On Mondays I like to walk to the Mentoring office and see which kids are hanging out, waiting for their mentors to come. After talking and joking around with them, I’ll check the mentoring bulletin board to catch any events or trips coming up. The final mentor fellowship potluck is coming up this Friday at the program director’s house. A potluck sounds like a great way to bring people together to talk, exchange stories, and share life together.

The potluck, called "3rd Friday," occurs once a month as a way to bring mentors together to pray for one another and relate to the struggles and success of being a mentor. Program staff want mentors to know they are appreciated and cared for by organizing events like this. Providing mentoring activity ideas, an annual banquet and closets full of games and supplies are just some of the other ways the program takes care of its mentors.

What I find the most interesting is everyone sharing a meal together. If you look at the life of Jesus, He ate with people all the time. He called Zacchaeus out of a tree and dined with him that night. Jesus ate with Matthew, the tax collector, and before he died He shared a meal with his 12 closest followers. I think the importance of sharing meals comes from inviting someone into your home. How many times have you thought, “ I have to clean up this mess before people come over!” It requires a bit of vulnerability to allow people to come to your home and share a meal.

As the mentors gather at Dan’s house to share food, they’ll also share so much more. Mentors will share their concerns in the program, and in their individual lives. Just as letting people come and eat in your home requires vulnerability, so does sharing your thoughts and feelings. Through fellowship with other believers, we can be encouraged, lifted up, and strengthened.

Sara Washington has served as a mentor for 8 months. Recently, we asked if she would share about her experience as a Mentor.


“You got to remember to stay away from the windows in this neighborhood”….

These were the first words my mentee spoke as she fastened her seatbelt. She was referring to the neighborhood shootings commonplace to many Chicago neighborhoods. What a stark difference from the farm town where I grew up. As she closed the passenger side door I hit the door lock button one more time partly as reflex and partly to dismantle the concern I had regarding her statement. I glanced through the frosty side view mirror and then we were off on our first outing during Christmas break.

My first year in Chicago was a difficult one. I had a great job which I was satisfied with but finding godly friends and a place of worship where I could feel at home started to feel nearly impossible. I began to feel disillusioned and lost in my new city. As the unsettled feeling of disappointment grew I decided it was time to do something about it. Perhaps if I got involved in something I was passionate about I’d meet other like-minded people and perhaps even make some new friends. Mentoring has always been something close to my heart. As a teenager I was the beneficiary of a group mentoring program for minority students sponsored by the Urban League of Pittsburgh. Although it provided a source of encouragement for students who were often financially disadvantaged and overlooked, it lacked a personal one-on-one touch. I was fortunate enough to do very well in school but I saw plenty of intelligent fellow students who simply fell through the cracks. They became distracted with the reality of life which was spinning all around them. I always thought that some of these students would have had a better chance to succeed if they were paired with a personal mentor who remained with them as they progressed through school. Although the group mentoring program I participated in was a noble cause, it wasn’t exactly an effective one. You can understand my joy when I heard about the One-to-One mentoring initiative through Circle Urban Ministries. I have been paired with my mentee for nearly 8 months now and it has been a very rewarding experience. I have learned to see life through my mentee’s eyes and in those eyes I’ve witnessed a resiliency and strength that is much to be admired. I have also learned how important it is to be a living testimony for this new generation of youth. She is that new hope for the future generation and through mentoring I am a catalyst. It is my prayer and my hope that my one-hour/week will serve as a seed that will enable her to grow and mature into the adult God wants her to be.

Summer is finally here. For some it could not have come fast enough. With summer, comes a break from school, sleeping in, camps, and graduations. One mentoring pair had to say goodbye to each other this year because the mentor was graduating from Wheaton College and moving out of the area. After spending the past two school years building an encouraging relationship through playing basketball, reading the Bible, finishing homework, and baking, the road of life this match was sharing came to a fork.

I was able to talk to the mentee’s mother (who is also a mentor) and she told me that their whole family had become fond of her son’s mentor. Able to know each other more through the Mentoring program, the family and the mentor became close. Giving the mentor a graduation gift, and reminding him to call when he got a chance, this family and the mentor made their goodbyes. Judging by the closeness that this pair shares, they will continue to be in touch.

The beauty of 1-to-1 Mentoring is that it possesses the unique ability to foster relationships and watch as they grow. As Mentors and mentees meet every week, over time, the growth of each pair is shared with the staff, volunteers, and families. Life is shared and experienced together as mentors/mentees play games, bake cookies, complete puzzles, fly kites, and teach each other.

As graduating from Wheaton and moving towards the next step in his career draws an end to being a mentor, the time he has spent with his mentee will have a lasting impact in both of their lives.

-- Posted by Intern Extraordinaire , Eric Hawley