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January 2016 Spare Change

3 Reasons Mentoring Matters

1. It’s the Best Way to Invest in Someone

When it comes to investing in another person nothing beats one-on-one personal mentoring.  You get the opportunity to pour your life into someone else.  I have a student that I mentor at AIS 1^st Avenue.  I meet with him once a week for about 40 minutes.  We talk about life skills, personal stuff, homework, school behavior, etc.  We also set goals, draw pictures, and play games.  There are times we talk about serious stuff and times we can’t stop laughing.  It really is a great joy.  At first I didn’t know what kind of impact I was making, but after a few weeks of meeting, one teacher couldn’t believe the transformation.  My student was not getting into trouble as much, he was handling stressful situations better, and his grades started to improve.  I give all the glory to God, I just gave up some of my time.

2. It Shows You Really Care

Mentoring also shows how much you care.  Time is our most valuable commodity.  When we give our time we really show we care.  Anyone can buy stuff, it really isn’t that special in our culture, but what really expresses care is time.  It is our most precious resource; but here is the great thing, it doesn’t take that much to make a difference.  I have met with many people over the years for mentoring or discipleship.  Usually it’s an hour or so a week.  That’s only 52 hours a year.  I know time is precious, but who doesn’t have one hour to make a difference in someone’s life?

3. It Makes a REAL Difference

Mentoring is one of the ways to make a permanent difference.  Think about people that have invested in you over the years.  Maybe it was a teacher, a coach, a parent, grandparent, or pastor.  You can easily think back and remember them, why?  Because they made a huge impact in your life; they made a real difference.  In the church setting it’s easy to talk about spiritual things and often mentoring leads to deeper faith in the students.  It’s a little different in the school.  I do get an opportunity to talk about spiritual things, but it’s much more covert.  I ask the student how I can pray for him, we talk about church, and I answer any of his questions about faith.  Even with some minor restrictions, I still know that I am making a difference. 

At AIS 1^st Ave we only have a handful of mentors that meet with a few students.  We need more people of faith that are willing to share their lives.  If you have an hour a week during the day, maybe your lunch break, then you can make a huge impact.  Even if you can’t mentor at AIS, there are students and adults alike in our church that need a mentor.  They need someone to walk with them in the matters of life and faith.  Find someone at church you can share your life with.  The result will be impactful for both of you.  It might even surprise you how much you will grow in your faith also.  I’ll always remember what one of my teachers said, “You’re never more like Jesus then when you’re giving your life away.”

December Spare Change

Detroit: One Year Later

We have now been in our Detroit partnership for one year.  We took our first trip in August of 2014.  Since then we have taken two other trips to help various church plants and ministries.  The first time I went I was shocked and overwhelmed.  This continued for me and the people that joined me on these trips.  The utter despair of the city, disorganization of the government, the violence, the drugs, and the gangs left me with little hope; however, I joined in praying for the city along with many other Southern Baptists across the country.  We have been lifting up the city, the church planters, and the violence. 

One year later the tide is beginning to turn.  There is still much to do, there are still many problems, but there is a different energy in the government, in the church planters, and even in the city.  The last trip we went on was in Dearborn, working with Redeemer Community Church (a new church plant that is officially launching Easter 2016).  Dearborn is a much different area than the rest of Detroit.  It is fairing rather well in spite of the city’s woes.  It is the headquarters of Ford Motor Company and home to the Henry Ford estate.  There is hope in the eyes of the people of Dearborn.  There is also a huge ethnic population there, people coming from all over the world, which gives the church planters there unique challenges.  Redeemer Community Church is a great church led by a spirit-filled pastor, Jeremy Roth.  Their church is poised to make a great impact in the city.

Another reason I feel positive about the city is the partnership that NAMB and the Great Detroit Baptist Association have had with the city.  NAMB has been given an abandoned school to use.  The disaster relief folks have transformed it into a place for groups to stay.  They have bunk rooms, showers, and a full kitchen facility.  This is very exciting because often the hardest part of a mission trip is working out these logistics.  GDBA has also forged a partnership with the local government.  They are starting a program that will bring mission teams in to help board up houses, identify unsafe houses, clean up trash, mow yards, and do general cleaning of the neighborhoods.  This program will have a profound effect on the morale of the residents.  This will help engender neighborhood pride and safety.  I was able to attend a meeting at the GDBA office along with several community officials, council persons, police representatives, etc.  They were all on board to provide whatever services and resources they could to help this program.  All the GDBA needs now is mission teams to help.

All of these things have given me a much more positive outlook.  We still need to pray and lift up the city and the church planters.  We also need to join in with helping hands.  I am hoping to take three trips to Detroit in 2016.  Please consider going!  They are not expensive and will make a huge impact.  We will be announcing our dates on Missions Sunday on December 6^th.  Make sure to attend our special evening service at 5:30 p.m. with special guest speakers.  There will be a reception to follow.  Feel free to contact me with any questions about trips in 2016.