You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast

Amanda Banister is the Founder and President of Lighthouse Transitional Care, a Christ-focused nonprofit organization in Riga, Latvia. Amanda and her staff work to empower kids from hard places to become healthy, productive adults through building relationships, discipling, and teaching practical life skills.

Show Notes

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WELCOME

You Can Mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others.

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SHOW NOTES

Creators and Guests

Host
Zachary Garza
Founder of Forerunner Mentoring & You Can Mentor // Father to the Fatherless // Author

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:

You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to the You Can Mentor podcast. My name is Steven, and I'm here with a very special guest, Amanda Bannister. How the heck are you, Amanda?

Speaker 3:

I'm doing great.

Speaker 2:

I'm so glad you're here. This is the first time we've ever videoed a podcast, so it's kind of intimidating. Someone is watching us at this very moment while we are sitting alone in this room.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. That's a little scary.

Speaker 2:

Practically 1984. We're living in it.

Speaker 3:

Right. Here we are.

Speaker 2:

Amanda is an amazing woman of God. She leads a ministry called Lighthouse Latvia. The mission of Lighthouse Latvia is to teach, nurture, and empower aged out orphan teens toward healthy adulthood through practical life skills and relational Christian discipleship. Yeah. Wow.

Speaker 3:

That's it.

Speaker 2:

That is awesome. So I want to ask you more questions about how you ended up in Latvia, specifically ministering to aged out teens and orphans, which I feel like I mean, obviously, with our podcast, we wanna equip mentors to mentor kids from hard places. And we it would be easy for us to identify those experiences as traumatic

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

As very difficult Mhmm. Situations. And so I'm sure you have a ton of stories. I wanna share even just how I met you. I met you and your husband, Landon, in a life group environment.

Speaker 2:

You guys were probably 2 of the most eclectic people I've ever met.

Speaker 3:

Still are.

Speaker 2:

Yes. You have not changed. I have not changed. So I feel like with you guys moving to Latvia, Landon still looks like he could be in a goth metal band if he wanted to.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Totally.

Speaker 2:

And also but has this other side of him that's like this engineer that, you know, just develops Yeah. And designs drones

Speaker 3:

for a living.

Speaker 2:

Right. No big deal. Maybe missiles.

Speaker 3:

Maybe. Who who knows? I

Speaker 2:

feel like he's one of the most interesting people I've ever met.

Speaker 3:

I feel very much the same way. He is a character. There's never never a dull moment.

Speaker 2:

I love it. Never. And you you went to SMU with Landon.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 2:

Southern Methodist University represent Yeah. Hashtag Tony up. Pony up. Yep. I just don't see you guys as the the usual SMU student.

Speaker 2:

I'm gonna go out there and say it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I you know, we get that a lot. I went for dance performance, and SMU has a great dance program. So that's how They do. I've been

Speaker 2:

to the Brown Bag.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So Yeah. So that's how I ended up there. And Landon ended up there because of scholarships that he had available. So he he said yes to SMU for that reason, and then, you know, we met, and that was great.

Speaker 3:

And we have since moved on and far, far away from Dallas, but

Speaker 2:

Literally.

Speaker 3:

Literally far, far, far away from Dallas, but that's where we kind of ended up for school and and has pushed us into this next season. So Yeah. But that's where we met. That's where you and I met.

Speaker 2:

I love it. Y'all's wedding, not just because I officiated the wedding, but the dance was so beautiful.

Speaker 3:

Okay. That's so funny.

Speaker 2:

You guys had people in tears while you guys were dancing.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. You wanna know something funny about that? I was so frustrated because he was off of the music. He was completely off of the music, and everyone loved the dance, but I was just like, mm-mm. No.

Speaker 3:

No. It wasn't. It wasn't right. He wasn't on the music. But perfect.

Speaker 3:

You know? My memories will always be there. He was like

Speaker 2:

You cannot take my memory of that moment.

Speaker 3:

But everyone else everyone else loved it, and that was great. But it's it's a really funny point for us

Speaker 2:

It's a too A difficult moment

Speaker 3:

in our marriage. Difficult moment in our marriage for sure. Never mind moving across an ocean, but that dance was the the hard part there.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. That was great. Wow.

