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There's Still Time to Give a Gift to Restore Hope in the Hurting Home
Dear Friends,
Karen and Mike were full
of grief. From the look on their faces, you would have thought someone had died;
and for all intents and purposes,
that
is exactly how they felt! Four months prior, their son Keith had
embarked on his freshman year at a top Ivy League school. They were thrilled
for their son and could barely wait to hear all about Keith’s first semester
during his month-long Christmas break.
As they waited at the
airport baggage claim for their son to arrive from his flight, they could
barely contain their excitement. That is, until they spotted Keith, walking
hand-in-hand with another guy. As he came closer to where his parents
waited, Mike and Karen’s faces changed from excitement to confusion; and before
Karen could reach out to embrace her son, Keith blurted out: “Mom, Dad… I
want you to meet my boyfriend, Nick.”
Yes, you read it right. Keith
“came out” to his parents at the airport! To make matters worse, their son had invited his new boyfriend to
spend the month with him at their home. Not exactly the picturesque, “I’ll- be- home- for- Christmas
holiday time” they had envisioned.
Two days later, Karen and Mike described
the ride home with Keith and Nick as “the
most awkward 45 minutes of their lives.” As they continued to lament on the
couch across from me, I challenged them to “get in their son’s shoes” and try
to understand why Keith would “pull such a stunt,” as Mike described it.
After an afternoon of
coaching, Mike and Karen drove back home and took both boys out to dinner. As they heard Nick’s story, their heart
broke. The previous spring, Nick (now a sophomore) came out as gay to his
parents, and they gave him an ultimatum: 1) Either
go to the church and get counseling from the pastor so he would “straighten”
out; or 2) Leave
the home. Nick was devastated that his parents would only accept him if he
“changed” his sexual orientation, so he left. That meant he had nowhere
to go home for Christmas.
It was way too much to
process in the moment, and they were devastated that their son had been keeping
this secret for years, but Mike and Karen were certain of one thing. They
would not throw their son out of the house! Their feelings were
overwhelming: sadness, fear, confusion,
anger, and betrayal, just to name a few. But they prayed and began to reach
out to their faith community for support.
A few months later, Mike
and Karen recalled that first meeting we had just before Christmas and told me
how grateful they were for my help!
The “heart shift” they made towards their son and his boyfriend caused them to
look deep in their hearts to be able to love their son like never before.
Despite the challenge this brought their family, they said that it ended up being
the best Christmas their family ever experienced! Later that year,
I facilitated a family healing session, where Keith shared the pain of never
being able to emotionally connect with his father, and how much his mother hurt
him when the couple nearly divorced when he was six years old. It was a
beautiful start to some much-needed healing for the family! The family is now
closer than ever!
Everyday, I hear new
stories of parents whose children come out as gay. They contact me with the
hope of “changing” their child. However, after attending our Key to Your Child’s Heart weekends for
mothers and fathers or participate in a
family healing session, they experience a “heart shift” like Karen and Mike.
They realize that the whole family needs healed, including themselves! At the Institute for Healthy Families (IHF)
we are equipping the Judeo-Christian community to focus on healing the family!
Our mission: Restoring Hope in the
Hurting Home, is healing one
family at a time.
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| | In November, I had the
privilege to travel to Beirut, Lebanon to conduct a Breakthrough Healing Weekend and symposium for my upcoming book, The Meaning of Sex: God’s Ideal for
Sexuality. The entire symposium was broadcast on Christian television in
Beirut! What an incredible experience
it was to hold the first ever-healing seminar for men struggling with same-sex
attraction in an Arab country (my contacts in Beirut said they know of no other
organization that has ever done this work in any Arab country)! In the Arab world, homosexuality is illegal,
and in some countries and can be punishable by death! But the people in Lebanon
are hungry to learn how to help those who are struggling! One of the Christian
monks that attended my symposium was so thrilled he asked me to come back as
soon as possible to teach their faith community how to better help those
struggling!
I hope to return in 2017. |
| | | Your Support Will Change Lives!
Please give tonight before midnight to help IHF deliver hope to families in 2017 In 2016 alone, we reached hundreds of individuals and families through our Online Parent Classes, Breakthrough Healing Weekend for men with unwanted same-sex attractions, Key to Your Child’s Heart parent healing weekends, Family Healing Sessions, media interviews and more! But there are more individuals and families who need help, and without your generous financial assistance, we won't be able to reach them! Please partner with us in restoring hope to hurting individuals and families by giving generously. Your tax-deductible contribution will make a huge impact in helping to save a hurting son or daughter, father or mother. Real people’s lives will be saved and changed. Please give generously by making a secure online tax-deductible gift by clicking here. No gift is too small, or too big: $10, $20, $30, $50, $100, $1,000, or more. Thank you for your support! |
| | | In 2016, I was able to
travel to many other cities to promote family healing and understanding of
same-sex attraction and gender identity conflicts. I visited New York (twice); Louisiana;
Ensenada, Mexico; Mexico City, Mexico; Maryland; and Arizona to conduct family
healing sessions. I also gave a keynote address at the Phoenix chapter of the
Catholic Association of Latino Leaders in Arizona and spoke at the
Harrisonburg, Virginia Greater Hope healing ministry! IHF also conducted three local healing weekends that helped twenty-three men struggling with unwanted SSA and twenty parents
of gay-identified children.
Our staff is also
growing! We now have one full-time employee, four part-time parent/pastoral
coaches, and one part-time office manager. This has allowed us to offer two
concurrent online classes for parents (serving a total of twenty-four families),
as well as provide around 1,500 hours of therapy and coaching to clients all
over the world this year! With all of the demand for
therapy/coaching, we would love to be able to increase our programs and hire
more staff, but we need your help!
I cannot
tell you how much your generous support means to us! Each and every dollar you
give goes directly to helping restore hope in the hurting home.
Your donation helps us |
| offer discounted rates for therapy and healing seminar
scholarships to families that are financially in-need, as well as provide
educational resources and seminars around the world! Thank you for partnering
with us, and may God bless you and your family!
On behalf of those who will be impacted by your gift, I thank you!
Blessings, |
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