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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.
What up, mentors and mentoring leaders? Hey. I'm here to talk about the National Christian Mentoring Gathering. I would love to see you and your team join us in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 16th through 18th. We're gonna be there for 3 days.
Speaker 1: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. 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.
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Speaker 2:Find out more by following us on social media or going to our website at you can mentor.com. You can mentor.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. This is Zach, and I am with Noah McGuffey. Noah, say Harry. What's up? Oh, nothing much, Noah.
Speaker 1:Just hanging out, buddy.
Speaker 3:Come on now. I love it.
Speaker 1:How's it going today, Noah?
Speaker 3:It's going good. It's going good. Excited to be on the podcast. Really thankful. I feel like I feel like I made it.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I made it. I love it.
Speaker 1:I don't I don't know if you being on my podcast is really you making it, but, hey, man, if that's what you wanna say.
Speaker 3:That's right. Yes.
Speaker 1:So we were supposed to have this podcast last week, I think, Noah, but we had to reschedule. Tell us why we had to reschedule.
Speaker 3:I I go to Jake's Burgers probably twice a week, And I I'm sitting in the restaurant with a good friend, and someone walks in and says, hey. Someone's car has been hit in the parking lot. And so I'll walk out a big food truck and backed up into backed up into my my beautiful 2013 Subaru Outback, and, it was a little bit of a mess. But the guy was really nice. He, you know, he did all the right things.
Speaker 3:He gave me his insurance, and, and and we took care of it. So but, yeah, had to had to reschedule that. It was a little bit of a hectic morning a couple weeks ago, but we're good now.
Speaker 1:It's good, man. It's good. Alright, Noah. So tell us who who is Noah McGuffey?
Speaker 3:Who is Noah McGuffey? What a what a great question. Noah McGuffey is a young 24 year old, man living in Dallas. He just got married this year, so he's learning a lot about life. And, but no, man.
Speaker 3:It's it's been great. I I got to, you know, have have a cool growing up experience. I grew up overseas. My mom and dad were were missionaries with Campus Crusade, known as CrewNow, and, you know, cross culture kid, moved back to the states when I was about 11. We we had lived in in China for 6 year well, at least for me.
Speaker 3:China for 6 years, Greece for 5 after that, and then the States, which is just, like, the 3 most different places possibly that, like, you could live. But it was great, and I wouldn't trade, you know, those experiences for for the world. But I moved back to these days. Both my parents were Aggies. You know, grew up there, then went to A&M, not because I was, like, crazy, like, A and M as most Aggies are, but, but it was it was it was just something I was excited to do and, start serving in ministry there called Youth Impact.
Speaker 3:And that kinda has led me up to what I'm doing now up in Dallas at 4 Runner Mentoring. So, they're up here for a year and a half now, and I've loved it. It's been it's been great. It's a great place to to, kinda step into that next phase of life. And Margaret, my wife, and I, we we love being up here.
Speaker 3:So that's Noah McGuffey as of right now.
Speaker 1:It's awesome, Noah. Man, so tell us what it was like, growing up our receipts.
Speaker 3:Definitely strange. Like, you know, as a kid, you only understand so much. So in some ways, you know, you know that my parents are doing something good, something cool, but not fully understanding maybe what's what's going on. So I I don't remember the the 0 or the 6, you know, the the the China years, all that much, but definitely a lot more about about Greece. And my mom and dad, they they put us in the public schools, and so that was, like, super interesting.
Speaker 3:I feel like a lot of missionary kids, you know, end up going to, you know, some English speaking boarding school. I don't I don't know. Some military school or something like that. But we went to the public schools, which honestly was really great. Hard.
Speaker 3:Really hard, but, but really great. And so, learned to speak the language and and and stuff like that, which I've since forgotten. So don't ask me don't ask me to say anything because I I don't know how to speak anymore. But but, yeah, really, really cool experiences like that and, just getting to see your parents do, you know, just live their life for Christ first and foremost above anything else, I mean, that's gonna be that's gonna be pretty impactful on on my the rest of my story. So, so, yeah, it was it was really fun to to do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Man, so, like, how so I'm assuming that you wouldn't be here today doing what you do if it wasn't for those years. So tell me how growing up overseas, kinda grew in you a passion to mentor.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, Campus Crusade that it's it's college students. You know? It's all about students. And so there are these clear dynamics between my parents, you know, who are a little bit older.
