You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast

In this episode of the You Can Mentor podcast, Zachary Garza sits down with John Barnard to dive into their new book, The Youth Mentoring Playbook, a must-read for anyone looking to make a difference in the lives of young people. They share key insights, practical strategies, and real-life experiences that help mentors build strong, meaningful relationships. Whether you're a coach, teacher, or community leader, this book will give you the tools to guide and inspire the next generation. Tune in for valuable takeaways and a behind-the-scenes look at their journey in writing the book!

Purchase your copy of The Youth Mentoring Playbook here

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Learn more about all we do at www.youcanmentor.com

What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?

You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.

We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.

Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the You Can Mentor Podcast. We help Christian mentoring leaders thrive. Share our podcast with your team, sign up for our monthly learning lab cohorts for mentoring leaders, and come to the National Christian Mentoring Gathering. Help us serve more mentors by giving us a five star rating where you listen to your podcast. Find out more by following us on social media or going to our website at youcanmentor.com.

Speaker 1:

You can mentor.

Speaker 2:

What up, mentors and mentoring leaders? Hey. I'm here to talk about the National Christian Mentoring Gathering.

Speaker 1:

I would love to

Speaker 2:

see you and your team join us in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April Sixteenth through the eighteenth. We're gonna be there for three days. We're gonna get refreshed and recharged as Christian mentoring leaders. At the gathering, we're gonna connect with God and other mentoring executives, learn best practices. We're gonna build key relationships to collaborate and encourage each other.

Speaker 2:

There's gonna be good food, beautiful surroundings in gorgeous Colorado, meaningful conversations, I promise you and your team will leave inspired, equipped, and ready to pour out. Go to our website, youcanmentor.com, to learn more and to sign up. Can't wait to see you in Colorado. You can mentor. Sign up today.

Speaker 1:

Hi, John. Hey, Zach. How are you doing today?

Speaker 3:

Man, it's been a while since we've we've been able to sit down.

Speaker 1:

It's been like three weeks. Right. Which is a while.

Speaker 3:

It's a new year.

Speaker 1:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3:

A new you. Mhmm. And we've got something special to talk about today.

Speaker 1:

What's that, John? A book. A book. Yes. Not just any book.

Speaker 3:

A resource for mentors by mentors. That we created together.

Speaker 1:

Yes. This is our book baby.

Speaker 3:

Written by Zachary Garza and John Bernard. On Amazon, it says The Mentoring Playbook. By Zachary Garza and and one other.

Speaker 1:

On Amazon, it says and one other. That one other is none other than John Bernard. Alright. Well, let's get into it.

Speaker 3:

No kidding. Now, can we just be able to share that that our vision for this resource really is that it's gonna come in three volumes? And right now, we have completed volume one.

Speaker 1:

Well, I hope so. I didn't wanna talk about that because what if we don't do it?

Speaker 3:

Then It's out there now. Yeah. I think we need to commit to it.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh. Okay. The Youth Mentoring Playbook, a thirty day guide to invest into the next generation. It says on the cover here, an ideal resource for teachers, youth pastors, coaches, and mentors of all kinds, John. That's me and you and you listener.

Speaker 1:

It's probably you too.

Speaker 3:

I feel like what you've just done is maybe partially answer our first question, which we had these submitted recently and that was what made you want to write the youth mentoring playbook?

Speaker 1:

Well, John, let me just start out by saying how excited I am about this book. And I'm not just kidding around here, you know. I am not Josh and this is this is my third book, your second book. Mhmm. But I do believe that this is the most practical of any book that we've written.

Speaker 1:

Mhmm. And I really do think that unlike other books that were more ethereal, hey, here's what you need to know about mentoring, here's how to transform your heart into possibly being the best mentor possible. This will give you tools. Mhmm. Like you can read this at 02:00 and be a better mentor by 02:05.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. Do you feel comfortable in me saying that this is where the rubber meets the road for mentoring? Yes.

Speaker 1:

I don't know what that means, but that is true. Right. So what made me wanna write this, what made us wanna write this, John, This isn't just a me thing. This is an Us thing. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Is I do believe that most mentors really come to us saying, hey, I just wanna know how to practically spend time with my mentee in a more effective way. I just wanna know what perspective I should have when I spend time with them. I just wanna know how to make this mentoring relationship last for the long haul because it seems like I'm not getting any traction. This book, we hope, will not only equip you with best practices, but encourage you to mentor for the long haul.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. And I think that what I would say too is that I think it's a really good marriage between philosophy and practice. And those are two words that start with the letter p.

Speaker 1:

I don't

Speaker 3:

know if you got that.

Speaker 1:

That's good.

