When I was growing up as a boy in the Taylor Memorial church in Anderson, SC, there was no Royal Rangers or any other structured boys’ ministries for us. However, there were three men who saw the need to do something for the boys in their church; so they started a ministry called Christian Boys Club. We played all the sports that boys love– baseball, football, basketball– the only rule was that to play, you had to be there on time for the devotion. We sat through what seemed like endless devotions. I could not tell you today one single devotion that we had, but if you asked me who was important in my life as a boy, I would tell you it was Guy Davis, Bobby Baxter, and Bobby Smith. Why? Because they spent time with us and prayed with us and for us.
I remember sitting in the back seat of Bobby Smith’s car as he took several of us home after the weekly Monday night meeting. Bobby was leading one of the new boys who came that night as he asked Jesus to come into his life. That moment impacted my life to this very day, resulting in my having the opportunity to do the same for many other boys. Guy Davis, Bobby Smith, and Bobby Baxter are my top three mentoring heroes. They taught me that to impact the life of a boy you did not have to be fancy, just consistent. From that group of boys, there have been two missionaries, at least five ordained ministers, many great local church leaders, a Navy Chaplain, and the National Director for Boys’ Ministries.
Another one of my mentoring heroes is my good friend, Clyde Nichols. Clyde is a quiet and faithful man of God. He has been consistently involved in Royal Rangers since 1985, 26 of those years working in the Franklin Springs PHC every Wednesday night. Clyde is now mentoring the second generation of boys; the sons of the boys we started with 26 years ago. It has been said that when you impact a boy’s life you are actually impacting the next three generations– the boy, his future children, and then his grandchildren.
Mentoring boys and making disciples does not have to be complicated, but it does have to be intentional. The late Dan Erickson said that “to expect someone to become a disciple of Christ makes about as much sense as putting a bunch of car parts in a box, shaking them up, and then expecting a car to fall out.” It also must be consistent. It is a matter of priorities. In my office, I have a picture of a small boy standing and looking out at the ocean. The caption underneath reads, “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove … but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a boy.”
IPHC Boys’ Ministries has many resources that we can recommend to help you be important in the life of a boy. Call or email us today, and see how we can help you provide your boys with a picture of and a process for becoming a Christ-like man.
You can contact David Moore, the National Director of IPHC Boys’ Ministries, the following ways.
Email: dmoore@lifesprings.net
Cell phone: 706-498-3341
