Ministry in Joplin

On May 6, 2011 the most devastating tornado to ever touch down hit the town of Joplin Missouri. Tornados were previously rated from F-1, being the least to F-5, being the most sever. This storm created a new category, with wind speeds reaching up to three hundred miles per hour the National Weather Service called it an F-6, the first time this had ever been done. The tornado even had an eye, like a hurricane does; this also had never been seen.

Larry Russell came to our church at the end of June to talk to our congregation about this terrible storm and to solicit money and help. He asked for skilled craftsmen to go there and help in the recovery effort. The only skill he mentioned was a plumbing.

When he was through talking I looked up and said to myself, “Okay, Lord, I understand." After the service was over I went up to Larry and said “You need a plumber, I’m your man.”

Thus started my mission to do whatever I could to help Joplin and its people to recover from the devastation. I was in for the shock of my life. I don’t watch the news very often and never saw any footage of the devastation, so I had no idea of the magnitude of destruction I was to witness. Devastation would come to be a word I would use often.

We got to Joplin about 7 p.m. and started our tour of the town, and I started crying. Devastation is too mild a word, utter and total devastation is closer to the truth. As we passed by piles of remains of buildings, Lewis, our contact in Joplin, would tell story after story of how people miraculously survived with their homes intact while their neighbors’ home and lives were completely gone.

The pictures that you have seen and the stories you have heard on the news don’t convey the story as it truly is. Nothing I can tell you will do the city justice, you really need to see it yourself. The closest I can come is to imagine what Hiroshima looked like after the atom bomb. Some of you might think I’m exaggerating, believe me, I’m not.

Lewis told stories of neighbors helping each other and surviving only by the grace of our Lord.

A mother held on to a tree with one hand while holding on to her four year old son with the other. Finally, the wind was too strong and she lost her grip on his hand. He was swept up in the storm and whisked away. She was sure that she had lost him; not so though. He was carried five miles away by the powerful winds and deposited in a Home Depot parking lot without a scratch. When he was returned to his mother she asked him what had happened, he replied that the butterfly people had carried him there.

Another man and his two children huddled in their bath tub and pulled a mattress over themselves. The son was the only one face up. The mattress was pulled away by the winds. When the storm passed the man exclaimed. How did we not get hurt? His young son said that the man with wings wrapped them around us.

Two churches were totally destroyed; they had crosses placed in front of them, the crosses remained untouched.

I could go on, but I need to tell the rest of the story, some people looked at the devastation in disgust and took whatever they had and moved elsewhere.

But there were the faithful who said this is our home, we will rebuild it. Ian Martinez, Rick Hicks (the other workers that I went with) and I went to a worship meeting every night and each night we were acknowledged for the good work we were doing.

People came up to us all the time and shook our hand and hugged us, thanking us for having traveled so far to do what we were doing. We, of course, said we were only doing the Lord’s work as we were directed. We were often asked to speak at these meetings.

One night I said, you give us praise for doing the Lords’ work, but I have to say that you people that live here are the ones who deserve a pat on the back. It’s been two months since the storm; still you get up each morning and get to the task of rebuilding. This looks like it will never end, but I have seen the smiles on your faces and your dogged determination. We are here for just one week, you will still be here for years cleaning and rebuilding, you are the salt of the earth. I know that you will rebuild Joplin into a bigger and better town than it was before the storm, you will not quit.

After I sat down a lady came up to me and asked me to pray for her. She said that she had been thinking about moving out of the area, and that my words had hit a chord in her heart. I asked her if she had lost her home. She replied; my home, my husband

and my dog. She had no family left in the area. I asked her if she truly believed in God. She said yes. I said, look around you, you are surrounded by family. She began to cry and I gave her a hug and began to pray that she would understand that we are all related, we all have the same thing in common. She wiped the tears from her face, looked around and said, “You’re right, we are all struggling, and we all lost something or someone.”

Sometimes the simplest things can make a large difference. The next time I saw her she thanked me and told me that I had convinced her to stay, and that she would not be alone while she had friends and the Lord to comfort her. I thanked the Lord for giving me those words of comfort.

