Power Profile
Griffin Strategies, Inc. is privileged to work with many highly-effective individuals and organizations committed to making a difference in their communities and the world. Though you may not always hear about these achievers, sometimes a person's story is so powerful, he or she needs to be profiled. Take a look at who is featured in Griffin Strategies’ Power Profile:
John Smithbaker: Bringing hope and breaking the cycle
As a boy, John Smithbaker longed to know his father. Abandoned while he was still in his mother’s womb, John spent his childhood trying to overcome the feelings of loneliness and worthlessness that were part of his psyche. Though statistics show that a great many fatherless boys “cope” through controlled substances and crime, John’s coping mechanism was overachievement. It wasn’t until he became an adult that he realized that his efforts to be the best at everything had been a subconscious attempt to win the attention and affection of his absent father. It was only through his eventual acceptance of God’s unconditional love that John forgave his father and himself. With that freeing awareness, John began a new mission: to introduce the concepts of faith, forgiveness and unconditional love to other fatherless boys across the nation. It’s a tall order. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative’s 2008 report, The One Hundred Billion Dollar Man, some 34 percent of children in America live absent from their biological father. The federal government spent nearly $100 billion in 2006 on programs to assist fatherless families, and the nation’s prisons are full of men who grew up without their fathers. John Smithbaker founded a ministry called “Fathers in the Field,” an organization whose mission is to pair fatherless boys with dedicated Christian men who can introduce them to faith, forgiveness and fun in the great outdoors. Based in Wyoming, Fathers in the Field works through local congregations across America to recruit avid outdoorsmen (“mentor fathers”) who commit to serve as father figures to fatherless boys (“field buddies”) on a year-round program of rugged outdoor adventures, community service and faithful conversation about the unconditional love and forgiveness of God. Founded in 2005, Fathers in the Field already is making a life-changing difference in the lives of at-risk boys and it promises to reach many more as the ministry grows. Because of his passion and untiring dedication to building a brighter future, Fathers in the Field Founder John Smithbaker is featured in Griffin Strategies’ “Profile in Power.” |