You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast

When someone thinks about mentoring, they think about the child.  They think about the benefit they’re receiving of having somebody guide them and show them the way.  They think about the growth of the child and the potential they have.  They may even think about the experiences the mentee may have.  Rarely, however, do they think about the relationship from the perspective of the mentor.  They may acknowledge the mentor’s presence and intentionality, but they don’t typically think about the humility and sacrifice the mentor has had in order to continue to show up.  At Forerunner Mentoring, the core value of the organization is “Relationships Change Lives”.  It’s the idea that by investing in kids, their lives are forever being changed.  But that investment goes both ways.  The mentor benefits just as much from the relationship as the mentee does.  Maxwell Owen, one of Forerunner’s one-on-one volunteer mentors (not a coach in the after school mentoring program) joins Josh this week on his summer takeover series to talk about spontaneity in mentoring, modeling humility, the benefits he’s seen in himself from mentoring, and why he chooses to volunteer as a mentor.

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

Mentoring boys without father figures means playing the role of the father in that boy’s life, while simultaneously acknowledging that you are NOT their father.  With that unique position is an ability to have hard conversations with them and to lead them in the path of righteousness.  But in order to be effective in doing those things, you first need to be modeling them in your own life.  Leading a boy in his walk with Jesus means pursuing your own walk with Jesus first.  Leading a mentee in integrity means walking a life of integrity.   These are the themes that Holden Royals touches on in this week’s episode.  Forerunner’s 4th-5th grade coach, Holden Royals joins Josh on his summer takeover to talk through a lot of theology, his personal bible study habits, having direct and candid conversations with his boys as a rebuttal to Hell’s own direct attacks, and his why behind mentoring.

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

One of the coolest moments in a mentoring relationship is to see the fruit of your labors start to flourish.  When you get dragged down by the details of the current situation or start to think that you haven’t made an impact on your mentee, it can be hard to focus on the positive or to wonder why you’re doing it in the first place.  In those moments, looking back at where your relationship started and comparing it to where you are now can be insightful and encouraging.  It can give you the motivation to keep going and pressing in to the hard times.  Jamari Maloy has a story from the perspective of the mentee and the growth he saw.  He joins Josh on his summer takeover “Why I Mentor” series to talk through his experiences as a Forerunner that then joined the team to mentor younger students, the things he’s learned and grown in through being a Forerunner coach, and why he jumped into being a coach right after he graduated high school and the Forerunner program.

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

Sometimes, God does something in your life that just doesn’t make any sense.  He may take something away or put you in a new position that you don’t feel like you’re qualified for.  He may move you across the country, or change the demographic of the people you thought you were called to minister to.  But at the end of the day, God’s plan supersedes yours, and that’s something Ryan Raleigh has learned.  In continuing his summer takeover series, Josh is joined by Forerunner’s K-2nd grades Coach Ryan “Big Red” Raleigh to talk through how he heard about Forerunner, why he joined the team to mentor kids without fathers, how God has used his experience to heal him of his own wounds, and ultimately why he chooses to be a coach at Forerunner.

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

Mentoring in a group setting takes on a whole new set of challenges compared to individual mentoring.  You show up and pour into multiple kids all at the same time.  You need to be able to see not just the needs of one person, but multiple kids simultaneously and meet those needs all at the same time.  You get pulled in multiple directions and need to be able to handle that all with grace and poise.  It’s a challenge, but it’s also incredibly rewarding to get to see the growth of each student and the fruit of the seeds you’ve been planting throughout the year.  This week, Caitlyn Moudy, the instructional coach in Forerunner Mentoring’s K-6 After School Mentoring Program joins Josh on his summer takeover to talk through how her role as a mentor has evolved in the last three years, who on Forerunner’s staff has poured into her, some fire scriptures that hit home for mentors and teachers, and why she shows up every day to mentor the boys at Forerunner.
 
