Mentoring Qualifications

• Godly Encouragement: Mentoring involves a sincere desire to encourage others with the wisdom of the Bible. We actively pursue mentors who have a deep desire to share the love of Christ, and we realize that one cannot expect to show Christ to others if we are not engaged in a growing relationship with Christ ourselves.
• Mentoring Goal: Our purpose in mentoring is to show compassion and empathy by our words of concern and acknowledgment of their situation. By taking the time to write them we are showing them that they are valuable, that we care. When you respond realize that these are real people with real problems, ask the Lord to give you compassion. We want to help them mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically if possible.
• Mentoring Role: Let the people know that we are not counselors; our role is to point the people to helpful resources and to share the Gospel. We can carry their burden in prayer, but our real responsibility is to present the Gospel and refer them.
• Mentoring Opportunity: The purpose for each e-mail that we send is to see this as an opportunity to point that person to Jesus and to help them find answers in the Bible. Acknowledge their feelings of helplessness, of losing hope, but point them to Jesus for a supernatural healing.
• Statement of Faith: Please read our Statement of Faith. It is important that you read it carefully to to ensure that you can agree with our foundation of belief. As you fill out the application form, please be sure to indicate that you have read the Statement of Faith and if you agree with it or not.
• Pastoral Reference: A Pastoral Reference is also required for each mentor. Please forward the following link to your pastor with an explanation of what you need them to do: http://truthmedia.com/mentoring/pastorref/
• Alternatively, your pastor can also email your reference to us stating in the subject line “Reference for (your name)”, supplying the information as requested on our Pastoral Reference form. Please be aware that information will be verified through an independent source, and is required to complete your application.

Mentoring Guidelines

• Receive mentoree e-mail: The whole process is done using The Mentor Center. Read more about The Mentor Center.
• Check e-mail regularly: Mentors are required to check their e-mail each day, except for weekends. Even if you do not receive a mentoree for a given time period, you should continue to check your emails.
• Sample letters: See examples of letters to mentorees.
• Response time: Replies to mentorees must be made within a 48-hour time period.
• Mentoring Resources: Keep a hard copy near your computer of resources, books, websites, phone numbers as you respond to crisis situations. Use the resources available on this site.
• Crisis situations: suicide, divorce, domestic violence, abuse, abortion, marital affairs and more. Often mentors are the first person these people reach out to.
• Causes for Problems: Many troubled people in this world today are drawn to sex, drugs, or pornography to quench their thirst. Pascal has said that in every person there is a God shaped vacuum in their hearts, our role is to let them know that Jesus can fill that vacuum. Many people feel condemned or judged and look for love in all the wrong places. By sharing the unconditional love of Christ with them we are giving them hope and freedom.
• Bringing in the Gospel: Be direct in sharing the Gospel at all times, have your testimony written out to place into the e-mail mentoring responses. You can introduce your testimony by saying things like….I have discovered that when I experience problems like this I turn to my faith…..or I have found that my relationship with Jesus Christ has helped me…..etc. then introduce a Gospel presentation in a simple form. Read more about sharing the Gospel. There is also information on how to write your own personal testimony.
• Responding in love: To respond back without sounding condemning or judgmental of situations, you can suggest that they are looking for love in the wrong places and point them to Jesus to meet their needs.
• Prayer: Prayer plays a vital role in mentoring. Pray before you write, pray while you write, and we encourage you to pray for the person in the body of the e-mail as part of your response.
• Setting Boundaries: We must be careful to set boundaries to those who are very needy and protect them from becoming too dependent on us. One suggestion to set limits is to e-mail for a few weeks, then end it by sending them to other resources that are available on www.counselcareconnection.org and www.hoyweb.com, or as listed in our resource section. If the person becomes dependant on you we suggest that you be direct with them. State that he or she needs to take responsibility for his actions and that the mentoring process needs to be completed. Forward several resources to those people who are becoming dependent.
• Personal info: We do not recommend giving out your personal home phone number at any time.
• Handling Obscenity: If you receive a request that sounds harassing, offensive or obscene, tell the person that you do not respond to obscene or offensive e-mails. Then, do not respond to other offensive e-mails sent from those you have warned.
• Flexibility in Your Level of Involvement: Ideally, our mentors respond to one e-mail per week, however, if you are interested in answering more, we would welcome your involvement.
• Flexible Schedule: If you are unavailable during a certain time, please let the Mentor Coordinator know the dates of your absence. Also, any specific requests or needs regarding your mentoring, can be addressed to her.

Mentoring Commitment

Length of mentorship is entirely up to you, as a mentor. Generally, the mentoring relationships are short-term. Please do not be discouraged if the mentoree chooses not to respond back to your e-mail; this is not a reflection on you. There will be times when a writer may just need to know that someone is listening. Be assured that God has used you to plant a seed of truth in the mentoree’s life and that God will continue to nourish that seed to become fruitful.

We realize that mentors are not professional counselors, but merely Christians desiring to help others as best they can by sharing their life experiences and God-given resources to help others grow in their faith. When asked to address problems or concerns, we encourage you to pray for God’s guidance and focus the discussion on His Word.

As you prayerfully consider your part in this ministry, please take all of these details into consideration. Committed volunteers make this program possible.

Again, thank you for your interest in serving God in this way. Please proceed to the application form, if you desire to to join us. We look forward to hearing from you!