Kinship Strong is the home of Daniel’s ministry —a place for grandparents and grandchildren to find strength, guidance, comfort, and spiritual healing.
All stories, teachings, prayers, messages, and scriptures given through Daniel’s voice are freely available in the online blog below.
We will offer the Daniel books (in beautiful printed or digital editions) at a nominal cost for those who want to hold the ridge in their hands.
Daniel’s teachings are fictional, yes — but the ministry behind them is real. The call is real. The families are real. The pain is real. The hope is real. And the help is real.
The Ballad’s universe is not an escape — it is a lens through which families can see themselves with dignity, meaning, and generational purpose. Grandparents. Grandchildren. Kinship carers. Those who stand in the gap. Those who rewrite family destiny. Those who carry love like a lantern in the dark. This is your place.
Across the world, millions of children
are being raised by grandparents, great-grandparents,
or extended family.
Some because of addiction.
Some because of incarceration.
Some because of loss.
Some because the world grew hard
and the parents could not carry the weight.
The journey is heartbreak and blessing.
Cruelty and comfort.
Exhaustion
Across the world, millions of children
are being raised by grandparents, great-grandparents,
or extended family.
Some because of addiction.
Some because of incarceration.
Some because of loss.
Some because the world grew hard
and the parents could not carry the weight.
The journey is heartbreak and blessing.
Cruelty and comfort.
Exhaustion and joy.
And always, always — love.
Daniel steps into that gap with authority,
with tenderness,
with Cherokee fire,
with Christian truth,
and with a heart large enough
to hold every hurting family on the ridge and beyond.
Why this is not just a story… but a ministry.
Rev. Victor Robert Farrell — the creator of the Ballad Dodecet,
pastor, poet, and pilgrim — together with his wife,
are Special Guardians in the United Kingdom
of their own four young grandchildren.
Not in theory.
Not in fiction.
In reality.
They live the bruises.
They carry the paperwork.
They d
Why this is not just a story… but a ministry.
Rev. Victor Robert Farrell — the creator of the Ballad Dodecet,
pastor, poet, and pilgrim — together with his wife,
are Special Guardians in the United Kingdom
of their own four young grandchildren.
Not in theory.
Not in fiction.
In reality.
They live the bruises.
They carry the paperwork.
They dry the tears.
They fight the battles.
They pay the price.
They know the system.
They know the blessings.
They know the grief.
They know the miracles.
And they know the cost.
They walk the path
hundreds of thousands of grandparents walk every day.
And here is the truth:.
The Church has almost NO ministry
for grandparents raising grandchildren.
No sermons.
No support.
No structure.
No strategy.
No shepherding.
It is a vast, aching, missing part
of modern pastoral ministry.
But Providence,
as it often does in the Ballad Dodecet universe,
answered with a story.
Daniel Stands Alone — originally written as a fict
The Church has almost NO ministry
for grandparents raising grandchildren.
No sermons.
No support.
No structure.
No strategy.
No shepherding.
It is a vast, aching, missing part
of modern pastoral ministry.
But Providence,
as it often does in the Ballad Dodecet universe,
answered with a story.
Daniel Stands Alone — originally written as a fictional elder for a fictional ridge —
stepped into the real world
and began ministering with his staff in the ground
and fire in his eyes.
Fiction became prophecy.
Story became calling.
The ridge met reality.
And Kinship Strong was born.
Daniel Stands Alone speaks into that road with Cherokee wisdom, Christian truth, and Appalachian tenderness. His ministry is not pretend. His words are not “just fiction.” He stands at the edge of two worlds — the ridge and reality — and calls healing into both. Kinship Strong is his fire. Kinship Strong is his circle. Kinship Strong is his ministry. And it stands open for you.
Come. Sit awhile.
The ridge is waiting.
Daniel is waiting.
The circle is open.
ᎤᏙᏢ — Udohiyu.
Peace.