Becoming a Mentor
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Becoming a Mentor

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In each of our DCPI trainings, we challenge church planters with The Barnabas Principle which says that “Every church planter needs a mentor. A mentor is someone who has been where you want to go and is willing to help you get there.”

When my wife and I planted a church in northern California in the early 2000’s, having a mentor was a gift from God. Phil, encouraged me, challenged me, and inspired me to boldly follow the Lord in this adventure of church planting.

Like Paul had challenged the church at Corinth in I Corinthians 11:1, I was following Phil as he followed Jesus.

Now a mentor myself, I am convinced that as much of a blessing it is to have a mentor, it is also a huge blessing to be a mentor!

My challenge to you is to become a mentor.

You may find yourself saying, “I don’t have time to mentor someone,” but at DCPI, we believe that you are too busy not to mentor someone. 

Becoming a mentor will bless you!

In your busy role as a church planter, your challenge is to discover where the Lord wants you to invest your time.

Let me share with you some alarming statistics …

85% of what you do, someone else can do. 

If you are too busy, it may be because you are doing things that someone else should be doing.  85% of the people in your church can do some of the roles that you are currently doing.  In fact, these people “should” be doing these roles, because as they step into ministry it will strengthen their relationship with the Lord and the church will flourish.

10% of what you do, you can train someone to do.

85% of what you’re doing, someone else can do right now and if you take the time to train leaders, these trained leaders will be able to do another 10% of your current workload.

5% of what you do, are things that only you can do.

God has called you to plant a church and a big part of that call is to mentor others who can help bring His vision to reality.  Your job is to pour into others who God will use to help your church become healthy and dynamic to reach your community for Him. This is the 5% that only you can do.

Our Latin America World Zone Leader, Ramon, is an excellent example of living out this model. A gifted leader, Ramon is a strategic thinker, an excellent organizer, and a talented communicator. Ramon can do it all, but he has made a deliberate and intentional decision to empower others through mentoring instead of doing everything himself. He is a blessing to his team.

In 2019, Ramon suffered an unexpected heart attack that dramatically altered how he looked at life. Already intent on being a mentor, Ramon made mentoring his number one focus and it greatly impacted his World Zone. Today, because of his mentoring, Ramon has a team of talented and energetic leaders who are doing an incredible job of starting church planting movements throughout Latin America.

Ramon has discovered that the best use of his time and energy is to invest in others as a mentor.

I am blessed to call Ramon my friend!

Who is God calling you to mentor?

Until the whole world knows Him,

Scott Kirk
Executive Director