Speaker 3:They've been, you know, doing this thing for a little bit. They've they're familiar with working with students and and just loving them. You know? Just meeting them where they're at no matter clearly, like, what where they're from, what their background is, and, ultimately, just wanting to get to that point of of talking about the things in life that really matter, which is primarily about Jesus. And so, you know, as a kid again, like, as a kid, you don't know exactly what all is happening, but you see your parents sitting down with with young people and and investing in them.
Speaker 3:Like, that much was clear. And, and so I I think that I mean, you know, they my my mom and dad, they're very humble. They're not, like, you know, putting themselves on a pedestal, but it was clear that they made their life about other people and not about really themselves. Like, they left family. They had, like, those hard getting on the plane with grandkid type situations where everyone's, you know, crying and, you know, and if I mean, they would speak to to their experience as nothing but, you know, an honor for them to be able to to serve the Lord.
Speaker 3:But it was clear to to see that they made their life about about other people. And so, I don't I probably didn't understand how to express that until, you know, I got much older, but that's that's something that I definitely saw and and wanted to, I wanted that to be the same for my story. You know? I want I want my life to be about me. So, yeah, just seeing seeing him do that was really unpowerful.
Speaker 1:It's awesome, man. Well, no, dude. You're a young cat, but, you know, we've been able to spend some time together over the past couple years. And and it's just, like, so obvious that the experiences that you've had in life has kinda made a tremendous impact in on you, and now you get to impact others. And and I can tell that it's an awesome thing.
Speaker 1:So kudos to mom and dad.
Speaker 3:Come on now. Come on, mom. Come on, dad. Love you all.
Speaker 1:Alright, Noah. So tell us about what what you do and where you work.
Speaker 3:Yes. So, I work at 4 Runner Mentoring, smallish nonprofit up in the Lake Highlands area, Northeast Dallas. Started working there about a year and a half ago, and I kind of, I I stepped into, the role, we call it the mentor coordinator. So my job is essentially, to help match the boys that are in our program to godly men in our community. So for winter mentoring, kinda the the ideas we want to, you know, we want to fulfill the potential of young young boys who are growing up in the Lake Highlands who do not have a father figure at home.
Speaker 3:And so we do that. We run an after school program. We provide family support for for single moms, but we also yeah. The the mentoring pieces, if we don't have this father figure at home, how can we provide these young men in our community with what it looks like to be a man of God? So matching them to a mentor would be a way to do that.
Speaker 3:And so it's recruited. It's finding these guys. Like, where are they? Where are the where are these guys that, you know, could make a positive impact in Jesus' name, for for young men in our community? So finding them, partnering with local churches and organizations, to find these guys.
Speaker 3:Onboarding them and training them, getting them ready. We don't wanna just throw people in there and say good luck. Right? We wanna help, prepare, these guys. So, you know, onboarding them through our process, going all through all the safety things, matching them, that takes I mean, that's a process.
Speaker 3:Getting finding the right match, for a kid in our program and then continuing to support that mentor mentee relationship for however long that relationship lasts. Hopefully, a great long time. And so, you know, aside from that, it's, you know, church part yeah. Working with church partners, you know, throwing events, and I as I always like to say, drive and dance around the the Dallas area. So that's definitely one of the biggest biggest things that I do.
Speaker 3:But, yeah, that's that's kind of a a quick summary of the role.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, Noah. Why don't we talk about recruiting? So tell us, what are some of the challenges that you guys have had in regards to trying to find people to mentor?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I don't think that we've ever been in a place where or at least in in since my, you know, starting at 4 Runner where we can say every kid at 4 Runner has a mentor, you know, that needs 1. And so, you you know, we see we see this great need, continuously. And so but at at the same time, it's like the reality is not everybody knows in our community, like, what forerunner does. And so we have a responsibility to get the word out there.
Speaker 3:Hey. This is what we do. I mean, people love, you know, being able to to to serve Jesus. Like, that's that's clear. And, we just need to let people know, like, about the opportunity to do that, in in our in our space.
