Church Groups, Business Communities, Wilderness Adventure Trips, International Fathering

Church Groups

Typically, there are families at church that appear to be strong nuclear families. However, we have discovered that what we assume to be true because of how they look on the outside are often actually dysfunctional families with passive fathers. Even they may not realize they are so.  DadsFirst helps to clarify mother and father roles, generational wounds, the impact of father absence on children especially as adults, the roots of anger, the power of reconciliation, and others in non-judgmental presentations. DadsFirst has worked with many churches in one-evening seminars, Friday evening-Saturday workshops, ten-weekly evening sessions, or in whatever format a church desires. It may be a men’s or couple’s group, youth group, addiction recovery group, Sunday School class series, or other. We can customize our programs and materials to meet your needs. Let’s talk! 

Business Communities

The work setting is another place where adult behaviors are often a reflection of our child/father relationships. These behaviors may include anger, passivity, overachievers, shame, performance, misogyny, blaming, accusing, being ignored, not valued, and defensiveness for instance – the list is much longer. 

We typically try to resolve such issues by addressing current conditions and relationships rather than going to the source. It’s like putting band aids on cancer. Surprisingly, DadsFirst experience has shown that most all business and personnel issues are tied to the father/child relationship which is what we address. It is not an overt Christian presentation but there is no doubt as to the source of the material.

An employee lunch-time study group has been one favorite opportunity for DadsFirst materials to be used at corporations. Other options that have worked well include before or after work or half/full day workshops. 

Sessions typically include both men and women and may meet weekly for up to several months. Contact us to discuss what might work at your place of business. .

Wilderness Adventure Groups

Camping, hiking, fishing, and canoeing are activities that can bind fathers and their sons and daughters together like nothing else. They foster conversation, fun, physical activity, Bible study, and relationship building. Many adults can point to such experiences with their father as life shaping. 

DadsFirst has sponsored 8-day father/son canoeing and fishing trips to Canada and 6-day father/daughter canoe trips to the BWCA. 

We currently do not have such adventure planned but are looking for leaders and partners who do plan such trips to consider introducing DadsFirst materials to their efforts. Is that you? Give us a call. 

International Fathering

DadsFirst is exporting its fathering programs across the globe, and has been doing so for more than a decade, particularly in Ukraine. The DadsFirst division that operates there is officially known as the International Center for Fatherhood of Ukraine (ICF). 

Our international efforts often receive requests for DadsFirst curriculum from many countries, but without more volunteer workers, the requests go unanswered. 

Volunteers are needed to make travel arrangements, secure/make donations, prepare curriculum and speaking content, give personal testimony, share expertise in any profession, and, of course, to pray. If you have a heart for a particular foreign mission and would like to explore the possibilities with us, please contact us. 

History of DadsFirst work in Ukraine

Here is a recent update from one of our leaders in the Ukraine .....  Listen to Message

In 1998, DadsFirst founder, Chuck Aycock, and a small team of U.S. men went to meet two professors at the University of Moscow who had asked for help on how best to teach men responsible fathering skills after reading the book by Ken Canfield, Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers. The team ended up in Kyiv, Ukraine, and began their work by doing extensive research, so that they could accurately understand the attitudes and circumstances of fathers and families in this post-Communist society.

A plan and curriculum for teaching were developed based on this research and the input of various leaders with whom they came into contact those first few visits. As a result, ICF was established to equip men to be fathers and husbands from a biblical perspective.

ICF’s goal is to reach 2% of the men in Ukraine between the ages of 25 and 45 with a strong message about the need for fathers to reconcile with their children and society’s need to cultivate responsible fathers and husbands in order to have strong families and a strong nation. DadsFirst and ICF do this primarily through conducting seminars for men and then by having them sign up for small groups that meet for 12 weeks.

To date, ICF has held seminars and given presentations in more than 40 cities and villages across the nation from border to border. Small groups become fishing ponds for recruiting volunteers who are trained to lead small groups, train small group leaders and ultimately become Regional Coordinators (RCs) and seminar presenters. Four cities have been established as self-standing ICF ministry centers with RCs who lead the ministry for their cities and beyond. 

One huge event that was started by ICF and met with great success was an annual father’s day. Many families were introduced to the benefits of good fathering, strong families, and a biblical approach. ICF introduced a bill to the Ukrainian government in 2006 to establish a national father’s day. Due to the amazing success of ICF and its impact on the whole nation, the government officially passed the bill into law for a national Father’s Day in 2019.