Movie Review: LUV The Film

My wife and I went to the movies the other night expecting to see one of those big blockbuster films that are getting all the Oscar attention.  But, as we approached the window we decided to take a risk on a small independent film entitled LUV.  What persuaded us was two things:

1. It was a film about Baltimore.
2. The director, producers and a few of the actors were doing a Q&A after the film.

It was a great decision.  The film is about a young boy who really gets to know his uncle in one day.  In that day the uncle is trying to turn his life around; however, is met with much adversity.  What I really enjoyed the most about the movie was the tension I felt on whether to hate or love the uncle.  It’s movies where I’m not sure how I feel about the main characters where I find myself the most engaged.  Again, both my wife and I enjoyed the movie; but it was more than that.  After the film the director informed us that he made this movie to start a conversation about the lack of fathers and father-like role models we face in society.

Your youth ministry needs to be fighting this problem by providing teenagers with God honoring men and women.  You do this through a mentoring program that connects teenagers into God honoring, intergenerational relationships.  While there is no magic bullet to accomplishing this feat, a few steps you can take to build a mentoring program in your church are:

• Selling The Vision: The reason many people avoid ministry all together is because they cannot even conceptualize the fruit that their work would bare.  As a leader your job is not only to cast vision (Read here on how to create it); but, make sure people are buying into it.  That means finding potential mentors and sitting down with them to clearly explain their impact.

• Start Small For Big Success: You want to be successful in whatever you do; however, that won’t happen if you bite off more than you can chew.  To build a successful mentoring program begin with a prototype where you and someone else you know are mentoring one or two students.  This way you can work out the kinks before you offer it up tot the whole church. (Read here why small steps lead to big gain)

• Build Your Resource Bank: Mentoring can be a challenge if you feel il-equipped to shed wisdom.  The more you can resource your mentors the more you set them up for success.  This means providing or referring them to trainings.  Equipping them with books, websites and exercises.  And if possible gather them together for a reflective retreat.

Mentoring programs are hard to build because they take patience and persistence.  There is little short term gain; however, the long term benefits are priceless.  If you can invest in an individual one on one you end up impacting a future leader who can impact many.

Who is (or has) mentoring you and how have you been impacted?

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I have not received any compensation for writing this post.  I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”