The Most Frightening News You May Read

Epidemic Social Statistics Shattering Families at Alarming Rates

Parental Alienation: According to Psychology Today is defined as “Parental alienation occurs when a child refuses to have a relationship with a parent due to manipulation, such as the conveying of exaggerated or false information, by the other parent. The situation most often arises during a divorce or custody battle but it can happen in intact families as well.” I’d like to add that you must remember that actual numbers are much higher. Parental alienation is the extension of domestic violence and the abuser often engages the targeted parents biological family in the alienation.

“According to a study that surveyed 610 adults in North Carolina,13.4% of parents say they are alienated from a child.

If the trend works out to be valid for all of the United States, that works out to be 22 million alienated parents.

If each parent has two children on average, and if both children were alienated, that would work out to 44 million alienated children.

Half of the parents say the alienation is severe, so as many as 22 million Americans might have suffered from DSM 5 Child Psychological Abuse V995.51” (1) https://sites.google.com/site/centralohiopa/how-many-children-suffer-from-parental-alienation

2. Parental Estrangement: According to New Port Institute, Parental Estrangement is defined as “physical and emotional distancing from a parent. It often, but not always, is the result of a conscious choice by an adult child.” (https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/mental-health/parental-estrangement)More than one in four Americans are estranged from a sibling, parent, child, or grandparent according to a 2022 poll by YouGov. (https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2022/12/20/poll-family-ties-proximity-and-estrangement)

    

3. Addiction: “About 1 in 8 children (8.7 million) aged 17 or younger lived in households with at least one parent who had a past year substance use disorder (SUD), according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

   In addition, the report shows that about 1 in 10 children (7.5 million) lived in households with at least one parent who had a past year alcohol use disorder and about 1 in 35 children (2.1 million) lived in households with at least one parent who had an illicit drug use disorder in the past year.” (https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/20170824)

   4. Youth Suicide: Nearly 3 out of 5 teen girls “feel persistently sad & hopeless. Youth, young adults are dying from suicide and homicide at highest rates in decades, CDC report says. Suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death for this age group. For teens ages 15 to 19, the homicide rate remained higher than the suicide rate, according to the new report.
   5. ( https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/health/youth-suicide-homicide/index.html) 
   6. Young Adults overdosing on drugs: Provisional data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2021, an increase of nearly 15% from the 93,655 deaths estimated in 2020. The 2021 increase was half of what it was a year ago, when overdose deaths rose 30% from 2019 to 2020. (6)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/202205.htm 
   7. Children struggling with gender identity: Around 42,000 children and teens across the US received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria in 2021 — nearly triple the number in 2017.
   8. 2022: 45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.  Nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide and LGBTQ. (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2022/) 

   9. 70-80% of young adults leave church once they graduate high school. This is rising to 4 out of 5 students that grew up in protestant churches are leaving. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. 18–29-year-olds who grew up in church tell Barna they have withdrawn from church involvement as an adult after having been active as a child or teen.

      (https://churchleaders.com/youth/166129-marc-solas-10-surprising-reasons-our-kids-leave-church.html)

   9. Over 2 million women are incarcerated each year in the US; 80% are single mothers – including 55,000 women who are pregnant when they are admitted. Beyond having to leave their children in someone else’s care, these women will be impacted by the brutal side effects of going to jail: Aggravation of mental health problems, a greater risk of suicide, and a much higher likelihood of ending up homeless or deprived of essential financial benefits. Between 1980 and 2020 the number of incarcerated women increased 475%, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

10. Human Trafficking: 26 million people are human trafficked each year world wide. The human trafficking industry has exceeded the drug and arms industry.(https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking/)

11. Domestic Violence: More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the U.S. will experience rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. (source)

    Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this adds up to more than 10 million women and men. (source)

    1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced severe physical violence by an (intimate partner during their lifetime. https://www.socialsolutions.com/blog/domestic-violence-statistics/)

    What’s the solution to these epidemic social issues and more?

Hope for Hurting Parents International Weekly Fast/Prayer Event

 

As a family intervention specialist & mental health professional for over 20 years as well as an apostolic/prophetic minister, the alarming number of phone calls from distraught parents/family members regarding their children has literally kept me awake many nights. I know first hand the pain of a 20 year alienated relationship with two of my own children; however, I have also had the honor of watching God supernaturally restore countless hopeless familial relationships through the years.

The burden though on my heart for those hurting that I am not able to reach has had me for decades seeking God for  supernatural intervention and direction. I am excited to share with you that He has tasked our ministry to start a weekly fast/prayer event on Wednesdays to engage His Church to come together in one accord, humble ourselves and fast and pray.

 

Join me as I go live each Wednesday from 12:30-1:30 pm to pray, repent, release a prophetic message, and minister to those online. I am believing God for 1 million believers to care enough to join this event as we grow throughout the year.

 

Some of you have your own family situations keeping you up at night. Others are professionals in mental health fields or church and ministry leaders feeling hopeless at the epidemic of brokenness you see daily. Some may not be as severe as the statistics above but if you call yourself a Christian; if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ,  then you must understand that Biblically, that God holds each of us  responsible for the spiritual conditions of our homes, cities, states, and nations. We serve a most gracious God who sacrificed all and in accepting His gift of reconciliation through the cross of Jesus Christ – we no longer have the option of living selfishly with no concern for those hurting around us and the moral decline of our society.

 

How you ask does God hold us accountable? Well,  He did not endow the power of the Holy Spirit (called dunamis – dynamite) and authority over evil to those in the world. He entrusted His church. We must understand that we are not entitled to sit idly by while those around us perish. Regardless of our age, jobs, socioeconomic status – every single one of us are commanded by Christ to represent the Kingdom of God to a dying world with miracles, signs, and wonders.

 

If this is not your experience, then perhaps it’s time to reflect on whether you really are a Christian or are simply someone like Paul referred to as “one who has been practicing a form of godliness ; void (or denying ) of any power (2 Timothy 3a)?”   Have you become an audience to a pulpit once a week forgetting your first love?

 

The good news is that if you have breath in you; it’s not too late to join the army of God. Make a choice to engage and join us on Wednesday’s as we fast and pray for breakthrough, prodigals, and for the hearts of those in our nation – especially the younger generations that are leaving the faith at alarming rate.

 

This is not a unique call to action for in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God clearly tells us “”If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will heal their land.” Watching the news or simply considering the lack of authority and powerlessness in your own lives should be enough to frighten you to action and stop making excuses for lack of engagement in the army of God.

 

I hope to see you on Wednesdays, 12:30-1:30pm live in the Facebook group: “Hope for Hurting Parents” at this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hopeforhurtingparents and via my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4wiHKmNrnweBIcuAlcItqA

 

Don’t worry if you can’t join us live. Seek God as to what kind of fast He is calling you to  and simply watch the video as it will be posted after the live session both in the group,   YouTube channel, and here on our website. I’ll be also posting 2-3 short 10 minute teachings each week on fasting and relevant biblical topics to keep you encouraged via the mediums mentioned.

 

For any questions, or for a free consultation regarding any of our services please call me, Dr. Regina M. Baldwin any time at 409-934-6196.

 

If you or someone you know is able to help us  update our website please contact me at the number above or email me at drbaldwin@heavolutionintl.org.

 

Lastly, I’ve created a brochure for those interested in giving this event information to your churches, friends, teachers, etc. If you would like a copy of the brochure that you can print and duplicate, please email me at drbaldwin@heavolutionintl.org.