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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.
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Zach:Find out more by following us on social media or going to our website at youcanmentor.com. You can mentor.
Zach:Alright. Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. It's your boy, Zach, and I'm here with, might I say, our number one fan, Andy Paul. Andy, say hello.
Andy:Hey. What's up, everybody? I'm working on getting my number one fan T shirt made just so I can start wearing it on a regular basis. I'm not gonna say what it's for, but just says number 1 fan on it so people can apply it to to whatever they're whatever they're doing.
Zach:Andy, that's a great marketing tool, my man. I need to hire you or something because I wanna see this thing go worldwide, and you might be the solution to the problem that I've been facing.
Andy:If folks are looking for a a scrawny redhead to be their influencer, I know a guy that that may be able to get it done.
Zach:A scrawny redhead with a thick southern accent, might I add.
Andy:It's, I've worked on reducing it some, but it it comes out.
Zach:It it Oh, dude.
Andy:It's all I can do.
Zach:Oh, man. I absolutely love it. Okay. So Andy Paul is seriously I think he is our number one fan. So Andy's been, tuned in to the podcast since we started.
Zach:He might have listened to more episodes than me, which is impressive. But but he he is the youth pastor at Salem Baptist Church in Lexington, Georgia. So, Andy, why don't you tell the folks about how you got on to the podcast? Who are you? What do you do?
Zach:All of the good stuff.
Andy:Yeah. Yeah. I, I've been listening to to You Can Mentor since, I guess, 2019 or so. Just thought it was one of the coolest podcasts that spoke directly to to what I was doing. And so that that's how Zach and I got to to virtually meet and slid in each other's DMs, doing some encouragement, and, and here we are today.
Andy:But like you said, my name is, Andy Paul. I I live in the greatest little town in the world, Lexington, Georgia, which if you're looking at the map of our state, which has been all over the news recently with with political events going on, it's not fun living in a battleground state. I haven't seen a normal commercial in generations, it feels like. I live in Lexington, Georgia up in the northeast part about 30 minutes east of Athens, Georgia, without traffic about a hour and a half east of of Atlanta, Georgia. My wife and I are here.
Andy:We live, on about 5 acres, in an old hay pasture right next to my parents. This is this is where I grew up at. My wife is the ag teacher at the local high school where she teaches floral floriculture, and animal science. I I'm a bivocational youth pastor, and so I also work for Georgia EMC, doing public relations for them. I get to work with students and with the ag industry, but my heart is, here at Salem Baptist where I've been the youth minister for 3 years, at this point.
Andy:And, it's the church that that I I grew up in, the the church that challenged me the most, the church I went to youth group in, and, yeah, get to get to be here on Sundays and Wednesdays and and all the time throughout, pouring into to folks in our in our community.
Zach:Yeah, Andy. That's awesome, man. So Andy and I connected over the phone last week. And one of my favorite things is when people are like, I just don't feel qualified to be on the podcast. And I was like, Andy, bro.
Zach:Like, this is the name of the podcast. It is You Can Mentor. Like, we are trying to get people on our podcast who might see themselves as not having having a ton to offer. But you do have a ton to offer, Andy, because you can mentor. But I'm excited to hear and I just love the fact that we're talking about mentoring within the church because youth pastors I mean, that is mentoring.
Zach:You know, you talk to my my man, mister miss mister John Bernard, and John says, I wanna get a get away from calling youth pastors, youth pastors. And I just wanna call them mentors. And I'm like, John, that might be a tad bit too extreme, but I get I I get it. But, Andy, man, so tell us, first and foremost, how did you become the the youth pastor making disciples, mentoring in your home church? It's a cool story.
Andy:Yeah. So I, I started coming to Salem in, on Wednesday nights for youth group in in 2009. I came my 1st Sunday morning in October of 2010, and I joined the church 3 weeks later. Stayed involved all throughout youth group, and and once I once I graduated college, came back and started serving in youth ministry and, got married to my wife in November of 2021. So we're coming up on 3 years in just a few weeks.