Speaker 3:

It was great.

Speaker 2:

Okay. Well, tell us more about you, how you kinda ended up Mhmm. In Latvia. Because I know when you were in college, you would share stories with me about going to Latvia for the summers, sleeping on trains Yeah. And Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Just kind of I mean, you just felt called to go. Kinda tell our listeners a little bit about your backstory, how you grew up, where you grew up, about your eclectic family.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So I grew up in East Texas, in a tiny town called Athens. I'm one of 6 kids. So I grew up in a big family, just a lot of fun and craziness. We were all homeschooled, so we were home all the time.

Speaker 2:

Everyone in Athens was in homeschool?

Speaker 3:

No. Just us I had no school. Us 6. Everyone else was in everyone else was in school, but we we had a lot more fun. And yeah.

Speaker 3:

So that's where I grew up. And I when I was 6, I decided I wanted to follow Jesus. When I was 8, I decided I wanted to be a missionary

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

In Russia. So I tell people all the time that I got, like, you know, I stopped early, and then I just kinda got distracted. I never ended up in Russia, but I am in a post Soviet country and not very far from Russia. But when I was 8, I knew that that's what I wanted to do with my life. I also wanted to be a dancer, so that's why I went to school for dance and all this.

Speaker 3:

So, yeah, I think I always just had a really strong conviction with how I wanted to live my life, and I I wanted to pursue this thing. And then, of course, you know, you grow up and you hit high school, and you kinda wanna figure things out on your own, and then you go to college, and you wanna keep figuring things out on your own. And in that whole season, I would say I strayed pretty far, from God in that whole journey. But I think, when I was 18, I was invited by my church to go to Latvia, and I was invited to go for a basketball camp, of which I am not an expert by any means.

Speaker 2:

That is awesome. Yeah. At least it wasn't painting.

Speaker 3:

I mean, it could have been yeah. It could have been painting. But, no, it was a basketball camp, and I was I mean, I laughed when they invited me when my church, asked me to join, but I was like, you know, Europe, people, something fun. I can dribble a ball for a week if that's what it takes. It's close enough to Russia to, like, fulfill my calling.

Speaker 3:

So yeah. Exactly. So I go I go to this little country of Latvia that I had no idea where it was, and I fall in love. I'm there for maybe 3 days, and I'm I'm pretty sure I called my mom whenever I got Internet and was like, I'm gonna live here. I'm gonna come back next summer.

Speaker 3:

I'm gonna spend the whole summer here, and this is where I'm gonna end up. I hadn't even left for college yet, and so, like, probably not what my parents wanted to hear. They I don't think they believed me really, but I did. I went back the next summer, and I worked with a church. I went back the next summer, and I worked with another organization that worked with just, kids and youth from a nearby city, and they did camps.

Speaker 3:

And I just went back every chance I could. Yeah. So I did that for 7 years, before moving there

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

To work full time. But in that 7 years, I kept getting invited to go to these camps that were for kids from the orphanage, and I kept saying, no, I did not want to go do that. It sounded too hard, and I did not feel like I had the skills or resources.

Speaker 2:

You wanna stick with the basketball camp.

Speaker 3:

Right. You know, because that was my skill and resource, obviously. But, yeah. I just didn't feel like, you know, I could do that, or I was called to do I don't know. I didn't wanna do it.

Speaker 3:

That's what it comes down to. And, I got asked again in 2015 to go and do this, and I said, I'll pray about it. Of course. But then I did pray about it. It wasn't just a cop out.

Speaker 3:

I actually went and prayed about it, and I was like, well, God, you know, what do you want me to do? And he was like, duh. I want you to go to this camp. And I had never heard him speak so clearly about doing something, and so I kinda couldn't ignore it.

Speaker 2:

Did you really say duh?

Speaker 3:

I mean, yeah. God's a little God has to be a little sassy with me, I think. Like, he's like, I have been telling you this for years. Yeah. So I I need a sassy leadership

Speaker 2:

sometimes. 8. Amanda.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. Like, come on, girl. Catch up. So yeah. So I I agree, reluctantly, to go to this camp.