Speaker 3:And so I think that a big a big challenge is just making that known to to to people. And, again, it's like, I think a challenge is we're not just taking anybody to come in and hang out with a kid. Right? We're we're trying to find the right people. I always tell, like, guys, you know, maybe if I'm sitting down with them for a recruiting talk or something.
Speaker 3:We're not just trying to help our boys be better people. Like, that's a big part of what we do, but we're trying to help them be men of God, followers of Jesus. And so in order to recruit the right people, we have to find guys that are in a healthy place to do that. Guys who are actively chasing after the Lord, who are walking in church community. And, you know, you could go down the line and, and and and it could feel like we're looking to check all these boxes.
Speaker 3:But but, really, we just need guys who are able to to to love Jesus and and love a kid really, really well. And so, I would say that kind of meeting that criteria is a responsibility that we that we have as an organization. If moms are putting their boys in our responsibility and and we wanna say that, yeah, we're gonna we're gonna work hard on our end to do that for you, but also just, yeah, getting the word out about who For Honor is and what we do in our community. Those are those are the 2 primary challenges.
Speaker 1:Man, so every mentoring nonprofit that I ever talk to, they all wanna know how to recruit more mentors. Right? Yep. Like, I mean, very seldom do I meet a nonprofit, and they're like, yeah. 100% of the kids who wanna be in our after school program or in our 1 on 1 mentoring program have a mentor.
Speaker 1:You know, most of the time, there is a waiting list. So number 1, tell me tell me how, like, how you guys actively recruit. Like, what are some of the, like, things that you guys have done that have, like, given y'all the opportunity to meet more potential mentors? And then just, like, tell me what, yeah. Just, like, how you guys have student success in that.
Speaker 3:That's great. Yeah. That's a great question. Something I think about a lot, and, I think it's a moving it's a moving thing. Like, there's always, like, I never wanna be closed minded and say, this is how we do it and not be open to new ways of of doing that.
Speaker 3:I think yeah. Like I said, connecting with churches. So I'm always trying to, you know, find find churches that are primarily a lot it it makes the most sense. Like, churches wanna serve the the community that is around them, you know, as they should. Like, that's a great thing.
Speaker 3:So, going and finding those churches no matter how big or small that they are, like, there are people that want to serve the community that is around them in Jesus' name. And so let's find those churches, and let's let's talk to their staff. Let's tell them about, who we are as an organization. Let them know our vision, the end goals for our program, and for what what mentoring would look like. Churches want people in their, their flock, I guess, for lack of better words, to to be serving and loving their community as Jesus has called us to.
Speaker 3:So I think that that's that's the biggest deal. Aside from that, I I would say referrals is really big for us. I think one thing that that was shown that I've that was told to me that has been super helpful. Whenever I onboard a mentor and go through a training, the last thing the last, like, slide in my presentation at that training is, hey. Can you think of 2 to 3 other people who are who could do what you're signing up to do right now?
Speaker 3:I mean, it's not I don't it's not about our impact and what we are doing, but there I think that what I'll what I'll say to those guys in those in those trainings is, hey. You're sitting in this room for a reason, and it's probably because someone gave you maybe a small just a small invitation. Right? And now you're sitting here, and you're maybe gonna get matched to this kid and make a big impact on this kid in Jesus' name. And so I think, if you could think of, like, 1 to 2, 3 other guys who could do the same thing that you're doing, that small invitation might lead to a really, really cool story.
Speaker 3:And so, sharing that with the guys who are coming in to our space, if if every guy that comes in brings another guy that brings another guy that brings another like, that's gonna have a cascading effect and bring in, I think, a lot of a lot of people who would who would be great mentors. So that's that's a a new strategy that I've been trying to, kinda develop as we're bringing guys into space. And yeah. So using referrals from the guys that we have. Hey.
Speaker 3:Like, I could get on stage and try to cast the vision and share about our organization, but you telling your friend, hey. Come do what I'm doing. That's gonna have so much better of an impact than than me just trying to, you know, get guys get guys in myself. So those are my thoughts kinda on recruiting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man. And and kinda going back to the church partnership thing. I mean Yeah. Tell me how, like, how do you get thing. I mean Yeah.
