Latest / Coffee and Bible Time Podcast / The Power of Authentic Mentorship | Nancy Lindgren

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The Power of Authentic Mentorship | Nancy Lindgren · Coffee and Bible Time Podcast

• 1:01
  Ellen Krause: At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast, o ur goal is to help you delight in God's Word and thrive in Christian living.
• 1:07
  Ellen Krause: Each week, we talk to subject matter experts who broaden your biblical understanding, encourage you in hard times, and provide life-building tips to enhance your Christian walk.
• 1:18
  Ellen Krause: We are so glad you have joined us.
• 1:21
  Ellen Krause: Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast.
• 1:26
  Ellen Krause: This is Ellen, your host, and today's topic is very near and dear to my heart - mentorship.
• 1:34
  Ellen Krause: Making authentic connections through mentoring has a profound impact, not only on people's lives but in the world, because of the tremendous trickle-down effect that it can have.
• 1:49
  Ellen Krause: So many people crave relationships like those provided through mentoring, a relationship that allows us to be vulnerable and transparent with someone who's just a little further down the road than us and can share hope, truth and wisdom on our journey.
• 2:08
  Ellen Krause: Well, our guest today, N nancy Lindgren, also shares a passion for mentorship, so much so that she wrote a book about it, called Mentoring Made Real the Power of Authentic Connection.
• 2:22
  Ellen Krause: And so Nancy and I are going to discuss the benefits of the mentoring relationship and also confront real concerns that you might be having of feeling unqualified or unworthy of taking on a mentoring role.
• 2:38
  Ellen Krause: In addition to being an author, Nancy is the founder and CEO of More Mentoring, a renowned organization dedicated to mobilizing mentors With a wealth of experience and a genuine heart for others.
• 2:53
  Ellen Krause: Nancy is a trusted coach and consultant for those seeking growth in their mentoring relationships.
• 3:19
  Ellen Krause: You actually came recommended from was raving about your book and she sent it to me and said you have to read this.
• 3:29
  Nancy Lindgren: Oh, I love that.
• 3:30
  Nancy Lindgren: I didn't know that that's so encouraging.
• 3:33
  Ellen Krause: So I was like you know what I need to have her on the podcast to share all your knowledge with our listeners.
• 3:40
  Nancy Lindgren: I love that.
• 3:42
  Ellen Krause: Why don't we start out, Nancy, with just telling us your personal story of how mentoring has been a part of your life?
• 3:50
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, well, I think it's been a part of my life for a long time, even before I knew what I was doing, and I just I wanted to be involved in people's lives.
• 3:59
  Nancy Lindgren: And I just remember coming out of a season for me that was really hard as a young mom and having four little kids at my ankles and you know pouring so much of myself out into these kids, and coming out of that season where they got into school and I had more free time.
• 4:14
  Nancy Lindgren: But I looked back on my life and thought I would have loved to have had a mentor in that season and that would have meant so much.
• 4:21
  Nancy Lindgren: I had great friends, I had great neighbors and people who encouraged me, but I didn't have that special mentor.
• 4:27
  Nancy Lindgren: You know that I pictured in my head and I remember just praying to the Lord and I just said, lord, if you want to use me and use my life and other people's lives like I long to have, I'm all yours and here I am, send me.
• 4:41
  Nancy Lindgren: I just had that attitude, with my hands wide open and talk about the Lord answering prayer and saying, ok, you prayed that, here you go and he just started putting people in my life.
• 4:51
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, one year it was 13 young moms that just one by one, by one, here they were, and of course, I was a little further down the road than they were, so I could totally relate to where the season they were in.
• 5:03
  Nancy Lindgren: But I also was further along that I had that space where I could say you know what?
• 5:07
  Nancy Lindgren: There's going to be a time where you're not going to be crazy like this and you're going to be out of this season, so enjoy it.
• 5:14
  Nancy Lindgren: And I could just speak that life and truth into them.
• 5:16
  Nancy Lindgren: And so I watched that take place.
• 5:19
  Nancy Lindgren: And then I just began seeing and hearing how this is changing their lives.
• 5:23
  Nancy Lindgren: Like we focused on prayer Every time.
• 5:25
  Nancy Lindgren: We need to share this with others.
• 5:27
  Nancy Lindgren: And so I took it to my church and in the midst of all that, it was really a moment sitting on my couch in my living room where I felt like God showed up and just so specifically spoke into my heart that he wanted me to start a mentoring ministry to reach more people, to multiply what I was doing, to duplicate it.
• 5:59
  Nancy Lindgren: And so I just said, yes, lord, whatever you want that to look like, I'll do it.
• 6:03
  Nancy Lindgren: And so I began sharing it with my church, where we were going and in Minneapolis, minnesota, and then it just spread and it's spreading now throughout the world, which is so exciting to me and it's truly a God story.
• 6:16
  Ellen Krause: That is just so incredible.
• 6:19
  Ellen Krause: That is just so incredible.
• 6:26
  Ellen Krause: You know, Nancy, my first introduction to mentoring was when I was in that stage that you just described as a young mom, and we have had a mom's ministry where there was maybe 125 women, but we were in smaller groups of like 12 to 15 women and we each had a mentor.
• 6:41
  Ellen Krause: And I almost become speechless because I can't imagine my life now, thinking back, if I hadn't had those mentors.
• 6:49
  Ellen Krause: So I want to just maybe start with for those that are listening and perhaps they don't even really know what mentoring entails.