Speaker 3:

It's, like, 14 days long overnight with kids that have grown up in really, really, really hard situations, and it was a nightmare. It was the hardest thing I ever did, and I remember just how hard the kids were, how many fights I broke up. I was in charge of a bunch of little boys that were about 7 or 8. But my heart was completely transformed in that week. And when I left, I just couldn't go back to normal.

Speaker 3:

I couldn't be okay with just being in Dallas and not serving. I couldn't be okay with not working with these kids. And so, that was when I came back. I went through a discipleship school, and I was like, spiritual adoption is real, and we need to model that as a church, and we need to step out in that in the hard ways, not just in the, this is such a great concept, but in the truly, like, just the stuff of life ways. And that was yeah.

Speaker 3:

That was there was no going back for me after that. And the next year, I moved.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

The next year, I was like, this is it. I'm going. And in that 1st year of of working overseas with these kids that were still in the system in Latvia, I realized that there was a huge hole of understanding spiritual adoption and and mentorship and parenting for the kids that are after 18. And that was where the lighthouse came in.

Speaker 2:

Hey.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, can you tell us more about that 2 weeks of camp, like, where I mean, light bulbs are going off Mhmm. On on just your connection to these kids from hard places.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 2:

Can you tell more about that that experience? What was different about that than

Speaker 3:

basketball? My yeah. My basketball camp. Well, the the some of the differences were you know, the first day I get there, I was getting cussed out and and flipped off by my 7 year olds. I think it was a really big stretch for me because I value so much what people think and and say about me.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I value it so much. We all do, and and I got in Latvian or English? Oh, yeah. Okay.

Speaker 3:

They did not speak that was another that was a completely different problem.

Speaker 2:

You didn't even know what they were saying, but you're like

Speaker 3:

No. I knew I knew a few of those things. It's really it's a blessing. So we I I joke all the time about people coming over for missions. I'm like, just be thankful you don't know the language.

Speaker 3:

It is really nice to be blissfully ignorant and to just love on these kids. It's great. But when you can understand a little bit, it's it hurts, and it's it's hard to not feel like where they are is a reflection of who you are. And, you know, I had to kind of learn that. But the 1st day, I'm like in tears going, there is no way I'm gonna survive the next 13 days.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

There's no way. But, as hard as the things were in the first two days, in quiet time one day, I was just like, God, you know, I don't even know. I don't have the skills. I told you. I don't have the skills.

Speaker 3:

I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do with these boys. Please tell me how to interact with them. And, I felt like God was saying, I want you to sing the lullaby and tuck them in every night.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm. And

Speaker 3:

that seemed like a really achievable goal for me. I was like, okay. I can do that. Like, no matter how bad the day gets or how many things I have to kinda walk with them in, if I can make sure that we do this thing, we we connect and they get this nurturing care that they need Yeah. For that few minutes.

Speaker 3:

If that's all I can really do, at least it doesn't like, it doesn't build this this barrier between us. It doesn't say, well, you were bad today, so I'm not going to meet your need.

Speaker 2:

Exactly.

Speaker 3:

So that was what I felt God was telling me to do in this week. And I saw, like, our fights in the room, for sure, just completely went away.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

Because every every little boy knew that he was gonna get his moment. He didn't have to fight for this moment.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 3:

And, each one would get it. Each one would get their little tuck tucked in and and, you know, their little back rub if they wanted it. And so it was really sweet to see that God already knew their need. Yeah. And he knew how I could kind of step into that in the short term context.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And, so it completely changed the week. And not just their behaviors, but my heart completely.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And so when we came across some hard things, like, there was one little boy who was having some problems with, just some some really personal issues that he was getting bullied for. And they were they were dirty issues. It was really hard to to step into those kind of places with this little boy. But to be able to sit across from him and to say, you are so precious even in this was a lesson that I don't think I will ever forget because it was so sweet to just see his armor come off when he knew that he was precious and valuable and seen, and that even in this, like, really hard stuff, he could be okay in somebody's eyes. And it was awesome.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And I think I think I'm addicted to seeing that in in people of all ages. Like that I mean, if that's what I live for, that is like, that gives me just a thrill to have someone know their preciousness. It's like

