Awakening to the Power of Mentoring

Have you ever been exposed to something your entire life without really knowing anything about the subject or item or person? As far back as I can remember, I've been aware that something called Big Brothers exists. Perhaps it was due to a program at school or strategically placed billboards, but the vague recognition has been "there" (wherever "there" is). But all that changed yesterday during a visit with Olivia Eudaly in the offices of Big Brothers Big Sisters North Texas. First of all, Olivia Eudaly is an extraordinary person. As Executive Vice President-Government Relations for Big Brothers big Sisters Lone Star and State Executive Director of Amachi Texas, Olivia Eudaly is at the helm of groundbreaking initiatives in mentoring at-risk children. Working closely with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Education Agency, One Star Foundation, the Office of the Governor, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and ten Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies across the state of Texas, Olivia coordinates Amachi's efforts to place one-to-one mentors in the lives of children of prisoners. A former candidate for U.S. Congress, Olivia is also active in local, regional and national politics. In 2000 she was elected delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia where she served as the National Credentials Committeewoman from Texas. She also teaches a popular Ladies' Bible Study class at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth and currently mentors a young girl in the Fort Worth area whose father is serving 8 years behind bars.

But it was standing in a room just outside her offices that something "clicked" for me. Out of curiosity in the name, I entered the T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame. What soon captured my attention was a pictorial timeline that depicted the history of Big Brothers and, essentially, a history of efforts in mentoring at-risk children. For years I have told my students that everyone should have a mentor and be a mentor, but yesterday was a sort of epiphany for me in recognizing the intrinsic and eternal value of intentionally mentoring at-risk individuals, whether they be children, youth, or adults. What could be more Christ-like than one-on-one mentoring of someone who may be lost in many ways without such a valuable relationship? I plan to make this a priority and encourage others to look for individuals in whom you may invest yourselves. Only eternity will reveal the significance of taking a little time to be a mentor to someone who desperately needs to know they matter.