Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Adrian McConnell of Youth Revive shares from his wealth of experience mentoring High School students in South Dallas.
Show Notes
Adrian McConnell of Youth Revive shares from his wealth of experience mentoring High School students in South Dallas.
_______________
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.
_______________
SHOW NOTES
- Youth Revive Inc.
- Dallas Leadership Foundation
- Pathway Church of Life
- Roosevelt High School (map)
Creators and Guests
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.
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 have Caroline Cash in the room and our special guest, Adrian McConnell.
Speaker 3:What's up? What's up?
Speaker 2:My man, he runs a ministry called Youth Revive. Can you tell us a little bit about Youth Revive right off the bat as
Speaker 3:we start out? Yeah. Definitely, man. Youth Revive was actually established and found back in August of 2013, and our mission is to empower young people so that they can become character driven revivalists. A revivalist is go.
Speaker 3:You like that?
Speaker 2:That's awesome. You like that?
Speaker 3:Alright. Yeah.
Speaker 2:This guy has revivalist on his backpack. Like, come
Speaker 3:on. We roll, man. That's good. I was gonna wear my I'm a revivalist shirt, but then I was like, no. That's too much.
Speaker 3:I better wear a polo today.
Speaker 2:Bring in the polo. You you knew Zach Garza was over here at 4 100. I'm like, okay. I'm gonna fit in. Alright.
Speaker 2:Be all thanks to all men. We're wearing polos around Zach Garza.
Speaker 3:Amen, brother. Yeah. So me and my wife, we, we started the organization, and, man, it has been a whirlwind. I mean, God has really been doing some amazing things, and I'm excited about some of our new partnering schools and some of our new partnering agencies. And, we're just we're plowing away, you know, just looking at more ways to help young people grow in their character so that they can transform their community.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Awesome. Well, I love having you on the podcast. I feel like you're gonna give our mentors a lot of value in their relationships because I know that every mentor would probably say, I want my kid that I'm mentoring to grow in character Yeah. And to revive their community Yeah.
Speaker 2:And make an impact and a difference. So Certainly. Thanks for listening today. Get excited about hearing from Adrian McConnell with Youth Revive. What made you passionate about mentoring?
Speaker 2:How did you get into YouthRevive? When did this become Yeah. A thing for for you guys, you and your wife?
Speaker 3:Well, as mentioned, we launched in August of 2013. I was pastoring youth at the time at a church in South Dallas. There was a high school in walking proximity of the school, and I was looking at ways to expose young people to Jesus Christ primarily that lived in that community. So I went up to the high school, and I was like, hey. Put me to work.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. Yeah. So I started volunteering, but they had me stuffing envelopes for, like, a week, and I was like, this ain't cool.
Speaker 2:This is not why I'm here.
Speaker 3:This is not why I'm here. Can I do something else, please? So they,
Speaker 2:actually to somebody?
Speaker 3:Can I talk to somebody? Is there an administrator that I can link up with? And that happened. So they partnered with me with a student or excuse me, with a teacher who, was getting ready to launch an organization for young men, there at the school. It was a after school program.
Speaker 3:And I said, you know what? That's what I wanna do. And, and so in I wanna say the spring of 2010 is when I started partnering with this program at Roosevelt High School. And immediately, I I, just fell in love with the young men. And some of those same young men began to go to my church, and I started, you know, hanging out with them, mentoring them.
Speaker 3:And before you knew it, I mean, the youth group began to just grow and grow and grow. So following that, a couple of years down the line, I started, looking at launching my own nonprofit organization. I was working actually with the Dallas Leadership Foundation at the time. They contracted me out to do the work that I was doing in my community via my church. And, really, they were they were very instrumental in encouraging me and my wife to launch YouthRevive.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:Yep. K. So that's kinda the the beginning and and how I got started with Youth Revive.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's great. Can you can you paint a picture of walking into Roosevelt High School Scared?
Speaker 3:Yep. That was like, oh my god. Like, I hadn't step at that time, I hadn't stepped foot in a high school since I was in high school, which was a long time ago. And, and it was very dark and gloomy. But I knew that there was a calling on my life to go in and make this school my mission field.
