Dear Facilitator,

We are so excited you’re thinking about leading a group through Compassionate Mentoring training. We have led this training in groups just like yours—sometimes in churches, at retreat centers, or even through Zoom. 

We love that you’re equipping and mobilizing potential mentors to step into others’ lives with compassion and thoughtfulness, like God does with us. This matters.

We intend to do most of the heavy lifting for you in this training, providing all teaching via video so you can focus on listening and asking good questions. You’re simply facilitating your group members’ reflection and application of what they learn.

A few final pointers: 

• Print workbooks for each participant.
• Consider extending a personal invitation to prospective mentors, calling out potential, affirming gifting, and cultivating faith-growth with you. You’re encouraging them to be multiplying disciples who freely give away what God’s gifted.
• Create emotional safety. What’s said in the group stays in the group. Use fewer words, a calm voice, and lots of space and waiting between words.
• Be slow to offer your opinion. Both great mentors and great group leaders help empower others to their own conclusions—which often end up being far more impactful than the mentor or facilitator’s conclusion. Allowing time and space for this process enables the buy-in and motivation people need to choose change for themselves.
• We’ve given you more group questions than you need. Pick the questions that will bring out the best learning experience for your group.
• If your group is on the larger side, consider creating smaller breakout groups for intimate conversation during group discussion. Studies show six people or less per discussion group is best.
• Save time for practice! Near the end of your training, pair participants to roleplay as mentors/mentees to work through a real-life situation of their choosing.
• Stimulate ongoing learning—and joining our community of mentors—via a single QR code. In your course layout, you’ll see links to valuable articles, videos, downloads, and podcasts. But your group members are likely not logging into the course as you are. 


So encourage your group members to scan the QR code featured in our promotional slides and throughout their workbook. (All of these QR codes are the same.)

To be clear–your facilitator’s timetable does not include any inclusion of these supplemental materials, though you may certainly print them off for group members and/or discuss them.

May God set His favor on your investment of time and do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to His power at work within us (Ephesians 3:20-21)!

Learning to listen and love like Jesus,

Gary and Cindy Blunier

Questions? Email mentor@familylife.com