Speaker 1:Tell me how, like, how do you get in the door of a church that you might not go to?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So for example, I just met up with a a new staff member, the at the church that I do go to. So he's a new staff member, and he just moved here from another church, or he had interned out of church, you know, a a while ago. And so I was like, hey, man. You know, I know that this is a a church that is in our area that has a lot of young, you know, men who I think would be great mentors for boys in our program.
Speaker 3:Can you connect me? Can we, like, sit down together at, like, you and my church? We already know about us at For Honor, what we do. Can we sit down together? Can you come with me and, sit down with this church so that we can have a conversation of what that looks like from my perspective, but also from from you who are in official church partnership with us.
Speaker 3:And you can share from y'all's experience. Hey. It's cool to see, you know, the men of our church, serving and making disciples. And so that that would have a greater impact than me just cold calling, you know, these these different churches in our area. So it's again, I mean, I it really comes back to relationships.
Speaker 3:Right? Like, it's sometimes hard. It's sometimes it feels like the who knows who game. But that's it's real that's makes sense because it it's about relationships. And so, it's about trust.
Speaker 3:So there I think that is the the primary way. If we find the new church partnership, we're developing a relationship with them. It's like, okay. Again, what other churches that are in our area do you guys have relationships with that we can, get to know and and share what we're doing?
Speaker 1:So Yeah. I mean and I think it's a great question to ask. Anyone who volunteers with you, knowing where they go to church and stand in. You know? Is there an opportunity to have me and you and your pastor sit down just so we can just kinda see if there's an opportunity?
Speaker 3:Right? That's that's right. And and I also think that whenever I I don't know, like, if you've ever experienced this, but whenever we get a mentor from a new church, it almost feels sometimes like a domino effect where if that guy if you if we can help that guy share the stories of what God is doing in his mentoring, then all of a sudden it's like, oh, here comes another guy from that church. Oh, wait. Here comes 2 more guys from that church.
Speaker 3:And then all of a sudden, you have 10 guys that are serving in your ministry, and it's like, wow. That's really, really cool to to see God use that. And so, yeah, telling those guys to share their stories is is huge.
Speaker 1:But it's only good for them to share stories if they've had a good experience. Right? Mhmm. Yeah. And so how like, when it comes to recruiting and retaining, how how do you guys give your mentors the best experience possible so that they're excited about mentoring, so so that they have a good experience, so that they are able to share the good news with their small groups and with their churches and with all of their neighbors?
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's a great question. Sometimes, like, I don't know. Like, we don't wanna be, like, fabricating that. You know?
Speaker 3:Like, sometimes the stories are hard, and I think that that's just as important to share that as well. Like, it doesn't it doesn't have to be all fun and games, you know, whenever you start mentoring. Sometimes it's like, wow. My mentee, maybe he's going through some really hard stuff. But I think that that's just as compelling to give an invitation to other people than it is to say, hey.
Speaker 3:Look at this impact that I've made, like, on this kid. And, again, it's not about our impact. And so I think that when when mentors are going through our onboarding process, we I want to be in a habit of challenging them to share what's going on with the people around them, regardless of whether it's, like, they're seeing an impact being made or if they're seeing something really hard that their mentee is going through. Like, you know, I I think of a a guy who was like, man, my mentee hasn't opened up. Like, there seems like there's this wall still that's between us, but I see that that's because of a lot of stuff that he's gone through in his life.
Speaker 3:And so I'm just gonna trust that, you know, god will use me if I continue to show up in his life. And there are other kids in our program that are just like my mentee who need that. And so whether it's, like, a positive story or maybe a heart or a negative story, I think it it doesn't matter. I think that those are things that we can be sharing with people, because that's the reality of what ministry is. It's not it's not always fun.
Speaker 3:So I think the the onboarding process is important to to to make sure that those guys know that, hey, let's share regardless of maybe what the situation feels like, and and trust that God will use that.
Speaker 1:So I feel like having a really good process to onboard a mentor is is vital to having a good experience. Can Oh, yeah. You just kinda share, like, what you're like, what you guys do whenever you onboard? What does that look like?
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's multistep. I mean, there's there's so many different elements to it. You have a, just from a practical standpoint, like, again, moms are putting their young boys and our responsibility. Like, we need to make sure that we're, being very safe and and respecting and honoring our moms by taking that process very seriously.
