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“I told her that you were my mentor when I was younger and that you saved my life!”  These were the surprising words that Tasha shared with me at lunch. We had “accidentally” run into each other after more than 20 years in the Wal-Mart where she works. She was telling me how she explained my presence in her life to her supervisor at work. I was shocked to hear Tasha’s description of our relationship – especially since we had lost touch so long ago. At the same time, this encounter further encouraged me to keep pursuing our vision for mentoring at Juntos. 

Did you know? Seventy-five percent of American adults who had a mentor growing up say that this relationship was a major contributor to their success in life. Sixty-seven percent of young people say that they remember a time when they didn’t have a mentor and they needed one.  The statistics go on and on – we all need mentors to walk alongside us! (mentoring.org)

At Juntos we regularly have opportunities to mentor on all levels. High school kids mentor younger kids in their small groups at our regular Rally Nights by sharing and memorizing scripture, praying together and helping them navigate relationships and hard (or exciting!) situations. College kids and young adults mentor middle school and high school youth as they volunteer side by side, attend their sports or school events, read the Bible together and encourage and build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Adults mentor all ages of young people as they share not only their experiences, but all of the ways that the Lord has worked in their own lives.

Juntos is intentionally designed for these mentoring relationships to form, but we are seeing the importance and potential impact of a much more intentional mentoring program. Our goal is for our Juntos students to be rooted, built up and established in their faith (Colossians 2:6-7), especially in a world that is rapidly changing and presenting many challenges and opportunities. This next year we will be looking for more ways in which our young leaders can mentor the children from their own families and neighborhoods. Additionally, we are developing an official community-based mentoring program in partnership with an existing ministry from Denver. We will be asking Jesus-following adults from outside of Juntos to invest significant time into some of our children and young people. We trust that through these efforts children will be more deeply rooted in their relationship with the Lord, parents and family members will see the truth of the Gospel, and the Lord will be praised and glorified by many!

Laura Jenkins has been involved with Juntos since 2005 and currently serves as the director. Juntos offers weekly meetings, summer programs, leader training, small group Bible studies, tutoring, and mentoring for kids in the International District of Albuquerque. If you’d like more information about serving with Juntos, call the Mountain Christian Church office.

“I have learned so much from my daughter. I am embarrassed to say that I should be the example of how to grow with the Lord, but she is the one who is showing me.”

This statement was made, through tears, by a grateful (and proud!) mother at our intern celebration. She was referring to the fact that her high school daughter has made time alone with the Lord a daily habit, is practicing Bible study methods and is arranging to spiritually mentor younger children in their church. This young lady, who started with us at Juntos when she was six years old, also led one of our Kids Club classes and has become an example to her peers of what it looks like to enjoy a relationship with Jesus and share Him with others.

A second mom shared how her daughter has become a completely different person after participating in the internship the last two summers, part of which included one-on-one discipleship from a Juntos staff. “She has come out of her shell and been encouraged to try new things. She was really dealing with anxiety and depression. Knowing she could be honest and that her mentor would love her no matter what has given her confidence she never had before.”

Mid-July marked the completion of our second Juntos internship in recent years. We had three young leaders (aged 17-19) commit to an eight-week paid internship. They not only helped us with programming and spent time with kids, but they received extra training in basic spiritual disciplines. It was surprising to us that all three mentioned that learning to study the Bible independently was the highlight of the internship for them. They were surprised that they could learn so much from God’s Word on their own and the practical tools they received has made Scripture much more exciting and accessible to them.

One of our main goals at Juntos is “spiritual generations.” By this we mean that we not only want to lead kids to Christ and disciple them, but we want them to be able to do the same. You can imagine our joy when one of the interns told us that she had offered to start meeting with a middle schooler from her church to mentor her and show her how to read the Bible. As we praised God together, we were reminded that the plan for spiritual generations that Jesus laid out for His disciples takes a long time, but it really works!

We are grateful for this current season at Juntos. While God has always been at work, it appears that the “harvest” is more plentiful than ever! After many years of sowing and watering, He is proving his faithfulness to us in the form of these young people who have caught the vision to make disciples. He promises us that our labor is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58) and we are seeing, once again, that our God is a promise keeper!

Laura Jenkins has been involved with Juntos since 2005 and currently serves as the director. Juntos offers weekly meetings, summer programs, leader training, small group Bible studies, tutoring, and mentoring for kids in the International District of Albuquerque. If you’d like more information about serving with Juntos, call the Mountain Christian Church office.