I have decided to officially take on a new mentee match this year. I have had the opportunity to be matched with a fourth grade boy who was really looking forward to having a mentor this year. Something interesting is going on, though. He has been absent from school the last two times I have showed up to spend time with him. I am scheduled to see him today in about an hour, so I am wondering if he is going to be there. I am doing more than wondering, I guess. I am praying. As a Christian, I do not need to be powerless when it comes to the battle that is raging for the heart of my new mentee. God has a plan for his life, and God has chosen to work through me to reach this young man. Even if he is not there again today, I am going to make sure that I do my part and show up. The rest is up to God.
Consistency is extremenly important in mentoring. I know one mentor who was matched with a mentee, and he showed up every week at the arranged time only to find that his mentee was not there. This went on for six months. Sometimes he thought he could hear his mentee in the background, but he would just say, "well, tell him I'll be here next week if he wants to hang out." He did eventually get frustrated, and he made the decision not to waste his time anymore so he didn't show up one week. He got a phone call from the mentee asking "Why didn't you come to get me today?" The mentor said, "Because you haven't been going with me when I showed up!" The mentee said, "I'm sorry. I'll go with you next week if you come." The mentor showed up the following week, and they went out and had a great time together. Their formal mentoring relationship lasted for nine more years until the mentee graduated from high school. Now, as adults they are friends and the mentee has been really thriving as an adult. God just wants us to be obedient and show up. He wants us to be selfless, because mentoring us not about us. It's all about God.
2 comments:
Bryan, you are so right when it comes to consistency. As I read the example of the mentor I knew exactly how the story would end. Working with kids who don't know where their next meal will be or if mom/dad will be home that night or if their brother/sister will ever be home again makes these kids not trust. I can't blame them for this as I would be no different in their shoes or living in their environments. We, who represent Christ, should be the ones to stick with it no matter what the frustrations are or how little time we have. This is my favorite excuse b/c we should all make the time to make a difference in someone's life. What greater cause is there? After our time with God and our family we should be trying to impact other's lives. I'll go one step further though and I think you'll agree that not everyone is called to impact a young person's life. I feel we are called to serve in some way to help others (elderly, sick, homeless, etc...) but the key is that we are out there doing it.
Good stuff. We're all called to different things. The point is for us to be obedient to God's call to serve others.
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