Speaker 3:And then there's the whole equipping side of it too and making sure that a mentor, at least feel some sort of confidence and readiness to start hanging out with that kid without feeling like a pressure of, you know, it needs to be this, this, or that. So I would say kinda just step by step. You know, a lot of my a lot of my onboarding looks like, first, I'm meeting with a guy, for breakfast or coffee or lunch. We're talking about the ministry. I'm sharing about our vision, our end goals, what the commitment looks like for a mentor, and just sharing stories, you know, of of impact.
Speaker 3:But, really, I think what's the biggest thing is developing a relationship with that guy right from that first time that you sit down with him. Because I can give him all the info about the organization, but I he like like anybody, like any kid in our program, people want to be known. And so I want to get to know that guy sitting across the table from me and start developing a relationship with him regardless of of maybe if he would, you know, step into our ministry or not. Say he does. We need him to fill out an application, and so he's going to, you know, provide, information on himself, what church he goes to, to how we heard about our organization.
Speaker 3:That's important for recruiting so that we can know how how guys are finding us. And then we're gonna see, references. He needs to put references on his application. So after that, he'll come in we'll come in for an interview. We're gonna, like, walk through a lot of things from a safety standpoint.
Speaker 3:We're gonna talk about that guy's, you know, health and his walk with Jesus, not from a judgment perspective, but from a a perspective of, hey. Like, this is a responsibility that we have to be walking with Jesus if we want to, disciple somebody or, at least have elements of discipleship. So after that, we'll reach out to the references that he put on his application. That that's very telling, you know, for for us to to see, like, when references come back in quick and they have high praises for that that guy, that makes me feel very confident and comfortable about, onboarding a mentor. We're gonna run a background check.
Speaker 3:We're gonna, have, guys go through a ministry safe training where they're learning about the effects of, you know, in our culture now, all the terrible stuff that is happening, from sexual abuse to neglect, and I think it's important for them to see that and phrasing that as a, you know, this is not this is for you, you know, to to recognize that we wanna be aware that, like, we have a target on our back being a youth organization. And we know that there are wolves in sheep's clothing that are around, and so we want you to know that we are aware of that. But, also, we want you to help us. Like, we need you to be, you know, aware of things happening and looking around and be our ally in making sure that our ministry is safe. After that, they would come in for a a training and orientation.
Speaker 3:So a couple guys at the same time coming in, and that's where we're kinda giving the big picture of what 4 Runner does. Because they're signing up for kind of an l or a piece in the puzzle, but it's it's so helpful to have the full picture of what we're doing so that they can know kinda how that piece fits in, to the puzzle. So we're sharing about our after school program, about our mom ministry, about all the different things that we do so they can gain a more, perspective, I guess, about what what it is that we're doing. So we're walking through a lot of safety stuff. You know, we say we're one to 1 mentoring, as an organization.
Speaker 3:What does that what does that mean? Does that mean I hang out alone with a kid? You know? Like, what does that mean? And so walking through kinda what it looks like to to show up, to build up, and to share Jesus, with with a with a mentee.
Speaker 3:So we have paperwork. We walk through, again, just so many so many different safety stuff, And then we're I'll I'll I'll explain to them kinda what the matching process looks like and and how all that all that goes down. So, hopefully, within, you know, 30 days or, however long it takes, we'll match them to a kid where I'm like, hey. We're not gonna start mentoring until we sit down with mom. Because if mom is not on board with what's happening or is not in the loop, then we're dropping the ball.
Speaker 3:Because, again, we we wanna be in a position where Jesus is our hero, but we're gonna honor mom first and foremost. It's not about us as the mentors. We're here to support this person who is providing so much for their kid. Yeah. So I I think that if we're ever coming from a place of look at what our ministry is doing in the community, how is that gonna make a mom feel?
Speaker 3:You know? Like, we wanna sit down, hear her, let her get to know that mentor, that guy who's hanging out with her kid, you know, and and make sure that that we're good there. So then after that, that's when that's when the mentoring would start. So I know I just gave you a long answer, but, yeah, that's what the that's what the onboarding process looks like.
