The Founder of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams has opened up about the difficulty he experienced in his early days as a father combining his ministry work with his duties.
In a sermon to his congregation on Sunday, March 10, the renowned preacher revealed how he was always away from his children to embark on his ministry work to be able to feed his family.
This, he said created a vacuum between his children and himself. According to him, he only realised his absence in the lives of his children when he had aged and matured.
“As I have grown and matured now, I check out on a lot of things, and I realised certain errors I made. When I was growing up, I got married at the age of 23. I didn’t understand a lot of things. Ministry was tough in those days, so my life was always on the road; I was always gone.
“At the time, I could go for six weeks and sometimes eight weeks to North and South America and Asia traveling for days to be able to make ends meet and be able to take care of the family because the church could not take care of me. I learned very early not to depend on tithes, offerings, or people, because that will wound you. I had one experience, and I told myself I was not going to depend on anybody but God.
“When I look back and look at the lives of my kids, I realise that there is a vacuum that has been created, and it will take a lot of grace and wisdom to bridge that gap. This was what created the vacuum; I was never there,” he stated.
He said despite his consistent provision of their basic needs, he was emotionally not connected to his kids.
The Archbishop said this vacuum created can only be replaced by a father’s love.
“I provided the school fees, and I made sure they had everything they needed, but I was never there. Then I will go. Even when I come, most of the time I am tired, and by the time I wake up in the morning, they’ve left for school.
Last Sunday, I shared this with the congregation, and it's a message I want every parent to listen to.
Want the full video? Click here: https://t.co/Q6GkrE38uc pic.twitter.com/TwI7Vf2Wet
— Nicholas Duncan-Williams🇬🇭 (@ArchbishopNick) March 12, 2024
“Because I wake up and pray at midnight and go back to sleep, by the time I wake up, they’ve left for school. By the time they come back, I am in the office and by the time I get back from the office, they are asleep… and years. It was later that I realised the revelation that I was an absentee father, and even though I live for them, I lacked understanding of many things.
“That is, it is not just providing; you need emotional connection, and it wasn’t there. So, they had to raise them they got to learn to be survivors and create some things to fill the void, but nobody can fill that void, and nothing can fill it except the love of a father,” he added.