A Mentoring Program for Equipping Youths as Leaders in the Rivers Conference, Nigeria

Abstract

Problem Young people feel neglected in the leadership process of Rivers Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists, Nigeria. On the other hand, the adults think that the young people lack the experience and skills needed to occupy positions of leadership. Unfortunately, while the young people are being marginalized in the leadership process, they constitute an overwhelming majority of the membership in Rivers Conference Method The mentoring approach adopted for equipping the young people of Rivers Conference as leaders in this project is a modification of Jesus' model of leadership proposed by Kreider (2008, p. 113). The process will be divided into four phases: Phase One, the awareness stage. During this phase the support of the Rivers Conference administrators will be enlisted and a series of awareness seminars conducted and four mentees chosen. Phase Two. During this phase, exclusive training workshops/seminars will be organized for the four selected mentees. This phase will last for six months. Phase Three. At this point, the mentor will take the mentees for practical on-the-field training. This phase will last for one year and afford mentees the privilege of engaging in actual ministry with the mentor. Phase Four. In this phase, mentees will be sent to minister alone and meet with mentor for debriefings and feedbacks. This phase will last for one year. In addition, the program presented above also relied on the author's theological foundation for ministry, literature review, Logical Framework Matrix, and Gantt chart to accomplish this task. Anticipated Results This project is expected to be implemented as planned. It is anticipated that the mentoring tools needed for the project will be ready and employed for the implementation, monitoring, and assessment of the project. Moreover, the researcher envisages enthusiastic support for the project from the Rivers Conference administrators. Furthermore, dedication on the part of the mentor and mentees to the entire process of this project is expected. Finally, the integration of young people as leaders in all the levels of the church life in Rivers Conference of SDA is anticipated. Conclusion Mentoring is an effective strategy for equipping and integrating the young people of Rivers Conference for leadership roles in Rivers Conference, Nigeria. It will afford the young people opportunity of gaining necessary skill and experience for leadership under the supervision of the adults, thus allaying fear of failure of the young people owing to lack of experience.