Speaker 1:And and it's so important that you guys go through each and every step because the more training a mentor gets, the more they feel invested into, the more confident they will be, the better experience they have, which means that they will be a better mentor. They'll be more resilient, but they're they'll also be able to tell all of their friends. Like, hey. Look. Like, this this isn't a nonprofit that just tosses us out there and just says, hey, man.
Speaker 1:You, you know, go out there and have fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:No. No. They they invest into us. And so, and that is ultimately, the best way to recruit is to have your current mentors have an amazing experience. And, also, I think one thing that we talk about a ton is how to recruit, how to recruit.
Speaker 1:But very seldom do we talk about retaining mentors. That's right. So how do you how do you guys help mentors continue to to feel known and invested into and supported so that you can retain them?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, like I said, like, that goes back to that first sit down where if I'm not starting to build a relationship with this volunteer, how would I have the expectation that he would be willing to stay for 10 years or whatever, you know, or to maybe if a kid moves away to get rematched. I mean, it's it's about it's about having a relationship with him. And so through that's through the whole onboarding process. But, you know, after that's over, after that mentor is matched and he starts his mentoring, I mean, am I just dropping off and just moving on to the next guy to get more and more and more and more?
Speaker 3:I think that we I need to be careful, and I need to definitely be in a place of checking in on that on that mentor. So at 4 Runner, you know, we say we want to check-in once a month, and, that can look not necessarily face to face. That's just checking in, in different ways to let them know that we're here, that we care, and that, you know I think guys do appreciate that we want to hold them accountable to the commitment that they're making month to month. And so, doing that, but I think really sitting down face to face, 2 times a year is big. Hey.
Speaker 3:Let's take time where we're doing nothing but talking about, how you're doing, how maybe how I'm doing, develop continue to develop our relationship, and then how what does it look like with your mentee right now? How can we be praying with you, for your ministry that you that you're doing? And so I think that's important. I think it's really important too if I'm you know, I'm running around, you know, all of our different programs and seeing all these different things. When I see a guy, one of our mentors there showing up.
Speaker 3:I think it's really important for for me to go talk to that guy and to make to check just little check ins. Like, that's that's important. I think it's important to remind the boys that are being mentored to say thank you. I mean, that's that's something that I talk to our, coordinators who run our after school program about. It's like, how can we equip our boys to say thank you?
Speaker 3:How can we train them and and help them see the importance of saying thank you? Because, I mean, I think in reality, that's something that we all need. We all want to know that what we're doing is impactful. And I think that a mentor would probably be more likely to stay if a mentee was able to to learn and to express how to say, hey. You're making a big impact on me.
Speaker 3:You know? And it may not sound like that, but saying saying thank you, and it's a lot of power in that. And so if we're if we're training and equipping and helping our boys understand so if I if I ever see a mentor at program and he's saying that with his mentee, you know, if he if the mentor is doing something else for a second, I'll be like, hey. Let's make sure we're saying you know, we gotta make sure we're saying thank you to your mentor for for showing up. And isn't he awesome that he that he's coming and spending his time with you today?
Speaker 3:Like, man, that's so that's so dope. I hope you say thank you. So kinda kinda some of those elements of we want us as a staff to to know like, let these guys know that we care and we wanna invest in them. Truly, like, it's not just about the volunteering. There's so many cool guys that I've met because of, you know, my role.
Speaker 3:I have, all these guys that are amazing humans. I I wanna get to know them. Like, they're all growing and sharpening me, you know, just because I'm in this seat. Like, I wanna get to know them. And so that's so cool.
Speaker 3:But then also helping our boys learn how to say thank you. I think those 2 2 things are big.
Speaker 1:Noah, has, there ever been a time where you've had a volunteer mentor kinda lose vision or heart? And if so, like, how how do you go about kinda reengaging them?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. That's always hard. It's hard to know how to to step into that space because you don't want to do like, push them even further away. Right?
Speaker 3:But you're not fulfilling your commitment. Like, that's that's gonna be that's a hard dynamic. I think that, yeah, I I I think that finding time to sit down with that guy just like a kid when a kid is maybe acting up, and it's like, well, something's actually probably going on behind the scenes. Right? A kid is always acting the way that he's acting for a reason.