On Sunday, we of course didn’t work. We went to two services and also went to a river and watched as twelve people were baptized. It was heartwarming to see so many people come to the Lord at the same time. It’s also tragic that it took this storm for them to come to the Lord. Pastor Jim said it had been like this ever since the storm.

Our mission in Joplin was to build a kitchen and a shower room for other relief workers that would arrive in the weeks to come. There were no blue prints, Pastor Jim just told us what and where he wanted things to be placed. Since I had the most knowledge about building, I was given the unenviable task of foreman. Without plans we built on the fly, we would discuss what needed to be done as we approached the task.

We left Joplin at eight o’clock the twentieth of July. We were able to finish our task at two o’clock that day. It’s truly amazing how God gave us just enough time and money to complete our task. We worked eighty-four hours in six days, and on the last day we only had six hours to finish, the other five days were very long.

Six months ago I was walking with a cane and was in such poor shape that I thought I would have to mostly direct someone to do the plumbing. It was over one-hundred degrees with humidity over eighty percent every day, but again the Lord gave me the strength to do my own work. I was truly spent when we finished. Three days back and I am still tired. How I was able to work as hard as I did only the Lord knows. Rick told me a couple of times to slow down or I would have a heart attack. Still I pushed on knowing that we had limited time to finish.

It’s easy to quit or give up, the people of Joplin could easily do this, however they have chosen to stay the course, which is hard considering what they have been through. Their faith in Christ is strong however, and with the temptation to quit around them every day their faith remains very strong.

God bless the people of Joplin. My only regret is that I’m not still there to help more. While the destruction was hard to witness, I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to make this trip, and finish the project as assigned. It was one of the most fulfilling things I have ever experienced. We did what we did for the love of the people of Joplin.

--Ernie Jones

Keep on Praying

"Keep on praying!"

Haven’t you heard this many times before? I know I have.

But proof that God hears and answers our prayers became real for me once again when I got the news that something I’ve been praying about for fourteen years was answered!

My son, Chris, shared with me two weeks ago that he is now praying EVERY morning for each of his kids and his wife and marriage. Chris and Peggie have been married fifteen years. They met when both of them were working at the Cannon Beach Conference Center. Their son, Cody, is fourteen, and his little sister, Mollie, is four. They wanted lots of kids, but it has been difficult. They love their kids fiercely.

Chris and Peggie recently attended a Basic Youth Conflicts seminar in Portland, and gained a lot of insight about the Bible and how it applies to their lives and the lives of their children. I remember attending this seminar in the ‘70’s. The seminar addresses “seven Biblical principles that apply to every person, regardless of culture, religion, age, education, or social status. It emphasizes the factors needed to develop and maintain healthy, growing relationships with God, family members, and friends.” You can learn more about it at their website: http://iblp.org/iblp/seminars/

Chris related that he always leaves for work about forty-five minutes before time to be there, so he doesn’t have to feel rushed about being in his place at the wood mill when the shift begins. After attending the seminar, Chris has begun to use some of that “before work” time to pray about specific things that are going on in his family’s lives. They visited here two weeks ago, and the change in the relationship between Chris and his son, Cody, is remarkable.

Chris said he learned that the two things kids say most about their dads is that they respond to them in anger, and they don’t keep their promises. Watching Chris listen to his son, and calmly respond to him, was a miracle. His response to his son caused me, several times, to stop in my tracks and listen, with tears in my eyes.

This is a HUGE answer to prayer for me. Whatever your concerns, your hopes, your worries, your fears, for those you love, I would encourage you to take them to the Cross, and keep bringing them there until you hear them answered. Isaiah 62:6-7 says to put the Lord in remembrance of His promises, to not keep silence, and to give Him no rest until He follows through with them.

Claim this promise. He will hear you, and He will answer.

Whatever you are praying on behalf of someone else, KEEP ON PRAYING!

-Mary Hagle

Pray for Team Mexico

Here's how you can be praying for our team traveling in Mexico:

Trip dates: August 15-23

These are the specific prayer needs for the trip to Rancho de Sus Ninos near Tecate’ in Mexico.