Speaker 3:And that's how I saw it. That's how I embraced it, and that's how I overcame my fear. Mhmm. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But definitely definitely scary. I was like, oh my god. I can't, you know, I can't believe this. But I knew for a fact without a shadow of a doubt that I was supposed to be there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For for mentors, it comes one of 2 ways. It's like I'm invested in this kid. He's my mission field, but then his context becomes where I'm working.
Speaker 3:Definitely. Or
Speaker 2:I feel called to this place. This is my mission field, but the relationships are my are my mission,
Speaker 3:and Definitely. And
Speaker 2:I think both of those are kind of in a mentor's experience. You can't mentor a kid without understanding their context, where they're living, where they're going up, where they're going to school.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You can't separate the 2. No. Yeah. Both have to be in high consideration.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:The the student as well as the community Mhmm. As well as the culture. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. How did you start to, like, educate yourself? High school is different today than it was, I mean, when we were all in high school. You know? And so how did you kinda start to
Speaker 3:I'm sure I'm older than you guys, but I'm sure I do.
Speaker 1:How did you start to educate yourself on, like, a typical high school experience or the high school experience of the kids that you were working with?
Speaker 3:Well, as we know, young people will teach you. Mhmm. And and so as you spend time with them, they become the instructor. Yeah. And they educate you on the times.
Speaker 3:They educate you on the trends. They educate you on the culture and what to say, when to say it, how to say it, when not to say it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's good.
Speaker 3:The whole nine. And so as as you spend time with young people in in, I guess, their world Mhmm. You become very adaptable, and you become really a student to Yeah. To what's going on in in their world. And so high school is a part of that in in learning, just to embrace the atmosphere, not not being settled or okay Yeah.
Speaker 3:With what you're seeing, you know, take place. Mhmm. But becoming engaged and involved in in in such a way where you're aware and you're informed.
Speaker 2:What would you say to a mentor who feels intimidated by the context their mentee lives within their school who who's walking in there with I mean, you said fear, but mostly, probably that fear is just this is something new. But but a mentor who's walking in and, like, I I don't feel comfortable. I feel
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Insecurity. Mhmm. And, I mean, it's kind of like people that do evangelism. I mean, you're a pastor. People walk into evangelism, and they're just immediately afraid.
Speaker 2:Yeah. What would you say to a mentor who's experiencing that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, you you said it experience, and then I think learning how what Joyce Myers would say, do it afraid. Learning how to do it afraid. And so we we have to learn to face our fears as as mentors, as people in general, as believers in Jesus Christ. We know that the Bible says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Speaker 3:So for 1, we have to understand that this is a spirit. You know? This is this is not this is not me per se in the flesh, but this is a spirit that I'm up against. And so, therefore, I have to combat it head on. I have to combat it face on.
Speaker 3:And, and so anyhow, knowing that, I think, is first and foremost. I think as we embrace, the moments that come by way of us embracing our fears, we become more experienced. Yeah. You know? And and we and we learn that, okay.
Speaker 3:It's it's not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Yes. I may have these feelings of insecurity, but these are just feelings. I can I can get over the hurdle? I can I can, you know, leap over these emotions by choosing to adapt, to to to the environment and by choosing to embrace the moment?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's really good.
Speaker 2:Well and and even as a as a mentor, just because their normal isn't your normal, doesn't mean they're wrong. Right. Doesn't mean their culture is inferior or that that they have to assimilate into the way that we do life. Mhmm. And so, I don't know if you've had experience with with that where there's misconceptions about, I guess, the the morality of how someone lives their life, how they talk, how they speak, how they interact, like, what would you say to a mentor who who's kinda feeling like, man, that's wrong and, like, this is how I do it, and so you should assimilate into my
Speaker 3:That comes with stock. Mhmm. Right? We're we're in like, I know you and you know me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like, we have a relationship now. We have some tenure together. And and so going into a relationship, a mentoring relationship to correct without without some stock Mhmm. You know, without without, you know, having any type of investment or deposits. Deposit.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You could really, do some damage.
Speaker 2:Do some damage.
