No. 1018 LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MENTORS!

No. 1018

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MENTORS!

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about Joseph, one of 12 sons of Israel, who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, who opted for this course of action rather than killing him. The chain of events that followed are remarkable, as Joseph wound up second in command only to Pharaoh, saved the nation and several others from starvation, and ultimately had his family (70 in all) come to the nation of Egypt. They wound up staying more than 400 years, and became a great Hebrew nation of more than 1 ½ million people. After the dust settled, Joseph made this comment: “You (meaning his brothers) meant it for evil but God meant it for good.”
Over the past several weeks I have been telling you about a mission that several laymen are undertaking to encourage our nation’s young people to stay in church or come back to church. According to the Barna Research Group, 70 percent of our youth who are members of a church are leaving after high school graduation, never to return. The church is the only institution in our nation charged with the responsibility of teaching morals, character values and the sanctity of human life. If we think things are bad now, it does not take a genius to understand they are only going to get worse if we do not reverse this trend.
The good news, like the story of Joseph, is that we can turn it around and God will bless us. We have millions of Godly, caring, responsible young people who understand they are the leaders and producers of the future, and we can develop more of these young people. Having worked with people for more than four decades, it is my firm conviction that the only foundation that will sustain them through the good times and the hard times is having a working knowledge of the Bible, the word of God. This has certainly proven to be the case for me.
To accomplish this on a large scale, and that is our goal, we must have thousands (perhaps millions) of good mentors who know and can teach young people the Bible and the rewards that come from living for and serving God. If you are a man or woman who knows the Bible and are willing to teach young people, individually or in small groups, you can help to make a tremendous difference in our nation’s future. According to the dictionary, the word “mentor” means, “A wise and trusted teacher or guide.” We have millions of people like this in America.
Obviously this will take time. We did not get here overnight and we won’t reverse the trend overnight. We are starting here in Conway, Arkansas, and like ripples that emanate from a rock thrown in a pond, believe it will spread all across this great nation. The little booklet we developed several weeks ago, “A Very Exciting Journey,” will be helpful in identifying young people who are eager to learn and would love to spend time being mentored in God’s word. As stated previously, no one earns a penny from this initiative. We have this booklet on our local daily newspaper’s Website at www.thecabin.net, and it can be downloaded and printed in your community. This is a simple plan but one that will be very effective once the details are worked out.
If you are a Christian and wish to be involved, just be thinking about the various resources in your community that can be used to print and get the booklets to young people, and develop a way, times and places, to mentor them.
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(EDITOR’S NOTE: THE DEAL OF THE CENTURY – Begin your day on a positive note – 365 days for $12. This will benefit the Bookcase for Every Child project. Go to www.apositivemomentwithjim.com to subscribe.)