Our Ministry
The Measure of a Father's Love
by Rosemary Sternbeck
Usually I try to listen more and add a word here or there only as the Spirit prompts. This Thursday, however, I needed the four teenagers to stay focused. Since Fathers’ 
Day is in June when school and Girls Club does not meet, I thought it would be nice to do something special for dads on Valentine's Day this year. Since we had been gifted with so many wonderful things including canning jars, cookbooks, pectin, and beautiful fabric, I asked the girls if they would like to make jam, decorate the caps with fabric and give them as gifts. This day we were making apricot-pineapple jam.
Almost always the conversation gets around to boys, (who’s hot and who’s not)which teacher is nice and which one is crabby, and who said something to hurt someone’s feelings. Today the conversation took a different turn. As the girls ladled hot jam into jars, fitted caps and tightened rings, they talked about their fathers. One lamented that her father was NEVER home, always working. Another dismissed hers as a “bum”. She hasn’t seen him for awhile and admits having trouble relating to her stepfather. The other two nodded their understanding. I was silenced by their honest anger, hurt, and resentment.
I was at a loss to know how to help. Who but a father can help these young women navigate successfully into adulthood? Who will be their protector? Who will tell them they are beautiful from the inside out? Who will encourage them to reach higher and try harder for a better education and employment opportunities? Who will tell them "Your mother and I are praying God will send you the right man?” Who will let them know that whatever happens, they can “always come home?” How will they come to know the love of their Father in Heaven when their own father is abusive or at the very least absent or emotionally unavailable?
It has long been my husband David’s passion to see the hearts of the men in Neah Bay break for their children. It has been our prayer that God would change these First Nations men into the husbands and fathers He would have them to be. We realize that more often than not, these men are stunted in their own growth by abuse or neglect that was handed down to them. It is difficult, if not impossible, to eek out a living in Neah Bay. Drug and alcohol abuse seems to be the norm rather than the exception.
Still, all is not dark. One single father comes to mind. He has taken custody of his three daughters. He is kind, gentle and attentive to them. Since living with their father, we have watched them blossom in Girls Club and in their community. Two other young men in our congregation are embracing their father role and making a huge difference in their children’s lives.
I believe it is impossible to measure the value of a loving father in the home. His efforts touch far more than we can see. We are thankful when we see God working in the lives of the Makah people and believe His Word, that in spite of what we don’t see, He will “be a father of the fatherless”(Psalm 68:5).
We thank you for your love and support that makes the Morning Star Girls Club a safe place for the girls to learn, grow, and even to vent. Continue to pray with us that God will meet each girl’s need and that she will learn to depend upon her Savior in every trial she might face. Pray for us as we rely upon the direction of the Holy Spirit. Especially hold up in prayer the fathers of Neah Bay. Pray for those who have responded to the heart of God and for those who have yet to hear.