Speaker 2:

And and you don't get that experience unless you engage in the difficult spot. Like and, I I mean, I love what you said about connection. Yeah. Because I I feel like our tendency is to become like, go with discipline parent mode where Right. Our own lane is just I'm correcting, correcting, correcting Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And not connecting. And Yeah. I think that that that is so huge because that's the piece that's missing, particularly Mhmm. In a kid who is aging out of a system that's been designed to fill a relational gap Yep. That isn't necessarily probably doing what's what's required.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And I I have this conversation with people all the time because, you know, I have a lot of friends that are doing ministry in a lot of different areas when it comes to working with kids from these really difficult places, And I remind them all the time, working outside of brokenness will never ever really do it. We're we're trying to enter into a system that is just not how God designed it, and we have to accept that that's gonna be really hard.

Speaker 2:

What do you do in your work that establishes, like, a a new normal for these kids? Because I'm sure when you grow up in in, like, the system Mhmm. Like, that is just your normal, like, for you. And so when you engage with an adult that gives you attention, affection, affirmation Mhmm. All of the things that you've you know you need, but, like, can't pinpoint how how has that been just establishing, like, you deserve to be loved?

Speaker 2:

Right. And what what does that look like for you?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So for some of us, a lot a lot of what we do is modeling that. We and we we talk about it when a student joins our program is we respect each other. And in our contract, it does not say that you respect us. It says that we respect each other, and so we will treat you with the respect that that you deserve as a as a person, but you're also going to enter into that with us.

Speaker 3:

And we don't expect them to do that perfectly. It's really hard. But I think what's really important is that they get a chance to learn to do things in a new way. Yeah. And, you know, if I come in with my assumptions on how we should treat each other and how we should act and, you know, whatever things I'm coming in with as an American who didn't grow up in this Latvian culture, and just all of it.

Speaker 3:

Like, if I come in expecting them to do it right the first time, expecting them to listen to me no matter no matter what, then I kind of sacrifice the relationship to an extent, and that's just not worth it. That's not worth it. But some of our, like, daily, weekly rhythms for building connection are, like, coffee time. We meet for coffee each week, and the whole purpose of that meeting is to not correct.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

That we we don't teach. We don't correct. We don't do anything. We just meet for coffee and we talk. And, you know, yeah, they say things that are like, maybe I should correct that, but I'm not going to.

Speaker 3:

I'll bring it up later if it comes up, or if it's really urgent, I'll bring it up after that's over on the walk back to the office. But that time is sacred. That time is just meeting with them, and that's one of, like, the very practical ways that we've stepped out in that. And I've seen it completely change some of our students' perspective on relationships. They know that they can just be.

Speaker 2:

I think I think that's that's good to recognize. I guess, for a mentor Mhmm. Your time together with your mentee is sacred. Yeah. And that we're, as a mentoring organization

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 2:

Our our job is relationships. It's not Right. Developing some skill or Yeah. You know, we have this goal, like, where okay. We're gonna get better, Like, say, we're not teaching people ping pong here.

Speaker 3:

Right. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And it's easy to get frustrated if you see the mentor relationship as that. Mhmm. Where it's like, you know what? I'm meeting a need. Right.

Speaker 2:

I'm not just Right. Creating this goal of trying to change this person, but I'm actually trying to meet a need, a relational need.

Speaker 3:

Right. That's like

Speaker 2:

a deeper foundational kind of place.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So, I wanna hear even some personal stories from you that that you think, I mean, exemplify practicals for our mentors. Because our our mentors, they the kids they're mentoring, they have a parent in their life. Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

Or

Speaker 2:

they have both parents in their life. But because of the environment that they're within Right. Like, everyone needs a mentor, but not everyone is in a place to seek out a mentor. Like, that's why our mentoring organization exists is to pursue and seek out

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

The boys, the the girls who need a mentor, but don't have the resources to seek them out.