• That the team would be unified
• That we would have lots of "hands-on" prayer opportunities.
• That we would witness many miracles
• That we could be a great blessing to the orphans and team down there.

Please tape this list to your bathroom mirror – and have a morning discussion with the Father every day, especially August 15-23! We will be eagerly waiting to hear how God has answered! Stay tuned!!

Members of the 2011 Mexico Team

Nate Beck, Becky Cox, Caleb Cox, Cody McKinney, Logan Taylor, Vicki Taylor, Trishia Venegas, Evan Waller, Jake Wilson, Caity Wilson, Jerry Wilson

Pray in the Spirit!

Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18

As a child I attended Sunday School at Arbor Heights Community Church in Seattle. In time, this church became affiliated with, and then a member of, the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Through the witness of my Sunday School teachers I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior at age 14. In my first year of college in Bellingham, I attended a “Tent Meeting” held in a tent with a sawdust floor. While listening to the preacher, I realized that I not only needed Jesus Christ as my Savior, but also to invite Him to be my Lord, or Master. I walked forward and prayed, dedicating my life to listening to the voice of Jesus and obeying Him to the best of my abilities, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

In 1962 I began attending what was then called Women’s Missionary Prayer Fellowship (WMPF). This is the “arm” of the C&MA that all Alliance women are invited to attend. At age 20, I was the youngest person attending. I barely knew anyone, or what the procedures were or who the missionaries were that they spoke of and prayed for. Nevertheless, I persevered, knowing it was something God wanted me to do. Over time, I learned so much about missionary families, how they lived, what their needs were, and how to pray for them. Their letters were read and prayed over. We rejoiced over their successes, prayed even more over their ongoing requests, and praised God for the amazing fact that we could reach the world effectively through the Name of Jesus Christ! We often sent gift boxes to these missionaries. Finally, I was able to meet them in person when they came home on “furlough” after three years of service.

I also learned the history of WMPF. In the late 1800's, Rev. A. B. Simpson, the educator and organizer of missionaries and ways they and Christians stateside could communicate better, began writing and publishing a magazine. It, too, has changed its name and currently is entitled “aLife”. The Christian women formed local groups to pray for the needs of the missionaries who were ministering in Africa and China under Simpson’s direction. As they heard Rev. Simpson’s passionate preaching, women even felt the need to give their jewelry as an offering, due to their heartfelt compassion for the lost. The idea for the small groups of praying women eventually spread to most, if not all, the Alliance churches world-wide. Donations are still an important part of Alliance Women’s Ministries. Our National AWM annual giving recently surpassed $300,000. It funds missions projects that would not otherwise be completed. The GCF pays for missionary allotments, but not for the needed projects in their area of ministry. So, women united together to help collect funds for different projects each year. A project is decided upon each year; a goal is set. By the end of that year our goal has nearly always been met, thanks to our amazing God!

When planning our meetings, we ask God to give us ideas to make our meetings interesting and profitable for our church family, our community, and the world. This has led to clever ways to keep the prayer time interesting. Those attending bond together, learn geography and about foreign cultures, of the missionaries’ needs and how to help provide for them.

Our times of prayer have been meaningful and successful. From around the world, we learn of miraculous answers to our prayers. Email and Skype has helped to learn of urgent needs quickly. Some prayers are answered immediately, but others are ongoing and often are answered in different ways than we anticipated, but always in the way God planned. We feel closer to our beloved International Workers, as if we know them before ever meeting them, because of our prayers offered up on their behalf. Once I introduced myself to international workers from South America who visited EHA. I’d prayed for and written to them several times, but we had never met. Upon my introduction, the wife said, “I remember you, you wrote to us”. The husband said the same thing when I met him. What an honor to be known by praying for and writing to these workers on the “front line”. Others have spoken to our Alliance Missions Connection (our group’s current name at EHA) and voiced their thanks for our prayers, emails and gifts on their behalf.

It is a privilege and joy to regularly attend AMC and pray with those attending. It is a “free” way to help further the Gospel around the world as was Rev. Simpson’s dream. It is an honor to be a part of Alliance Women’s Ministries worldwide and of what God is doing through faithful prayer.

