Who is a mentor?
A mentor is an adviser, a counsellor, a model. A mentor protects, influences and supports.

What is mentoring?
Relational Empowerment.
Mentoring is a relational experience in which one person called the mentor, empowers another person called the mentoree/mentored, by the transfer of resources.( such as insights, skills, value, connections to people, etc)

Mentoring is communication for enablement. One of the best channels for developing people is through mentoring. Effective mentoring is imperative for every leader and budding leader. Pr11:14; Pr15:22; Ex18:19.

1. Every man of purpose must have a mentor. A mentor is a counsellor. Every purpose is established by counsel – Pr 20:18. Without counsel, purposes are disappointed – Pr15:22.
2. Every leader needs to value learning. See the pitfalls and triumphs of others and learn from them. A mentor allows you to stand on his shoulders to see far.
3. Mentoring unlocks spiritual gifts. You discover and develop spiritual endowments as you interact with mentors. Deep calls unto deep, the mentor sharpens and influences your abilities.
4. Spiritual authority flows from service. As you pour water into your mentor’s hands, there is a transfer of power. Matt20:25-28, have a mindset of service.
5. Every shepherd should still be a sheep. Every sheep needs a shepherd.
6. Effective mentoring tells you what you need to hear not what you want to hear.
7. Effective mentoring provides accountability. The spirit of “independent and not answerable to anyone” is an error. You must submit to authority to attain a balance in your faith walk.

Three Basic Mentoring:
Upward Mentoring
Peer Mentoring
Downward Mentoring

Upward Mentoring: This is mentoring by someone who is older and wiser. This person has tread the path and can give perspective from his experience. Hindsight is always 20/20 vision. Your path is clearer if someone who had walked it before you is willing to share his experience with you. You will have the privilege of walking your journey with an extra pair of eyes. An upward mentor is not competing in anyway with you, he is willing to see you avoid his mistakes and improve on his successes. Relationship with this person has already made his own success and achievements a standard you do not want to fall below. Sometimes an upward mentor is not older than the mentee in age, but has received more grace to achieve more (especially in God’s eyes) than the mentee.

Peer Mentoring : This is mentoring by your peer/s. A covenant friend. A praying partner. A trusted friend, who is sincere and genuine. Someone you are comfortable enough with to open up to. He recognises where you are in your development because he is facing the same challenges as you. He is non-judgemental at the same time firm with the truth of God. With such a one, you experience genuine accountability for your spiritual life.

Downward Mentoring: A person who is being mentored needs to mentor. You are being fed, you must feed. You also need to develop effective leaders, who in turn will develop effective leaders – 2Tim2:2. Ministry is not a personal kingdom that should die with you. Whatever you have been given is for you to grow so that you can grow others. Do not be afraid to be part of something bigger than you. Success without a successor is no success.

Remember, mentors are not perfect. They are models, not models of perfection, but models of growth. Every experience in the place of mentoring is for your development.
Seek out mentors – be aggressive about it. Develop mentoring relationships with people you admire, people who have something positive to add to you.
Mentoring is God’s way of passing the baton of leadership and of power. See Moses to Joshua, Elisha to Elijah, Paul to Timothy, Naomi to Ruth, Mordecai to Esther.

Mentoring is deliberately taking a person or group of persons aside to interact with, to instruct, to encourage and to empower.
There is no making of a leader without a mentor. Get a mentor today, and let your empowerment walk begin. Shalom! – KJO