Men’s Discipleship - One-on-one
with Tom Drake
A Testimonial
“My time with Tom is very profound. His questions are well thought and help me understand my spiritual journey. Tom is a mature leader who has a heart for pastoring others. I highly recommend this Year-Round Mentoring Initiative.”
Dorin Dumitrascu, a pastor from Romania
Programme Overview
In a mentoring relationship, the focus is first and foremost on the gospel and biblical discipleship – for the renewal of our own hearts, for the sake of others, and also for our communities. In this Year-Round Mentoring group we will explore where we fail to believe and trust in Christ with all our minds, hearts, and strength, and learn how to walk alongside others and build them up in faith and maturity. We will especially look at the dynamics of how people truly change through God’s absolute truth, resurrection power, and abounding grace.
Goals
To recognize where we ourselves struggle with unbelief and to grow in trusting and loving our faithful and sovereign LORD. We will start with our own hearts.
To refocus on what talents, strengths, and capacities we have, how they fit with our current roles and expectations, and if changes need to be made.
To investigate and address where those we serve and lead get off-track from following Christ and how we can best disciple, coach, and/or mentor them.
To understand and implement tested practice of spiritual renewal and practical change.
To identify key potential leaders in our spheres of influence and generate a plan to develop them to new heights through encouraging, equipping, and empowering.
Strategy
We will follow a simple yet powerful pattern – listen, learn, love. Initially, each participant will spend time with the mentor and the Lord and hear from one another. Based on the output of the listening phase, the participant will develop a strategic learning plan with the mentor to be fulfilled within the year-round timeframe. Then that plan will be applied in concrete action steps through loving service, disciple-making, and leadership, and both victories and challenges to work on will be reported back.
There will be various forms of input (videos, articles, sections of books, websites, etc.) based on each unique situation and learning need. These will be viewed/read as well as time taken for reflection/ application before the next session.
Commitments
Attending approximately 8-10 one-on-one Zoom meetings over the course of 12 months, including one-on-one meetings during the ELF annual meeting in May 2024.
Acess all Zoom meetings on a computer with a good Internet connection, using a headset.
Complete all assignments (including reading, watching videos, writing) before each Zoom meeting.
Mentor
Tom Drake recently retired from the business world as the chief financial officer of a credit union. He worked in the financial services industry most of his professional career. He is married and has 3 sons and 5 grandchildren. Tom has been involved in small group leadership development and discipleship with his local church for over 30 years and has seen the number of small groups grow from 10 to over 350. The last 8 years he has focused on Ministry to Men in his church and has helped develop a Core Men’s Leadership Team and Discipleship for Life small groups to help committed men grow in their maturity to become multiplying disciple makers.