--Linda Grewelle

"Time For Your Check-up! Please step into my office..."

Nick and I agreed that since it's been almost half a year since The House focused on our response to the mentoring experiences we might incorporate into our lives, it might be a good time to check in about that.

Hopefully, these words from the February issue will refresh your memory, and you also might recall what some of us shared about being mentored by Tom Hight: "Mentoring. Walking alongside. Friendship. What is the value to us in one life lived in a side-by-side relationship with the Creator of the Universe?"

Nick’s message at that time about asking for and finding someone to mentor us, and being willing to be a mentor to another, produced some new mentorships, and stories about some of them are included in this month’s issue, along with an article from our pastor on the subject.

These are My Three Current Mentoring Experiences:

One – Physical Fitness & Spirit: I know I was inspired to ask someone to act as a mentor and accountability coach for developing a fitness plan, as my doctor continued to urge me to walk as part of controlling my diabetes, and I longed to be able to come back to tennis as an enjoyed pastime. I was also very aware of the spiritual aspect of being a good steward of my health.

My coach has been inventive, encouraging and inspiring. I find having another person’s perspective, and especially an informed one, changes everything about what it means to incorporate a new discipline in my life. She continually amazes me with the ability to bring about "paradigm shift" for me in this area in which I’ve struggled for so long. Her wisdom and experience are better than gold.This has been an enriching and informative experience, and what I believe to be a genuine miracle in my life. I find my walking time to be another opportunity to be in conversation with God, reflecting on my day, my week, my year, and where He is leading me in other aspects of my discipleship disciplines. My walking time has become sacred, a gift of "built-in" sabbatical, as I walk and listen.

My general health has improved, my bad back is much more flexible, my aching joints have eased, and I’m playing tennis again! You have no idea how joyful an experience that is for me!

Two – Financial Fitness & Spirit: My confession: I am a lifelong "money-drunk" (Julia Cameron’s term for those of us who are compulsively unable to control our spending.) It is painful to admit that this has been a struggle for me for as long as long as I can remember.

As soon as I heard Nick's words of encouragement for finding someone to walk alongside us, I knew I wanted to ask someone who had been through the Financial Peace University material to help me. I have had success, and failure, in this process, but I haven’t given up!

My mentor talks with me, reviews my reporting about what is and isn’t working, and encourages me to "stay the course". At the center of all of that are love, concern and clarity when I’m mired in my issues about this area of my life. I have experienced the love, acceptance and forgiveness I need to be healed of this affliction, and have felt God’s hand in it all. How grateful I am for my mentor’s wisdom and encouragement. The struggle continues, but I know there will be more success as I press forward, with the help of my mentor and the Holy Spirit.

Three – Discipleship Fitness & Spirit: Finally, I will remark on a mentorship and friendship that has lasted forty years, and continues today. I meet with this woman weekly, to share my walk and use her as a sounding board for my life decisions and the joys and pains of my circumstances.

I don’t always agree with her. She doesn’t always have something to say. My experience is that the key is "acceptant listening". I know she will listen, she will pray, and on occasion, directly speak to a question or issue I raise.

During some of the most acutely difficult periods of my life, she kept me from disastrous decisions. At other times, I chose to ignore her, with disastrous results.

Another key: consistently returning to the relationship – through it all knowing about her basic faith, scripture-based knowledge, and compassionate heart. These are the qualities that have kept the mentorship alive all these years.

If you have not experienced such a side-by-side relationship with another follower of Christ, I encourage you to ask God to show you who that might be. When you hear from Him, and I believe you will, ask them to mentor you. It will change your life. You will find your perspective on whom you perceive God to be will change and mature. You will be encouraged to mentor someone else when asked, and that relationship will bring even more growth in your walk.

I am convinced that Nick’s words about mentoring from the February article are still as fresh and inspired as they were then: "This month, we are focusing on the topic of mentoring. I know that many of you reading this article are on the lookout for a godly mentor in your life. But the thought of becoming a mentor intimidates you. You wonder if you have what it takes; if you’re close enough to God. Let me encourage you from my experience. Dave made a difference in my life, not because he was godly, but because he wanted to be godly. Dave helped me grow, not because he had it all together, but because he opened his life to God and others. Dave taught me about God and faith, not because he knew all the right answers, but because he showed me how to ask the right questions and wrestle in faith with the realities of life.