• 6:58
  Ellen Krause: Maybe you want to be a mentor, or maybe you're listening to this and saying I really want to find Minnesota a mentor.
• 7:05
  Ellen Krause: Tell us what it all entails.
• 7:08
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah Well, I'm all about keeping it so simple and yet so powerful, and so I just believe in you.
• 7:15
  Nancy Lindgren: Know you, first of all?
• 7:15
  Nancy Lindgren: You ask God, you pray, you say Lord, who is it that you want me to pursue?
• 7:20
  Nancy Lindgren: Who do you want me to pursue?
• 7:21
  Nancy Lindgren: Who do you want me to ask?
• 7:22
  Nancy Lindgren: Who do you want me to be in a relationship with?
• 7:25
  Nancy Lindgren: And he'll begin showing you.
• 7:26
  Nancy Lindgren: That's what I did in that first year, god you show me, you bring the people to me and let me take that step then in pursuing them.
• 7:33
  Nancy Lindgren: And so it starts a prayer and really going to the Lord and asking him, and he'll show you.
• 7:38
  Nancy Lindgren: If you really want to know, if you really want to find a mentor or you want to be a mentor, he will open doors and he will begin to show you.
• 7:44
  Nancy Lindgren: And it may not be who you think.
• 7:45
  Nancy Lindgren: It might be a neighbor, it might be a coworker, it might be a relative, you know.
• 7:53
  Nancy Lindgren: So just have open hands and an open heart to that and then pursue, pursue that person you know, go after them and say I'd love to get to know you better.
• 7:58
  Nancy Lindgren: You don't have to even use the words I want you to be my mentor or I'm here to be your mentor.
• 8:03
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, I think that can be so formal sometimes and intimidating, and it's like let's just start this naturally.
• 8:09
  Nancy Lindgren: Let's go have coffee.
• 8:10
  Nancy Lindgren: I want to hear your story, you know, so say it that way.
• 8:13
  Nancy Lindgren: And then I just say participate, lean in and get to know each other and even if it gets messy or you know it goes, you're not connecting.
• 8:20
  Nancy Lindgren: Well, just keep keep pursuing, keep going after that relationship and God will do amazing things when you participate and you're willing to step into that relationship.
• 8:31
  Ellen Krause: That's so true, so true, nancy.
• 8:34
  Ellen Krause: Was there a time when let's say that you realized you know, a time when let's say that you realized you know the mentoring situation that I described was in a group of 12 to 15 women.
• 8:48
  Ellen Krause: Tell us how your mentoring practice involved.
• 8:50
  Ellen Krause: Was there a point when you realized that sort of one-on-one mentoring or small group mentoring of two to three would have greater impact?
• 9:03
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, it's so interesting because Nancy as I was sitting on my couch on that day when I felt like the Lord was giving me the details of the plan, my Bible was open to Ephesians 3.20.
• 9:12
  Nancy Lindgren: And that's all about now.
• 9:13
  Nancy Lindgren: To him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
• 9:19
  Nancy Lindgren: And so that word more jumped out at me and I just thought the Lord was saying that's the name of the ministry, more mentoring.
• 9:27
  Nancy Lindgren: And so I just wrote down the words M-O-R-E and the first word, you know, m, stood for mentoring.
• 9:32
  Nancy Lindgren: That was pretty obvious.
• 9:33
  Nancy Lindgren: But I looked at the word O and I didn't know what the Lord was saying and I just spent some time praying over that O word.
• 9:39
  Nancy Lindgren: And then in those verses, right after Ephesians 3.20, it's Ephesians 4, like one through 10.
• 9:45
  Nancy Lindgren: And the word one is listed like seven or eight times I can't remember now, but a whole bunch of times it talked about oneness and unity and that word one, and I just felt like the Lord was saying this ministry needs to be focused on the one.
• 9:58
  Nancy Lindgren: It's not a bad thing to do group mentoring, that can be a great thing.
• 10:02
  Nancy Lindgren: But I've also seen it personally where I've held retreats at my house and invited women to come in and we've sat around a big table and the talkers talk and the quiet ones are a little 3 3:.
• 10:12
  Nancy Lindgren: 20 quiet.
• 10:13
  Nancy Lindgren: But then I invited them to come downstairs and I offered to give them one hour of my time.
• 10:18
  Nancy Lindgren: There was, I think, six women there, so I gave up six hours on that weekend to say I will mentor you one-on-one, just come and we can sit together.
• 10:27
  Nancy Lindgren: And it was so amazing because when each woman walked down the steps and sat down on the couch, they immediately began to cry, each one of them and it was just like finally they had this space with one other person that they could really tell me the hard things and things poured out of their lips that would have never been shared sitting around that table upstairs.
• 10:47
  Nancy Lindgren: And I think that's so confirmed in my heart why this ministry is different in that way and it's a unique niche of ours that we are to focus on the one, and I believe it's important for a lot of reasons.
• 11:00
  Nancy Lindgren: I think there's a safety net there in sharing with one other person you know and just being really honest and authentic and you can trust one other person.
• 11:10
  Nancy Lindgren: Sometimes it's harder in a bigger group, but it doesn't mean that a group setting is bad.
• 11:14
  Nancy Lindgren: It's just like I know we're supposed to focus on the one.
• 11:17
  Nancy Lindgren: That's what God has called us to.
• 11:20
  Ellen Krause: Okay, Well, that really helps me understand that you know, and actually it's interesting that you say that, because in our mentoring situation, although it was a group, the mentors then would say I want to meet with you individually.