Speaker 3:Because if if you're a ment mentor, there's some outcomes, there's some goals that you wanna achieve with this mentee. And and so to tread carefully and to make sure that you are investing Mhmm. Properly before you begin to pull out the whip, so to speak, and and and make some corrections. You wanna make sure that you can go there. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:You know? You wanna make sure that that, hey. This kid understands that whatever you're going to state in corrective form is coming through your love for them. That I'm doing this simply because I love you. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know? And because I'm down for you, and I wanna see you succeed, and I wanna see you ex you know, excel. Yeah. So I think it's important to make sure that you have some some some stock before you before you go there because, I mean, you know, cussing. These are things that I've almost become, not desensitized to, but but I realized that this this kid is not where I'm at.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. Yeah. And and and so I have to see them not in their current state, but I have to see them in their future state. And that means I must have hope for them. That who they are today can be totally different
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:5, 10 years down the road.
Speaker 1:That's really good. What are the practicals that you have implemented in your mentoring relationships to get from where a kid is today Yeah. To the hope and, like, the future that they have that you're believing for them?
Speaker 3:Well, number 1, I I think it's it's prayer for me. It's it's me
Speaker 2:praying for just you. We should all
Speaker 3:be praying. Yeah. Amen. Amen. But, yeah, it's it's it's prayer Mhmm.
Speaker 3:For for me. Yeah. Like, 1st and foremost, god renew my mind. Wow. You you you get what I'm saying?
Speaker 3:So so that I can see as you see. Yeah. Because God already knows the plans that he has for this mentee. Right? I mean, it's already written.
Speaker 3:It's already laid out. So God help me to see what you see. Help me to see beyond what I see currently.
Speaker 1:That's so good.
Speaker 3:And then I pray for the mentee. You know? God transform them. You know? I know that their current situation is this.
Speaker 3:God, turn that thing around. You know? Make some things happen through through even my efforts. God, what does that look like? Let me get engaged in your plan for this child.
Speaker 2:What did your mentors do that stuck with you that that stood out most within those relationships? So you look back and you're like, you know what? That guy that guy mentored me well.
Speaker 3:I I would say they had me around. They you know, my my uncle, my youngest uncle, we're 10 years apart, and he allowed me to spend time with him. My grandfather, saying, very pivotal in who I am today. He just allowed me to spend time with him. You know?
Speaker 3:I I remember specifically, I remember vividly riding in his Eldorado Cadillac, listening to the urban alternative with doctor Tony Evans.
Speaker 2:Come on.
Speaker 3:Preaching on the radio. Awesome. As a as a 12 year old, you know, heading to Mickey D's to go get his coffee. You know, I remember those moments. And me just being able to to ride shotgun with him was enough for me in that moment to feel a state of comfort, to feel a state of strength.
Speaker 3:You know? I mean, goodness. I this is my granddad. Mhmm. And and let me give you a little context.
Speaker 3:I never I've never met my father before. Mhmm. And and so my grandfather and my my youngest uncle, all of my uncles, I have a total of 4 uncles, and all of them, you know, were very pivotal when it comes to who I am today when I reflect and think about the times that we spend and how they chose to shape me and mold me and, and really be that mentor, that family mentor. So, anyway, you know, having, you know, relative relatives around, my grandfather, my my youngest uncle, really helped create and establish culture. You know, they taught me what it meant to work hard, you know, to be faithful to your wife and to be faithful to your faith.
Speaker 2:How does mentoring affect a community Mhmm. In the long term? What is the long term impact of you're saying you wanna build character, good character, revive character in in kids for the flourishing of communities. So what what is the long term effects in community from mentoring?
Speaker 3:Students, young people, mentees, they live in community. They are the very makeup of the neighborhood. And and so as a mentor is doing life with a mentee, the possibilities of that young person growing in their character, is is increased and heightened dramatically. So through that, because these young people live in community, they are able to take what they're gaining, values, morals, gifts, abilities, all of these things that they are gaining through the relationship of the mentor. They're able to take that and make it applicable to where they live.
Speaker 3:And that in within itself brings about a transformation in the community. It's from 1 household to the next household to the next household. It's because the mentee makes up the community.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Right? Yeah. People make up neighborhoods. People make up cities. People make up towns.