And now, I believe in you because Dave believed in me. If you will pursue God with your whole heart, faltering though your steps may be, that very journey is what God will use to touch and change the lives of others. So get on the pursuit! And invite someone to join you along the way. You never know; you just might become their mentor."

And so, we encourage you to ask God to show you whom He would have you approach in friendship, and allow Him to cultivate that friendship into mentorship. Ask God to show you whom He would have you approach in your need of a mentor, to walk beside you in a specific area of your life experience, or as a spiritual mentor for observing how God is working in all areas of your life. He is waiting to give you this gift. Open your heart, and your life, and receive all God is holding in His hands for you to receive.

We grow as we share-

Mary Hagle

Editor

The House

Testimony of Crossing the Generational Gap

Being a mentor…My first reaction is whew! Being a mentor is pretty hard. My next reaction? It’s pretty rewarding and can be a lot of fun. If I really think about it, I am in three mentor relationships. I asked Bob Simmons to be my mentor to which he readily agreed. He also noted it may really be a co-mentor relationship. Bob and I are both logical problem solvers. We are reading a book together, which we discuss over lunches. Both our schedules are pretty crazy, so we meet when we can, which is not as often as either of us would like. But it works pretty well for us. Bob is a great guy and very intelligent. I am really looking forward to the growth of our relationship. I would consider this my EASY mentor relationship.

Our Life Group has been working with the Youth Group this year to help create a bridge between younger and older members of East Hills Alliance. Work really isn’t the right word to use here. The young people in our church are awesome!! Our two groups have met at our home for dinner, games on the Wii, and board games. Everyone had a great time and looked forward to our next gathering. Recently we met at the church for pizza and a game of Bible Pictionary. The Youth Group whipped us! Well, they beat us by one point, but they really know their Bible!

Admittedly, this may not be what might be considered a traditional mentor relationship. We believe, however, this is an important one. Our youth need examples of older Christians in the Church and in social environments. We can help them make the step from young Christians to adult Christians. Personally, I have developed great relationships with many of these young people, respect their dedication to our church and to their relationship with Christ. Have I already said they are awesome? Well, they are! I love them all.

I was asked by Tony Echerd to be his mentor. Of course I said yes. This young man is a great person and has a heart for God. This is my most difficult mentor relationship but will be my most rewarding. My work schedule makes it difficult to meet with Tony as often as I would like. He is busy with school and activities. The toughest thing for us is working on trust. He needs to know that he can trust me. If he thinks he can’t trust me, how can he tell me the things he needs help with? I can’t share anything he tells me with his parents, his friends, his siblings, anyone.

Our relationship is in its infancy. We’ve only met a few times for coffee and lunch. As much as I enjoy being around young people, as I grow older it is getting more difficult to relate. I believe being a teen today is much more difficult than when I was a teen. Meeting one-on-one is much different than when meeting in a group. The pressure is on!

It dawned on me recently how these things make it difficult for me to be a quality mentor. I’ve been doing some on-line research on being a Christian mentor and have found some great information. One site says men think they need to: make the journey alone, remain quiet, keep it under control, and that others won’t understand. My hope is Tony will understand none of this is necessary. His parents, family, church family and I are there to support him. This same website indicates mentoring is really about discipleship. We can learn from the experience of each other without making the same mistakes. We will naturally begin to mentor others as our skills become better.

My prayer is that Tony knows that he can trust me, and that our bond is based on our relationship with Christ. I look forward to continuing our friendship, watching him grow into an adult with a firm foundation in Christ, and serving as a mentor to young men. I pray Christ will bless our friendship and help me say the right things and make the right decisions.

Being in a mentoring relationship is hard! It’s fun! It’s rewarding! I am glad God put it on my heart to serve Him as a mentor. I hope you have found it to be the same for you.

