Ready to Stand in the Gap?

When I first began to volunteer at Sheltering Wings four years ago, I expressed interest in mentoring. My past experience had been with young men in crisis pregnancies and with incarcerated men. I was in for a bit of a surprise when I was asked to mentor boys staying at the shelter.

With some trepidation, I agreed, and have been blessed in so many ways since then. I’ve had the opportunity to mentor as young as 9 and as old as 17. There are prepared topics for me to use which makes it easy to have things to do with them. But I’ve discovered that whatever the topic, the highlight for them is simply having the attention of a caring male figure.

Statistically, there are gaps in many young men’s lives where a strong, caring male is absent. I’ve heard as many as 1 in 4 boys have no male influence at home. Or the influence they are receiving is detrimental.

There are many ways to be involved in the lives of these boys who have absent dads: sports, scouts, church youth groups, or organizations like Sheltering Wings. It is entirely possible that there are some young men right in your neighborhood suffering this particular neglect. The question becomes, then, who is going to fill the gap?

I pray that we don’t end up like the culture Ezekiel was speaking about:

“I searched for a man among them who would build up a wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.”

-Ezekiel 22:30

I pray that the Men IN Action would indeed build up a wall and stand in the gap for the male youths in our area!

Mark Putman
Sheltering Wings Volunteer
A Man IN Action

P.S. Ready to stand in the gap? Consider taking one of our youth development trainings – like the Asset Builders or Developmental Relationships – to learn how to best help young people!