Greater Faith Tabernacle has been hosting the Daddy’s Girls Conference for the past 14 years. It has been an honor to work with and support the GFT family over the years for such an important event, as the event and the members of the congregation are dear to me. It was especially gratifying to be asked to serve as the Keynote speaker for their annual Kick Off Brunch.
I spoke about the importance of walking in faith, working through fear and trusting yourself and others. I shared my own experiences of abuse and what it means to be an overcomer. I shared about my earthly father and the relationship we had. We talked a lot about walking which was a big part of their theme for this year. Ironically, my organization is called Walking Into A New Life, Inc. And, as I always say, I do not believe in coincidences, so everything said and done that day was as it was intended to be.
The following is quoted directly from Greater Faith’s website to better provide the history of Daddy’s Girls and why it’s so important. I do encourage you to visit GFT if you’re living in Memphis or there visiting. Pastor and 1st Lady Johnson are beautiful souls and so is their entire congregation.
“Getting Families Together (GFT) is the nonprofit arm of Greater Faith Tabernacle Ministries, an edifice established for the community by the community. GFT is housed in the Institute for Success Center, a 15,000 square foot multipurpose community family life center, that opened its doors in 2004.
During the construction of the IS Center and approximately one year prior to its completion GFT’s founder, Pastor Orlester Johnson, received numerous women bearing similar experiences during altar call. Although their ages and nationalities varied, each woman spoke of the need to break free of the secret bondage holding them. These women shared similar stories of enduring sexual molestation as children, intimate partner violence (IPV), various other forms of domestic violence (DV), and other abusive situations. They spoke freely about the abuse they had suffered as a child and some confessed that they continued to suffer from violent situations in adulthood. Each of these individuals had grown up in households that did not include their biological father. Several spoke of being subjected to abusive stituations with men who were a relative, teacher, coach, pastor, or other person holding a supposedly “respectful” leadership role in their lives and that of their family.
As a direct result of receiving numerous disturbing accounts of this nature, the first annual Daddy’s Girls Conference convened in 2005. “