Anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

Will and I just returned from CAFO, the Christian Alliance for Orphans conference, in Atlanta where I went to a session called the “Enduring Value of Supportive Relationships for Youth Transitioning out of Care.” This was led by Dr. Adrian van Breda, a priest and renown sociology professor at the University of Johannesburg who’s been studying aging-out youth for 30 years.

Recently, Pastor Bryan Clark shared the following metaphor on My Bridge radio, a Christian station that periodically shares stories about RFK and T.R.A.C.

4 Schools
3 Towns
8 Homes
Multiple adults who let you down.
13 years old.

“The pizza inflatable goes the fastest on the slip ‘n slide!”

This comment was not made by a camper, but rather by Marilyn, the 79-year-old camp nurse and grandma at T.R.A.C. Erie, Pennsylvania, this past summer.

“Never stop praying.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Nancy Carlson, longtime director at Kearney T.R.A.C. recently passed out noisemakers to trainees at National Leadership Training in Nebraska.

The chemistry between this long-time mentor and mentee (now officially an adult) was evident at National Leadership Training in Washington this year.

Tina from Midland, Michigan, combines her love of horses with her love of mentoring.

Serena recently shared a post from Pastor Rick Warren entitled “Exercise Faith by Setting Goals.”

Meet Rose, a mentor from Camas, Washington. Recently, she shared her positive experience mentoring.

My mentee wasn’t at the coffee shop across the high school where we agreed to meet. After several calls, I learned she’d gone home with a guy. I knew we needed to talk.

Stating it was hot, was an understatement. If I were him, I would be frustrated, too. Summer- time in Statesboro, Georgia, not only fosters new friendships and rekindles old ones at T.R.A.C., but the season also means extreme temperatures, suffocating humidity, and extroverted gnats.

Six-month surveys are a great way to evaluate how a mentoring relationship is progressing. Check out some of the answers from this year…

Have you heard about Qualified Charitable Distributions, a.k.a QCDs?

As volunteers prayed over various locations at camp last summer…

Mentors and mentees in Martins Ferry, Ohio, enjoyed an ice hockey game recently while youth in Ocala, Florida, had fun bowling and laughing over karaoke.

Meet Lucrece Bundy, the newest Teen Reach board member.

Friends of ours adopted three kids in addition to their three biological children.