Andy:And we were going through some life changes. You know, marriage is when it becomes instead of what's my schedule, what do I need to get done to to how do we spend time together, and and we were getting ready to build a house and had a lot of of what we thought were were separate and distinct prayers from one another, and, one of those prayers was about, our future in ministry. And, I'll never forget we were leaving our friend Jackie's wedding in Tifton, Georgia, which is in the southern part of our state, driving to Atlanta to drop another friend off at the airport. And Jordan and I had this conversation about, ministry being in our future, and and I said these exact words that I think ministry is in my future, but I never wanna leave Salem because that's our home. I I know the Lord has called us there and also told her I never wanted the current youth pastor, Brody, to leave because he was my youth pastor, and he was the best at it.
Andy:And Zach, within 30 minutes, of that conversation on the road, I got a call from Brody saying that he was going to another church. And so we were like, alright, lord. Like, you made this abundantly clear. We we know what we've gotta do. And so, I started, being the interim youth pastor, for about 6 months.
Andy:Just wanted to make sure I could could balance it all. I don't know if I am balancing it all, but trying. And, yeah, we're going on going on 3 years now here at Salem.
Zach:That's awesome, Andy. Give us a good story in regards to, you know, being a youth minister because I because I feel like every good youth pastor has a good story. So There's a couple there.
Andy:I'll share I'll take the liberty and share 2 of them that are that are my favorites. The the first one, I I like to blame on the American education system with fire drills. If I hear a fire drill now, unless I'm home, if I hear a fire alarm, I automatically assume drill. And so we were at a, actually at a youth conference in Athens, Georgia. And it was the last night that the pastor was just about to do this altar call, and you've got about 2,000 kids there.
Andy:And he's doing that thing that pastors do where they start talking really soft and really slow. And so you know it's coming. Like, he he's about to call folks down. We're about to have salvations. And right at that moment, the fire alarm goes off.
Andy:And I had, one of our young guys, it was one of his first trips with the youth group. He looked at me dead in the eyes, and he said, Andy, am am I gonna die? And looking back, I wish I had used that. I was like, yeah, man. Like, this is it.
Andy:Are you saved? Like, let's let's clear that up right now. But what I think is the most realistic I get tongue tied pretty easily, and, obviously, being in youth ministry, you're speaking a decent amount, and we are playing a a classic youth group game, of mafia. And so if there's any other youth ministers, youth pastors listening to this, no. You're not alone if you say the wrong thing.
Andy:We're playing mafia. Big part of that game is is where the city or the town falls asleep, and I'm moderating the game. And my brain tries to say the word town and city at the same time, and, unfortunately, what I told to go to sleep, started with the same letter as town and rhymed with city. And so imagine having to to bring a a youth group back after after saying that on a Wednesday night. So that that's, that that one has never left me, and I I don't think it ever is.
Zach:Oh, man. I love that. Do you have, like, any parents be like, hey, Andy. I heard that you said a word that you shouldn't have said.
Andy:I I didn't. I I I tried to and, man, I I was going with it. I I said it, and then I was like,
Zach:And so
Andy:I was like, you know what? We're just gonna keep going. We're not gonna address it. And my wife who who runs the slides for me, you just hear her cackling behind the curtains. And so we had to we had to pull the curtain back, address it, we move forward.
Andy:And I said, if you guys have questions, just tell them I'm weird. Just tell them I suck, and and we'll be okay. We'll be fine.
Zach:Oh, man. I love that. That's so good. Man, I remember so I was a youth pastor for 3 years after college. And one one day, I'm trying to teach the kids about being a fisher of men.
Zach:Right? And I thought that it would be a good idea to paint a picture in their mind of what what a fish, you know, fish and fisher of men, and maybe Jesus got confused whenever he said fisher of men. Maybe he was just talking about fish. So I went to the, you know, I went to the grocery store and I got 4 dead fish. And the game before the lesson was tossing dead fish at each other, and the dead fish were frozen.
Zach:They, like, laddered apart. There's fish guts everywhere. Your hands smelled. The kids smelled. The parents walked in.
Zach:They were like, Zach, what are you doing? And I was like, I mean, I'm just trying to teach them about being a fish for men.
Andy:And now This is ministry. At its core, this
Zach:is This is ministry. Like, this is youth ministry. So, I mean, saying bad words, casting dead fish, it's all about the kingdom, bro.
