Author Archives: christianmentoring7450

Brett’s dad left years ago and had little contact with him. That didn’t dull the pain when his father died a few years later as a result of alcoholism. Brett’s life turned dark in his thoughts, activities and attire. He contemplated ending his life as he withdrew to his basement to self-medicate through excessively playingContinue reading “From Dark to Radiant”

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.”[1] If you lead a mentoring program, then you are a zealot. What else could motivate you to give up your life for young people who view life quite differently than you do? I was a zealotContinue reading “The Importance of Humility in Leadership”

We tend to see Jesus through our own lenses — even when looking at his words and actions through the scripture. One young woman’s description of our Savior took our small group by surprise. Did she really just say that? The words came out innocently with exhilaration. Our Zoom Bible study doesn’t give us many opportunitiesContinue reading “Jesus Was a What?!”

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. (Mark 16:9 NIV) We have an old saying that “things sometimes take a turn for the worst” … but sometimes things, even bad things, can take a turn for theContinue reading “When Things Take a Turn for the Best”

If you lead a mentoring program for any period of time, you will have some difficult conversations. No one likes conflict, but if we are going to work with people on behalf of people, we will need to have difficult conversations from time to time. While it may be tempting to avoid these conversations, healthyContinue reading “Difficult Conversations”

Please enjoy this success story from one ministry CAYM helped train. A four-year-old boy was about to get kicked out of preschool. Without parents in his life, Chris was out of control. The school was running out of options. Then a teacher suggested mentoring through the Appalachia Mentoring Project. For four straight weeks, Ken showedContinue reading “Too Young to be Without Hope”

Island Christian Church in New York knew they needed mentors for youth of single moms who attended their church. It’s hard enough to keep kids faithful to the Lord under the best of circumstances, but moms raising children on their own face enormous challenges. Raymond’s parent divorced when he was too young to understand whatContinue reading “Changing Families”

Tony Blair once said, “The art of leadership is not saying yes; it is saying no.”[1] And yet, if you are anything like me, you find it hard to say no on occasion. As long as everything seems important and urgent, “no” remains a distant dream. Leaders, ministry is important, but your health and emotionalContinue reading “The Power of No”

We see over and over how mentoring relationships can impact communities! Please enjoy this success story from one ministry CAYM helped train. Shepherd Christian Community sits in the middle of the poorest area of Indianapolis, a city where the poverty rate has nearly doubled since 2000. This Nazarene church has a congregation made up mostlyContinue reading “Compassion Cleans a Community”

Sometimes mentoring leads down unexpected paths! We would like to share the following story from a family who experienced long-lasting impact from what began as a mentoring relationship. This is the story of Jimi Nickel and her family. “I started working at Youth Horizons in the fall of 2006 after my husband Phil and IContinue reading “Becoming a Nickel is Priceless”