Mentoring

As ministry leaders, a part of our job is to mentor the young ladies in our ministry.  This can seem challenging and overwhelming at times, especially if your ministry has more girls than the available hours you have in a week.  So, I want to give you some practical steps to mentoring the girls in your ministry.

Before we can look at the steps for mentoring the girls in your ministry, let me share how I define mentoring.

Mentoring is doing life with a student in a way that points them to Christ. This could be showing up in their life outside of church (a competition, play, concert, etc...). Inviting them to run errands with you, join your family for dinner, or assist you as you get ready for an event or party. And of course, studying the Word together.

Practical Steps for Mentoring Teen Girls

Build a Team

The truth is you can’t invest in every girl in your ministry by yourself. You will need help. This is why the first step in mentoring your girls is to build a team. Recruit ladies in your church to help you equip your girls.

Identify the Girls

Not every student is going to be at a place where they are ready to be mentored yet. Ask your girls if any of them would like the opportunity to grow deeper in their relationship with God.  Look for girls who are always asking questions or seem to be hungry to grow in their walk with God. Pray about which students God wants you or your team to be pouring into.

A few things to keep in mind…

• Girls who really want to be mentored will stick with it.

• If a student doesn’t seem interested don’t push it.

• Mentoring is a step beyond the regular small group discipleship your ministry does and is not for every student in your ministry.

Group the Girls with a Mentor

Once you know which girls are ready to be mentored, put them in groups of two or three and assign them to a mentor. Involve your team in the process and let them have input on who they would like to invest in.

Do Life

Finally, do life with the students you are mentoring. Let them join you on your journey in this life. Teach them the Word and let them get a glimpse into your personal life. Don’t worry about making it all perfect. It just makes room for teachable moments.

Mentoring the young ladies in my ministry has been some of the most rewarding moments in my life. And it’s not always been perfect. I remember taking a group of girls to a movie and being worried at one point in the movie, thinking I didn’t screen this well enough. As we waited for the girls to be picked up after the movie, I used it as a teachable moment which turned into a pretty great discussion with my girls. Before they left that night, they all told me that they would have seen the movie even if I hadn’t taken them and that they were glad I was there to talk with them about what God’s Word says versus what they saw. It is these imperfect moments and all the others combined with my girls that make the time invested so worth it!