Andy:So Yeah. It's it's all for the kids. All for the kids. Yes.
Zach:Yes. Okay, man. So what is mentoring in youth ministry? Tell me how the 2, go together.
Andy:Yeah. I I think mentoring is is coming alongside, and and I feel like you hear that often. You know, we're meant to come alongside people and and do life with them and but but what does that that mean practically? I I remember reading the first time you know, you you study scripture growing up and then randomly stories just jump out to you. And I remember I was in college and reading through Acts, and that was the first time I remember hearing about this guy named Barnabas.
Andy:You know, we first meet Barnabas in Acts chapter 4. He's selling a plot of land, giving all the proceeds to the church. And then he has what I think is the best description. In Acts chapter 11 verse 24, it says he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit, and led people to Christ. But but the thing with Barnabas is we don't talk about him all that often in comparison to the guy that he was mentoring, this this guy named Saul, who later became Paul as as we know it.
Andy:And and I think that's what ministry in the church is all about, is understanding that that we have got a a room full of full of Sauls in the room. And our job is to come alongside. It is to train them, to equip them. And and what's so fascinating to me about that story, if you look at the the grammar or the sentence structure, it it starts off at as Barnabas and Saul throughout all of it. Then it becomes Barnabas and Paul, and eventually it becomes Paul and Barnabas, which shows he was able to take a step back.
Andy:Like, he he had invested in this young man. He had worked for this young man. Then he took a step back because it was their it was Paul's opportunity to go and preach and to proclaim the gospel. But but what does that look like practically? I I think it means connecting young folks and people in the youth group with older members of the church.
Andy:One of the most dangerous things we can do is have youth group feel separate from the rest of the church. And that's one of the reasons I I love, the community that that we get to serve in so much. It is seeing our freshman guys hug the the 75, 80 year old ladies when they come in for supper on Wednesday nights. You know, hearing about, our groups, our our small group of girls about a month and a half ago went to, a sister of one of our Sunday school members, went to her house, to help cut down a tree and stack firewood. And seeing the adults in the room that love those kids so much and and they wanna support them, they wanna work alongside them, and they want them to know that they're valued, I think that's what ministry is in the church.
Andy:It's making it not separate rooms, but making it the the congregation, where where kids thought they were part of the the big c church.
Zach:Yeah. And I think early on in my mentoring career, you know, whether it's because I was arrogant or maybe it's just because I just didn't know any better, I really thought I was like, okay, this is my mentee and this is my responsibility and we're gonna make it happen. And, yeah, we saw some improvement. We saw this kid, you know, do better in school or come to know Jesus or this and that. But what I've learned over my last, you know, couple seasons is it's so much better when you do it with other people.
Zach:Because the kid that you mentor has so many needs. You know? Whether it's they need to do better in school, they need to know Jesus, they need to know how to shake a hand, they need to know how to, you know, have a power tool tool, you know, doing anything like that, football or art or singing or and also, you're just not gonna connect with every single kid that well, right? And so what's so good about the church is you introduce them to people who can teach them different things, right? And also you give them more opportunities to connect at a deep, at a deeper level with other adults.
Zach:And so anyone who is mentoring, I, I highly recommend, yes, it's great to spend time with your kid, whether you're doing it through a not for profit or through a school. But if you can get that kid into a church, then that is just going to, help you maximize the opportunity to invest into them. So
Andy:Yeah. And and I think too sometimes we in today's culture, something I've seen a lot is there's this glorification of burnout when it comes to serving people and working with people, and it's who showed up first and who stayed the latest, which which are which are great qualities. But if we're showing up first just for the sake of showing up first, then then that meekness can become arrogance really fast. And and I think especially as we're working with students, Yeah. I wanna I wanna have a a individualized deep relationship with every single student and youth group, but that's, 1, not feasible, and 2, it's not fair.
Andy:It's not fair to those kids that I can't give them the my full attention. Not fair to my wife. It's not fair to to everybody. You know, you just can't you can't do it all. And I think folks need to hear that more in in a in a age of, like, go out and do it.
Andy:Yeah. You you can try, but you can't. You can't do it. You can't do it all. You can't be a hero.