• 11:36
  Ellen Krause: I do too, you know what, and you're right, it was those one-on-one sessions that I had were the ones that were so impactful, so I really concur with you on that.
• 11:50
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, and I hear you because I was involved in a mom's ministry.
• 11:53
  Nancy Lindgren: I was a mentor mom sitting at a table with a group of women, and so I totally did that too.
• 11:57
  Nancy Lindgren: But then they asked to meet one-on-one outside of that and that's really, I feel like, where my greatest impact was.
• 12:03
  Nancy Lindgren: We could pray together, I could really listen and hear you know and love them and encourage them and speak truth into them personally and I think they feel so seen and heard and known and that makes such a huge difference.
• 12:15
  Nancy Lindgren: They feel so loved and cared for and you know, there's just something really special about the one-on-one.
• 12:21
  Ellen Krause: Absolutely Well.
• 12:23
  Ellen Krause: You described something that you call the four pillars of mentoring.
• 12:28
  Nancy Lindgren: Tell us how they cultivate transformation in people's lives, yes, okay, well, back to that day sitting on that couch, I just felt like the Lord spoke into my heart.
• 12:38
  Nancy Lindgren: Keep this so simple.
• 12:40
  Nancy Lindgren: Don't have major things you have to do homework on and deep dive studies.
• 12:45
  Nancy Lindgren: There's times for that, certainly.
• 12:47
  Nancy Lindgren: But he gave me these four pillars, and the first one is simply love.
• 12:51
  Nancy Lindgren: Start by loving that person.
• 12:52
  Nancy Lindgren: Love them for who they are, accept them for who they are.
• 12:56
  Nancy Lindgren: They might be different than who you are, and that's okay.
• 12:58
  Nancy Lindgren: They might think differently, they might vote differently, their personality might be different, they might be an extrovert, you're an introvert, whatever.
• 13:05
  Nancy Lindgren: Just love them for who they are, and God can do so much through love.
• 13:10
  Nancy Lindgren: He loves us the way we are, and so let's just extend that kind of love and grace to another person where they feel so seen, heard and known, you know, and so I think it starts with love and that's really seeing someone and understanding and getting to know them.
• 13:25
  Nancy Lindgren: And then I just say listen, you know, so many times as mentors we feel like we have to do all the talking or we have to give advice, or we have to be speaking truth into them, which there's a time for that.
• 13:35
  Nancy Lindgren: But I've just come to realize over all these years.
• 13:39
  Nancy Lindgren: I think my greatest times of mentoring has been in my listening ear that I offer to another person.
• 13:44
  Nancy Lindgren: In fact, there was one time a woman sat with me for a whole hour.
• 13:47
  Nancy Lindgren: I asked her one question at the beginning of the hour and she talked for a whole hour and I listened and at the end of that hour she said thank you for all the advice you gave me.
• 13:56
  Nancy Lindgren: So it was kind of funny.
• 13:59
  Nancy Lindgren: But it just again affirmed in my heart like she had to process and she felt so cared for because I sat there and looked her in the eyes and I listened for a whole hour and then she felt like she could walk away with something I don't know what, but she felt like she had something in her hands.
• 14:16
  Nancy Lindgren: Maybe it's just that processing out loud with another person, and so there's something to that listening and it is biblical.
• 14:23
  Nancy Lindgren: You know we're supposed to be slow to speak and quick to listen and so we need to work at that, I think, as mentors and really be okay with that, like we don't have to do all the talking.
• 14:33
  Nancy Lindgren: More good can come out of our listening than anything else.
• 14:36
  Nancy Lindgren: So that's a big one for me and then encourage.
• 14:39
  Nancy Lindgren: all of us need encouragement, and encourage is actually to put courage inside of another person.
• 14:47
  Nancy Lindgren: And so encouragement is really speaking life or speaking truth, speaking God's word, speaking what you see in that person and calling it out in them and just, I don't know, encouraging them in ways that they're not getting in any other way.
• 15:03
  Nancy Lindgren: And I think we all need that.
• 15:05
  Nancy Lindgren: And you know, for me that comes naturally, it's probably more of a spiritual gift, but for some that maybe it takes more practice or work or they don't know how to do that.
• 15:14
  Nancy Lindgren: And so our ministry gives you ideas in our mentoring guides that we have, just so you can think about oh, how do I encourage?
• 15:20
  Nancy Lindgren: Maybe it's just sharing a verse that I read this morning in my quiet time and I can share it with my mentee and that can encourage her, and who knows how God can use that, and so I think that's a really important piece as well.
• 15:32
  Nancy Lindgren: And then the fourth one is truly the foundation it Yes all, and that's prayer and it's coming together.
• 15:37
  Nancy Lindgren: We pray about everything.
• 15:38
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, we're not just sitting there talking about all of this, and in the last five minutes we're praying, we're making sure this is an intentional time of our time together and we want to just cover everything and take it all to the Lord.
• 15:51
  Nancy Lindgren: He's the greatest mentor we could ever have.
• 15:52
  Nancy Lindgren: He knows what situation we're in.
• 15:55
  Nancy Lindgren: He knows how we can change a heart.
• 15:57
  Nancy Lindgren: He knows how we can change a situation and I've seen him do it over and over again when we've taken it to him.
• 16:03
  Nancy Lindgren: And it's not just a person sharing wisdom, but we're asking God for his wisdom and that's where there's transformation.