Speaker 3:

But, that alliteration is still something that we that you were gonna discover as we as we continue to kinda dive a little bit into this book and really kinda share and why someone would wanna pick it up. But I think that it's a really great thing that it it doesn't sacrifice philosophy for the sake of practice, but absolutely just kinda shows that there's a a really good connection between the two.

Speaker 1:

And as it says on the back of the book, it says rooted in biblical principles. So that is one thing that we tried to do was we really tried to behind every chapter. We said, hey, here's where it says in scripture why this chapter is important. This guide provides practical tools to overcome common challenges in mentoring while keeping the focus on what matters most, helping young people see their god given potential. With real life stories, actionable steps, and insights from experienced mentors, this book is your go to resource for empowering the next generation to follow Jesus.

Speaker 1:

Mhmm. So, John, why don't you share just how each chapter is broken down and what was our thought process behind all 30 chapters? Yeah. Absolutely. Well, so I was making a joke about the alliteration recently.

Speaker 1:

But

Speaker 3:

we really kinda started off with the the matter of that we find throughout mentoring that there we just kinda come to roadblocks. We have problems that need to be addressed in a certain way. So, each unit or each passage, which of which there are 30 total, begins with the problem. So, what what's something that we kind of encounter within our mentoring relationship or being able to encourage and equip our mentees. So from there, we go into the principle, which is to say the solution or the thing to really kinda grab and and how we can maybe turn that negative into a positive.

Speaker 3:

From there, we want to be able to show, as you mentioned, in terms of that that scriptural support. Like, this is the foundation. The word of God is our foundation for what we're teaching and what we're doing. And finally, this is great. You know, I love talking about the the problem and and the principle and absolutely, show me what scripture or the truth of of God's word says.

Speaker 3:

But we wanted to make it a point each and every lesson to really land the plane on the matter of what we're doing with it, and that is the practice. And so, we give maybe one to three to maybe five in some cases, things that you can do in order to really kinda flesh this thing out. So again, you've got in each one of these units, the problem, the principle, the passage, and the practice.

Speaker 1:

Which in case you forgot, John, I'll start with the letter p.

Speaker 3:

Oh my goodness. How easy to remember.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. That was all John, guys. That was all John.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Have a gift of that. And I don't know if it's if it's a

Speaker 1:

gift or it's a curse but It is a gift.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I think I think that it's good to to what I was really kind of what I appreciate about this and I think that we can continue on if we do so in other works is to frame it in such a way that it's just memorable in that way. And again, we wanted to make this thing useful without having to

Speaker 1:

be overly flowery or or unnecessary. Yeah. And just I mean, I I really do think that this resource will benefit any volunteer mentor who's trying to mentor in the name of Jesus. So if you're a mentoring organization or a church or anyone who's investing into the next generation, I do believe that this will help you and your volunteers. John, why don't we go through some of the chapters?

Speaker 1:

Not not all of them, but some of these, if you are a long time listener of the podcast, you might have heard in the Mentoring Minutes session that we did last summer. But we start out with what is in my opinion, the most important thing, which is identity based for skill based mentoring.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 1:

And that's just, hey, the kids gotta know who they are. They have to know that they're loved and that they have worth and value as a child of God before you try to teach them skills. Mhmm. Now, skills are very important, but identity comes first.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

We talk about how there's no such thing as a bad kid. We talk about the rule of three because safety. Right?

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 1:

Safety is number one. We talk about John and this is one of my favorite titles. Why don't you go ahead and say it? Number four.

Speaker 3:

Presence is better than presence. And listen, auditorily speaking It's just a confused. Right? But when you really look at that thing in the English language, presence n c e or presence n t s. How cute.

Speaker 1:

So basically, a mentee needs your presence more than the stuff that you can

Speaker 3:

get More than gifts.

Speaker 1:

And guys, look, like, hey, this stuff isn't I mean, I don't think we've really like hit on any like, oh my gosh. This is the greatest thing I've ever read in my entire life. This is new. No. These are just reminders.

Speaker 1:

Mhmm. Because mentoring is not complicated, but that does not mean that it's easy. It's actually quite simple. We show up. We remind these mentors, these mentees of who they are.

Speaker 1:

We remind ourselves that they're not bad kids, that they have worth, and that they have value, and that we just need to be reminded of best practices. Like, hey Mhmm. It's really important to pause before you proceed. Like, hey, the importance of listening. It's very important to remember that your words matter, especially to a kid who might not be receiving words of affirmation often.

Speaker 1:

It is so important to remind ourselves what is success. Success is just, is this mentee on the right track? Are we showing up each and every time consistently being the person of Jesus to our mentee. Right? So often we think success is grades and going to college.