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

So I wanna hear more more from you Yeah. From your experience in Latvia that that would translate to our program.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So a lot of our students have family. Almost almost all of them do have family. Family just has lost rights or or things like that. But something that's, I think, really important for mentors.

Speaker 3:

I have, one of our students who she was one of our first students, and, she has never had a good healthy relationship. She's never been in a safe space with someone. I remember about 6 months in, and I was like, if this is all she got, if this is the only relationship where she was accepted and valued for who she is, then she will always have a higher standard.

Speaker 2:

Mhmm.

Speaker 3:

That that however much time God gives me with her, I am gonna pour in as much as I can because then when she moves on, when she goes somewhere else, she will say, oh, this doesn't feel the same as that last relationship.

Speaker 2:

You're setting the standard.

Speaker 3:

You're setting a new standard, and I saw this happen with her this year. She went back into some relationships that, you know, she used to think were the best ones in her life. She really did. And she called me, and she said, this doesn't feel the same. This doesn't feel like when I hang out with you.

Speaker 3:

This doesn't feel like when I hang out with my church. And so I knew in that moment, like, yes. Yes. She is going to have a completely different set of friendships, a completely different life now because she knows what feels good in relationships. And what feels good in relationships is the way that God designed relationships to be.

Speaker 3:

And so if that's a week, if that's 2 weeks at a camp, if that's 3 months, if it's a year Yeah. You know, her standard has changed. I think that's really great for mentors to understand that that relationship piece is essential.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Self respect is usually Mhmm. Something that if if we don't have self respect, that leads us down a path of destruction.

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Because we do settle for something less because we think, well, this is just what I deserve.

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Or

Speaker 3:

Right. And that starts from such an early time in a person's life. How you're treated is how you begin to treat yourself later on. And so when you have people come in and say, no. No.

Speaker 3:

No. You are valuable. No. You are precious. You are worthy.

Speaker 3:

It changes things. Yeah. It's it completely changes things.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Yeah. Tell us tell our listeners the story of because I know you had a student live with a with you for over a year. Yeah. And I know it was complicated Yeah.

Speaker 2:

But I I love what it represents Yeah. Of just the gospel. Yeah. And, we want all of our mentors to recognize that they are not just a positive influence for their mentees, but actually that in a way we are imaging Jesus. We're representing him, and, would love for our listeners to hear that story.

Speaker 3:

Okay. So one of our students who I will call Sam, she came to us at 19, and she had a lot of needs. She had a lot of very practical needs as well as just relational needs. She really, really was struggling, and she came to live in our home for a year. And, in that process, we learned a lot about what it meant to enter into someone's brokenness 247.

Speaker 3:

And I I kept going back all the time to what you did for the least of these, you did for me, which means that if I'm entering into the presence of this hurting child, I'm entering to the presence of my savior in a sense. Yeah. And that weight is really heavy. And that, I mean, that really is how we should approach entering into suffering as, you know, the suffering servant is here, and and this is a way to interact and to model the gospel and to model service and and to not expect anything in return. And with this with Sam, particularly, we didn't expect her to ever be able to give us any kind of, you know, thank you, or, you know, you guys are great, or, you know, we just never got that.

Speaker 3:

But she does call me just to chat, and she calls me to be like, how was your day? And that shows me how much she knows about being with people. She's not just asking for help. She's not just asking for stuff. She really wants to connect, and that's incredible.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So it's kinda like you give people, I guess, the authority to be a person

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

And to recognize that, like, they can seek relational needs and they can, I guess if if you feel valued, you're able to value?

Speaker 3:

Right. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And, I mean, that is a picture of the gospel of Jesus laying his life down Right. For us in love Yeah. That then creates a fruit in our lives Mhmm. As followers of Jesus, that we're freed up to love because we've been loved.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I have a really fun testimony kind of story about, you know, when things get hard when things get hard with a a kid or a person or just someone that you work with. When things get hard, it's really easy to ask God, like, you know, when when can I step out? You know, when is it okay for me to be like, alright, you know, God, this

Speaker 2:

is I did. I did.

Speaker 3:

This is really hard. Yeah. You know, I checked the box. I did what you told me to, but can I back up now? And I remember getting getting to that point with, one relationship, with a with a young girl, and I asked God, like, you know, God, when is it okay?