• 16:10
  Nancy Lindgren: That's what I've heard the most that this has changed my life, and it's because of that prayer time together.
• 16:15
  Nancy Lindgren: People are coming to know God.
• 16:17
  Nancy Lindgren: You know they're confessing together, they're thanking him together, they're asking him using God's word and putting their names right in scripture.
• 16:25
  Nancy Lindgren: So it's so powerful and I'll just never get over the importance of it.
• 16:30
  Nancy Lindgren: I just you know, every time.
• 16:32
  Nancy Lindgren: I just started afresh with a new mentee a few weeks ago and again I just thought this is so powerful and it's so good and it changes everything.
• 16:40
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, it's not just a natural human way of doing this.
• 16:43
  Nancy Lindgren: We're inviting the God of the universe into this relationship and he's the one that transforms our lives.
• 16:52
  Ellen Krause: Do you have a specific story you'd like to share as far as prayer playing such a major role?
• 17:00
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, you know, I think back to the earlier years, probably that first year, even when I was mentoring 13 young moms, because I had a chance to pray a lot with these young mamas and I think it was about five of them, if I remember correctly.
• 17:16
  Nancy Lindgren: I could be off on the number, but it was.
• 17:18
  Nancy Lindgren: It seemed like there was about five of them that wanted to get pregnant in that season and for some reason they couldn't whether it was infertility or just it was a waiting season or whatever.
• 17:28
  Nancy Lindgren: But it was a hard season for all five of these women and I just my heart hurt with them.
• 17:34
  Nancy Lindgren: It's like I'm a mama, I know how painful that is.
• 17:37
  Nancy Lindgren: And so we poured out our hearts together, sitting at my kitchen table I tell you what, my kitchen table was a throne room in that season and we poured out our hearts and all five of those women got pregnant in that year and I just thought isn't God amazing?
• 17:53
  Nancy Lindgren: I mean, he heard the cries of our heart and, you know, maybe they got pregnant, you know just in another way, but I felt in my heart that God heard our prayers and we united together and poured out our hearts and he heard and he responded, and he answered, and I look at those kids now when I see them and I run into them and it's just like you are such an answer to prayer, you know, and I felt like I had a part in that, you know.
• 18:16
  Nancy Lindgren: So, yeah, that was a powerful season of just seeing God move mightily.
• 18:22
  Ellen Krause: That's incredible.
• 18:23
  Ellen Krause: It reminds me of a story in our mom's group where one of the moms kind of in a funny way would say my son was the poster child for needing prayer and we prayed, we prayed, we prayed and now you know, after all the trials and things he went through, he's now just a fine young man and became a pilot and all these things.
• 18:46
  Ellen Krause: And just seeing prayer answered like that is just so heartwarming.
• 18:53
  Nancy Lindgren: Well, god is so personal, you know.
• 18:55
  Nancy Lindgren: He wants us to come to him, he wants us to ask, he wants to answer, and so let's not hold back on that.
• 19:02
  Nancy Lindgren: Why not just give everything to him and ask him and go boldly to the throne room and be bold in our prayers and be specific in our prayers, because I think he longs to show us his greatness and who he is, and he's such a good God.
• 19:16
  Nancy Lindgren: He wants good things for his kids and, yeah, I think we just need to be more bold in our prayers.
• 19:22
  Ellen Krause: Yes, yes, Be so bold that you know, only God could have answered.
• 19:28
  Nancy Lindgren: Only God.
• 19:28
  Nancy Lindgren: I know that's the fun part.
• 19:28
  Nancy Lindgren: He gets all the glory.
• 19:29
  Nancy Lindgren: You know only God could have answered.
• 19:30
  Nancy Lindgren: Only God, I know that's the fun part.
• 19:30
  Nancy Lindgren: He gets all the glory.
• 19:31
  Nancy Lindgren: You know it's not us.
• 19:33
  Ellen Krause: Yes, God G yes, for sure, Nancy.
• 19:38
  Ellen Krause: There might be people listening out here.
• 19:39
  Ellen Krause: They're like, oh, I would love to do that, but you know I fall short in so many ways.
• 19:43
  Ellen Krause: Tell us how people can address these fears and encourage them that they can do it.
• 19:51
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah Well, it's such a common thing I think we all feel that way Like I'm not worthy, I'm unqualified.
• 19:56
  Nancy Lindgren: That's probably the number one thing I hear is I'm unqualified.
• 20:00
  Nancy Lindgren: And I think the deeper piece of that is I'm unworthy Like who would want me as a mentor.
• 20:05
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, I, my life isn't perfect, I don't have this all figured out.
• 20:09
  Nancy Lindgren: What would I even have to offer?
• 20:11
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, I think all those fears that rise up and even insecurities and I'm not enough, and inadequacies I mean all those words probably that start with I.
• 20:21
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, I look at insecurity, inadequate, insufficient, you know, intimidated, all those I words.
• 20:29
  Nancy Lindgren: But that's a focus on us.
• 20:30
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, let's turn that focus into the great I am who instead of who am I.
• 20:37
  Nancy Lindgren: Let's look at the I am who and who he is in our lives.
• 20:40
  Nancy Lindgren: Really, our goal as a mentor is to fill up with him and we pour out what he's put in us.
• 20:45
  Nancy Lindgren: That's every day.
• 20:47
  Nancy Lindgren: I'm spending time with Jesus in the morning and I'm just pouring out whatever he's given me in that day.
