Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. A lot has happened since I wrote last, and I’m sure you’ll get a glimpse of it as I write a series of blogs over the next few months.

I currently run an after school program in an under resourced neighbourhood in London, and have been doing so for the past year. In January, my awesome mentee has joined me at this program. (I should preface this by saying that I currently only mentor one individual.) We endure the chaos, the laughter, the doubts, and the creativeness together. All of it together. This is a neat experience for both of us. Here is what I have been learning along the way.

1. She gets to see me in another context. At the after school program, or as the kids call, “campsite”, she sees me take on a leadership role, how I interact with kids, and how I deal with the stressful situations. She sees how I problem solve, hears my doubts and concerns, and laughs with me when the kids do something hilarious. At the same time though, I get to see her blossom into a leader as she observes the kids and sees which kids need some extra attention. I see her work one on one with kids and see the smiles on their faces when she’s with them. I listen to her observations of the days, and take in her ideas. It’s a great opportunity for us to grow together as we serve there, and then afterwards we sit down and chat about life and dig deep into the Word.

2. We don’t just get to read about God’s command to serve, but we get to do it together. Over the past year we have done a few studies together and serving seems to come up a lot. It’s one thing to just talk about serving and serve separately, but it’s another to learn and serve together. On her own, she serves a lot, and we debrief about those times, but together, we learn about each other by actually seeing each other in that context, as stated above.

3. It’s something we both enjoy. We both love working with kids, and have babysat together in the past and served in the children’s ministry at church before. Working with the kids at Campsite is natural for both of us. As it says in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” God has given us both the gift of caring for kids, so asking her to help me was not difficult, knowing that she would be a good fit.

Over the past 5 months, we have had a great time being together at Campsite and building relationships with the kids we work with. I’m looking forward to continuing this routine and seeing how we grow and develop together and in our understanding of who God is.

There is this incredible aspen forest down in Utah, which encompasses 106 acres. The leaves cover branch to branch, and fall gracefully to the ground when the wind blows. Each year they experience a colour change, and the creatures build and rebuild a home amongst them. The coolest thing about this forest though, is not that the leaves change colour, or that animals call it home, but that it is all one tree! Is your mind blown yet!?  This aspen forest, also known as Pando, which is Latin for ‘I spread’, is a group of single, identical quaking aspen trees making one living organism – all attached to the same root system. The Pando weighs about 13,000,000 pounds, making it the heaviest known organism, and has about 40 000 stems, or trunks, that die individually and are replaced by new stems.

There is also another kind of Pando tree. Some 2,000 years ago, a special seed was planted on earth. His name was Jesus. God planted His only Son here to take root, and change the meaning of life. The moment He was put in the tomb, and the stone was rolled in front, was the moment the dirt covered the seed in the ground to let it prepare itself for the life it was going to create. Three days later, life is already exposed – penetrating through the darkness of the underground. This new life produces the best fruit around. Jesus didn’t keep this fruit to Himself though. It was ‘spread’ among everyone – but specifically, at that time, the 12 disciples.

Jesus started with 12 ordinary men – who were not so ordinary in God’s eyes. He poured His entire self into them, loving them, teaching them, and simply doing life with them. He shattered their categories, and exposed sin. He loved with a greater love than man can understand, and taught them how to care for those who felt utterly hopeless. He brought light into darkness, guiding others along the way.

But then Jesus left them, sending them on their way and telling them to do the same.

It all started with a seed, who grew 12 beautiful stems. Those stems in turn, gave life to a few more stems, then each of those new stems grew a few more stems. Now we have this beautiful forest of discipled people. Some stems die early, some stems are barely holding on to life, but there are others which radiate in the sun.

Pando.

I spread.

Although I’m only a rookie at discipleship, my branch has spread onto three more girls. I get to watch them grow into a beautiful new stem, producing the kind of fruit that only the Spirit can fertilize. The goal is that they, in time, will then spread to discipling a few girls themselves, who will then find a few more girls to disciple. The growth is exponential, and it all started with a seed – named Jesus.