Blog

Letter from Hayley – October 2018

This August marked my fifth anniversary working at Youth Horizons, and my one year anniversary of   being Mentoring Director. In some ways it feels like the years have flown by and in others I can’t imagine ever having not been part of this incredible organization. I have seen a 10-year-old girl’s face light up as she was the center of attention at her very first birthday party, I have seen a 12-year-old boy experience family and God through weekly Sunday lunches, and I have seen a young man graduate high school when all of the odds were stacked against him. All of these moments were made possible because of the involvement of their mentors. Of course, not every day is filled with all of these “worth it” moments. Heartbreak, sadness, and frustration are also very real emotions experienced in this work. But God’s power, mercy, and love never cease to show up in both the hard and happy moments.

I would love to share with you where the mentoring program is and where we would like to go: Currently, the mentoring program has 138 mentoring matches going with children ranging in age from 6-18. Our mentors represent 48 different churches, from Newton to Mulvane, and from Cheney to Leon. We have 4 staff working exclusively in mentoring. We would like to be at 180 mentoring matches in the near future. We would also like to continue to expand the mentoring to surrounding towns and provide more new mentor trainings within churches.

God is definitely at work within and through the mentoring program of Youth Horizons and we are excited to see where He leads us. If you would like to be part of this work – whether through mentoring, volunteering at events, or giving – please give me a call at (316)262-8293 ext. 209 or email me at hayley@youthhorizons.net. We would be thrilled to have you join us!