Becoming a parent at nineteen was not in Caleb’s original plan for the future, but he proudly shares that his daughter, Olivia, now two years old, changed his life for the better.
When he and Jessica found out they were expecting, Caleb knew he was not ready to be a parent. His own parents were both scared and disappointed that he was expecting a child at such a young age.
Caleb and Jessica heard about Kindred Life from a friend and began attending Life Education Group nights at the Antioch site. Caleb particularly enjoys the extra time he gets to spend with Jessica and Olivia when fathers are invited to participate. These nights also provide Caleb and Jessica with training in essential life and parenting skills, such as financial planning and child safety.
“I’m just a young adult who happens to also be a parent,” Caleb said. “Honestly, I couldn’t imagine life any other way. [Olivia] gave me a reason to grow up and become a man.”
Kindred Life is in our second year of developing a strong, supportive program for young fathers, modeled closely after our successful teen mother program. We have trained nine teen dad mentors, who are now ready to step into the life of a young father and make a positive difference for Christ. In the coming months and years, and with your help, we can enhance this program and offer comprehensive services for both teen moms and teen dads like Caleb.
In light of this, we wanted to share about one of the national organizations we have been following called The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI). The NFI provides a wealth of information, resources, and support for individuals and groups to serve fathers and strengthen families.
As we move forward in our teen father program development, we hope you will support us prayerfully and/or financially. If you or someone you know would be interested in mentoring a young father, please contact Emily at Emily@KindredLifeMinistries.org for more information. We are excited about how God will send partners like you and groups like NFI to better serve our young fathers so that the entire family can know Jesus and thrive. To learn more about the NFI, please visit www.fatherhood.org