Speaker 3:

Like, this is hard. Every time I reach out, I just get met with aggression, and it's really wearing on me. Like, when do I get to say, like, this is enough? And the only he never answered that question, by the way. He never answered it, but he did say, Amanda, your adoption was really complicated.

Speaker 3:

And I was just like, oh, okay. Can you unpack that for me? Because I'm sitting here thinking, you know, I was adopted into this spiritual family when I was a young age, and what are you talking about? He goes, it took me, let's see, 15 years to get you where I where I needed you. 15 years of God just daily

Speaker 2:

Patient.

Speaker 3:

Patiently mentoring me and being with me in my walk with him. And I remember he he just kinda dragged me through my testimony. That's the only way to describe it. I did not walk through the memory. No.

Speaker 3:

I was, like, drugged through it. Mhmm. And he said, see? Yeah. It's not that simple.

Speaker 3:

And I didn't leave you. And it was a really, really it was what I needed to hear, and I think it was, a huge part of why I do what I do now, and how I got here, and how I interact with my kiddos is, like Yeah. You know, I I was adopted. Yeah. And it was hard, and it took years for me to understand.

Speaker 3:

And I still forget that I'm a daughter of the living God. And I've been in this walk for 22 years. Yeah. So, you know, patience and and ex just compassion in that process is really essential and powerful.

Speaker 2:

So good. Most of our mentors are not gonna end up in Latvia leading an orphan ministry. I'm just gonna go out there and say it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I

Speaker 2:

mean, Lord, send your people where you will and bring people alongside Amanda in Jesus' name.

Speaker 3:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

But very practically

Speaker 3:

Right.

Speaker 2:

It's it's it's few and far between. And I I'm saying that as an to honor you

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because I I am, like, so thankful that god called someone like you to jump into Latvia, to learn the language, to invest in the lives of kids who are not easy to love, but are worth loving. And there was a lead up to going to Latvia. There was an invitation from a church to jump into a basketball ministry.

Speaker 3:

Mhmm.

Speaker 2:

There was a consistency on your part of going consistently and and then jumping in and saying yes. But what what are some ways that you think men and women who are who are able to mentor can cultivate that passion to engage and meet those relational needs of kids in their community?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. I think, for me, the simplest thing was I jumped where I saw a need. And there are high needs in Dallas. There are high needs in Texas. There are high needs in the states.

Speaker 3:

And all over the world, there are needs for people to be consistently involved in the lives of hurting children. And I believe it is I mean, it's already a call on our lives as believers to step into that. And I have lots of strong opinions about why it's worth it. But at the core, I mean, God has called us to this. He has called the church to this.

Speaker 3:

He has called individuals to this, and I think it's just a matter of saying yes to the opportunities in front of you. My opportunity happened to be a country that I have fallen in love with.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

But that could be your city. That could be, you know, your tiny town out in the middle of nowhere, Texas. There are there are kids all over in need of a caring person to show them what a safe and healthy relationship looks like.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And there are lots of resources here, and you have the benefit of not having to learn another language. So in my mind, that's like, this is great. Like, you can communicate in your native language the needs

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And speak to the heart. Like, that's awesome. And so yeah. Just saying yes to those opportunities as they come is essential.

Speaker 2:

I think sometimes it can feel like our own personal involvement when it comes to societal issues. It's like, this is a drop in the bucket.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And and so I know your vision is to see, like, the end of orphans in Latvia. Not the end of them, but, like, the end of

Speaker 3:

The end of orphanhood.

Speaker 2:

Yes. There you go.

Speaker 3:

This is just a small I

Speaker 2:

want them all to

Speaker 3:

A totally small dream. Absolutely achievable in a year. Yeah. No. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

It is my dream to see the end of orphanhood. It is my dream to see the end of alcoholism. It is my dream to see the end of parents not knowing how to parent, and their children going back into the same system they came from. At the core, it's my dream to see healing in families and in hearts, in Latvia and all over the world. I would love for there to not I would love to be out of a job.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. That's I would just love for that to happen. So, yeah, small things. But, it can But how do

Speaker 2:

you not get over overwhelmed Yeah. And just thinking, like, am I am I making a difference?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. No. I I do. I do get overwhelmed with that. It's I mean, some weeks, I hear stories from kids I know that, you know, aren't ready to enter into a program and and get the help that they need yet.

