Women's Mentoring and Equipping

Mentoring is on the cutting edge of what God is doing in the church for women. Over the past 20 years life has changed. Gone are the days when a woman is at home bringing up the children and waiting for the husband to come home, now she is expected to raise the children, hold down a full time job and still look like she came off the cover of Vogue magazine. Then you have the single Mom, who has the burden of being both parents as well as all the other responsibilities. In Titus 2:1-3, the scripture talks about women teaching other women from their experience how to cope in an ever changing world. Bridge Building
Ministries can provide you with resources in:

How to set up a successful mentoring program
Provide speakers for women's groups
Provide speakers for women's retreats
Getting started kit

Bridge building Ministry can also provide ministry on various subjects some of which are:

General Bible teaching
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Devotionals
Skills for parenting

The director of women's ministry at Bridge Building Ministry is Diane Dunning. Diane will be available to help you with any enquires, please call or email for further details.

MENTORING CELLS FOR WOMEN

Contact Victor and Diane Dunning
Bridge Building Ministry

www.bridgebuildingministry.com

Introduction.

Titus 2.1-5. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine; that the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things- that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, home-makers, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

The purpose that God has for each one of us, is to bring us to the maturity that will cause us to live for him first, bring understanding into our lives and into our homes, which then allows peace to be in the heart, mind and spirit. Living in today’s world everything is encouraging us to live for ourselves first, be tolerant and except every worldly sin as being all right. Putting aside moral character and moral judgments that would line up with the bible as being outdated, racist, confining and against woman in general. Yet as you will see when we begin to enter a mentoring relationship, the opposite is true because God has the very best planned for us. Not only has he made the plan, he has put it into action, the first step was having Jesus Christ come to this earth as a baby, to have His own son walk on this earth for 33 years as a man, and be subject to everything that we have to deal with. Temptations, rejection, betrayal, abuse, are many of the things that come into our lives, we could all make a list of wrong doings that have been done against us and because of this Jesus Christ had to go to the cross suffering the shame, embarrassment, and rejection of the whole world. By doing this he made it possible for you and I to become His daughters, bringing salvation and total healing into our lives. Making it possible to be in right standing with God the Father simply by accepting the sacrifice that Christ made and committing ourselves to Him.

Titus 2.11-14. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

One of the tools that we have been given to live by is the understand of Gods provision, in the scriptures, and we are commanded to past on from generation to generation the principles and commands that have been given. Entering into a mentoring relationship or being a mentor to others is a way of passing on the heritage that God wants us to have. It is not difficult to follow God and have His blessing is our lives.

GETTING STARTED.

The first thing that is needed is a desire to grow and learn, and to see that we need the input of another person in our lives. Entering into a mentoring relationship has to be more than a good idea, it will require commitment and some time. So we have some homework to do first.

PREPERATION. Spend several weeks praying and seeking God for the person that He would have you enter such a relationship with. Heart preparation will make the difference on how you will receive the input that is given. To be open to receive is very important and if the time is taken at this stage the input that we receive will help us and not become a burden.

Look at your life style, we are all busy, can you take the time for yourself and invest in this relationship, can and are you willing to set aside a regular meeting time at least twice a month for this input? Sometimes we have to scale down in an area to do this, but the rewards for yourself and others around you will be evident in the long run.

Are you willing to follow through with council that might be given to you, mentoring is not to just hearing nice things, but is to help you reach your potential in God. There is only one word for this and that is WORK. But you will find it very rewarding when following through with input that is given. Does this mean that you have to do everything that a mentor tells you. NO. The mentor is there to encourage you in the word of God and to offer her life experience. She can save you from having to go through some rough times because she has already been there and learnt those lessons and is now willing to past them on to you. She is a mentor not a dictator.

Be realistic in your choice of mentor, you are going to be with this person for a length of time. Just because your friend is being mentored by someone she would consider to be the best, does not mean that it would be right for you to have the same person. Who does God have for you? Some of the best mentors that I have ever known are ladies that quietly go about their daily lives, serving God in a manner that does not draw attention to themselves. We would miss them but God does not, that is why it is important to ask Him, “Lord who is the right mentor for me”

What is your expectations for this relationship? Your mentor is not there to make you superwoman, she is there to HELP you grow and to be come God’s woman. This is going to take a life time for all of us, we are always learning how to be made into the image of God. The scripture puts it this way, being conformed to the image of God’s son. That is our goal. Paul said” not that I have already attainted but I press on. That is what mentoring will do for you. Help you to press on.

THE MENTOR

What does it take to be a mentor?

How do I know that I can do this?

Must I have bible collage to mentor?

How do I get help if there is a problem?

Can anyone be a mentor?

