This year, Florida has already recorded 90,000 divorces and leads the nation for children in single parent homes. While the depressed economy has parents working two and three jobs just to survive, kids and teenagers feel abandoned and alone as they desperately search for significance and acceptance. Churches throughout our community recognize the need to reach out, but struggle with how to effectively connect with families. With the challenge of today’s economy, the local church is finding it difficult to provide adequate staff and resources to make a significant impact on families within the congregation and community.

The Problem is Identified
Brody Howell, founder of Core Solutions, shares the frustration he felt during his fifteen years as an area youth pastor, stating, “Throughout the time I served in youth Life, I poured into the lives of the students but it was difficult to have only a couple hours a week. I quickly realized that the most important challenges teenagers faced were at home. A great night in youth group or at summer camp served as an important spiritual moment for a teenager but that moment was often too brief as they still had to go home to a broken home where their parents needed just as much love and guidance as they did. I never felt that I was doing enough to reach the parents and promote healthy change and spiritual moments for everyone.” Brody continues, “God’s heart breaks for the entire family – not just the next generation, but for all generations as children, teenagers and parents form the nucleus of the modern family. We are a generation that is struggling financially, socially and spiritually. Cell phones, texting, social networks and the internet have created anti-social habits ranging from kids having little ‘live’ dialogue with other human beings to husbands being trapped in a world of perversion and fantasy.” Brody suggests the resulting negative spiritual impact on today’s families is that everyone is becoming so busy that morality and God are pushed aside. Barna Research backs this trend by reporting that 86% of people in South Florida are not in church on any given Sunday.

Changing Times, Changing Responses
Churches may have great intentions to reach out to hurting families but without staff and resources to offer parents and kids help and healing, the issues and problems continue to exist. As Brody searched for an innovative way to meet these needs, Core Solutions for Family Life was conceived. Core Solutions began with a vision and a prayer, but the concept was quickly embraced by area ministries as a consulting, teaching and resourcing Life for churches, ministries and organizations looking for ways to effectively reach the 21st century family. Core Solutions for Family Life offers solutions in three unique ways: consulting, teaching and creative resources.

Consulting
With over fifteen years of experience in Family Ministries as well as the father of four, Brody’s provides strategic consulting to ministries and organizations to allow them to accomplish their stated objectives for strengthening the family. Brody understands the challenges of raising kids and teenagers, as well as the parenting skills needed to raise them effectively. His experience helps guide churches and ministries toward identifying and achieving individual goals.

Teaching
Core Solutions offers a unique menu of teaching platforms for churches and ministries to use as a strategic tool for reaching families. Whether it’s leading a youth retreat or conducting a parenting seminar, Brody’s highly interactive and motivational teaching techniques challenges and encourages participants. Recently, Brody has completed curriculum for a father/son seminar, “In Search of Prince Charming” and a Parenting Daughters Seminar, “Preparing for a Princess”. After attending the Father/Son Seminar, Daryl Brown, pastor at Parkridge Baptist Church, stated, “Brody Howell’s interesting approach painted a picture of the type of children I want to raise, and the type of parent I need to be to get there. By using fictional characters familiar to all, he was able to disarm those present – helping us to identify the negative and positive traits that could be present in our parenting. Brody’s teaching addressed the needs we are all dealing with as Christian parents – don’t we all want to raise princes and princesses for the Kingdom of God?!”

Creative Resources
Recognizing that not all churches and ministries have the creative resources to develop, write and produce their own materials for teaching and training, Core Solutions offers customized small group material, curriculum and/or personalized student devotionals. Core Solutions for Family Life is truly a partnership between the family, local church and para-church ministries of South Florida. Dr. Larry Thompson, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Fort Lauderdale, shared an interesting statistic from Focus on the Family that exemplifies the opportunity that exists to impact our community for eternity: When a child accepts Christ, the rest of the family follows 7% of the time. When the mother accepts Christ, the rest of the family follows 17% of the time. But when the father accepts Christ, the rest of the family follows 93% of the time. This statistic points to the importance of the direction and focus the church needs to place on families as well as the spiritual impact of fathers within their families. Core Solutions wants to take back families by partnering with churches and organizations who are passionate about helping and healing hurting families.

Churches, ministries, pastors and organizations are invited to find out more about Core Solutions for Family Life by going onto the website at www.coresolutionsforlife.com.
Brody can be contacted at [email protected].