Growing People

We have an intern here for seven weeks from our alma mater. She is interested in missions and working with the poor and she is "testing the waters" here during her summer break.

I am enjoying seeing her learn, grow and struggle with the language. I love debriefing with her difficult experiences and we struggle together trying to work through the injustices that we see and breath here every day.

I see her naivety and smile, because I see myself in her 10 years ago. It's so beautiful to see her passion and her energy. I have been able to share about my multitude of mistakes cross-culturally and I am grateful for the opportunity to pour into this promising young woman.

What is mentoring? Christian Mentoring is a one-on-one relational experience in which one person empowers another person by investing their God-given wisdom, experiences and resources. It's a phone call, drinking coffee together and listening to the other person share about their struggles, questions and doubts and encouraging them to keep walking forward in their faith journey and helping develop a godly character.

The truth of the matter is, I know I need to be pouring into young women more than I am doing. I see the younger Millenial generation and there are so many neat things about these 20 somethings. Yet, I see that they need guidance, just like I did (and still do). If fact, many youth today are in deep trouble and have no positive role models to follow. They are yearning for connection and meaning and mentoring can fill that longing in a younger person.

To mentor someone is a sacrifice, because it takes time. It is not something done in haste. I have to admit that I can get very selfish with my time. I am mentoring our son obviously, but I believe my responsibility to mentor extends beyond the walls of my home. Our society tells us that we should be independent and strong on our own. However, God's word shares us that growth should be celebrated in community. (Titus 2:3-5) We are on this journey together and I want to do a better job helping someone else along in the different landscapes that life presents.

I am investing into one young Paraguayan woman here named Michelley. We have become good friends because she comes over twice a week to do her laundry, using our machine. However, this week she and her husband got their own machine and to be honest, I was a little sad. Our tea times while her clothes were spinning will be over. I'll have to be intentional about inviting her over periodically just to talk about life, marriage and faith. There are so many things we invest our time in. This proverb hit home for me:

If you want one year of prosperity,
grow grain,
If you want ten years of prosperity,
grow trees,
If you want one hundred years of prosperity,
grow people. -Chinese proverb

My question to you is this- Is there someone that you could be mentoring right now? Do you have someone older to mentor you? If not, consider asking God to show you someone you can pour into and someone that could walk alongside you too!