UM Men, BBBS continue Amachi partnership
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Written: 10/30/2009
Celebrating the partnership of the NTC and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Amachi program are, from left, Nick Booth, Vice President of Philanthropy, BBS America; Lauren Hoofnagle, Director of Amachi, Texas BBBS of North Texas; Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe; Karen Mathis, CEO BBBS America; Todd Bristow, Director of Resource Development, BBBS North Texas; Olivia Eudaly, Director of Amachi, Texas BBBS; and Charles Pierson, CEO of BBBS, North Texas.
The North Texas Conference is one of 12 pilot UM conferences partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America on the “Amachi project,” a mentoring program for children of persons who are incarcerated.
Statistics show that without mentoring, children of prisoners are five times more likely to commit violent crimes and are at a higher risk of poor academic performance and drug or alcohol abuse, but with mentoring, these same children have a much more favorable outlook.
Amachi Texas is looking for caring adults willing to devote four hours a month in one-on-one time with one of these children.
Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) has a special partnership with United Methodist Men on a national and conference level. On Sept. 29, Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe met with Karen Mathis, the new CEO of BBBS America; Olivia Eulady, Texas Executive Director; Nick Booth, Vice President of Philanthropy of BBBS America, and the organization’s North Texas leadership team to engage in conversations about how to encourage NTC congregations to find mentors for 400 children.
Bishop Bledsoe is no stranger to BBBS, having served as a Big Brother when he was in college.
The NTC has been involved with Amachi for the past several years, and according to Todd Bristow, BBBS Director of Resource Development, the conference has done well and has the potential to move the initiative to the next level.
Some examples of local church support include:
- Custer Road UMC, Plano, has provided funding for the program and space for the annual school supply drive, and its pastor, Dr. Ron Henderson, is a Big Brother.
- First UMC, Richardson, has mentors who give their time and provides funding support.
- St. Luke “Community” UMC, Dallas, has mentors who give their time and others who are donors. BBBS was the church’s Vacation Bible School outreach in
2009.
- First UMC, Plano, UM Men, host an annual Golf event and provides funding support.
- Christ UMC, Plano, has three regional BBBS Board members and also provides funding support.
- First UMC, Allen, UM Men made contributions to support the organization.
- Hamilton Park UMC, Dallas, has conducted several BBBS recruitment drives, and member Dale Long is the only person who has received the National Big Brother of the Year award and Board member of the Year award.
- Church of the Disciple UMC, DeSoto, has conducted recruitment opportunities and senior pastor Dr. Ouida Lee is a Big Sister.
- New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, Grand Prairie, has embraced the joint mission to reach the community and Rev. Perry Crenshaw, pastor of this new church start, has inquired about becoming a Big Brother. And, though New Beginnings will not officially launch until November, it has already become a BBBS donor.
- Highland Park UMC, Dallas, has members on the BBBS Board.
- University Park UMC, Dallas, has members who serve on the Board.
- Warren UMC has a history of needing BBBS, and one of the church’s well known members, Dr. Thalia Matherson, is a Big Sister.
- First UMC, Wichita Falls, has helped recruit members and influenced the community in establishing a regional office, which opened in 2009 with 60 mentoring relationships.
Mentoring experience
Dr. Thomas Spann, Professor of Supervised Ministry at Perkins School of Theology, SMU, and a member at St. Luke “Community” recently preached for Hamilton Park UMC’s annual Men’s Day and talked about his mentoring experience. He related how he saw his Little Brother’s teacher and guidance counselor and discovered the youngster had gotten into some trouble on the way home from school and a gunshot grazed his head.
Dr. Spann continued to work with the boy, who graduated from high school and went on to college. He sent Dr. Spann his graduation photo, and when the professor looked at the inscription, it said, “To my Father.” Bristow is clear that the primary goal of BBBS and Amachi is to help the children, but he sees benefits to the church as well. Since most of the children needing mentors have no church relationship, one of the greatest possible gifts is to help that child discover a relationship with Christ through the church. “I strongly believe the mission of the United Methodist Church; To Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world; rums parallel to the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters,” Bristow says.
What is your agency mission?
The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to enrich, encourage and empower children to reach their highest potential through safe, positive one-to-one mentoring relationships.
Why is mentoring important?
Mentoring is the act of providing guidance and friendship to someone who could use a role model for life’s choices and decisions. By mentoring, people can help others reach goals and improve self-esteem. When mentoring children, volunteers offer to help build a strong foundation for youth as they grow.
How does mentoring work?
Simple. Someone volunteers to develop a relationship with a young person, offering support and guidance. By spending time together, learning new things and enjoying friendship, the mentor helps the young person grow and dream.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is the largest donor-based volunteer network of mentors for youth, a non-profit organization proven to help children of single, low-income and incarcerated parents beat the odds.
“Kids ask faith questions all the time, and if four members from each church became ‘Bigs,’ we could add four to five percent to the membership,” he observed.
For more information on BBBS and the Amachi of Texas mentoring program, call Todd Bristow, 972-423-9559 or email:tbristow@bbbstx.org. Also, visit website: www.bbbstx.org.
How donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters are used
Helps recruit adult mentors for children waiting for this special relationship.
- Helps cover the costs of background checks of volunteers and insurance, while ensuring trained professionals match children to caring and responsible Big Brothers or Big Sisters.
- Helps provide instructors and instructional materials for professional training sessions provided each volunteer matched to children.
- Helps BBBS professional screen, interview, and match and monitor the children and their mentors.