By Rosella Abenio
Every Sunday afternoon in Little Tondo at Barangay Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City (CDO), bright faces of children and EFC-CDO volunteers eagerly gather to worship Jesus. But on this special day of June 18, fathers joined the fun.
EFC-CDO Kids’ outreach celebrated a simple yet meaningful Father’s Day by giving a free haircut to Dads in the Little Tondo neighborhood. While all fathers in the church received special gifts or tokens from loved ones, many others outside the church were left unpraised or unnoticed. The church-sponsored event was therefore organized with the desire to express God’s love and appreciation to all fathers. It aimed to encourage them to be hopeful, confident and courageous in their attempts to do great things for the glory of God.
The event started off with some greetings to all the fathers who were in the vicinity. After the sharing of God’s word, the team was ready to groom anyone, father or not, who wants to look good on that day. As it turned out, among the 25 recipients of the free haircut, 7 were fathers and the rest were mothers and children. Everyone was so excited and patiently waited for their turn.
There were two hair hairdressers and one barber who specifically adhered to the kind of hairstyles the clients wanted. There were few who left the choice of style to their hair stylist. Meanwhile, everyone around was treated to delicious chicken porridge that was carefully prepared by the church. All were satisfied with the makeover and were very vocal in their gratitude to the church’s thoughtfulness to fathers in this outreach station.
The entire event was more than just a haircut activity. The fathers were actually surprised to realize that God, through His church, showed them this care and attention. They got the message that God wants to bless them as much as they want to bless their families through their hard work to ensure food on the table.
Every father deserves to be appreciated. Seeing them gives us a glimpse of the divine attributes of our Father in Heaven. It is a wonderful thing to be blessed, but it is even a greater opportunity to be a blessing to our fathers. As Billy Graham said, “A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society”.
