HPCUMC Mentors--Statement by Tracy Gragston 10/22/06

Good morning, Church. My name is Tracy Gragston. I had the opportunity to be mentored by a member of your church. I remember playing basketball downstairs in your gym and afterwards hanging out in the first floor lounge here almost 8 years ago as a teenager with my mentor. My mentor integrated me into his life and into his family’s life. I truly felt then and even now that I have two families and not just one. Since that time when I became a mentee, I graduated from high school, have attained my Bachelor’s Degree from college and I plan to pursue a law degree in the near future. I also now attend Church regularly.

Being mentored was such a blessing for me that since college I have decided to work with troubled youth at the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center by leading small group bible studies. I also serve as a mentor to two "at risk" kids in Madisonville who have a mother that will be incarcerated for the next 29 years to life. My mentees will be without their mother’s physical presence in their lives for a very long time.

Mentoring is very important for the young people in our city. In a city where so many young people are losing their lives to drugs and violence on an everyday basis, as Christians, we have a duty to live out what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16. We are to let our light shine before men, so that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Jesus spent His time on this earth making a positive impact on other people’s lives. Our young people have to see that the adults in this city really do care about them. We have to make a positive impact on our young people’s lives because Jesus did it and He calls us to do that as well. They have to see the light of Christ in our lives so that they do not lose hope and fall prey to the tricks of the Devil.

Many of the potential kids or mentees out there only have one parent in their lives. A single parent has so much pressure on them to make end’s meat so their family can survive that they can’t possibly invest all the time they need to and want to into their children. Many of us were blessed to have two parents in our lives; however, an increasing number of young people today are not as fortunate. As followers of Christ, we are called to pick up that slack and visit the fatherless according to James 1:27. James says to visit the fatherless is pure religion that is undefiled before God.

Finding time out of your week to mentor a child has the potential to change the destination of a young person and advance the kingdom of God. Out of the 168 hours we have in a week, is it too much to give just part of one one of those hours to someone who really needs it? I encourage every adult (or family) under the sound of my voice to look into mentoring a young person and really consider it as an opportunity to impact a young person’s life and advance the kingdom of God.

Who knows, maybe one of the kids you mentor may stand-up here one day and say what I'm saying now, "Thank you, Church. You made a difference." Be a mentor. Don't wait." God bless you all.