What is New Breed Mentoring?
In a nutshell:
Men connecting with men, doing life together, following Jesus.
New Breed Mentoring is an organic an authentic process, designed to provide men with a safe place to share their story while doing life and developing a relationship with other men, ultimately helping them grow closer in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
What are the qualifications for being a New Breed Mentor?
- A solid testimony of salvation because of the work Jesus Christ did on the cross for all of us
- A willingness to do life with another man while being held accountable in their relationship to God.
- Working within the limits of their own experience and skills, helping another man find answers to his life’s questions and spiritual growth.
What are some characteristics of being a New Breed Mentor?
Mentors don’t need to have all the answers. Howerver, we belive these are some characteristics of a good mentor:
Humble Real Compassionate Giving Available Committed Good Listener
What are the expectations of being a New Breed Mentor?
- Mentors/Mentees should meet on a regular basis at a location and time agreed upon as they begin their walk together. We recommend on hour each week or bi-weekly, in person.
- Basics for each meeting should include prayer, spritual evaluation, unpacking your story, and discussion of study materials you might be using. (Recommendations are in the Tools section)
- New Breed Mentoring is not necessarily for discipleship or accountability. However, we believe these are bi-products of a growing relationship with another man, centered on our relationship with Jesus Christ.
- New Breed Mentoring is an environment to build relationships, encourage sprititual growth and ultimately help another man grow to be a mentor himself.
- Mentors need to evaluate their time together to see how teachable a mentee is. Mentors need to show dignity and respect, but we know not all mentoring situations will be compatible.
- Finally, mentors need to be familiar with the guiding valuess of New Breed Ministries which are:
Engage
Connecting with men at real, transparent and authentic levels to encourage the development of relationships
Encourage
Walk with other men through good times and hard times while intergrating the love of Jesus Christ
Equip
Helping men develop skills and knowledge to impact other men, their families, churches and communities
Empower
Empowering ment with the tools and skills to duplicate the message of Christ and breathe life into others.
What are some essential elements of New Breed Mentoring?
- Sharing your story; there is amazing power in every person’s story. Giving another man a safe place to share his story while being vulnerable with yours will lead to authentic relationships.
- Due to the organic and authentic nature of New Breed Mentoring, we are suggesting using one simple question to break the ice each session; “what is God doing in your life this week?” This question will lead to more in depth conversation ultimately leading to spiritual maturity.
- Pray for each other. Prayer is essential for helping another man know his purpose and identity in Christ. It is essential to Christian growth and opens the door for deeper intimacy in the mentor/mentee relationship.
- Pay it forward. Essentially as a mentor you are encouraging and training another man to be a mentor. While this does not set the agenda for mentoring our prayer is that it is a byproduct of your time invested in mentoring.
What are some key to success with New Breed Mentoring?
- Consitency: meeting with your mentee on a regular basis determined by both is essential to a successful outcome
- Boundaries: your time is valuable; make sure both are honoring the time committed.
- Be authenitc and real with each other.
- Remember “one size” does not fit all and sometimes personalities collide. Make sure you and your mentee are a good fit from the start.
- Listen effectively
- Give permission to put each other on “pause.”
What are some tools I can use to become a more effective mentor?
We live in a day in aga where there is not shortage of books and other resources to guide in the process of mentoring. Here are some we recommend:
The Four E’s of Effective Mentoring
This is a short book by New Breed Ministries president Kerry Hogan. In it he shares how God revealed to him ithe importance of real, organic and an authentic approach to mentoring. This book is avaible in PDF upon request.
The Cure
The Cure by John Lynch is a compelling work to help us understand the difference in “pleasing” God or “trusting” God. This book also asks the question; “what if God isn’t who you think He is and what if you’re not either?”
The Warrior Poet Way
The Warrior Poet way is by John Lovell He is the founder of the Warrior Poet Way Society. This book is a daring manual on how to become a dangerous, and good man!
The Purple Book: Biblical Foundations for Building Strong Disciples
The ultimate goal of New Breed Mentoring is to help men grow in their relationship to our Savior Jesus Christ. Your time as a mentor may largely focus on the foundational elements of building that relationship. The Purple Book is a Bible study guide designed to help believers know and apply the essential beliefs of Christianity.
Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men
In this book by Steve Mansfield he expresses his belief that the Western culture is in crisis of manliness, and he issues a trumpet call for manliness for our current times.
Act Like Men: 40 Days to Biblical Manhood
In his definitive, bold voice, James MacDonald calls men to be watchful, firm in their faith, strong and loving. This isn’t a call for bravado and bluster. It’s a call for men to mix tender and tough, to be humble, to follow Jesus.