An important part of establishing the mentoring agenda is for the mentor to know the story of the mentee. In their book on Deep Mentoring, Reese and Loane suggest that “if we are going to walk alongside others, seeking to pay attention with them to what God is up to in their lives, then we must pay attention to the story of their lives.”[1] Questions need to be asked about the life and ministry journey that brought them to seek mentorship. What are the factors that have shaped them in the past and what continues to shape them in the present? Are there defining moments, experiences, people, and circumstances that need to be highlighted as indicators of God’s guiding presence in their lives? These can be marked on a timeline to help identify the patterns and recurring themes in the mentee’s life which explain their current reality. These can also indicate where their life and ministry journey is taking them. This “big picture” view of the mentee’s journey brings clarity, helping the mentor locate where the mentee is in his or her leadership journey. At the same time, it helps keep their long-term objectives and purposes in view.
A timeline approach pays attention to what God has been doing in the past and how life experiences have impacted the mentee. As these are narrated, the mentor needs to hear the story as it is told, listening for significant events which happened to the mentee and how the mentee responded to those experiences. At some point in the mentoring relationship, the mentor may offer different perspectives to the mentee to process those life events in the most beneficial way.
This is an excerpt from my book, Ministering Forward: Mentoring Tomorrow’s Christian Leaders which is coming out in July 2017)
[1] Randy D. Reese and Robert Loane, Deep Mentoring: Guiding Others on Their Leadership Journey (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2012), 57.
HI Rainer! Thank you so much for this. Well done on writing a book! look forward to reading it.
Thanks, Lynn. I trust it will be a blessing when it comes out.