What exactly are we doing here? Come and see.

Have you ever tried to photograph the moon?

So many times I’ve been stopped in my tracks because of a beautiful, detailed, breathtaking night sky - and I’ve tried to capture the picture I’m seeing, but it just turns out to be a dark, formless backdrop with a bright, blurry blob in the middle.

This is what I feel like happens when I try to explain Forerunner Mentoring. My mind always rolls the tape:

I see a guardian jumping up and down with joy and wrapping her Forerunner up in a hug after seeing his photo posted in the hallway for being the Forerunner of the Week.

I see a mentor running around a room, laughing while blowing bubbles with his mentee who just needed someone to join him in being a kid for a moment.

I see a boy standing in front of his peers while a coach puts a hand on his shoulder, and all of his peers taking turns to hype him up with encouragement.

I see a school counselor making a phone call in the late evening just to check on a Forerunner who needed extra support.

I see our staff on their knees, hands up, bringing the names and needs of our boys before the throne of Jesus.
I see a mom with trembling hands, clutching a mic; choosing to be brave and share her story publicly for the first time

because she believes her community is listening.

I see a volunteer sitting at a table for hours - stuffing envelopes with letters just like this, because she believes these stories need to be told.

I see the stories, and these are just the brief summaries of a few I could tell. The reality is that it’s hard to sum up what it is that we’re doing here, and I think maybe it’s because no matter what we set out to do - God ends up doing more.

We started mentoring, and then God used mentoring to unite a community. We started after-school programs to serve our single mothers, and then God used our programs as a way to daily equip boys in growing as Men of God. We started sending our boys to summer camps, and then God used the break from the everyday as a way to make Himself seen and our boys started coming back saved, baptized, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. We started a Ladies’ Night to provide opportunities for our moms to build friendships with one another, and then God grew it into a full-fledged Women’s Ministry where our moms are being raised up to lead. We started a high school ministry, and then God began creating divine appointments for our staff to be on campus to minister to high school students in moments of crisis.

But if I try to explain all of that in a simple exchange of words - it’s going to come out like that dark formless backdrop with a bright blurry blob in the middle.

Instead I will give you the same invitation Jesus gave the first disciples in John 1 - “come and see”. Come and see what God has done. Come and see what He’s doing.

Come and see what He wants to use you to do next.