Family Focus Newsletter | June 2026

This year, as you likely know, marks 250 years since the 13 fledgling colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. On July 4, millions of Americans will observe this landmark occasion with parades, picnics, family gatherings, and fireworks. In the midst of this fun and revelry, it’s my hope that we’ll all pause to consider the courage and sacrifice that was required to bring our remarkable nation into existence.

In 1620, a ship that had been christened the Mayflower traveled from England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, over the course of 66 treacherous days. There were roughly 130 souls aboard comprising passengers and crew members — brave men and women who left hearth and home to venture into a foreign wilderness filled with unknown dangers. Once they arrived and endured their first, harsh winter in New England, nearly half of the company died as severe illness spread among them.

The website for the Plymouth Rock Foundation offers details regarding all that the courageous band of Pilgrims suffered as they labored to establish a country where they and their fellow citizens could worship freely according to their conscience and convictions. On a monument that pays tribute to those who lost their lives in this venture is etched this moving and inspiring inscription:

This Monument marks the First Burying Ground in Plymouth of the Passengers of the Mayflower. Here, under cover of darkness, the fast dwindling company laid their dead, levelling the earth above them lest the Indians should know how many were the graves. Reader! History records no nobler venture for faith and freedom than that of this Pilgrim band. In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and cold they laid the foundations of a state wherein every man, through countless ages, should have liberty to worship God in his own way. May their example inspire thee to do thy part in perpetuating and spreading the lofty ideas of our republic throughout the world![1]

This rallying cry for freedom would echo down through the ages as wars were fought and men and women died to preserve the costly liberty that was first purchased by those passengers who arrived at Plymouth Rock over 400 years ago.

Now, as we celebrate two-and-a-half centuries of American liberty, let’s remember the ultimate sacrifice that was made by those among this small band of pilgrims who died in search of religious freedom. It’s easy to take for granted the right that we have to attend church, read our Bibles, pray publicly with others, and share the Gospel — but four centuries ago the people who traveled on the Mayflower were facing such religious persecution that they ventured out in search of a land where they could practice their faith without interference from their government.

Then, in 1776, a group of colonial leaders drafted a document that asserted their right to establish a self-governing republic. This Great Experiment, as it’s been dubbed, ultimately gave rise to the freest, most prosperous, and most just nation on earth as our Constitution guided the structure and laws of a government founded upon many of the principles laid out in Scripture.

I think we can all agree that the Lord has uniquely blessed this land over the centuries. Our right to live out our faith without hindrance is a blessing that sets our great nation apart from others across the globe.

Down through the generations, men and women have stepped up during critical moments to exercise their God-given rights with compassion and courage. Consider George Washington’s prayers and praise during the Revolution. He wrote, “I am sure there never was a people who had more reason to acknowledge a divine interposition in their affairs than those of the United States; and I should be pained to believe that they have forgotten that agency which was so often manifested during our Revolution — or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them.”

As a reminder of God’s divine hand on our nation for the past 250 years, I’ve enclosed a little gift for you — a booklet of faith leaders down through the years. I know you will love learning more about these special giants of faith in our history! Just as God raised up leaders throughout America’s history, I believe He is raising up a new generation that beliefs in the values our great nation was built on. You are a part of this movement to celebrate faith, freedom, and family!

So, as we approach America’s semi quincentennial birthday, let’s remember to lift up our nation and our families in prayer. There’s no more effective way to uphold morality, strengthen families, and defend the ideals upon which our beloved country was founded. We must persevere in lifting our nation and its people before the throne of God, asking for His mercy, protection, and grace.

In that famous passage of Scripture outlining the spiritual weapons with which we’re to arm ourselves, Paul exhorts us to “[pray] at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

Did you catch that? We’re called to vigilant, persevering, and Spirit-led prayer that focuses on the welfare of God’s people. After all, when our country flourishes, the Church benefits. Likewise, when the Church is thriving and aligning itself with the Lord’s will, our country is positively impacted by the “city set on a hill” (Matthew 5:14).

Won’t you join me in interceding on behalf of our country as we cross this incredible milestone? I’m asking you to be part of our 30 Days of Prayer for America campaign. We can pray with great hope and faith, knowing that our faithful and sovereign God is eternally established on His throne. To download your detailed prayer guide, go to FocusOnTheFamily.com/xxxxxxxxx.

Sincerely,

Jim Daly
President, Focus on the Family

[1] https://plymrock.org/testimony-in-the-midst-of-suffering-the-legacy-of-the-first-winter-in-plymouth-1621/