When you start something new, it is important to think through… what are we doing? In the simplest terms possible what is the mentoring team at Youth Horizons up to? To state this question another way.. If I were going to explain my job to Jesse (our 6-year-old son) how would I explain it to him? This is what I would say, “we help people help kids.” At Youth Horizons, we are the advocate. We are the one’s that build the bridge between the ones that need help and the one’s that want to help.

At first glance that explanation may seem kinda insignificant. At least it seemed insignificant to me until I met Dom. Dom is one of our newest mentors. He has only been mentoring in our program for 1 month, but at Dom’s interview he mentioned that he had begun mentoring a boy “on his own.” There was an at risk boy who began attending Dom’s church. Dom saw the need, reached out to the boy and started spending time each week. Dom’s relationship with the boy grew, but there was no one there to help Dom. As Dom began to experience difficulties and challenges, he needed advice, but had no one to turn to. Finally Dom had to end his relationship with the boy because of a few specific challenges that arose.

What happened in Dom’s case? Here was a guy who wanted to help a boy. He had a desire to help and so he did. But what was missing was the help and support that Dom needed to succeed. Dom’s story is an example of the important role that Youth Horizons plays in the lives of the mentors. Our mentors are people that want to help and have big hearts to give, but even the “big hearted” people need a little extra encouragement and help from time to time.

In our mentoring program we screen, train, and supervise the adults that are matched up with children in Wichita. Or stated in 6 year old language. We help people help kids.

Thanks to those of you that have helped and supported Youth Horizons through your gifts and prayers. Thanks to those of you that have supported my work at Youth Horizons, through your gifts and prayers. I’m only a month in to my position as mentoring director, and so far I’m loving the work!

Rodney Bartlett
Mentoring Director

Besides the music and the stories from current proteges we also got to hear from some of the past participants of Youth Horizons work. One story that was important to me was when Nate Davis shared. Nate was a former resident of our first group home called, the Martin House. I was working at the house when Nate lived there, so it was especially encouraging to hear him speak. I captured his 2 minute story on video. I was at the back of the room with a small camera, so the video is a bit blurry, but I think the audio is okay.

Thanks to everyone that came to the gala and everyone that works to support the work of Youth Horizons. Lives like Nate’s are being changed because of the investment people are making in our work.

Instead, I’d like to just share one way that I’ve been challenged over the last month at Youth Horizons. Just recently I’ve finished reading a book called, The Hole in the Gospel. It is by the president of World Vision, Richard Stearn. There is one sentence in that book that has stuck with me. It is, “I can easily get distracted by the details of my own life and family” This was the author’s confession and as I thought about it, I realized that I am right there with him.

Buying a house, getting groceries, getting the kids to bed, paying bills, trying to squeeze in a date night with my wife. I can begin to drowned in the details of my life and forget about the primary vision or purpose that God has given me on this planet.

For me the last month has been a wake up call. It has been a reminder that, “yes” I have a lot on my plate, but “YES” God also wants me to make time to care for the “least of these”

At Youth Horizons, that primarily means caring for the Fatherless in our community. In the Wichita area alone, there are about 10,000 children that are classified as at-risk kids. Through out the US there are about 25 million children being raised in a home without a dad.

Currently I am not mentoring a child her in Wichita, but I have been praying about taking that step. In the last month, I’ve also been reminded of the great responsibility that I have to care for my children and ensure that I’m faithfully investing in them.

The last few months have been filled with lots of transitions. As usual our kids weather the storm a little bit better than we do. I think that as long as mom and dad are around and the kids get a small dose of cartoons each week all is right with the world.

However, I thought I’d check in and see how they are doing and talk to them about what they missed about Vancouver and what they like about Wichita. It appears that Emily was a bit confused about which city is which, but that’s okay. She did let us know in the video that she “likes horses”

Tiffany and I are doing well. Tiff has gotten settled into a small group and has been trying to make it to the Y regularly. Now that we are in Kansas, walking is not part of our normal routine like it was in Vancouver, so trips to the gym are required.

It has been great being back close to family as you can see from the video, the kids have loved being around their cousins.

We’ve enjoyed being back at River Community Church in Wichita. Although it has seemed a little surreal being back. It is crazy being at such a “big” church after being a part of the Bridge for the last 7 years. It is also odd to go from being involved in the work of the church to trying to find a new place to fit in.

I am experiencing a bit of transition in my work currently. Over the past two years, I’ve been working with a new company called Reachd. We teach business owners to grow their business through web marketing. After we arrived in Wichita, I was approached by Youth Horizons about a job in their mentoring program. Youth Horizons provided one on one Christian mentoring to at risk children as well as provides a residential program for at risk boys.

Initially the job was going to be a part time job with the prospect of growing into a full time position. Recently plans have changed and I’ve been asked to take a full-time position at Youth Horizons. Youth Horizons is a non-profit and is funded solely through donations and grants. Taking me on as a full time employee will be a stretch financially for Youth Horizons. I have agreed to help by raising part of my own support to cover this position. If you would like to support us via prayers or financial contribution, please let me know.

We are grateful for what God is doing in our lives here in Wichita and are grateful to be back. Although Vancouver still feels like home in some ways, we are confident that we are in the place that we should be.

Questions.. Comments.. Drop one below or email me

Friday September 26th is the Terry Fox Run. If you don’t know who Terry Fox is, listen up. He was a very inspirational figure in Canada. In 1980 after battling cancer, Terry set off to run across Canada to raise funds for Cancer treatment. He did not complete his run because of his cancer and died in 1981. Caleb is participating in the Terry Fox run at his school and we’d like you to donate to the Terry Fox run to raise money to fight cancer.

To donate..

1. Go to http://www.terryfoxrun.org
2. Click on the donate link
3. Select BC & False Creek Elementary
4. Fill out the form and put Caleb Bartlett as the student you are sponsoring.

That’s it.. now you are fighting cancer!

Twittering… sounds like I’m wasting time or twiddling my thumbs. It is a bit hard for a rural Kansas boy to get into Twitter. Seems like it is just something to fill my time. None the less I out there twittering. You can find me at http://www.twitter.com/rodneyb