The Belmont Foundation

I made an interesting--and encouraging--discovery today. I was reading an article on-line about author Donald Miller (bestseller Blue Like Jazz) and found out that he has started a foundation to provide mentoring programs for fatherless sons.

Miller, who grew up without a father, has written a book about his experiences and reflections: To Own a Dragon. I haven't read anything that Miller has written. He's one of those 30-something popular writers who writes in that Christian stream-of-consciousness "let me share my story" style. I don't know how good his stuff his (it's usually a personal principle of mine not to read anything that tops the bestseller charts), but I am a fan of what he's seeking to accomplish through the Belmont Foundation.

Miller grew up in Houston, and his church there began a mentoring program for the fatherless. Miller says this influence in his life kept him "from a life that would have caused pain to many."

As Miller worked on To Own a Dragon, he began to think about the possibility of an organization that would offer formal mentoring programs to churches. The Belmont Foundation was begun to help churches develop long-term mentoring programs to effect lifelong change in the lives of fatherless children.

The Foundation's research has compiled some compelling statistics about the effect mentoring can have. Visit the Foundation's Web site at www.belmontfoundation.org for more information about Miller's vision. It's exciting to see that someone "who has been there" sees the church as the place where the fatherless should be able to find the help and support they need and is actively doing something about it.