Speaker 1:

And while those are good, really it's about making disciples. Absolutely. And so we remind our mentors that they are qualified. We talk about a mentor's job description. We talk about the importance of creating a safe environment.

Speaker 1:

These are all things that we want every single Christian mentor to know so that they can help their mentee experience Jesus by way of their mentoring relationship.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm. Mhmm. So And while we while I I do agree with you in terms of saying that we're not presenting anything just incredibly innovative or groundbreaking. I think that sometimes, it's those things that we kinda forget along the way, really. So whether this is a reminder or whether it's something that we just haven't thought about, I think that because the the work of the mentor can sometimes be well, it can be difficult and it and it's not always laden with encouragement.

Speaker 3:

That was another reason why we wanted to make this resource was to say, you're doing the Lord's work here. And so realizing that even some of

Speaker 1:

those very small successes are are important. Yeah. And we we hope that this book refreshes. We hope that it inspires. We hope that it guides new mentors, but also old mentors as well.

Speaker 1:

You know, I was hanging out with my kids just last night and I was kinda going off on them because golly, John, I don't know about your kids but my kids can't pick up their shoes. Just their shoes my entire house is just there's shoes everywhere. Like I can't even walk on my carpet because I'm just walking on shoes because there's just shoes.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Just just an ocean of shoes. Ocean of shoes. And you're drowning in it.

Speaker 1:

And I was about to go off on all my kids and I remembered, no, I'm a seated soul, you know, which is chapter chapter 27. Right. Right here. And I I was just reminded, no, this, like, I don't scream, I don't hoot and holler, you know. No, I am an adult.

Speaker 1:

I can calmly engage with my kids and use this as a time to teach them, not a time to yell at them.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 1:

Even though, man, I wish they pick up their shoes. But Yeah. Just I'm I'm I'm super excited just to equip our mentors with the tools that they need to stay encouraged in their mentoring relationship. Because so often, mentors quit when they get discouraged. And we hope that this book is an encouragement that helps them stay in the game, helps them persevere, have endurance in their mentoring relationships.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And also with that,

Speaker 3:

I think that it's gonna be a neat opportunity for us to really kind of help to increase the mentor's language as well as we talk about things like what it means to be a hope dealer, the the doctrine of margin, things like chapter 21, faithfulness over fruitfulness. And so a lot of these are kind of made to be tools that will be kinda memorable. And I think, whether it's a mentor who's reading it for themselves or it's an organization that uses these chapters as things that can be presented to their volunteers and to mentors, it it really is going to to make something memorable and that will be, like we've said, useful. Yeah. And this will be one of

Speaker 1:

the last things that I say here, John. But I really do and this isn't me trying to sell. This isn't me trying to make a ton of money because God knows we don't sell that many books. But I really hope that if you're a mentoring organization, especially a young one, and you are looking for resources to train your mentors with, that this book can provide common language. Like your entire organization, your staff, your board, your volunteers, y'all can walk through this chapter by chapter and talk about it.

Speaker 1:

And we hope that this really helps you create the kind of mentoring, not for profit mentoring organization that you hope to be. I mean, we we really have seen a lot of mentoring organizations, lots of mentors go south because they start mentoring without any training. They start mentoring and say, oh, I've got kids. I'm fine. I'm I have a college education.

Speaker 1:

I'm great. And that's just not the truth. You need to be equipped. And it will get hard. You need to stay encouraged.

Speaker 1:

And we hope that the things in this book help you stay equipped

Speaker 3:

and

Speaker 1:

encouraged.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

So pick up a copy today. If you want mass copies, like more than 10, call us. Send us an email. We will give you a special group rate. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

The Youth Mentoring Playbook. Anything else? I

Speaker 3:

don't think so.

Speaker 1:

John, I love you. And thank you for creating this book with me.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. I'm so glad that we have done this. I think that the best things are made in collaboration. And so, I mean, I think How long had we talked about that? Right?

Speaker 3:

Didn't I didn't I come to you and just say that we should write something together, if I remember correctly?

Speaker 1:

This is all John's idea.

Speaker 3:

And so, that to say, it it is I I think that it will just continue to be an encouragement for the reader to to want to collaborate and to and to be a part and welcome others into their experience as well.

Speaker 1:

That's great. Pick up the book. Amazon, hello at youcanmentor.com. The Youth Mentoring Playbook. Pick it up today.

Speaker 1:

See Thanks for tuning in to the You Can Mentor podcast. Give us that five star rating and share this podcast with your mentoring friends. Learn more at YouCanMentor.com. Thank you.