Steve Jones

Testimony of God at Work

I find it rather unusual that I have been asked to write about mentoring. It is strange because I have not been mentored in the traditional sense nor have I sought to be a mentor to anyone else. Ernie Jones came up to me one Sunday and asked me if I would mentor him. I could not see where I would have the time to do it, and I started to make excuses. I do struggle with time. I teach in a field that is constantly changing, I am in the midst of putting together a documentary on the problem with the New World Translation of the Jehovah Witnesses. Also, I cannot neglect my wife. Besides, I live way out in the sticks above Kalama. There was another obstacle I did not mention to Ernie—wondering what would I share with him. Before leaving him, I said I would pray about it. Oops, that was a mistake.

It hit me that if Ernie was willing, I could meet him for half an hour before church. The other problem concerning what I would have to share came back at me in the form of what would I have wanted someone to share with me. Then I started to think about many of the significant events in my life that caused me to grow in grace. In junior high and in high school I read maybe a total of five books and one of them was the Classics Illustrated comic book version of Silas Marner so I did not have to read the book itself. I was a slow reader and I found reading books rather boring. After becoming a Christian in my late teens, I read The Cross and the Switchblade by the late David Wilkerson. I had no idea that Christian books could be so interesting. That had impact on me (as I look at my 1000+ books in my library). It could be something of significance to share.

Then I started to think of other things that impacted me, like having written up my own spiritual journey as to how I became a Christian, how Christian radio, especially the music, has ministered to me, how God has taught me (and continually reminds me) of giving thanks in all circumstances, spending a daily time in the Word, and the list goes on.

The following Sunday, I was willing. My two obstacles were no longer issues. It was all up to Ernie. He had no issue with the time or place. So we made a commitment of three months of getting together. These past three months plus has been a breath of fresh air. Over 40 years ago I became a Christian. The new life I see in Ernie reminds me of what it was like when I first became a Christian. His joy in the Lord has overflowed into my joy. And to think of it! I could have missed out on the blessing that I have received if I had not prayed about it.

What I did was not significant; many others could have done the same. The difference was that Ernie was pliable in the Holy Spirit’s work in his heart.

Jack Sande

Walking Beside...

How do we become isolated, and find ourselves wistfully looking back on a time when we were sharing our walk in a deep and momentous way with someone who "gets us"?

For me, it’s just part of my human nature to "drift". My prayer for you, and for me: "God, help me not to do this. Help me to embrace my vertical relationship with You, and my horizontal relationship with a mentor, and stay "caught up" and "fresh" in my awareness of the Holy Spirit.

I know how to practice this, Lord. Vertical: openness, humility, gratitude. Horizontal: love, acceptance, forgiveness. When I talk with You, or journal to You, or meditate on You with openness, humility and gratitude, my heart is soft, my mind is clear and my spirit is free. Then I’m free to practice the horizontal, acting in love, acceptance and forgiveness.

Lamentations 3:22-24 - Amplified Bible

22 It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.

You are new every morning, Lord. Help me to be."

Mary Hagle

Editor

The House

What Does a Mentor Do?

Over the last several months, one topic we have highlighted as a church is mentoring. I am starting to realize that we may have encouraged people to find and become mentors without ever defining what a mentor actually does.

Culturally, we have many good examples of mentoring programs. The system set up by Big Brothers and Big Sisters comes to mind: a caring adult who spends time with a needy child, teaching them valuable lessons and skills as they do fun things together. In general, this might be our perception of a mentor: take what I know and pass it on to someone else. While this definition might be useful in many scenarios, this is not actually what a spiritual mentor seeks to do. Let me tell you how I discovered a better model for mentoring.

Several years ago, I was left needing to find a new mentor when my then-current mentor took a new job. It was at this time that I sought out another pastor by the name of Tim Barton. Tim had always impressed me with his wisdom and depth; he seemed to me to be someone who walked closely with God. I believed I could learn a great deal from him.

Tim and I began to meet about every 6 weeks. My experience in these meetings was almost always the same, and forms the real content of what I want to share with you as you consider being a mentor. When Tim and I met, he would begin asking me questions about life and faith. As I talked, Tim would listen intently and nod. After I would finish, Tim would proceed to ask more questions. He would at times interject a thought or a comment, but more often than not, he would only summarize or clarify what I had already said. And then he would ask more questions. I would talk some more until our time was up, at which point we would pray and head our separate ways.

