This is Mentoring

Yesterday G was crying when he got on the Forerunner van. He had a hard day at school and he didn’t want to talk about it. When I saw him at recess later that day he was sitting by himself on the playground, and I’m going to be honest - this kid has a history of not liking me so there was a longggg pause where I stood there thinking someone else might be better for this moment but I was the one there...so I thought, “Okay God, message recieved.”

I walked up and said “G, I’ve had kind of a rough day. Have you had a rough day too?”

He said yes but that he didn’t want to talk about it. I asked him if he wanted to go swing or play football with the other boys, and he said no. I looked around for something else that might make him smile and thought about the camera I was holding.

I said “Well I need to take some pictures I of recess today. Do you want to come with me and learn how to be a photographer?” He nodded his head up and down real fast and followed me over to the field.

We sat on the sidewalk and I held the camera in my palm while he focused the lens and snapped the shot. Every time he took a picture he would study it on the display and smile.

He said “I’ve never been a photographer before. Maybe I could be a good at it.” Ever so often he would take a picture he especially liked - and he’d show it to me, pointing out something he specifically wanted to capture in that moment. After a little bit, another kid came up who wanted to learn how to take pictures too. I was shocked when G immediately moved to the side so this other kid could have a turn. While I held the camera again, G stood behind me and taught the other kid which buttons did what. And in a very simple way, this is mentoring.

What I taught to G, he was able to teach to someone else - sure. But more than that, rather than wanting to be the only one who got to be special, G had experienced something that gave him joy and he wanted this other kid to experience that joy too. Freely we receive, freely we give.

Our lives have been changed by relationships; with Jesus and people who love like Jesus. We mentor because we want others to experience the joy of those life changing relationships too. We want those who feel alone to feel loved, those who feel inadequate to feel important, those who feel hopeless to feel believed in. We want every kid in our program to know they were created on purpose for a purpose and that they are loved by God.

I am unbelievably thankful for Forerunner Mentoring and that I get the privilege in playing a role in bringing joy to kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. You can play a role too.

You can mentor. You can volunteer. You can pray. You can donate. Everything we do for our families is free of cost for them because we don’t want money to ever be a barrier to life change for a child who needs our program.