Andy:You can't mentor everybody. You know? You you really gotta connect with other folks to come alongside.
Zach:Yeah. And, I mean, 1 youth pastor or 1 mentor with 20 kids or 30 kids, I mean, that's a that's a big load. But if you but if you've got 1 pastor and 10 volunteers with 30 kids, well, then you're only asking 1 person to invest into, you know, 2 or 3 kids, and that's a whole lot more feasible.
Andy:So It is.
Zach:That's a good deal, man. Tell me about mentoring in rural USA. How's it different from mentoring in, like, a big city?
Andy:I'm biased. It's it's all I've ever known, but I I love getting to to be in rural areas. For for example, Lexington, Georgia looked up 20 20 census. We had 205 people in our town. Our whole county, we've got one stoplight, and it it is always red.
Andy:It doesn't matter where you're going through it. It's always gonna be red at the worst possible time. But the great thing about rural mentoring in rural communities is because there's only one of everything. For example, in Oglethorpe County, there there's one primary, there's one elementary, there's one middle, there's one high school, there's one grocery store in town. There there's only a couple of gas stations, and so when we live and when we serve in this community, we're running into the community where we're at.
Andy:You know? It's rare that I get to go to the local grocery store. I try and go on Fridays to see what meat's on sale, to cook for the weekend. It's something my dad taught me to do, and, it's rare I don't go in there and see somebody I know or or see a kid or see a parent, that's that's at church and have the chance to to connect with them. And so it it really, 1, holds you accountable.
Andy:Right? Because you you can't be acting a fool in public because the the students you're working with are gonna hear about it, or they may even see it. But, man, it also provides an opportunity to knock out several birds with one stone because I I can go to one game and support 6 kids. You know, I I can be at one event and see a majority of our youth group and their friends in the community, which which is huge. Part of rural life, though, is also understanding distance, becomes more of of an issue.
Andy:And so you've gotta find places to to connect that. You know, it it's not uncommon for folks to live. You know, my wife and I are are 30 minutes from the Walmart. It's so it's it's not like we can just run, take a kid grocery shopping with us. So it it requires planning.
Andy:It requires forethought. But, also, one thing that that I've experienced a lot, Internet in rural areas is is not great. It it'll drop. If it's a little cloudy, if there's a slight wind, I'll run out of Internet. And so, virtual connections aren't as feasible as well, which in a sense forces you to do in person events, which I think our our kids are wanting to get get back to anyways.
Andy:So that that's kinda what it feels like in a rural area. There's a lot of pressure to you gotta be who you are all the time, but, man, it's great to see them at the gas station and to see their parents driving. You know when they get a new car. You know when they do well on a test because you're you're there. You know, you're you're just right down the road.
Zach:Man, that's so interesting. I mean, 2 205 people in your city?
Andy:That's nuts, man.
Zach:I got 205 people in my neighborhood.
Andy:It's a it's a little place. It's a Yeah. It's a it's a great spot. Of course, we'd like to see a little bit of growth, but the one thing so we're we're right outside of Athens, which is where University of Georgia is at. And all the counties around us are experiencing some some push and some some urban encroachment.
Andy:A Bullport County isn't, and and we kinda like it because it keeps the small town vibes, the small town feel, everywhere we get to go.
Zach:Man, Andy, so 2 of us were talking over the phone and, you know, there's one thing that we try to do on every podcast, and that's try to put a tool into the tool belt of a mentor. And so, why don't you share with us some of the things that you've learned in how to build a relationship with a kid, how to teach them about God's word, help them fulfill their potential. Just give us some of your give us some of your tricks and and tips, my man.
Andy:Yeah. And and all these are stolen from somebody else. Everything that
Zach:I do,
Andy:I had a mentor. I I get emotional thinking about the mentors that I've had in my life that have invested in me when I wasn't deserving or or worthy of it and was arrogant as a kid and, how they they kept pouring into me even even as an adult with the times that I I didn't deserve their love and their grace, and they they gave it. The the tips and tricks, my favorite one is forcing kids to like what you like to do. Man, I'm a sucker for a good cup of coffee. And so I I make it a point, to train kids to love a good cup of coffee because then we can go and and get a cup of coffee together.
