WHO BELIEVED FIRST, THE DAD OR THE DAUGHTER? By Brian Siewert, Director of Faith At Home Canada

One question that seems to come up often when talking about Faith at Home Ministry is about children who come from homes where no parent is a believer. I have to tell you about Mike (name changed).

At a recent Faith at Home Ministry 201 event, Mike told me his and his daughter’s faith story as he struggled through tears, and I couldn’t help but share it with you.

Mike was a typical drop-off kid. His parents did not go to church, but his mother assured he would attend Sunday School with regularity. He simply assumed when he outgrew Sunday School that he would join the adults for their service upstairs. He did. For two Sundays.

The second Sunday the pastor preached a “hell-fire-and-brim-stone” type sermon about how they were all failing in following the Lord. That was all it took, and Mike checked out of church. He checked out for 20 years.

When he was a father to a 12-year-old daughter, a friend gave him a copy of The Late Great Planet Earth because he knew Mike wouldn’t listen if he talked to him about the Lord. The book caught Mike’s attention and he talked about it with his family.

Mike’s 12-year-old daughter asked him what would happen to her if God came back. “We can talk about this another time,” Mike said as he attempted to deflect the question. It worked for a while, but later that night when his daughter could not sleep, she came to him and asked Mike the same question again. This time Mike had to answer his daughter. He told her what he remembered hearing in Sunday School. Bible verses began to pop into his head and out his mouth without him knowing where they came from. He was amazed at how much he recalled.

Finally, his daughter asked, “Dad, what do I have to do to be saved?” Gulp. “Well, you have to pray and ask God to forgive you and tell him that you believe in Jesus.” His little girl knelt and prayed, became a Christian, and scampered off to bed born again.

Mike was stunned by what had just taken place – and was deeply convicted. “How can I lead her to Christ when I myself haven’t done the same thing,” he asked himself. So Mike, too prayed, became a Christian, and scampered off to bed born again.

Sometimes daughters save their dads.