Is this relationship supposed to give me anything.

Will I learn anything from the person that is being mentored?

Have I got all the answers?

As can be seen from the above questions, there is a lot of ground to be covered before we embark on entering into this very special relationship with another person. The first question that has to be answered is, “CAN I DO THIS”. The answer to that is a simple YES you can. Are you going to be able to do it on your own, the answer is No. You will need the help of Jesus Christ all along the way. The key will be your own personal relationship with the Lord. Do you have to be perfect to mentor someone, NO you just have to be open for God to change you enough that you can pass that experience on to another person. Not pretending that all is well, but by being real and sharing the good times as well as the difficult times. It is often in the difficult times that we grow the most, because we are pushed closer to the master. The goal of mentoring another person is to help that person learn from you so that they do not have to go through every difficult experience. We cannot take all the burden of someone else, but we can make it lighter. We have been put in the body of Christ, which is what Paul refers to the church as, to move as one, so that we can bring life to a world that is dying in sin, and does not see an answer. Mentoring is a way of doing just that.

Sharing Christ with another person is the goal that the scripture says is top priority. For some reason the church has lost this vision, and seems to have gone in to herself, and is most interested in needs within herself first. There is no scriptural basis for this. We have to keep the lost in our vision. The reason for mentoring is so that unbelievers can see God at work in our lives, and so that Christ can present the church to His Father with out spot or wrinkle.In other words with no mark of sin in her. Christ died so that we can be with Him and the Father. Are you willing to share your life with another for Christ’s sake? Take sometime to answer this question. Write down some of the things that God has done for you in your life. Are they worth sharing with someone. As you look back, can you see how far you have come, yes more work needs to be done. But one of the principals in the word of God is, that as we give then more is given. The law of sowing and reaping works the same way. Mentoring is sowing and reaping. Are you ready to do some sowing. We are going to take a look at something’s that will help to get us started on a life changing experience . Begin to open your heart to Jesus Christ, pray sincerely, Lord is this for me? Lord I am willing for you to use me in this way.

ARE YOU WILLING TO BE USED BY GOD IN THIS WAY.

Attitude, Attitude, Attitude is one of the key elements needed is being a Mentor. A good place to start is the word of God, and to see what the scriptures say concerning us.

The bible says “ We can do all things through CHRIST which gives us strength. So this is going to be a joint effort , both you and Jesus are going to mentor this person keeping ,in mind that Jesus was crucified so that He can present both you and the person that you are going to share with to the Father. And He wants to give you to the Father without a spot or wrinkle.

Let’s think about that. We spend billions a year in the western countries on products that will possibly take away spots and wrinkles. We will sit for hours, with cream on our faces and subject ourselves to different procedures to get that perfect look. The one we were born with never seems to make us happy. WE WANT, Skin that is so smooth and clear, why do we do this? So that we can present ourselves without a spot or wrinkle to husbands, boyfriends, bosses, etc, the list is endless. But, Jesus is only interested in presenting us to one person, and that is to God the Father. And mentoring is one way to begin to work on those spots and wrinkles. Having a good attitude is going to help us do that. We will learn patience not only with someone else, but also with ourselves. It is strange how we never saw that speck in our eye until we start to share with others, and see how many problems they have and what a big log they have coming out of their eye.

Jesus also says “ That without Him we cannot do anything.” We need his help, we need His wisdom for this person. But with God all things are possible. Putting ourselves in a position to be able to receive from God. How are we going to do that. The first and most important way is prayer.

PRAYER. Is in just about every book in the New Testament, prayer is commanded. Jesus himself taught the disciples a prayer. Jesus was a man of prayer. He would draw himself away from the crowds to be alone with His Father. In all the gospels Jesus is on mountains tops, in deserts and on water praying. Jesus being the Son of God as well as the Son of man spend a large part of his life praying. Why was He doing this. Could it be that he needed help from his Father. He once said that He only did what He saw his Father doing. Could it be that because he spent so much time in the presence of God, he could say with confidence that he knew what the father wanted to do. There only seem to be one time that he did not want to do what the father had planned. But even then because he knew that it was God’s will he submitted even to the death of the cross. We need to have the same attitude when we are going into a mentoring situation. Lord help me to only say what you would have me to say to this person, help me to listen to your still small voice, when to listen and when to speak. In prayer we are opening up our life before God for Him to show us adjustments that need to be made, and for encouragement to walk the life that He has planned for us. In our busy life styles how do we find a spot for prayer. Coming away into a quite place is almost impossible, someone or some thing is always trying to fill our time. Children, a job, a friend. How can there be a place to meet with God. Well, we just have to do it, it is as simple as that. No if’s or but’s about it.