Mentoring at Mean Street Ministry

Doing these things: With and for people who are total strangers and who may not appear to be very likeable in the beginning and maybe not in the middle or the end, either.

With and for people who may appear unwilling to take advice, unwilling to try to make changes in their lives, who listen but don’t hear, who deep inside may be afraid of change and lean towards the status quo---the devil they know rather than the new one you might be offering.

With and for people who are not in the habit of thinking about consequences, options, who think short term rather than long term, who repeat mistakes rather than learning from them, who don’t really believe it’s possible to improve their lives, who procrastinate, don’t take initiative and are often very negative.

Commitment, commitment, commitment. Lots of patience, lots of understanding, a willingness to try, try again, an open heart, faith in God, faith in yourself, a willingness to help people who seem unwilling at times to try something new or improve on something old.

It takes the same things it takes to raise a child or even train a pet---love and understanding, caring and a willingness to take on way more than half of the burden.

It takes the ability to see the good in people even when they don’t see it in themselves and to try to make them look at themselves in a different light.

It takes the ability to try to become friends with people whom you ordinarily wouldn’t befriend, to try to help them to become more like people with whom you would choose to spend time.

Because you will probably make a permanent change in someone’s life for the better, you’ll gain a close and dear friend, you’ll watch someone grow and grow yourself in the process.

You’ll smile when you think of this person and be awed at the changes you see in him/her and be humbled by your part in the process.

You’ll feel blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time, share, guide, soothe, be amazed, laugh and cry and worry at times.

You will never really know what a wonderful opportunity you have in mentoring until you try it out.

Determine needs, wants, hopes, weaknesses, problems, the whole shebang in a caring way.

It must be remembered that people generally don’t become homeless because they are capable of looking ahead, planning, anticipating consequences, or because they have been exposed to people who look at the whole picture.

These people need, most of all, guidance on how to live their lives, how to do mundane things like budget, shop for groceries, ask for help BEFORE they are in trouble, things most of us do every day.

Denver Rescue provides us with forms for budgeting, planning, etc. You will always have at least one experienced mentor on your team, so you will never be floundering.

Whenever possible, we try to guide people towards a better relationship with God, encouraging them to attend a church, Bible study, and of course praying with them when we meet.

There well may be people who do these things. Ask for help from someone more experienced, but be prepared for the fact that all attempts will not be successful.

One success is worth more than can be put into words.

Don’t give up on people too quickly; they have been hurt, used, lied to, disappointed and worse and often find it hard to believe we are sincere.

Pour out light and truth as God pours out sunshine and rain; no longer seek knowledge as the luxury of a few, but dispense it amongst all as the bread of life.

Horace Mann