God Don't Give No Junk

by Jacob Mann Jones

How excited you must be that God has given you the perfect mentee!

You’re probably thinking I’m crazy right now. Yup, probably have to be a little loony to invest in lives in West Dallas. Well they thought Jesus was a little out there as well in His day, so at least I’m not alone in that department.

Being a mentor can be a struggle. It’s tough building into the lives of your own kids, much less a kid from a radically different background. It takes away your time and energy; it tests your patience and resolve; it can drain you mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. Yet it is all worth it. I often wondered early on if I was making a difference, or if this was a mistake. Will touching one kid really make an impact in West Dallas? Then I’m reminded how Jesus rejoiced over one lost sheep in Matthew 18:13. Yup, it’s worth every last bit of all I’ve got, of all you’ve got!

Recently I’ve been challenged to see my mentee not through my own eyes, but through God’s eyes. After all your mentee has been presented holy and blameless before God (Ephesians 1:14; Colossians 1:22). Markeist has been a gift from God to me, and God don’t give no junk! When God looks at Markeist He sees the finished product and rejoices! What do you see when you cast your eyes upon your mentee? Jack Taylor once said, “When there is receiving there is liberty and light.” Have you received your mentee as the great gift from God that they are?

I’ve been blessed the last couple of years to share life with Markeist. He has taught me that LOVE is spelled T-I-M-E. He has taught me how to truly listen. I’m more excited about the many years to come. I get to watch this kid with buckets of energy grow into the man that God has called him to be, to watch him live out Psalm 101. I leave you with a picture of Markeist, modeled after 1 Corinthians 16:13-14…

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

Tough Conversations...

I recently had a very rich experience with my mentee, Algie, who is now a junior in high school, and wanted to encourage you that while we may not always get to see it, God is definitely at work in our mentees' lives!

Prior to having lunch with my mentee last week, I prayed that God would give me strength to discuss the difficult, and potentially uncomfortable topic, of sex.  As Algie and I were talking about his girlfriend and the recent bible study he attended at Mercy Street where sex was discussed, God opened the door for me to discuss with Algie God's design for sex.  Not knowing where it would lead, I asked him directly whether he and his girlfriend had had sex.  By God's grace, what ensued was a very fruitful discussion and a series of questions from Algie that gave me the opportunity to share with him God's design for sex between a man and a woman in the context of marriage.

The good news is that Algie has not had sex with his girlfriend, but he admitted to me how difficult it is when all of his friends around him are having sex and questioning why he would not.  I believe that it is God's work through Mercy Street and Algie's exposure to biblical truths that he has made this decision.  However, his admission of the peer pressure he faces was a reminder that the challenge for our mentees to be salt and light is great and the need for us to continue to pray for them and encourage them with the truth of the Word of God is paramount.  While at times I have felt as though the words I speak to Algie have fallen on deaf ears, this is a clear testimony to me that God's word does not return empty (Isaiah 55:11).

So, I write this as an encouragement (and a reminder to myself!) that the Kingdom work we are doing as mentors is not in vain and even as much of our time as mentors is spent one-on-one with our mentees we are not working alone.  As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3, we are all co-workers in God's service and while Mercy Street and we as mentors are planting and watering seeds of righteousness in our mentees hearts it is ultimately God who makes these seeds grow.