Speaker 3:

And they are horrible stories. I hate hearing where some of my kids are. I really hate it. Here he comes. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

I really I really do. And it is overwhelming to not know how to help.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. But

Speaker 3:

I think that's something God has kinda spoken over the years is to keep my eyes on the balance beam, so to speak. Like, take the step that you are given.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Don't look at the mountain yet. Don't look up at the mountain, but to take that step and to be faithful in the little. Yeah. So that when those big things come, you can be really faithful in the big things. But to just take those those little steps Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And to pray that God has each of these children in his hands.

Speaker 2:

Come on.

Speaker 3:

So, yeah, little things. Just small dreams for this girl from east Texas.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

But yeah.

Speaker 2:

That's so good. Well, it's it's inspiring and and I think that that's that's something that every mentor needs to hear because you can get entrenched in this in the reality of these huge issues Yeah. And desiring to see change but just feeling like you're stuck or the relationships going backwards. Like, the progress you've made

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2:

You've lost ground. Yeah. And that that leads to so many people stepping out

Speaker 3:

of the game. Right.

Speaker 2:

And, I mean, that I I just love your encouragement that you shared about the Lord speaking to you and saying

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Hey, your your adoption process took a long time. Yeah. And that is such a good encouragement Yeah. For each mentor to receive that word of, as God has been patient with you, what you see this kid through?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And I I heard it said years ago, by a pastor, but the hardest work you'll ever do is pulling someone out of darkness and into light. Mhmm. It's the hardest thing that anyone could enter into. And you're not just entering into one person's darkness.

Speaker 3:

You're entering into a generation of darkness. Yeah. And I think it's so essential to enter into that with prayer and with a very, very long term commitment for those hard times. And it is hard. It's hard to go forward and backwards and forward again, but it's God's work.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. And it is essential to healing. It's essential to the gospel, and I think it's what Jesus would do if he was here.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for sharing, Amanda. Well, I'd love I'd love for you to share just how our mentors can connect with you and your ministry. How can they learn more about Lighthouse, and, what do you have coming up in this next season?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So you can get connected with us, of course, on social media, Facebook and Instagram. We're not on Twitter because I don't really know how to use it very well. And does anyone still use Twitter? Do you use Twitter?

Speaker 2:

I think people do, but

Speaker 3:

Okay. Well, I'm not one of those people. So we're on Instagram and Facebook, and, of course, we have a website. And we have a newsletter that we send out that has more of the kind of testimonies of our students as they're growing and developing, And just prayers that people can be praying over this. Like I said, the hardest work you can do is pulling someone out of darkness and into light, and it takes a huge prayer covering.

Speaker 3:

This next season, we'll start in October with our monthly family dinners, which are just kind of a time to come together and learn a new recipe and cook and eat and clean up and just be family. And then our weekly kind of small groups for singles, but also for young mothers. So that's a new thing that we're trying this year. Life skills and budgeting and prayer and all of that. It's awesome.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Well, I love I love what you guys stand for and what you're standing in. Mhmm. And just that picture of a lighthouse, I think is the perfect analogy of what, a mentor does. You're interested in connecting with Lighthouse Latvia? Now is your time.

Speaker 3:

Now is your time.

Speaker 2:

Jump in.

Speaker 3:

If you know what Latvia is, it's a huge bonus.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. And send some recipes. Well, that is this episode of the You Can Mentor podcast. Please check our show notes to see more about lighthouse Latvia and how you can be involved in their work in Riga. And we're just so grateful for having Amanda on the podcast.

Speaker 2:

If you have any questions about jumping into mentoring, please hit us up on our website, youcanmentor.com. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts because that would just be great, you know, because we'd like to know how you're experiencing this podcast. And if there's one thing you take away from today's podcast, let it be this, you can mentor.