• 20:52
  Nancy Lindgren: I keep my Bible open.
• 20:53
  Nancy Lindgren: In fact, it's sitting right next to me, right here, and if, throughout the day, someone texts me or calls me or needs a word of encouragement.
• 21:00
  Nancy Lindgren: I just pour out what God poured into me on this day and I have no idea how he's going to use it, but I've seen him do it over and over again, and so it comes down to simply it's really not about me.
• 21:11
  Nancy Lindgren: It's not about me If we can get over that obstacle of oh, all the pressure is on me or it's on my shoulders to have the right answers.
• 21:19
  Nancy Lindgren: It's really not, you know, it's on God.
• 21:21
  Nancy Lindgren: You just fill up with him, let him be God in you, and there's going to be so much freedom and joy and peace and refreshment as you pour out.
• 21:31
  Nancy Lindgren: It's not like you're emptied after you pour out.
• 21:33
  Nancy Lindgren: You get filled up too, being with your mentee and she pours into you and together you're praying and there's just something so sweet about that and so powerful.
• 21:42
  Nancy Lindgren: It's just this coming together, a uniting, and we're stronger and we're better together.
• 21:49
  Ellen Krause: We sure are.
• 21:50
  Ellen Krause: I'm going to just read this, perhaps to encourage our listeners today, because it was what I read this morning and I think we should share it.
• 22:00
  Ellen Krause: This is from Psalm 121.
• 22:03
  Ellen Krause: It says I look up to the mountains.
• 22:07
  Ellen Krause: Does my help come from there?
• 22:09
  Ellen Krause: My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
• 22:13
  Ellen Krause: He will not let you stumble.
• 22:15
  Ellen Krause: The one who watches over you will not slumber.
• 22:18
  Ellen Krause: Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers.
• 22:22
  Ellen Krause: The Lord himself watches over you.
• 22:25
  Ellen Krause: The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
• 22:29
  Ellen Krause: The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
• 22:33
  Ellen Krause: The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
• 22:37
  Ellen Krause: The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
• 22:45
  Nancy Lindgren: Oh, Ellen, I have to tell you I read the exact chapter this morning in my quiet time and so, listeners, we didn't plan this, we did not orchestrate this, but I can't even tell you how many times this happens with my mentor and myself when we get together.
• 23:01
  Nancy Lindgren: She shares a verse that I read that very same morning.
• 23:05
  Nancy Lindgren: I mean, it's happened so many times that we just know God is speaking to us and he's so a part of that relationship as we're listening to him and both of us come away so encouraged and it's like he's so personal, Like what are the chances I would have read Psalm 121 this morning and that you would have got your Bible and just said you read that.
• 23:24
  Nancy Lindgren: I mean, that's God right there.
• 23:26
  Nancy Lindgren: So I'd love for your listeners to hear that this happens so often to me.
• 23:30
  Nancy Lindgren: It's like his word is alive, it goes out with power and it's our bread and it's our meat, it's what we eat, it's what we live off of and so we can use it with and know that God can use it in someone's life.
• 23:44
  Ellen Krause: Oh, absolutely.
• 23:46
  Ellen Krause: That sets the power of prayer for you right there, the power of.
• 23:49
  Ellen Krause: God's word and it's incredible God always exceeds my expectations.
• 23:56
  Nancy Lindgren: Me too, me too, how great.
• 23:59
  Ellen Krause: Well, I wanted to ask you a question, or just let's talk about.
• 24:03
  Ellen Krause: I think someone listening to this, maybe, who is a Christian, might be thinking I should focus all my efforts on only mentoring Christians.
• 24:15
  Ellen Krause: Tell us about how impactful it can be as well to reach out to people who maybe who don't know the Lord yet.
• 24:24
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, oh, my goodness, there's a world waiting for us to step into their lives.
• 24:29
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, they're lonely, they're longing for something more and so many are turning away from the church today.
• 24:35
  Nancy Lindgren: I mean, I've heard 1 million young people are leaving the church today.
• 24:39
  Nancy Lindgren: But do you know what?
• 24:40
  Nancy Lindgren: The number one thing they long for?
• 24:42
  Nancy Lindgren: It's a mentor, it's someone, it's a person, it's someone they can trust.
• 24:46
  Nancy Lindgren: It's someone that they can go to and share the hard things with.
• 24:49
  Nancy Lindgren: They want to be loved.
• 24:50
  Nancy Lindgren: They want to be seen, heard and known.
• 24:52
  Nancy Lindgren: They don't even know that there's a God out there that sees, hears and knows them.
• 24:57
  Nancy Lindgren: But if there's a mentor that steps in with God living in them and flowing out to them, they're going to be so amazed at this personal God.
• 25:06
  Nancy Lindgren: So we have to be stepping into these kinds of relationships, because the world needs Jesus and we have him.
• 25:13
  Nancy Lindgren: We have something to offer.
• 25:14
  Nancy Lindgren: And yet this can be so natural.
• 25:15
  Nancy Lindgren: We can just form a relationship with another person, we can get to know them, we can love, listen, encourage and maybe just say can I pray for you?
• 25:24
  Nancy Lindgren: Because they probably aren't real comfortable in praying yet, so maybe it's like starting it with can I pray for you?
• 25:30
  Nancy Lindgren: How can I pray for you?
• 25:32
  Nancy Lindgren: I think so many times even that question can bring on the emotion and the tears and you all of a sudden will get that soft, tender side of someone, because someone really cares and wants to pray for them.
