Mentoring is a Must

Older women must train the younger women is a major ingredient of women's ministry (Titus 2:4).  There is no way around it. Why? That little word "must." The Greek translation is exhort earnestly, admonish,  a call to duty. It's a very strong word.  Whenever God uses the word "must" in that tone we need to pay attention, it is a health and vitality issue.  This isn't a suggestion, this isn't a "do this" on a list of "to do's." It is a command, straight from the Throne of God, and the very health of the women's ministry depends on it. 

It is a "must!"

Training up the younger women, speaks of mentoring and screams of mothering. 

We have an obligation to the next generation.  We can teach them performance type task, however in a few years those type tasks, those how to do this and that will be obsolete.  For instance, it wasn't to far back we used to have overhead projectors and transparencies for singing our hymns, before that was the red back hymnal.  Now we have screens, overhead projectors even live streaming to ipads all over the world.  This "must training" is about developing character and heart in the next generation living in the midst of a society that offers so many options and mind-blowing technological advances. It is about modeling before them strengths and attitudes that are timeless.  

We are to say "my ceiling will be your floor." 

courtesy of istockphoto.com

This "must train" mandate means we are not letting the next generation have to reinvent the wheel.  We are to leave them with a legacy.  We are to blaze some trails for them, pave some paths, remove some obstacles and give them a leg up.  This means training them to take what we have and go with it, in their unique way. We are to give them everything we got, to completely pour it all out even to the last drop, give them every chance to succeed.  This "must train" means we are to show up in heaven empty.  When God asks you what you did with your life, you can say "I couldn't bring it with me, so poured it all out on those girls you sent me." You give them your everything, they are going to need it.  

Train to live victoriously in their moment.

Things are moving fast for them, and each wave of new technology makes the last wave look prehistoric. Let's take a look at a couple of things just to make this clear, texting has replaced phones and internet has replaced TV. Texting means no face to face time, communicating openly and honestly during conflict and misunderstandings is going to take creativity.  TV time used to be family time (bowl of popcorn and the wonderful world of Disney), before that dinner time was family time, before that harvesting was family time (kids stayed home from school for that). How can we train them to live victoriously in their moment if we don't understand what their moments will be? What will life for them look like when we are gone? And what can we train them in to overcome the obstacles that are coming their way? How can we model being a powerful woman of faith in the midst of crisis and success?

We are to fight for them.

There is a gap between the generations and God is implying in the "must train" that gap be closed completely.  There is a word for that, intercession. We need to stand in the gap for them, without judgement and with a whole lot of mercy and grace. We need to fight for them.  We need to fight for them in our prayer closet, in our messages, in our outreaches.  How can we fight for them when they seem so unreachable, so far away, so independent and so self confident?  We look for common ground, common battles. We have a mandate to show them how to fight the good fight, which means we need to show them the power of God through His Word. As you pray over them, speak over them, walk with them you are giving them a front row seat to Holy Spirit power in action.  Train them to fight for their families, their friends, their employers with faith. We can train them to take their best shots with what they have by modeling it.  When they know we are for them, they will be open to connections. What is worse than being "uncool" to them is being fake.  Intercession is where the rubber meets road, it's where you say what you mean and mean what you say.  It is your commitment to fight for the relationship.  You see they have a 1000 friends on Facebook, but really, how many of those friends will go the distance with them? 


for related post check out:
Mentoring for the Future
Google has replaced Mentors


In today's church culture what does mentoring look like? Is it being done by the youth department or the women's ministry department? Leave a comment.

  

Mentoring for the Future

We have in Women's Ministry a "must" mandate, it is mentoring.  

I would call it mothering, and we are to do that, however nothing can replace your own mother, and we need to always teach the younger women to respect and honor the mothers, not replace them.  Mentoring by mothering not smothering is the idea. 

We need to get the next generation to dream big about God's glory!