I inevitably walked away from these encounters disappointed. I would feel that I had shared my heart in order that Tim could then tell me what to do and give me some great advice. Repeatedly, however, Tim failed to share much advice at all! I would be left thinking, "What in the world is the point of this? If all that happens when we meet is me talking, I can do that by myself!" Honestly, I would feel jilted, as if Tim was holding back from really helping.

But then I started to realize what was happening in these meetings. Rather than answering my questions for me, Tim was helping me find my own answers by looking at what God was doing. Tim asked questions in order to discern where I was at, and where God was at work. The more I talked and the more Tim listened, the answers or ideas I most needed seemed to surface on their own. These conclusions always meant more and stayed with me longer because they had come from my life and my heart. When others give us pat answer or advice, we tend to forget. When God reveals truth to our own heart, we cannot help but be changed.

So this, in my mind, is what a spiritual mentor does. This is something I believe you could do. Sit with another and listen to their story. Listen and ask, listen and ask, listen and ask until you start to discern where God is at work. And then, when necessary, speak a few words to clarify or encourage. The truth is, the person you are mentoring doesn’t need more of you. They need more of God. Your job is to help them down that path.

Here are a few good questions to ask as you seek to mentor in this fashion:

What do you think God is trying to teach you in this situation?

Where have you seen God at work in your life recently?

What Scripture passages has the Spirit brought to mind lately?

When you pray, what do you find yourself praying about the most this week?

How does your recent experience fit with other ways God has shown up in your life in the past?

When you mentor someone, always keep in mind these are never one-on-one meetings. It is always three, and your role is to help the other person discover what God, the third person, is saying.

Blessings! Nick

As Nick let me know EHA is planning to focus on a local ministry each weekend in June, and explore reaching out to people with practical displays of love, I was amazed, because I was thinking about focusing on ways we can remind ourselves that Jesus is here, now, like setting a place for him at our dinner table (which we have done, with interesting results). Sometimes one of us remembers it’s there, and it calls us to ask for prayer about something or someone. Since it’s close to my place at the table, I think I’m reminded more often than Susan and the kids, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that we recognize His Presence in our lives, and respond to Him.

But this idea of Nick’s is even better. Finding ways to BE the hands and feet of Jesus really helps when the cares and woes of the world and the people who inhabit it seem overwhelming and prompt the "it’s such a huge problem, what can one person do?!?" There are things we can do, one person at a time, often for one other person in need. And we become the hands and feet of Jesus. What a joy!

I’ve found that to be so in serving as the area office administrator at Young Life, a Christian ministry for middle school and high school students. This ministry is founded on the concept of walking beside these kids, being there at school lunch breaks, their art or sporting events, taking them to camp in the summer, and getting to know them, so that when they are ready to talk about their relationship with Jesus, they know the volunteer staff person, and feel more comfortable about talking with them.

The joy comes for me because I know I’m supporting the staff and volunteers so that they are freed up to be with the kids when it matters most. I also enjoy the privilege of praying for each kid I add to the database when they’ve signed a "club card" at the weekly gatherings, or registered to go to Washington Family Ranch in Antelope, Oregon for a week in the summer, billed as "the best week of their lives".

I have a "built-in" prayer list. I pray for staff, volunteers, and kids while completing my administrative tasks. My "part-time" job is a "full-time" prayer experience. Everyone who comes into the Young Life building I consider a spiritual encounter. As soon as they push open the door, I start praying, whether it’s staff, a volunteer, a kid, or the UPS driver.

As you read these words about Young Life, perhaps you will think about how you might find a place to walk beside a kid. Call me! We’ll go for a coffee, and talk!

As we hear from others in the community who feel called to the ministry they are sharing about in this House issue, my prayer is that you will be listening for that Sweet Voice of the Holy Spirit, urging you to step into that for which you hear Him calling you.

We grow as we share,

Mary Hagle, editor