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

Mentoring can look like many different things.  Sometimes you’re pouring into a single relationship with a child.  Sometimes it’s multiple kids at the same time in a group setting.  Sometimes you’re not even mentoring a child; you’re mentoring an adult.  At the end of the day, the demographic of your mentee is irrelevant, because mentoring isn’t about WHO your mentee is.  It’s about the relationship you’re building with them, through the ups and the downs, the best and worst, the mistakes, the lessons, and the wins.  Mentoring is something that takes intentionality, and every mentor has a reason why they do that.  Joel McMillan is the K-6 Site Lead at Forerunner Mentoring, and joins Josh on his summer takeover to talk through his own mentoring journey, including some pretty crazy encounters with God, having a sense of his calling even before becoming a Christian, working with adults battling addiction, and mentoring kids from hard places in the name of Jesus at Forerunner Mentoring.
 
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

If you are currently in a mentoring relationship, stop right now and think about this question:  Why?  Why are you mentoring?  Why do you choose to wake up and poor into one or more kids and lead them into adulthood?  What is the benefit to you?  Chances are, you have some kind of personal story that answers those questions.  Maybe you grew up in a family that was abusive and you didn’t have anybody to guide you.  Maybe you grew up in the stereotypical suburban, white picket fence home and you want to pay it forward.  Maybe you’re somewhere in between in that story.  Regardless, you have a story.  So do the coaches at Forerunner Mentoring.  Each and every coach in Forerunner’s After School Mentoring Program has some kind of why behind them taking on the role to mentor students in Lake Highlands, and we want to tell those stories.  Josh Manning, the editor of the You Can Mentor podcast continues his takeover this week with Forerunner’s Family Ministry Coordinator, Bailey Willis, as his guest to hear her “why” for mentoring.

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

If you are currently in a mentoring relationship, stop right now and think about this question:  Why?  Why are you mentoring?  Why do you choose to wake up and poor into one or more kids and lead them into adulthood?  What is the benefit to you?  Chances are, you have some kind of personal story that answers those questions.  Maybe you grew up in a family that was abusive and you didn’t have anybody to guide you.  Maybe you grew up in the stereotypical suburban, white picket fence home and you want to pay it forward.  Maybe you’re somewhere in between in that story.  Regardless, you have a story.  So do the coaches at Forerunner Mentoring.  Each and every coach in Forerunner’s After School Mentoring Program has some kind of why behind them taking on the role to mentor students in Lake Highlands, and we want to tell those stories.  Josh Manning, the editor of the You Can Mentor podcast does a surprise takeover this week to kick off a new series with his first guest, Tajudin Spencer, where he interviews the coaches at Forerunner to get their “why” behind mentoring.

Connect with Taj:
https://www.instagram.com/tajudin.spencer/

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

Then he said to them, "Go your way.  Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord.  And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."  - Nehemiah 8:10

The second fruit of the Spirit listed in Paul's letter to the Galatians is joy.  We know we're abiding in the Holy Spirit if we're experiencing a level of joy that simply doesn't make sense in our lives.  Joy isn't exactly happiness.  We can still have joy even when we're dealing with something that's incredibly intense or painful.  So if joy isn't the same thing as happiness, then what is it?  The Greek word for "joy" in Galatians also means exhilaration, glee, gladness, and elation.  Joy, especially joy rooted in the Lord, is not so much a sense of happiness at life around you.  It's a deep exhilaration and gladness that resides within your soul, so intense that nothing that occurs in the messiness of life can shake that security of your identity.  This week, John and Zach unpack the idea of joy and how it can impact your mentoring relationship.

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com 

The most amazing thing about books is their versatility.  They have been used to record history, communicate new ideas, spark controversy, and promote peace.  They have the ability to teach you a new line of thinking or to transport you to an entirely new realm.  They are fundamental to human communication.  And yet, only roughly 4% of the world’s population actually takes the time to read a physical book consistently.  Even though that’s an astonishingly low statistic, that doesn’t stop Craig Cunningham from writing; and from writing prolifically.  He believes in telling stories that matter and has written for tv, film, music, and literature.  He has directed films and commercials, worked as the editor-in-chief of a magazine, led creative teams for brands, served on a church staff, and worked as a pure freelancer.  This week, Craig joins John to talk through his book One Night in a Thousand Years, the meaning of the title, his creative process, and why he believes telling stories is important.

Purchase One Night In A Thousand Years:
Amazon

Check out more of Craig's work:
https://www.craigscunningham.com/

Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses

youcanmentor.com