Speaker 3:And the healthier we are, the healthier the mentor is, the healthier the mentee is, then the better the community.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's really good.
Speaker 2:So behind all the issues and the experiences of our communities, they're people.
Speaker 3:They're people.
Speaker 2:It's not statistics.
Speaker 3:Right. It's And I
Speaker 2:I like what you said about if you are given something, you're able to give it away. Mhmm. And all the all the gifts and and abilities and beliefs Yep. A mentor gives, the most meaningful ones are ones that they can give away freely. Definitely.
Speaker 2:Just like how Jesus teaches, like, freely you have received, freely give. Mhmm. Everything Jesus gives us is impartable. Where whereas if I give my mentee a a bicycle and think I've accomplished something, I may have accomplished something and made him feel happy. Transportation.
Speaker 2:But transportation. Come on.
Speaker 1:True.
Speaker 2:And and so I don't wanna belittle that, but also, how is my kid gonna pass that on? Maybe he can pass it on to one other person, but Mhmm. If I give him relational, like, I mean, relational strengths, if I show him what it means to invest in someone's life personally, I'm giving them things that they can pass on
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 2:To everyone they know.
Speaker 3:And and sometimes that's done with intentionality, and sometimes it happens fluidly. You know? Yeah. So when when I think about the bicycle and I think about transportation, I think about a kid being able to get to an area, where they may not have been able to get to prior to receiving that bike. I think about being able to get to an activity, You being able to get to basketball practice or football practice.
Speaker 3:And and so, I think it's it's more than just the the tangible that the kid is receiving. I mean, when a kid is able to get to basketball practice, well, gosh, that's that's that's major impact because now we're talking about a kid being able to spend time with his peers and being able to learn. Right? Because playing basketball or being a part of a sports team cultivates more character. You know?
Speaker 3:It it teaches a kid how to be patient. It teaches a kid how to collaborate. It teaches a kid, how to grow in all of these various skills and abilities. And so, you know, to pass along something, a mentor passing along something, we can't consider anything that we give or pass along lightly.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying? Something as minute Yeah. Can can bring about a huge impact and make a huge difference. And and so we have to think about everything that we do, whether it be done with well thought through plans
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:With intentionality, or whether it just happens fluidly by way of a conversation. Everything is meaningful. Everything can be purposeful. Everything god can take and do something with it that's beyond what we could ever imagine.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:That's good.
Speaker 2:That's so good. Mhmm. I mean, I like it's making me tear up because I I feel like a lot of mentors, they may think the things they're doing with their kids are just cute. Like, this is, you know Yep. Like, the gifts that we give, the things that we say, like, looking a kid in the eyes and saying, hey.
Speaker 2:I love you.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like,
Speaker 2:that can just feel like for a mentor, sometimes you can feel like, man, I'm just I'm feeling embarrassed because I'm just being cute with this kid, but actually, the impact that that can make is Profound. Is huge. And and even just you correcting me on giving a bike, like, you don't know how many opportunities you've just opened for this kid who I mean, the kids that we're mentoring are from hard places. Yeah. And and so one little thing like transportation can keep you from being on the basketball team, can keep you on the from being on the football team.
Speaker 2:I met with a kid this last week who has practice till 5:30. Mhmm. Wants to be a part of our program, but has a ride at 5:30, but not at 6. And if he just has this this ride, all of these opportunities are open to him, and he lives right down the road. Yep.
Speaker 2:And and so having a bike or having having something or just a relationship could change his life. Yep. And we would just
Speaker 3:Yeah. Because, I mean, we never know how one moment can lead to an open door, an open opportunity, or we don't know how one new relationship Mhmm. Can really lead to purpose and fulfillment. You know, we we can't we can't dictate that. I think that's why we must learn the power of being present Yeah.
Speaker 3:And and doing what we can do to be a resource through the source.
Speaker 1:It's really good.
Speaker 2:Come on. You know? Can you can you share a story of a high school student and how how you built relationship with him?
Speaker 3:Yeah. My boy, KD Kellington Dillard. Woah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's an
Speaker 3:awesome name. Name. Yeah. Man, when I first met him, I said the exact same thing. I'm like, dude, your name is profound.
