In 11 years of traveling with her husband’s ministry, Irene Bennett has met many parents of adult children who were raised in a Christian home but are now living outside the tenets of that faith. Again and again, those parents have voiced the same concern — a lack of resources for the struggling parents of these prodigal children.
After praying about this need, Bennett said the Lord laid it on her heart to write a book, “Until Your Prodigal Comes Home: Encouragement Along the Way.”
“The book is about how to live in peace day by day with all the ups and downs that the (prodigal) child may bring,” she said.
Bennett said the book is built around Scripture and the testimonies she and her husband, Stephen, have heard as they have met parents dealing with the fact that their child is involved in a sinful lifestyle.
“The most difficult thing for a parent is to find out that their child — who they raised in church and did the best they could to raise — is not following Christ,” Bennett said. “It comes as a shock.”
But her husband, who was once homosexual, bulimic and addicted to drugs, is proof that parents of prodigals are not left without hope, she said.
When he became a Christian, he left his male partner. He began dating Irene later that year, and in 1993, they were married.
Since 2000, the Bennetts have been working “to reach the homosexual man and woman with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to share the unwavering truth that complete change is completely possible for those individuals desiring such,” according to the Stephen Bennett Ministries website, www.sbmworldwide.com.
She wants those who read her book to have the same confidence that “the power of Christ is enough to deliver anybody of anything.”
She said there are two things that are important for parents to take away from the book: They cannot change their child no matter how hard they try, and the Lord will deliver in His perfect timing.
“Many parents try and orchestrate different scenarios and plans. It’s only fruitful if it is led by the Holy Spirit,” she said. “If they follow His plan, it is a great burden lifted off of a parent’s shoulder.”
A website also will be launched with the book’s release near the end of this year, providing another resource for parents to connect with and encourage each other and share prayer requests.
The book will be available on www.amazon.com as well as in local Christian bookstores.
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