• 25:44
  Nancy Lindgren: And then their heart's open and receptive and then, when they begin to see God answer prayers in their life, they want to get to know this God.
• 25:51
  Nancy Lindgren: And so we have to be stepping into these kind of relationships and we actually wrote a mentoring guide called First Steps, and so for those that are maybe really new in their faith or don't even have faith yet and we wrote it with kind of those words in mind that would be real simple and not too churchy sounding and just draw them into their relationship, draw them into just those baby steps of praying.
• 26:14
  Nancy Lindgren: And maybe it's they just read the prayer we have a few sentences of prayer at the end just to get them practicing how to pray, because that's going to be the key is to get them into that relationship with Jesus and begin praying themselves to a very real God.
• 26:28
  Nancy Lindgren: And so it's a beautiful thing to watch.
• 26:31
  Nancy Lindgren: I think it can transform the world.
• 26:32
  Nancy Lindgren: That's what gets me passionate and excited.
• 26:34
  Nancy Lindgren: I think it can bring revival.
• 26:35
  Nancy Lindgren: We really do yes.
• 26:38
  Ellen Krause: Imagine like if every person sitting in your church had one of those relationships that they really poured into.
• 26:48
  Ellen Krause: I know I mean that would change the world.
• 26:51
  Nancy Lindgren: It would, it would.
• 26:52
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, you've caught it.
• 26:54
  Nancy Lindgren: Let's have everyone else catch it, because I can see it and it gets me excited, and I just feel like our time is short.
• 27:00
  Nancy Lindgren: Our time is short and people are the only things we're bringing to heaven with us, and so why not invest in people and make that our focus in these final years?
• 27:09
  Nancy Lindgren: Who knows how long we have until Jesus returns, but it feels like the days are getting darker and shorter, and so let's step into this and bring as many people with us as we can?
• 27:19
  Ellen Krause: Yes, absolutely, I know.
• 27:22
  Ellen Krause: One of the things that has been such a joy for me in mentoring is that it really has transformed myself.
• 27:31
  Ellen Krause: You know, based on the person, based on you know the season of life that I'm in.
• 27:38
  Ellen Krause: All of these things Tell us about.
• 27:40
  Ellen Krause: You know, if you are mentoring and someone's never tried it just the joy that you can find in your own personal and spiritual renewal.
• 27:49
  Nancy Lindgren: I think you nailed it with that word joy.
• 27:51
  Nancy Lindgren: It brings so much joy, it's so fulfilling.
• 27:54
  Nancy Lindgren: I can't even tell you how many times I walk away from a one hour session of mentoring someone and I just say this is so fulfilling, it's so satisfying, it's so worth it.
• 28:05
  Nancy Lindgren: It's just one hour, you know, it's not a huge commitment.
• 28:08
  Nancy Lindgren: We're all so busy and we think we don't have time for these kind of relationships.
• 28:12
  Nancy Lindgren: We can make time for one hour to meet with one other person and I just think there's so much peace that comes from it, especially when you're praying together.
• 28:22
  Nancy Lindgren: There's strength that comes in that we're not alone.
• 28:25
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, there's something about when we're isolated and hidden.
• 28:28
  Nancy Lindgren: Things stay in the dark and we feel like it's so heavy and we can't do any of this on our own and we can't.
• 28:35
  Nancy Lindgren: We need each other.
• 28:36
  Nancy Lindgren: And so that's when things get brought into the light, when you're sharing together, when you're praying together, and there's something about those chains being broken, those.
• 28:45
  Nancy Lindgren: I don't know the, I don't even know how to express it well enough, but something about just the freedom.
• 28:54
  Nancy Lindgren: I think that's the word I want freedom.
• 28:56
  Nancy Lindgren: It's like you bring it into the light, you share it with another person.
• 28:59
  Nancy Lindgren: There's such joy and freedom in that, and there's fullness of Christ within us that we experience it's experiencing more of him.
• 29:05
  Nancy Lindgren: And who doesn't want that?
• 29:05
  Nancy Lindgren: And there's fullness of Christ within us that we experience it's experiencing more of him.
• 29:07
  Nancy Lindgren: And who doesn't want that and who doesn't need that?
• 29:10
  Nancy Lindgren: And so, yeah, I just think, I think of that verse Proverbs 11, 25,.
• 29:14
  Nancy Lindgren: Whoever refreshes another person will be refreshed themselves.
• 29:18
  Nancy Lindgren: And I have experienced that.
• 29:19
  Nancy Lindgren: I walk away refreshed.
• 29:21
  Nancy Lindgren: I'm not depleted, I'm not emptied out, I am refreshed.
• 29:24
  Nancy Lindgren: And so, yeah, I think this mindset of it's going to be hard work, it's going to be a burden, it's going to be all these negative things.
• 29:30
  Nancy Lindgren: No, it changes us too as a mentor, and it's a gift to us as well.
• 29:36
  Ellen Krause: Absolutely, nancy.
• 29:38
  Ellen Krause: In your teaching that you talk about, in training other people, you focus on really making sure that your relationships get below surface level.
• 29:50
  Ellen Krause: Yeah, give our listeners maybe some tips or advice on how they would go about doing that.
• 29:58
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, well, it's interesting because I feel like you know, I feel like I'm in the older generation now and our generation maybe wasn't so open and we kind of had our walls up and we had to make sure we kind of looked like we had it all together.
• 30:10
  Nancy Lindgren: I think the younger generation is doing a much better job than us older ones and that they are really an open book.
