Helping Each Other - The Mentoring Program

**II Timothy 2:2, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."**

In this day and age, we realize that not everyone's schedule agrees with our weekly outreach times. We also realize that as aggressive as our church is in reaching our Jerusalem with the Gospel, still many of our members are not engaged. When our members were asked, many of them expressed a desire to be involved but had many valid reasons for not being able. The most resounding answer was that they did not have a schedule that allowed them to be involved with the current programs that we offer. Also, many expressed that they did not have the knowledge or skill that would allow them to win someone to Christ but were willing to learn. Many were intimidated by being taught in a large group. All of this pointed to what is now our Mentorship Program, and one year ago this coming May, the Mentorship Program began.

Our program is based on the premise of II Timothy 2:2. We are looking for faithful men and women who are willing to be taught by more seasoned faithful men and women for the purpose of reproducing productive Christians. Each mentorship prospect is required to commit to only two requirements. First, he must commit to finding time in his schedule once every week to go with a mentor. Second, he must commit to doing this for one year. If he will commit to these two requirements we will find him a seasoned soul winner and Christian to go out with once per week. We provide all of the materials that they need, including books on discipleship, tracts, and follow-up materials. Each of the mentorship teams goes out for a minimum of one hour each week for the purpose of training and soul winning. Each of our mentorship teams is different. They all keep different schedules and go to different areas. If they need prospects, we also provide them prospects to follow up on. The mentorship program is extremely flexible and takes away the excuse of, "I cannot find time to go soul winning."

Currently we have 23 active mentorship teams that make up a total of 46 people enrolled in the program. There are 16 teams of men and 7 teams of ladies. We are experiencing much success, and everyone involved has had very positive remarks. One of the first teams began with a very seasoned soul winner and a new believer who was extremely timid and apprehensive about sharing his faith. Now, less than one year later this new believer who was trained is now a captain of a bus route and is bringing numerous guests to church himself. We believe in this program, because it mirrors the method that Jesus Christ Himself used. It is extremely effective and profitable. Thousands of souls will come to Christ because of this ministry! If anyone would like to be a part of this program, please contact the church at (219) 932-0711 and ask for the office of Bob Marshall.