Meeting a Need, Making a Difference
Mentoring has certainly been a buzz word over the past decade, both inside and outside the church walls. We talk about it in the business world, sports, schools, and in Christian discipleship. When we speak of mentoring, we’re talking about the idea of intentionally investing time to help a teenager Connect, Grow, Serve, Go as they take steps to Follow Jesus…Further! Ultimately, we want Christian adults to build a relationship with a teen through listening, sharing experiences, and pointing students to Jesus. In the New Year, we are super excited to relaunch our mentoring ministry with teens inside our youth ministry.
In our final youth group week before Christmas, we had 110 M.S. & H.S. students walk through our doors to connect with others and learn about what it means to encounter Jesus in their lives. As I’ve gotten to know our students over the course of months and many for years, I know that a couple hours in a week is not enough time to properly disciple them. As a youth ministry, we don’t bear that full responsibility of discipleship as parents are still the number one influencers, spiritually and other wise, in their kids’ lives. But, we do feel a tug for additional discipleship for those who are looking and need that. Unfortunately, it’s probably not realistic to have 110 adult mentors from our church, but we think we have at least 12-15 qualified adults who would be great at this, which is our goal to start the year.
Our students go through a lot, and we want someone to be able to pray for and with them and walk with them through the ups and downs of their lives. We are reminded weekly of ways God is at move in the lives of our students – hearing students worship with each other, praying with each other at the school lunch table, leading Bible studies, and listening to a friend who is hurting are just some examples.
We have an unchurched M.S. girl who is a recent believer. She wants to get baptized this year and has gone through most of the discipleship book that I gave her. She is praying every night and recently shared how God showed up as she was reading Scripture. She felt God was wanting her to make bracelets for others with the initials (BSAK). Inspired by Psalm 46:10, Be still and know that I am God…” God is on the move among our students, and we’d love for you to consider joining the movement. This quote sums up our hope for mentoring:
“What we desperately need more of today are wise men and women who are willing to become guides for others along the way. So much of what passes for leadership development today lacks interpersonal investment. Life upon life. Simply telling others where they must go won't cut it. The journey must be shared. Guiding requires a mentor’s heart.”
– Randy Reese & Rob Loane (Deep Mentoring).
You may be reading this and feel a nudge that you should consider mentoring, BUT I’m guessing there are some barriers that pop up for you, right? Things like, I don’t feel like I’m qualified to lead someone else… I have my own kids…I’m old(er) and the youth are young… I don’t have time…I have a limited knowledge of youth culture today. Well, the good news is that you can still mentor even with these obstacles! We’re looking for mentors who will meet with a student 1-2 times per month (based on your availability as well as the student) from February-August. That comes to about 10-25 hours out of a possible 13,000 hours. We will help match you up with an interested student because we believe mentoring should match your interests and personality. We’ll get you some additional information on mentoring and training to help you know what an hour would be structured like. As you consider mentoring, here are a few last thoughts about mentoring:
It’s about:
· Allowing a person to learn from you
· Challenging students
· Affirming and encouraging students
· Praying with teenagers through life’s ups and downs
· Talking through specific Scriptures to find answers they need
· Trust and mutual respect
· It’s more about who you are, more than what you do
· Offering resources and connections to help a student reach their goals
· Help students with a growth plan to Follow Jesus…Further!
It’s not (just) about:
· Asking a specific set of questions and answers.
· Being best buddies with a student
· Parenting
· Tutoring
· Being a professional counselor.
· Teaching
· Being a Bible scholar
If you have any interest or want to learn more about mentoring, reach out to me (bryce@steamboatbaptist.org) by January 15th. Thanks for being a church who cares and supports our youth in so many ways!
Blessings,
Bryce