Speaker 3:So it's I I need to catch myself. You know, sometimes it's easy for me to be like, oh, maybe this volunteer hasn't showed up for a little bit. Like, why why is that? And instead, like, just like with our boys in our program, like, I need to take time to to hear like, to go, it's, again, relationships. I need to make sure that that guy's okay and to to hear about what's going on maybe at home or, in his work life or whatever.
Speaker 3:So when you go and sit down with that mentor and hear that, oh, wow. You're you're struggling with this or going through this, then it all kinda starts to fall together. And so I think that I want to make sure I'm approaching all of our guys who are maybe, you know, struggling to fulfill that commitment, who maybe seem to have lost vision with grace. And, like, this isn't I'm not some domineering staff member who's, like, waiting to see who's fulfilling their commitment and not like, I'm really not. And, I I want to I wanna sit down and hear about what's going on.
Speaker 3:And so I I think about and, you know, in Revelation where God is talking to is it Ephesus, the church in Ephesus, about losing their first love? I I believe it is. And so, like, with mentors, like, how can we help them find remind them of their first love for why you signed up to do this in the first place. At the heart of that, it's it's what Jesus has done for us. And so now we're called to go, and and be about our neighbor.
Speaker 3:And so helping them like, hey, mentor. When is the last time you did something really fun, like, with your mentee? Like, not just maybe show up to program and, you know, check the box of, yeah, I showed up. Like, when is the last time you did something that you really enjoyed? Like, that was really fun for you.
Speaker 3:I I think that we're helping remind mentor these guys who maybe have lost vision to do things that remind them of why they've signed up in the first place. And go do something really fun with your mentee. Go to a trampoline park. You know? Go to, you know, go shoe hoops.
Speaker 3:Go whatever it is that you signed up to do, go back and do that. And so those would be my first approaches to to listen, to hear out, like, what's going on, to remind them to to do do what they first signed up to do, and then kinda just go go from there. Every situation is gonna be different. So I don't I don't know if there's a perfect answer for that. But, yeah, those are those are the things that come top of mind.
Speaker 1:And I think it all comes back to culture, Noah. You know? I mean, like, are are you in a culture that cares for people? Are you in a culture where people feel known and valued and invested into, whether that's your staff or your, you know, volunteer mentors? Because if your staff or your volunteers feel invested into, if they feel known, if they feel encouraged, like, man, it's so important to encourage our mentors.
Speaker 1:Like, if you guys can send them an email, if you can send them a text, if you can give them a phone call or, like, a voice memo, all every mentor needs to be encouraged more. So but if you're investing into your people like that, then those people will invest into your kids, which that is the ultimate win. Right? So encouraged, well known, well invested into loved mentors, they give those same things to their kiddos. And so if you want more mentors, if you wanna have a culture of, relationship, of engagement, of stability, the best thing you can do is to mentor your mentors, is to make make sure that they're good.
Speaker 1:Because when they're good, the chances of them investing into their mentees in a positive way just skyrockets. But, man, it it is it is vital that if you want more mentors, first and foremost, you have to make sure that the current mentors are having a positive experience. And, dude, it it does come back to relationship. It comes back to being known. It comes back to them feeling like they are cared for.
Speaker 1:So that's a good word, Noah. Man, do you got any good stories or anything about how a volunteer's life right? Like, how they kinda came in to change a kid's life, but they ended up having having a life that was changed themselves?
Speaker 3:Oh, man. Yeah. I I, I think that recently we had I I don't know. It's just like one of those things where sometimes you see someone who just from, like, a worldly perspective has less than you, but they're have more joy or they're just they seem to be, you know, just really in love with Jesus and and and glorifying him and, with with everything that they're saying. And it's like you kinda walk out of that situation like, I have no reason to complain ever again, ever again.
Speaker 3:And I we had one I I had one of those, experiences the other day, and I I think the volunteer did too. It's like, you come in thinking that you're gonna help a kid, you know, follow Jesus. You're gonna make this big impact. And, you know, hopefully, all those things are true. But you see a kid's faith that that childlike faith that Jesus talks about, a kid with less than you, or maybe a hard circumstance, but a a joy that is, clear and that really stands out.
