Outdoor co.'s owner aims to help boys without dads

John Smithbaker has a noble goal that's been involved in a head-on collision with reality.

In 2005, the Wyoming businessman founded a nonprofit, Fathers in the Field, to pair Christian men with fatherless boys in a one-on-one mentoring relationship that includes a multiday trip together in the wilderness.

With so many sex scandals over the years involving church leaders and boys, however, Smithbaker's mission to recruit churches to his program has been challenging. He knows it's foolish to pretend such things can't happen, but he's not willing to set his mission aside.

"Are we not supposed to help anyone anymore? That is what Satan wants us to think," said Smithbaker, a Wyoming resident who will be in Colorado Springs Thursday to help two churches implement his program. "There is a risk; nothing is guaranteed. But I believe churches have to be willing to take that risk."

Smithbaker, who owns an outdoor equipment and apparel company in Lander, Wyo., got the idea for Fathers in the Field after a conversion experience seven years ago. During the experience, he said, God told him he must forgive his biological father for abandoning him when he was young.

"I'm using my experience to rescue abandoned boys," said Smithbaker, who attends a Presbyterian church in Lander. "Someone has to tell these lost boys that the path to reconciliation is to forgive their earthly father."

Four churches agreed to a pilot program in 2006, and since January, eight more have signed on, including Forestgate Presbyterian and Village Seven Presbyterian in Colorado Springs.

Each church locates four fatherless boys willing to participate. Church leaders then match the boys up with men in their congregation. Together, the mentor and boy attend worship services, help in the community and go on a yearly wilderness trip, paid for by the mentor.

Smithbaker charges $995 for each match. The cost covers outdoor apparel for the boy, and an outdoor Bible.

The program also includes safeguards against abuse, Smithbaker said. A background check is done on each potential mentor, and mentors must be approved by church leaders. A male chaperone must also accompany the mentor and his protoge during the yearly multiday outdoor trip, Smithbaker said.

Village Seven Presbyterian signed onto the program Monday. Church elder John Leaf said he'll take great care when matching up boys with men. "We will do our due diligence," Leaf said. "We live in a fallen, broken world."

Leaf wanted Village Seven involved because he was a foster parent. Recently, the boy he raised, now 32 years old, told Leaf how much he  helped his life.

"I am well aware of the positive impact a father (figure) can have on a boy," Leaf said.

For more information on Fathers in the Field, call John Smithbaker at 1-307-332-0901, or go online to www.fathersinthefield.com.

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Call Barna at 636-0367