Andy:And so, that's one that I like. The other piece that I feel like I I or pieces I use the most often, I had a mentor one time recommend a 1 week bible study with me. And what we did was we went through a a book of the bible that had 4 or 5 chapters in it. And all it was, we read a chapter a day, and we texted each other the verse that jumped out to us the most and what that meant for us, going into the next day. And it's such a simple way to get students into reading their bible daily if they're not there, already.
Andy:And there's so many books of the bible that have, you know, 4 or 5 trackers in them. Just a great way to to get plugged in. And then when that relationship is developed, you could start doing those on a longer term. We can do Romans. We can do hacks.
Andy:We can do these that have a whole lot of trackers in them because daily bible reading has become a part of our of our daily routine. So that's something that I like to do. The other piece, I'm a communications nerd. I'm not good at writing. I'm not good at at digital creation, but I love the the spoken word.
Andy:I love speeches. I love using imagery when it comes to, teaching gospel lessons, and and those are ones that I feel like have stuck the most with the students that I get to work with. One that I always use is the verse that talks about how beautiful are the feet of those that go and share the good news. And, not that I love talking about feet, but I I think it gives us a a really clear image of what biblical work looks like. We think about in Jesus' day and age, they didn't have orthopedic shoes.
Andy:They didn't have the best, boots to walk around in. It was manual labor. It was hard walking, and the shoes were those thin, simple sandals. And so when we think about that phrase, how beautiful are the feet, those feet were bruised, and they were broken. They were ugly.
Andy:And so when I'm working with students and we're doing good work, I often remind them, you know, if your feet hurt, you're doing the right thing. Like, it it it's gonna be hard. There's gonna be times where you don't wanna take another step. But for the sake of the gospel, man, we're gonna take another step every single time. I, I love the image, and and one that the Lord has showed to me recently is is the story of Jochebed, which is the mother of Moses, which we don't learn her name until 6 chapters later in exodus.
Andy:And it's one of those genealogies, which, let's be honest, we skip past. We see a bunch of names coming through it, and we jump on through it. But Jochebed, when we know the end of her story, we know the end of Moses' story, we don't think about the fact that Jochebed had to put the thing that she loved the most, and we picture this cute little little boat, this little canoe that she puts in. I I think of, The Prince of Egypt, one of the greatest movies ever, and I can see that and this happy baby going in this perfectly crafted basket. In reality, what what Jochebed could have been building was a casket for her child, but pursuing the lord was worth putting her dreams to death knowing only he could resurrect him.
Andy:And so imagery with students is asking them, like, what what is taking up your attention? Put it in the basket. It doesn't mean you don't love it. It just means you trust the Lord to take care of it. And one image I I use as I'm training folks to to be volunteers and to mentor, It's even a seat belt can provide a broken collarbone.
Andy:I think in mentoring, our job, our ultimate goal is to keep students safe. And sometimes, keeping students safe may mean their feelings get hurt or may mean they're not the happiest with us, but it kept them alive. And if I'm a seat belt, that that's my purpose. Keep them alive. Push them towards the gospel.
Andy:Even if it hurts in the moment, it's gonna be worth it worth it in the long term.
Zach:Andy, look at you, man. You're just dropping some knowledge.
Andy:Oh, it's a I I love I love word pictures. I I love images. I think it helps our students to to grasp biblical concepts and apply them in everyday life. That I I can't tell you how many times when I work with students, especially in my previous job as I worked with Georgia FFA doing leadership development, public speaking trainings. And I tell them all the time, like, I hope your feet hurt.
Andy:Like, are your feet good? If they're not hurting, get to walking because we we've got people to serve. And so it it just it clicks better, I think, with students when there's a image behind it.
Zach:Well and just, like, I mean, trying not to tie it back to the story of me tossing a bunch of fish in, you know, the church building and fish guts getting all over our kids. But there's probably a kid out there who whenever he sees a dead fish, he's like, man, I had this youth pastor once who did this stupid game where he threw fish at us in the middle of Sunday school. And so if there's anything that you can do to tie a piece of God's truth to something that a kid will see often. You know, there's a kid out there, Andy, who has heard your story about the basket. And now, every time that they see a basket, they are reminded about Moses.