• 30:16
  Nancy Lindgren: I have experienced that.
• 30:18
  Nancy Lindgren: They just come in and share openly and honestly and life is hard and this is where I'm at and they don't have those walls up, I feel like anyway.
• 30:27
  Nancy Lindgren: And so even this last mentoring relationship I stepped into within five minutes of spending time with her.
• 30:34
  Nancy Lindgren: I knew more about her and I knew some of her.
• 30:37
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, I knew a little bit about her but she just let me.
• 30:40
  Nancy Lindgren: She let me in and she shared all the hard things and I just think I love that and that's what you know, that book Mentoring Made Real that I felt like God was calling me to write.
• 30:50
  Nancy Lindgren: That's what it's about stepping in and just being real.
• 30:54
  Nancy Lindgren: None of us have it all together.
• 30:55
  Nancy Lindgren: We're all on a journey.
• 30:56
  Nancy Lindgren: None of us are perfect, you know.
• 30:59
  Nancy Lindgren: Let's just share our lives with each other and you know intimacy is really into me see with each other, and you know intimacy is really into me see.
• 31:08
  Nancy Lindgren: And so to have another person really see into the depths of our hearts, that's a gift and it's beautiful.
• 31:11
  Nancy Lindgren: But we have to be open enough to let people in as well.
• 31:14
  Nancy Lindgren: It's kind of that two way of both people doing that.
• 31:18
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, and I think there's that's what gets us into that deeper openness and honesty 11: and that realness.
• 31:26
  Nancy Lindgren: Let's just share it as it is and we don't have it all figured out yet, but we're sharing life together and we know God's going to help us on our journey.
• 31:34
  Ellen Krause: Yeah, Nancy.
• 31:35
  Ellen Krause: And kind of using those questions, those open-ended questions like share with me what's on your heart today, or just not how you're doing Right.
• 31:48
  Nancy Lindgren: Well, that's the other thing.
• 31:49
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, I keep talking about these mentoring guides.
• 31:52
  Nancy Lindgren: I've written, but I think you know at the beginning we give conversation starters, so we'll give, like, some really lighthearted ones and maybe some deeper ones, and people have said that has helped so much because then they don't have to come up with the questions.
• 32:04
  Nancy Lindgren: Sometimes that's hard, you know how do I come up with a creative question, but it's right there in this little guide that you're going through together and you're asking each other these questions and that's what helps you go deeper faster, and so I love that people are using these and it's just a way to get to know each other without having it be awkward or having it be something we have to force or come up with on our own.
• 32:26
  Ellen Krause: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:27
  Ellen Krause: Well, that actually leads me to, as we start to wrap things up here, nancy, tell us a little bit more about some of the training programs that you have and resources that can help people in this mentoring process.
• 32:42
  Nancy Lindgren: Yes.
• 32:43
  Nancy Lindgren: Well, our ministry More Mentoring is really here to equip and empower mentors with tools, training and a community, and so our tools are those mentoring guides, and right now we have seven of them, and three of them are in trans.
• 32:57
  Nancy Lindgren: No four are translated into Spanish.
• 32:59
  Nancy Lindgren: So we're starting to do some translating and we're also working on a children's guide, and so we can't wait for even moms to go through this with their kids, or grandmas and grandkids, or maybe someone at your church needs a little walking alongside.
• 33:14
  Nancy Lindgren: You know, we can't wait for that next generation to experience mentorship.
• 33:18
  Nancy Lindgren: And so we have just some general guides.
• 33:21
  Nancy Lindgren: We have a men's guide, we have a teen's guide, we have those first steps guide for those who maybe aren't believers yet, and so we have a wide variety of mentoring guides, but all of them just have like 12 sessions in each book and you go through it together with conversation starters, encouragement starters and then prayer, just kind of a little guidance on how to pray together, and so it takes all of the fear away and all the awkwardness, the way that you can just do this by walking through this together.
• 33:47
  Nancy Lindgren: There's not homework, there's not a lot of in-depth study.
• 33:50
  Nancy Lindgren: It's so simple and yet it's really, really powerful and so we love.
• 33:54
  Nancy Lindgren: We're going to keep working on adding more to that list, but we've gotten a lot of feedback that people really appreciate those guides.
• 34:02
  Nancy Lindgren: And then we have training.
• 34:03
  Nancy Lindgren: So we have a mentor training that we're updating.
• 34:05
  Nancy Lindgren: We're going to have a training videotaping at my house on July 2nd, so we're going to be updating these training videos that we have for mentors as well as mobilizers and a mobilizer is someone who wants to mobilize mentors right where they are.
• 34:21
  Nancy Lindgren: That might be your church, it might be a school, it might be a camp, it might be another ministry or organization or a business.
• 34:28
  Nancy Lindgren: It can be anyone out there who really sees the bigger vision of doing this.
• 34:32
  Nancy Lindgren: Like I want this to happen.
• 34:33
  Nancy Lindgren: I want to be multiplied and help people find each other, and so we want to equip those mobilizers.
• 34:39
  Nancy Lindgren: And it can be a less structured way to do it or it can be a more structured.
• 34:43
  Nancy Lindgren: We kind of have two different tracks and we can help both of those groups do that well.
• 34:48
  Nancy Lindgren: Nancy not a right or wrong in how to do it.
• 34:50
  Nancy Lindgren: Some people really like to be hands-on and help connect people and some just say go, do it and don't want to have their hands on anything, but we want to help both groups there.