Speaker 3:It's strong. It's powerful. It's manly. But KD KD was, he was a foster kid, and, and I can share this because I know he wouldn't mind, comes from just a a very, very difficult upbringing, you know, from from foster care to foster care, foster home to foster home. And, I met him when he was a freshman over at Roosevelt High School.
Speaker 3:And KD, he he was a very rambunctious young man. Very Gotta
Speaker 2:be with that name.
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness. Yes.
Speaker 2:I'm seeing bow ties. I don't know.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. He he Really? You're spot
Speaker 2:on, man.
Speaker 3:He can rock a bow tie. Okay. Definitely. I hooked him up with with a bow tie too. I took him to New Mexico, and I had to kinda suit him up with that.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, he had had a bow tie on, when we went to church, in New Mexico. Anyway, Kellington was, just just a a a great kid, but he had he had this other side, you know, and and it was rooted in his pain, you know, in his frustration. And so me spending as much time with him as possible was going to be very key for me to be able to do what mentors do. You know? And and and so there were there were phone calls.
Speaker 3:There was, you know, text messages. There were calls to his mom. There were there were times where I sat in his classroom. I would just come up to the school, and he would be in class. And so I would just go to the classroom and and sit in there in the back, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Crazy stuff like that. Like, especially if I knew he was cutting up in class, maybe, like, the day prior or he had an issue with the with the teacher, I would just show up and and
Speaker 2:And they encourage you to be there?
Speaker 3:Like Oh my god. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Man, yes. They love it.
Speaker 3:Teachers love that. Administrators love that. Yeah. Definitely.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Definitely. Yeah. That's how they do it on the south side. And that it's like it's like, come on. Come on.
Speaker 3:Help us. Help us, please. Did did you pass your background check? Great. Come on.
Speaker 3:As long as you pass the background check and do your orientation through the district, you're good. But, yeah, there were moments and times where I would just I would sit in the class, you know, and, I mean, you know, he would hate it, but it was a demonstration of my care for him.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It was a demonstration of my hope for him. Right? Mhmm. Yeah. So I think just being there, being present, you know, being available, listening, you know, not always having the solution.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Wow.
Speaker 3:Right? Because oftentimes as mentors, you know, we wanna be the problem solver.
Speaker 1:Totally.
Speaker 3:However, because we are human and we're not divine, we don't have all the answers. Yeah. Yeah. And so sometimes it's just good to lean in here and and and listen.
Speaker 2:Can you, can you talk about, your marriage and how, how your wife has been involved in mentoring with you and what, what that's looked like? Cause a lot of our mentors, they they're mentoring a kid and mom is building relationship with the kid and the family, the mom, and, and that's a dynamic that we want to encourage.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Cause we
Speaker 2:feel like there's a mutually transforming fam family relationship there. So can you share more about how y'all do it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, man. Definitely. Me and my my woman, my wife, my girlfriend, we've been together a total of 22 years. Woah. And, okay.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, you are older than us. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we haven't been married 22 years, but we've been together 22 years. We've been married 17.
Speaker 3:Oh my god. We got married when we were, seniors in college. Decided to run off to college together, and then we got married. So if you're out there listening, honey, I love you. Can I do that?
Speaker 3:Is that okay? Yeah. I love you, honey. My wife is amazing. I don't I don't know how else to put it.
Speaker 3:Her role when it comes to what we do is very, very key. It's very instrumental. We have over, I would say, the last 10 years opened up our home to a couple of young ladies. And, and we do young ladies because I have a daughter, and and I just feel more comfortable that way Yeah. With having a young lady instead of a young man, stay with us.
Speaker 3:That's something else. Like, if you are thinking about bringing in a child in your home, for 1, you wanna make sure that you're in agreement. Husband, wife.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:Total agreement. And then, oh my gosh, you wanna make sure that you have some expectations in advance. Mhmm. You don't wanna create expectations after the fact. You wanna go into this relationship because you're bringing someone into your home with with and and this is this is case by case wherein, you know, if if you know that God is leading you to to do this, then then you definitely want to make sure that you are prepared as about as best as you can Mhmm.
