and their children. Pray for mothers that
were wounded in the abandonment of the father. Pray they
will forgive one another.
Volunteer at Son Farm and bring a group on the 3rd
Saturday of each month (with the exceptions of December
& January).Become a regular volunteer.
Become a CSA member and help underwrite the expense
of Son Farm, and enjoy the fruit of the FFF sons and Son
Farm’s staff labor. It is organically produced, delicious and
healthy for your body/temple. Stop by the vegetable stand on
Wednesday afternoon from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. on the corner of
Whites Creek Pike and Old Hickory Blvd two blocks north
of the Fontanel Mansion.
If you have odd jobs around your home that you and a
young man could do together please contact us. We have
several young men that desire to work on the weekends.
Your partnership would be a mutual blessing.
Annual program fees for each son are $13,200.00. This fee
covers tuition, school fees, books, transportation, diagnostic
testing, tutorials, Son Camp and summer enrichment
trip. Gifts can be designated through the United Way our
designation number is 2228. Thank you for considering the
Family Foundation Fund in your year-end giving. Stock
and security gifts can be given through Morgan Stanley,
our broker is Rick Desoto (800.283.5616), rickdesoto@
morganstanley.com. Gifts can also be processed through
PayPal as well as Visa and MasterCard. Family Foundation
Fund is a 501 C 3 tax exempt organization and all gifts are
tax deductible.
www.FamilyFoundationFund.org
The 84 Day Challenge
This year during our annual mother’s orientation
weekend, we encouraged our FFF mothers to take control
of their physical health by changing what they consumed
in their daily diets. The challenge was given in four 21 day
increments. The first 21 days the only liquid intake was to
be water “nature’s best.” Each would be required to drink
a minimum of 80 ounces of water per day, limiting them to
eat only two meals, one being a non-cooked organic veggie
meal the other traditional with the exception of no fried foods,
and meat could only be baked, broiled or roasted. They were
encouraged to limit themselves to two 10 oz. snacks per day
(no candy or sugary sustenance). The second 21 days the
regiment remained the same with the addition of moderate
exercise (walking and taking the stairs) and an increase in
their water intake. The third 21 days the regiment continued
with the addition of both meals being totally raw and nothing
cooked (basically salads) and increased exercise.
The fourth and final 21 days all participating mothers
were to continue the nutrition/exercise regimen and drink
80 plus ounces of water per day and increase their exercise.
During this challenge they would have to participate in the
Fatherhood Games 3.2 mile Trail Run and cross the finish
line in less than 50 minutes.
For their diligence and commitment in achieving this
goal they would be rewarded with an international vacation.
During the 84 Day Challenge, remarkable things happened:
minor aches and pains began to leave the body, allergies,
skin rashes, and facial complexions all cleared up. Mothers
reported they slept better, felt better and had more energy. One
mother who suffers with asthma noticed a significant change
in her need to use her inhaler. There were many wonderful
reports from those who participated in the 84 Day challenge.
For several this was not just a onetime exercise. It has become
a lifestyle change as shown in the picture below. Thanks to
Glen & Glenda Mackey who encouraged the mothers to stay
the course during the 84 Day Challenge.
The FFF mothers lost a combined weight of 89.9 during
the 84 Challenge. The four mothers who completed the 5K
Trail Run in under 50 minutes were Nikki Morgan, Angela
Thompson, Catina Beaird, and Mary Smith. These mothers
will participate in an all-expense paid trip to the Dominican
Republic this fall.
September 2014
www.FamilyFoundationFund.org
NON PrOFiT Org.
U.S. POSTage
PaiD
NaShville, TN
PermiT # 4380
www.FamilyFoundationFund.org
P.O. Box 292724
Nashville, Tennessee 37229
615-876-7170 Office
615-876-5456 Fax
Mission Statement
The Family Foundation
Fund’s mission is to
nurture fatherless
boys into Christcentered manhood.
u
“The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint –
heirs with Christ; if so be
that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified
together. For the earnest
expectation of the creation
waits for the manifestation
of the sons of God.”
romans 8:16-17,19
Jesus came as the way, the truth, and the life, John 14:6.
He was not the destination. His father and our father is the
destination. Jesus said, “no man comes to the Father but
by me.” Those who have received the atonement through
Jesus, the son, now may have access and relationship with
the Father. As the corporate son we abide in him and our
Father is glorified in us. “Christ in you the hope of Glory,
Colossians 1:27.”
Enter into Father’s presence there is where we will always
have perfect peace, Isaiah 26:3-4.