The Perfect Match

We once got a call from one of our board members that a young man who attended their church was interested in going to our high school summer camp. His name was Terrel. When Terrel’s mom whose name is Mary dropped him off for camp, she had a desperate look in her eyes. She said, “My son needs a mentor badly.” He doesn’t have any male role models in his life. I had an older sister who poured into me. I want that for my son. Could y’all give him a mentor?”

I told her absolutely. We will be praying for a mentor for Terrel. We will be thinking about the perfect match for him.

That summer Terrel gave his life to Jesus and was baptized. Terrel then came to our high school program, Thrive, for the first time. One of our high school mentors, Kevin, was there that night. I noticed Kevin and Terrel had a natural connection.

Our speaker that night was former NBA champion, Terrel Harris. He encouraged our young men to embrace their resources and have a vision for their life. At the end of his speech, he went around the room and asked some of them about life after school and their vision for their lives. He asked Terrel and Terrel had an answer already ready. Terrel stated boldly. “I want to be an underwater welder.”

A few days later, I called Kevin and asked him if he would be interested in mentoring Terrel. Kevin notified me right away that he’d felt led to pray for Terrel ever since he met him. He also told me on the phone that his brother is a welder. I knew they were the perfect match. Kevin was delighted to mentor Terrel. I called Mary right away to give her the good news. I asked her if we could all come over to their house so they could meet Kevin. As I arrived at their house, Kevin was already inside. They were looking at some of Terrel’s welding projects he’d already worked on. Kevin was already there building a relationship and being a role model in a young man’s life, showing him the way and passing on what he has learned.

Today, their relationship is still going strong. Kevin just had a new baby so their meet-ups aren’t as consistent in this season, but they attend church together about once or twice a month. Terrel is in band, he’s continuing to grow in manhood, and attended camp again this past summer and had a blast.

There’s no such thing as a perfect mentor. Mentoring is more about taking small, faithful steps to consistently show up. To show up, let God be the center, and learn along the way.

“IRON SHARPENS IRON, AND ONE MAN SHARPENS ANOTHER.” PROVERBS 27:17

God is in the welding business here at Forerunner. Bringing and bridging the older and the younger generations together, welding relationships for the good of his glory. Because of your support, Forerunner Mentoring continues to be a place where Proverbs 27:17 happens; men sharpening men. Thank you for believing that relationships change lives.