Speaker 3:To open up that door for that shooting. So anyhow, my my wife, her involvement in the process, you know, of having these 2 young ladies stay with us, this was separate occasions, was was great because it required her to to do a little bit more than than the norm because we have, you know, we have someone else living with us. It's not to say that she would change up how she would live or any or we would change up how we live. No. We were just a little more intentional in terms of what we did and how we did it.
Speaker 3:So Yeah. If if we were going to have a family meeting, then we would engage that student and say, hey. Come on. You know? And that was for exposure purposes.
Speaker 3:When it came down to cooking, hey, come on. You know, join me in the kitchen. Little small things like that have great lasting impact. And so my wife was the staple in making sure that these things took place. So having her, by my side, having her in my ear, having her, you know, kinda coach me even on what to do, how to do, has been very, very helpful for me as, as head of house and then also, as head of a nonprofit organization.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:That's so good. Allowing mentees to experience the little things Mhmm. The little moments, the family meetings, the family dinners, the riding shotgun.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's
Speaker 2:like going to a gas station could actually be a good mentor activity.
Speaker 3:You know, it really is, actually.
Speaker 1:Getting a Slurpee.
Speaker 3:Well, I had a young man that didn't he had never pumped gas before.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Someone's gotta teach
Speaker 3:him. He didn't know where the tank was at.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You know? And so very basic. Very
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. The things that we sometimes, you know, overlook and and consider is very small.
Speaker 2:But even, like, when you think about the household
Speaker 3:Mhmm. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Today today, it's like you put something in the microwave, you go to your room, you play 2 k, that's dinner. And to be invited into, hey. We're gonna have a conversation.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:We're gonna talk about Mhmm. What's going on. Yeah. Like, we're gonna share about our day. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Those are very basic things that make you feel seen, known, valued, and are difficult at first because just because they're new. It's Right. It's not because they don't like it. It's Right. It's because they've never done it before.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And I I think acknowledging those things of being intentional with just what you're saying about your wife of, like, I need to make an invitation into these little moments that really go a long way to set them up for success later on in life. Yep. Like, how many family meetings are gonna happen in their life because they were they participated?
Speaker 3:Yeah. When we bring someone into our home, we're we're definitely intentional. Like, yeah, we we we're thinking through really everything. So, as as we're sitting at the table, you know, we we know that at the table, for 1, there's no cell phones. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And then secondly, we're going to do pros and grows. You know, we're going to we're going to talk about, you know, pros and grows, and we're going to highlight, you know, what was good about our day. And then we're going to talk about, you know, what was not so good. Mhmm. So these are things that that we do as a as a family, and we love involving others into that space for teaching, you know, just for teaching purposes.
Speaker 3:So it's it's really cool. Margaret. What's up, Margaret? Margaret is good and grown now. She lived with us for well over a year.
Speaker 3:Margaret text this morning, and she wants to come and hang out at the house this weekend. Mhmm. You know? Yeah. And she's 23 or 24.
Speaker 3:I don't know how old you are, Margaret. I know you grown. So so anyway, the the relationship does continue. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:There there's there's life after the teenage years. Yeah. Mhmm. And and the mentor and this is really good. And I and I think it should be very encouraging for for the listeners that that you are still needed.
Speaker 3:Like Mhmm. As the mentor, you're still necessary. Yes. Some years may pass. Maybe maybe it's been a year, 2 years, 3 years since you've heard from Johnny or Christina or Christopher or Madeline, perhaps you hadn't heard from them in some time, please know that what you invested was not in vain.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 3:You know? And, you know, please know that they still think about you, that they still consider you. Right. And so when Margaret Jackson said, hey, I want to come over and hang out this weekend. For 1, we were like, hey, as long as you find your way, you're good.
Speaker 3:She lives like 45 minutes away. So we're like, oh, you're more than welcome. You can eat all the food. Just get here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But don't forget, mentor, you are not forgotten and that you're still necessary, you know, even after the teenage years.
Speaker 1:If there are mentors out there, people who want to mentor, what would you say? What would you give, like, 2 to 3 just practical encouragements for people who are wanting to mentor, but may not think or believe that they can or should or whatever?