Speaker 3:And, I think that that's that's something that this this mentor specifically was, like, kinda blown away by. And that that starts to shift some sort of perspective in your life about what matters. And, so I remember, yeah, this mentor told me, it's like, man, my kid, he doesn't seem to have much, nope, just from my perspective and, struggling, you know, maybe in these areas. But he's excited to come to forerunner and to learn about Jesus. Like, that's he's just so excited to do that.
Speaker 3:He's so excited to, you know, go and, hang out with me. Like, whenever I show up, he comes and gives me a huge hug, and he is just beyond excited to throw the football. And, you know, you have you have mom encouraging that mentor, like, in tears. Like, oh my gosh. You've made such a big impact on my son.
Speaker 3:And the mentor's like, I just came to play Foursquare. You know? I didn't do anything. And that and but the mom and the kid are are just so thankful. And I think that that's gonna have a really a really big impact on a volunteer where they that's gonna change something in them to to see the power of you know, obviously, you know, god's doing this work through me.
Speaker 3:It's not about me. I'm just showing up. But if we're prayerfully showing up and asking the spirit to move, then it's fun to sit back and watch, you know, god move. And, so I I had a mentor, yeah, recently kinda had that experience where he's just showing up, helping a kid who he thought maybe didn't have a lot, and but he that kid and that mom loved the lord, and that rose stood out to that mentor. And, you know, him just showing up, that that has an impact on him.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's an awesome story. No. So, man, my very last question. Like, tell tell me what you guys as a nonprofit do to tell your volunteer mentor's thinking.
Speaker 1:Like, do you guys have any gifts? Do you guys have any parties? Like, how how do y'all make sure that they're staying, staying encouraged?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I'll I'll say this. That's definitely something that we can grow in. We we want to grow. I want to grow, and and saying thank you to our mentors.
Speaker 3:One thing that, that we that we've done this last year, is I'll I'll I you know, T shirts, like, seem small, but when you give, like, your volant like, a a volunteer group, like, a quality gift, like, that's that's gonna mean something, to them. So, like, hey. We we recognize what you've been doing all year this year and and showing up for your mentee. So what not a non quality T shirt, but getting them something, like, that's actually cool, you know, that they would wear. Like I said, and and and saying thank you.
Speaker 3:I wanna be, in the habit of writing thank you notes, like, once a week. Let's write. Let's, you know, knock out a couple of thank you notes. Not just to be in the practice of doing it, but because I actually, like, am really thankful for what our mentors are doing. So being in the practice of doing that.
Speaker 3:Whenever we, like, throw a retreat for our mentors, you know, we wanna come in from this perspective. Hey. We wanna train and equip our mentors to do what they do. But let's also just take let's set aside some time to really make this a fun experience for them and to really say thank like, how do we say thank you and just encourage them and let them know, that what they're doing is really, really awesome. Every time I sit down with a mentor for coffee or lunch and, you know, in one of those support meetings, I hope that they walk away encouraged.
Speaker 3:You know? I hope that if we're asking our kids to say thank you to them, that we're doing the same thing. So I really hope that that's an encouraging time where they feel strengthened in in what they're doing. So whether it's meeting up with them, throwing a retreat, or giving them just a small token of, our gratitude, like a T shirt or or some sort of gift, I think that those are all ways. One thing that I wanna grow in is, marking down all of the match anniversaries that, the mentor and the mentee have.
Speaker 3:I need to get better at that of, hey, bro. You just hit 2 years of mentoring this kid. Like, wow. Like, think back to when you first started. Like, what's changed?
Speaker 3:Like, I'm sure that we've seen God do a lot. And so I I need to get better at doing that, but I think that those were all some some thoughts of of how to how to celebrate our guys.
Speaker 1:It's a good word, Noah. Thanks, buddy.
Speaker 3:Sir.
Speaker 1:Alright, Noah. So tell people how they can find you, bud.
Speaker 3:How they can find me?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:They can find me by looking up 4 Runner mentoring.com and go into our staff page. Yeah. My my email and my number, I think, are both are both listed on there. So yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, Noah, thanks so much for taking time out, man. Really, really appreciate you, dropping some good wisdom on recruiting and retaining and saying thank you and all of that stuff. So, guys, thank you so much for tuning in. If this podcast encouraged you, be sure to share it with a friend.
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