Recent Encounters : Coach Tony Pierce

Dear Jackie,

Thanks so much for your story and what you decided to do. I am a college football coach and I wanted to share with you what seed God put in my heart.

One day before practice one of my players walked in while in tears. Most of the time when a player is crying it's because we lost a game or because of a death in the family. This was different. He began to pour out his heart that he didn't have a man to talk to and how he never sees his father who is an alcoholic and abandoned his family.

His mother passed away earlier in his life and he was being raised by his grandmother. I talked about how he must learn to forgive his father. How dads who have been trained how to be dads don't leave. I contacted his father and told him how important he was to his son and how much pain and anger his son was carrying because he was not involved in his life.

After his father told me the reason he had left the family, I told the player how much his father had endured and the player began to understand that there were things that influenced his father's decisions. Now they are communicating and the player is learning to forgive his dad for the abandonment and lack of communication. You could see and feel the pain and anger of this young man subside during the season.

After this experience, I decide to start an outreach program called “Fathers in Touch” to restore relationships between fathers and their children. I'm talking about fathers who have abandoned their families. Some have left and started other families. Some were never married and are fathers who do not spend time or ever see their children. Once I make contact with the father, I try to pair them up with a teammate or father who is active with their children to be sort of a mentor dad.

A mother of a young boy heard me on the radio and contacted me about her son. She heard her son praying in church that his father would spend more time with him. This story was different because the dad was in the home but spending more time at work.

I contacted the dad and shared with him how I got his number. I shared with him how I was trying to help and not judge him. He is a dad who wants to spend time but was feeling the pressure of paying the bills and not knowing how to communicate with his son.

I have teamed this dad up with a mentor dad or teammate who has a son around the same age. This teammate is a father who is active with his son and will help give the first dad some tools on being a better father. They both are excited.

You can learn more about my program by going to www.fathersintouch.org. On the web site is a brochure that I hand out called The 5 Love Languages of Children as well as information about what fathers can do to restore their relationship with their children. This is not an easy task but is well worth any time that is put in when I talk to a father who is looking for help.

Thanks for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Coach Tony Pierce


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