For some, Father’s Day means a trip to church and Sunday lunch together with the family. Father’s Day is a celebration of what many take for granted each day. For others, Father’s Day is not a day of gratitude and happiness but a reminder of an emptiness in their life. That’s where Johnnie Turner comes in.

Turner, who currently operates the Doll’s House with his wife Stephanie, has long striven to serve as a father in his community both within his family and in the greater community. Allison Morris, Turner’s stepdaughter, nominated him for a Father’s Day feature story because he has served as a surrogate father in her life, her siblings’ lives and the women at the Doll’s House.

“He’s just like a dad to everybody,” she said.

Turner and Morris agree that their relationship is certainly unique.

“Whereas most people would go to their mom first, I would probably go to my dad first,” she said.

Turner, who calls Morris “Young Eagle,” said they both helped the other out through difficult times.

“To be sitting here with the Young Eagle, there was a time in our life we needed each other in the worst kind of way,” he said.

Before the Doll’s House, Turner and his wife served with the Mississippi Children’s Home, the Mississippi Department of Corrections for Women and the Children’s Village, as well as many other programs. Turner said his strength and motivation for helping others did not come from inside himself, but from God and his wife’s passion.

After seeing his wife’s heart and dedication, he wanted to share that passion.

“I began to pray, ‘Please give me the heart,'” he said.

Turner certainly got the heart he prayed for. While they were working with MDOC, someone told the Turners what makes them different is the husband and wife team.

“Many of these women have never had a father figure,” he said. “We try to make everyone we encounter feel special in their own way.”

Stephanie said when they started their work at the Doll’s house, they knew they would eventually see the children they worked with at the Children’s Village. When one woman did return to the Turners’ life, she called Johnnie “Dad.”

While others outside the family were looking to him more and more as a father figure, Johnnie also was striving to fulfill that role within his family as well.

When his stepdaughter graduated from high school, he started contemplating what he could give her as a present and began praying about it.

“I wasn’t there in the first part of her life, so I didn’t know her in her totality,” he said, “but the Father knew the totality.”

He got the idea to give her a painting of her senior portrait. He took her senior portrait photo and searched for the perfect artist.

“I didn’t want talent; I wanted heart,” he said.

At the time, he did not think much would come out of it.

“I didn’t know how much she needed it,” he said. “To see the floodgates open.”

At the time she said that even as a child, she always wanted something similar.

“To know God linked through prayer,” he said.

Stephanie Turner said one of the sweetest aspects of the relationship is her daughter’s reliance on Johnnie when she needs a prayer. Allison will call Johnnie when she is struggling with any aspect of her life and ask him to pray for her.

“He would stop, in that moment, and pray her through the phone,” he said. “The best part out of it was that she knew he could get a prayer through.”

Though not related by blood, Johnnie and Allison’s relationship is that of any father and daughter.

“Jesus transcends all the biological wishy-wash,” he said. “This is my baby.”

It is this same heart that both the Turners show to the women at the Doll’s house.

Johnnie has also worked with men at the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Whenever they would begin to transition out, he would give them a Bible with his phone number. Those men still call Turner to update him on their lives.

“No one wants to take the time to make a relationship,” Johnnie said of his ministry throughout his life.

Part of Turner’s motivation comes from his own lack of a father figure.

“I was so determined that no one that comes in my presence ever have that feeling,” he said. “Through the ups and downs, you’re always loved, and that’s what we try to convey.”

All the people the Turners have helped throughout the years are always welcomed home. A woman they worked with at the Village called Stephanie and said “I need you.” She immediately drove to McComb to pick the young woman up.

“For a moment, it was ‘I can breathe; I’m at home,'” Johnnie said. “Real family is touching the pack of God.”

Stephanie said Turner helps the women by also showing them first hand how a man ought to be.

“They actually know what to look for when Boaz comes,” she said, referring to the story of Ruth in the Bible.

As for men out there who are new fathers or will become so soon, Johnnie Turner suggests turning to prayer in preparation.

“You’re just a vehicle to get that precious soul here,” he said. “It’s their job to shepherd that child back to the Father.”