• 34:59
  Nancy Lindgren: And then we have an online community where people can come in.
• 35:03
  Nancy Lindgren: They can actually find a mentor there or even become a mentor there.
• 35:06
  Nancy Lindgren: They can learn more about mentoring.
• 35:08
  Nancy Lindgren: We have ongoing training there.
• 35:09
  Nancy Lindgren: You could even like if your church was doing this.
• 35:12
  Nancy Lindgren: You could have your own little group there where you invite your people to come in there and they can find each other on our site.
• 35:17
  Nancy Lindgren: So we're just trying to grow and expand this community, but we feel like we want it to be a platform where people can find each other and connect really well and you know, you might know someone in .
• 35:29
  Nancy Lindgren: we have to be in the same room to do this.
• 35:32
  Nancy Lindgren: We want to use the technology.
• 35:33
  Nancy Lindgren: Address is info at morementoringorg so you can find me there.
• 35:47
  Nancy Lindgren: I love to get out and speak.
• 35:49
  Nancy Lindgren: I love to do live training.
• 35:50
  Nancy Lindgren: So if anyone's interested in having me come, you can reach out there and we can see if it works on the schedule, and I'd love to meet as many of your listeners as possible.
• 35:59
  Nancy Lindgren: That's the fun for me to get out and meet people.
• 36:07
  Ellen Krause: Oh, absolutely.
• 36:07
  Ellen Krause: I love that so much too as well.
• 36:08
  Ellen Krause: Well, nancy, we will make sure that we put all of those links in our show notes.
• 36:10
  Ellen Krause: Before we go.
• 36:11
  Ellen Krause: I want to ask you some of our favorite Bible study tool questions.
• 36:15
  Ellen Krause: The first one is what Bible is your go-to Bible and what translation is it?
• 36:21
  Nancy Lindgren: Well, today it's the New Living Trans translation, but I have gone through about every translation out there and I have kept every Bible I've gone through and I love reading through the Bible.
• 36:31
  Nancy Lindgren: I'm doing that again this year and so it's so fun to words, but then all of a sudden those words jump out and it's a new, fresh way of thinking or saying it and it makes his word come alive even all the more so.
• 36:53
  Nancy Lindgren: I'm really loving the NLT right now.
• 36:55
  Ellen Krause: Oh my goodness, I can't believe that we read the same scripture passage and in the same translation, because that's what I'm using right now as well, I love it, but yeah.
• 37:06
  Ellen Krause: I definitely agree that it's excellent if you can sort of change it up.
• 37:12
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, yeah, okay.
• 37:16
  Ellen Krause: How about do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study experience?
• 37:22
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, you know that's a great question and I actually was on a podcast earlier this year with Jamie Elizabeth called she Speaks, and she has written a journal and she gave me one and so I've been using that.
• 37:34
  Nancy Lindgren: It's called Serenity and it's so great because at the very top is a verse that you put your name right into and pray scripture over you, because I shared with her.
• 37:44
  Nancy Lindgren: That's what we do in this ministry and that's what keeps it so powerful.
• 37:47
  Nancy Lindgren: We're using God's word and it goes out and it doesn't return empty and void, you know.
• 37:52
  Nancy Lindgren: And so it goes out with power and so I love it starts right there with scripture, and then every day I'm just saying what I'm trusting God, with, what I'm surrendering to God, what I'm thanking him for.
• 38:04
  Nancy Lindgren: I mean just some very simple things, consistent, but I'm just journaling and writing those down and it's just been a beautiful way to keep track of how God's been working in my life this year.
• 38:13
  Ellen Krause: That's so great.
• 38:14
  Ellen Krause: All right, we'll put a link to that too.
• 38:16
  Ellen Krause: Lastly, what is your favorite app or website for Bible study?
• 38:20
  Nancy Lindgren: tools.
• 38:20
  Nancy Lindgren: Yeah, I think my go-to is Bible Gateway.
• 38:26
  Nancy Lindgren: It's just right there.
• 38:27
  Nancy Lindgren: I get on there and I'm looking up verses all the time.
• 38:28
  Nancy Lindgren: I'm looking up different translations and, yeah, it's just one of my favorites, all right.
• 38:31
  Ellen Krause: That's a good go-to, nancy.
• 38:33
  Ellen Krause: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 38:36
  Ellen Krause: I'm just.
• 38:38
  Ellen Krause: It's been such a called Sh S S S S S S to talk to you.
• 38:39
  Ellen Krause: I know mentoring is an adventure that can change lives, our lives, their lives, and I'm just so grateful for your leadership that you've had in this part of the industry.
• 38:53
  Nancy Lindgren: You are welcome.
• 38:54
  Nancy Lindgren: Thank you so much for having me on.
• 38:55
  Nancy Lindgren: This was really fun to talk with you today, Ellen.
• 38:59
  Ellen Krause: and for our listeners, if you would like more in-depth look at the topic of mentorship, be sure to get a copy of Nancy's book Mentoring Made Real.
• 39:09
  Ellen Krause: We will have the link in our show notes.
• 39:12
  Ellen Krause: You can also visit her at morementoringorg.
• 39:16
  Ellen Krause: Well, we love you all.
• 39:18
  Ellen Krause: We thank you and appreciate you listening.
• 39:21
  Ellen Krause: Please leave us a review so that we can continue to move our podcast forward.
• 39:27
  Ellen Krause: And have a blessed day.