Zach:And, they're reminded about the sacrifice that, you know, that was made to, help him pursue what the Lord had for him. And so anything that we can do as mentors to kinda burn in in a kid's head an image of, like, hey. When you see this, think of this. That's always a win. Right?
Andy:Yeah. And honestly, I hope they forget I'm the one that told them. If 30 years from now, if they ran him like, I I can't remember who said it, but I remember God's word. Man, that's the best part of it because it means it was them and the Holy Spirit in that moment, and we were we were taken completely out of it. And so, yeah, if if it gets burned in their head, then they can they can reuse it and share it with with somebody else down the road.
Andy:I mean, I I think about the mentors for me who taught me some of these things. One of my mentors, mister Cody Back, he he one day, I was under a lot of stress, and he pulled out a rubber band, and he said, Andy, a a loose rubber band has no purpose. I'm like, it's weird. What are you talking about? And he said that a rubber band only works when it's pulled multiple directions.
Andy:So if you feel like you're being pulled in a lot of ways, it means it's time to work. And I'm able to pass that along to my students because somebody told mister Bach that. Mister Bach told me that, and I get to send it on down the road. And so, it's it's just a cool spot to be in.
Zach:Yeah, man. You talked earlier about your youth pastor. I think his name was mister Brody. Is that right? Yeah, man.
Zach:So just, like, if possible, what are some things that he taught you, or what are some things that you saw him do that you tried to, that you tried to do now?
Andy:Yeah. I I am so thankful for Brody. He and I still get to talk on a on a semi regular basis, not as much as as we I think we both like to. Things that that I look back and see that he did. Brody showed up, to events.
Andy:And he wasn't at every soccer game. He I raised pigs in school. He wasn't at every pig show, but he was there, you know, and and I could look out into the stands and see him there. He would text and check-in. And so that's a big piece that I that I remember from him was was Brody showed up, for his kids.
Andy:He he had radical hospitality. Events were always at at his home, Christmas parties, you know, watching Georgia games. And that, I think, is what mentoring is also about too. It's, it is it's right up to hospitality. It's inviting kids and and youth into our lives because if they can see my wife and I be lazy around the house, that may be the the example of what a a marriage they need to see looks like.
Andy:And so I, those are some of the big things I remember, and there's, of course, some some skills he gave me, you know, when it comes to redirecting students' attention. We have the impossible shot, which is where, students get to shoot a bow and arrow at a, at a board if they bring a friend. If they hit it, they get a $5 gift card. You know? And it it just invites encourages students to invite people to church.
Andy:And so it's a there there's so much I could go on and and share, but but those are 3 of the main things that that I remember. He showed up. He had radical hospitality, and he taught me how to how to help invite kids to church.
Zach:And I can re remember as a kid, you know, I didn't have a dad around and whenever my youth pastor would tell me that he would come to my games. It was legitimately the only thing that I thought about. Yep. Before my games. I was like, man, where's Darren?
Zach:Where's Darren? Where's Darren? Where's Darren? And then whenever I caught his eye, I tried my hardest to look like it didn't impact me, but on the inside I was going nuts, man. Yeah.
Zach:Because when, especially a kid who doesn't have anyone showing up for them on a consistent basis, when you show up for a kid to a sporting event, to whatever it is that they are involved in, it communicates more than I think we could possibly imagine. I mean, it communicates value. It communicates worth. It communicates, I'm going to sacrifice my time to show you how much I care about you. And that is a big deal.
Andy:And even if we don't get the chance, I mean, if you're going to a a football game, you're probably not gonna get to talk to that kid too much. And, hopefully, you get a chance to speak to him, but even if the next Wednesday, you could say, listen. I saw you make this big play. Man, that speaks volumes to them because somebody that doesn't have to be there gets to be there. And it just I think it speaks volumes to to the work that we get to do.
Zach:Yeah. And here's a tip for all of us mentors out there. If you only have half an hour, if you only have, you know, 10 or 15 minutes, you can literally go into the gang, shout the kid's name. As soon as you make eye contact, feel free to leave because you came and they saw you, and that really is all that matters. You don't have to spend multiple hours, you know, watching every single game because there's a lot of them.
