Home » Admissions » Focus Institute

Where the Boys Aren't

Meg walked into my office, slammed the door and screamed, "Where are they?"

"Who?" I said.

"Guys. Where are all the quality guys?"

Hmm, good question; not sure I had a good answer. Meg isn't the only one asking. I've heard this same question from youth ministers, college administrators and businessmen.

"Where are all the quality guys?"

We're living in a culture that has taken them captive. Everyday, another one is picked off by the shrapnel of our fallen world. Divorce, absentee fathers, abuse, and the lack of authentic male relationships has produced a generation of young men who have no idea what it even looks like to be a man, much less to positively impact his culture.

Their absence is evident everywhere. In higher education, the gender gap is growing to unprecedented ratios: up to 70 percent of graduate school enrollment is now female, while 65 percent of many undergraduate students are female. More telling, for the first time in United States history, more females earned doctorate degrees than their male counterparts.

Even the men who are on campus are missing in action. In a recent conversation with the dean of a prominent Christian college, he lamented, "Our men aren't engaged on campus at all. They're sitting in their rooms playing Xbox and surfing the Internet for pornography."

But there is hope. A hope that can guide young men through the landmines of our culture — but it can only be found in real relationships.

That's why we started the Men's Ministry program at Focus on the Family Institute (FFI) to fill the void left in this fatherless generation. Through small groups, one-on-one mentoring and discipleship, outdoor activities, teamwork, and spiritual development, the men who spend a semester with us are transformed into the men God created them to be.

FFI equips young men to break free from persistent sins, find purpose in their lives, deal with brokenness, make Godly decisions, and ultimately pass on the legacy to their peers. Simply put, by helping college-age men think and work through some of life's toughest lessons, we equip them to avoid the pitfalls that produce indecision, ineffectiveness and unhappiness — in short, a wasted life.

I think I finally have an answer for Meg. I'm beginning to see them. They're right here, walking our halls. There is a remnant rising that is willing to enter the battle and take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of them.

If you're a college-age man, I encourage you to discover the challenge and joy of walking authentically with other men who will look at you and say, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

Learn more about the FFI Men's Ministry.