1-to-1 Mentoring Blog

I (Dan) received an email from one of our mentors today. He's been matched with his mentee for the past 14 months or so. I was really encouraged by this volunteer's willingness to be a part of his mentee's life, and to allow God to use that time however He chooses. I thought I'd share an excerpt from this note below:

God has taught me much. One thing I've learned is that, when it comes to youth, don't try to make them like you. Most young people, especially guys like [my mentee], just want to be active, playing sports and having some fun.

I've laid aside for now, trying to have deep conversations with [my mentee], about life, school, family or spiritual matters. I figure the time will come for that. For now, he just wants me to throw him the football across the gym. For now, that's good enough for me, too. I love [my mentee], and I realize that he doesn't have a father, or a big brother. If I can meet his need for "play" then he won't need to seek it in the gangs or big boys who are a bad influence on him.

At Circle over the past five years, I have been blessed and humbled to get to know the incredible folks God has called here as mentors. Each of them has made the simple, yet profound commitment to share his/her life and faith with a young person growing up on the West Side. Each of them is being used by God (whether they realize it or not) to impact the direction of a young person's life.