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Is mentorship something you’ve considered as part of your role as a Christian educator? Why or why not?
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Yes, mentoring is a part of my role as a teacher in the church setting. As a Bible teacher and trainer of other Bible teachers, it is important to help my students become proactive and responsible in the discipleship of others.
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I have not considered myself a mentor because my role has been primarily in the secular school setting. I imagine that I have mentored students in ways, less intentionally, over the years. I would like to be a mentor for the middle schoolers who I see daily in the hallways and classroom.
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Yes, mentoring, or discipleship is an active part of Christian education. Some years seem to have more or less students who desire that one on one attention from a teacher, but it important to offer that type of relationship to students. I have had girls who needed to come in during lunch just to talk about difficult situations at home. It is always my goal and desire to point them to God’s word for answers and to pray with them. This type of mentoring models pointing them to Christ in their most desperate of situations. Students have come to me years later, telling me how important that was to them at that time in their lives, and that they will always remember it.
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At my school I am a small group leader. As a small group leader I have the opportunity to meet with a small group of young men about every 3 weeks. I n this role I am acting as a mentor to these young men. I have considered offering students a more thorough mentorship relationship.
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Yes, mentorship seems to be a natural part of Christian education. Before teaching school, I taught Sunday morning Bible study to middle school students. That was several years ago. Today, some of those men and women still reach out to me and stay connected. Some students have graduated from our academy and they still contact me to tell me how they are doing in college and about their decision to follow Jesus and baptism. Seeing our students succeed may be the best part of our calling as educators.