Let's take a look at where they are. Let's get in their shoes and take a look at what their future may hold for them. Not how bad things are, that doesn't require any faith at all.  But a look at what sort of possibilities are going to be available for them. Then get them to dream big about taking those possibilities and bringing God a ton of glory out of it.  Let's get them to perceive problems as opportunities. Let's get them to embrace new inventions as resources and not something to be scared of.  Let's train them to use the resources they have to bring honor to God's name. In order to do that WE NEED TO DO THE SAME!

 Let's not write off Facebook, Twitter and YouTube simply because Lady Gaga uses it.

 We must train them to be the top innovators in their field. How do we do that? Explore possibilities with them, not close a blind eye.  Dialogue about core values in the midst of them.  Walk with them and help identify potholes and shallow thinking.  

In order to pack if we need to know where we are going.  When we mentor the next generation we must train them for where they are going.  We can't do that if we don't accept it ourselves. 

Here's a video to give us a gentle nudge into forward thinking.  To get a glimpse at what life for the next generation might look like. 

What sort of mentoring are you doing? What sort of mentoring will the next generation do in the future?

  

The One Question

There is one question everyone is asking.  All the people around you are asking this question and your true character and heart is what will answer it.  Your lifestyle will be your reply.  Your core values will be reflected.  

Are you for me, against me or for yourself?

Look at the all the leaders in your life, coaches, teachers, parents and even employers.   Which of those individuals had the most impact?  I know for me it is the ones that were for me.  They weren't the most talented or gifted but I felt safe around them. I listened to them, I pursued them, I spent time with them.  Sure I had some people that were for themselves and they made some sort of a dent, but not impact like the first ones.  


Let's take a look at those around us.  Has the question been answered or is the jury still out?  


Make a list of the people you serve and by each persons name write if you are for them or against them.  Or maybe they are just there to help you and you alone.  Go deep on this, it is an important question.


Then ask yourself how they would answer that question concerning you. 


Jesus' idea of leadership was really all about answering this question.  To be a great leader we really need to be a great servant. We really need to serve with "I am for you" attitude.




Got someone in your life that has made a positive impact in your life?  Or someone that was just for themselves?  What was it like to be around them? leave a comment.

Women's Ministry Legacy

We all have a legacy.


We all are leaving something behind.  We are leaving a fingerprint on society good or bad. We can leave our kids all kinds of things from material wealth to emotional strength.  Our lives, our choices and particularly our impact on our culture is a our legacy.  We can leave the next generation a legacy of fear, or a legacy of faith.  We can leave our society a generation of superwomen!


What was left to us? What did the Women's Ministries in the beginning do that left an amazing legacy for us?  Missions! 


WMC - Women's Missionary Council


In the Assemblies, the first women's ministry was called WMC Women's Missionary Council. They started out praying (there's a novel idea) for missionaries and then they started seeking out ways to support them. 


Even when they started training up the next generation, which they called "Missionettes." (how appropriate) they were mission minded. 


We have been left a legacy.  


Our ancestors, the ladies that paved the way for us, left us an incredible gift.  It was the key to their success and I believe the key to ours.  It is Missions.


We have been given a torch, the baton has been passed.  It is our leg of the race to run. What are we doing with it? 


Aline's Gift
For women's ministry today, our missions fund is Aline's Gift, after our own Aline Johnson.  She has left a legacy for us to pass on. 


Seriously
Take the time to consider this, pray for our missionaries and give to Aline's Gift. Don't just talk about it, put your money where your mouth is.  You know if those ladies in the beginning had Facebook, they would have this all over it! So re-post the video and encourage your circle of influence to give too.


Here is the video pic of the week!

You can start today by giving.  Here is the link to donate. 
gowomensminsitry.com/alines-gift


You can continue by talking with your team and coming up with a plan to fund this. 


What will be our legacy to the next generation?  What will your ministry be known for? What will they want to continue?  The one thing that transcends generations, Missions!