Zach:If you can just show up, that's a big deal. So
Andy:And be be smart with your resources. If there's a chance you can go to one game and if you have kids in multiple schools and they're playing each other, make it a goal to to visit that game. Or if you're on a work trip somewhere and there's a game close to you, make it a make it a goal to go to that one because it it aligns with your life easier, and you're not killing yourself trying to see all, you know, 35, 40 kids. Just knock them all out as as as quick as you can. Save yourself because we can't be on the road every single day.
Zach:Right. Yeah. Because, I mean, you might have to get to a pig show. Right? Yeah.
Zach:Andy, what's a pig show? I've never even heard that.
Andy:Yeah. I mean, you, it's with FFA and 4 h. So, you raise raise a hog. You feed it. You try and make it look the best you can according to industry standards.
Andy:You know, you want you want good muscling. You want good good conditioning, good fat coverage on it, and then you you take it into a ring. You you walk it using a a small little whip, and go around and see who can exhibit their their animal the best man. If you ever come to Georgia, man, I got some things I can show you when it comes to the wrong Man, I can't wait. Places to go.
Zach:I can't wait, Andy. It's awesome. Alright, man. Anything else that, you would have to share with us? You wanna give any shout outs or anything like that?
Andy:I'm so thankful for I think about shout outs. My wife is, just the best, at coming and helping and supporting, and I couldn't do what I get to do because our lives are are crazy busy. I have a full time job, and then I'm part time here at the church. And there are days where life calls me calls me away for for work related events, and and Jordan steps in. She takes care of.
Andy:And when we work with kids, we know that they're they're work we're both working with them. And so it's just it's such a blessing to to serve alongside her, and I I couldn't do what I do without her. And there's no way I could list all the mentors that have affected me in my life, but the ones that I think of in this exact moment, I don't know if they're gonna listen to this. I'm a send it to them because we're trying to make this thing worldwide. But the folks that have changed my life and have mentored me so much for the better, my dad, Jeff Paul, Ben Lastly, Cody Back, Brody Bearden, McCain Thurman.
Andy:I mean, those those are the guys that have invested in me when I was very undeserving. And so I don't know if they're listening to this, but I am so, so grateful grateful for this. And and my pastor, pastor Brett, also here at Salem for trusting me to to do this. And so, yeah, I think that's I think that's all I got.
Zach:Man and, Andy, what I love about this, man, is god's a god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Right? And what these other men invested into you, now you get to invest into the next. And those kids that you're seeing each and every week, one day, some kid's gonna be like, man, how in the world did I become who I am today? It's because of that kid.
Zach:Or it's because of that man, that man that you're seeing each and every week. And so, I just love how what the Lord has given us, we get to then pass on to other people. And that's Mentone. That is the name of the game. And so, man, thanks so much for hopping on, telling us about big shows, being our number one fan, helping us go worldwide, talking about all sorts of awesome stuff, man, about showing up, about coming to games, about trying to tile, a piece of the Lord and what he says in his word to something that we see each and every day.
Zach:Man, you're awesome, Andy. Super thankful.
Andy:I appreciate this.
Zach:Yeah. Don't you grow weary and doing good. And guys, hey. Check out Andy Paul. How can people find you, Andy?
Andy:Yeah. If you wanna see really awkward pictures on Instagram, you can find me at Andy Paul 13. It's a it's a the life of a scrawny white guy. And so feel free to follow along with what we get to do. Salem Baptist Youth is our youth group page.
Andy:And if you are ever in the northeast part of our state close to Athens, Georgia, we we'd love to see you at Salem. Come on in on Sundays at 11 AM or Wednesdays at 6 PM. We'll feed you, both with with good food, good southern cooking, and we'll feed you with the spirit. And so, yeah, if I can help in any way, Andy Paul 13. That's me.
Zach:It's me, Andy. Thanks, man. Thanks a lot for tuning in today to our podcast. Andy's the man. Check him out.
Zach:And if you guys missed everything and you missed on some good stuff, but remember this, you can mentor.
Zach:Thanks for tuning in to the You Can Mentor podcast. Give us that 5 star rating and share this podcast with your mentoring friends. Learn more at you can mentor.com. Thank you.