Last Lessons #76 – MENTORS

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”  Hebrews 13:7

No matter what one wants to accomplish in this life, it is helpful to have at least one mentor.  A mentor is a person who cares enough about you and your cause to want to encourage and help you achieve your goals – not for their benefit, but for yours. I am grateful that God has given me a few mentors.

When I went to Oakland, California to be trained as a teaching leader in BSF, I met Miss Audrey Wetherell Johnson.  She was called “Miss Johnson” as was appropriate for an English lady.  She was the General Director of Bible Study Fellowship, the writer of the notes, and the trainer of those who would teach BSF classes.  From the very first day of training, she and I connected.  I think it was because she knew that I had been a missionary.  Although she had been a missionary to China and I to Africa, still there was an immediate bond between us.  I listened to her lecture on the Scriptures, learned from her how I could prepare a lecture on a passage, learned good “rules” for class members to get the most out of their attendance.  Basically, I learned how to teach the Bible in an organized manner.  That was what I did not know how to do when I was a missionary in Africa so I was eager to learn.  Miss Johnson taught me and became my model.  I wanted to be like her and imitate her faith. 

One of the ways Miss Johnson mentored me was to introduce me to the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI). She was on the Council that was founded in 1977 to clarify and defend the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and she wanted Bob and me to be a part of the issue that was facing evangelicalism at that time. The ICBI’s goal was to prove that the Bible is not only infallible, but it is without error in all its parts.  A year later some whole denominations split over the issue of the inerrancy of Scripture.  What neither Miss Johnson nor I knew at that time was that by introducing me to the ICBI, she introduced me to another mentor for me – Dr. James Montgomery Boice.

Jim Boice was the pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.  I began listening to his radio broadcast The Bible Study Hour and reading his books.  THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE FAITH is still a classic and his commentaries and other books made me love the Bible even more than I already did.  Later, I invited Jim Boice to be on the Board of BSF and he accepted.  We became friends, but he was my mentor, especially after Wetherell Johnson died. 

Then Jim Boice introduced me to Dr. David F. Wells.  In 1993 Jim Boice put together the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals (ACE) largely because of the book written by David Wells called NO PLACE FOR TRUTH.  In spite of my being a woman, and definitely not a theologian, I was asked to be on the council for ACE along with David Wells, R.C. Sproul and a few others.  I admired David Wells and he was kind enough to befriend me.  When Jim Boice died in 2000, David became the one I looked up to for counsel and truth.  I later asked him to be on Rafiki’s board and he accepted. He and his wife Jane traveled with us to Africa a number of times, and to this day David Wells is the one that I ask to keep me on track theologically and spiritually. 

Of course, I have other mentors through books that I read and preachers I listen to, but those who have helped me most through the years have been accessible to me personally.  I am convinced that anyone who wants to succeed in any endeavor, spiritual or secular, should have at least one mentor.  Usually, a mentor should be asked to fill that role in one’s life because it takes time and effort to mentor.  I am more grateful than I can say for those God gave me to teach, advise, counsel, open doors, and model a way of life and faith during my lifetime. 

I hope that God has given, or will give, you at least one person whose life you can consider and whose faith you can imitate – a good mentor.