Speaker 3:For 1, just do it. Mhmm. Come on. Nike.
Speaker 1:Just do it.
Speaker 3:Just do it.
Speaker 1:Jump in.
Speaker 3:Jump in. All in. Mhmm. Right? I think that's number 2.
Speaker 3:Just do it. You asked for 2. Just do it and and be all in. Mhmm. Go all the way Yeah.
Speaker 3:In. If you know that God is calling you to that space, if he's calling you to this pretty huge responsibility, don't allow anything to keep you or hinder you. You're good enough. Mhmm. Right?
Speaker 3:You're you're skilled enough. Evidently, God has positioned you, even if you even if you don't feel like you have the wits to make this happen. If he's calling you, then he's going to equip you with what you need.
Speaker 2:Come on.
Speaker 3:All you have to do is do it and do it all in.
Speaker 2:Love everything you shared with us today, Adrianne. It's been fun. Would you please give us some more information about how people can get in touch with you or how they can get involved with youth revival?
Speaker 3:Definitely. Definitely. Well, you can find us online at www.youthrevive.org. We are on just about every social media outlet. You can find us at youthrevive inc, and I think we're even on Snapchat, and that's something.
Speaker 1:Hey, yo.
Speaker 3:Come on. Come on, snappers.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's that's not usual. I mean, but that's where the kids are at.
Speaker 3:That's where they're at, man. I still don't know how to use Snapchat.
Speaker 2:One of our kids tried to get me on TikTok, and I'm confused every time I get on there. I don't know. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't know how to operate TikTok, but my daughter does.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 3:And and so I guess that's good enough. But if you're a little old school and you still know how to pick up a phone, then the number is 214-414-9449. Again, 214-414-9449. You cannot text that number. It is not textable.
Speaker 2:That's a
Speaker 3:hard line. That's a yeah. You gotta call that number. So good. We are always looking for those that wanna get engaged in the schools.
Speaker 3:We're always looking for churches that wanna partner with our organization so that they can get into a public school setting to do what they believe God has called for them to do. Sometimes churches don't feel like they have a way in. We wanna be that way in to to to the door. Yeah. We definitely wanna facilitate that.
Speaker 3:So so, if you're interested, you know, you have our information, look us up. Just do it.
Speaker 2:Just Can you clarify where you guys are located?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Certainly. We're in we're in 4, public schools. We actually partner with the Collegiate Academies in BISD. We are in Roosevelt.
Speaker 3:We are in Lincoln. We are in Pinkston, and we are in Hutchins High School doing the work. Our plan is to be in a total of 14 Southern Dallas high schools by 2021, which is right around
Speaker 2:the corner. Come on.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. Love it. We'll definitely
Speaker 3:be praying We're gonna need some help.
Speaker 1:Yeah. For real.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, listeners, if you're interested in getting involved in mentoring, live in South Dallas, live in Dallas, honestly, go to a church. You have, I mean, a soul. Please
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Jump in with Youth Revive, and make a difference in the life of a kid and join Adrian as he revives good character within the youth at those high schools, that it's ultimately gonna change communities, man. Your work is gonna change the community.
Speaker 3:So man, brother. I received that.
Speaker 1:Show notes for all of those things. If you listened and don't remember, that's okay. It'll all be in the show notes for you to reference.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you all so much. It was an honor to, spend some time with you guys. I love the work that you all are doing. I love Zach. I love Forerunner Ministries, and, you all just keep grinding it out.
Speaker 3:Keep doing it.
Speaker 2:Well, we appreciate the polo too. So just wanted to mention that again.
Speaker 3:No problem.
Speaker 2:Well, if there was anything you loved about this podcast, please share it with a friend, with, someone who you think would be great at mentoring, maybe someone you're dating. Hashtag Lucas, Caroline's boyfriend. You should mentor.
Speaker 1:2nd time mentioned.
Speaker 3:Should we
Speaker 2:change it to you should mentor or you can mentor?
Speaker 3:You can.
Speaker 2:We'll keep it with you can mentor.
Speaker 3:You can mentor. Mentor. Yeah. So you Lucas. Bye.
Speaker 3:Bye, Lucas.