Discover the powerful mentoring programme that rescues, restores and revives

Discover the powerful mentoring programme that rescues, restores and revives

Working for a mission helping street kids in Guatemala Alastair Welford was concerned how mentoring youngsters finished when they became young adults.

Some returned to the street with all the problems that created – so he and his wife, Debbie, began to work with them, creating courses in mentoring to support churches and community groups.

Nicodemus was born – a Christian charity dedicated to rescuing, restoring and reviving broken lives.

‘Mentoring can play a powerful role in fostering spiritual growth, developing leadership skills and promoting good mental health,’ he explains. ‘The training can, for example, enhance existing or new community mentoring programmes, support discipleship relationships and enable trust to be effectively built between volunteer mentors and those they are caring for.’

In the past 10 years Nicodemus, exhibitors at CRE Midlands 2023, mentored 1,373 vulnerable young people, rescued 2,288 from street living and made an impact on the lives of 15,428 young people. Last year 330 mentors were trained and another 170 in the first three months of 2023. The two courses – Foundational Specialist Mentoring and Child Sexual Exploitation – used to great effect in Guatemala and 10 other Latin American countries, are available in the UK, to enable church volunteers to serve as mentors and disciple-makers.

Sasha, who was living alone and pregnant at 19, praises the programme. ‘My economic situation and my pregnancy mean I feel frustrated and discouraged,’ she said. ‘But I have a mentor supporting me and she helps me find solutions, supporting me with medical consultations and in other areas. God is the centre of my life and that of my baby. My experiences have made me want to help other people.’

Nicodemus are offering CRE visitors and supporters an opportunity to take the Foundational Specialist Mentoring course for free – one person per church (available as an online course 24/7). Simply register at www.nicodemustraining.org and enter the offer code CRE236. Others wishing to do the course may purchase access at affordable prices – between £35 and £16 per person depending on the number purchased.

‘We often encounter churches and outreach groups where people have a passion to do something and support individuals in their community, to improve their mental health,’ said Alastair and Debbie’s son, Jonnie Welford, Latin America director. ‘Our training series equips people to serve as mentors and disciple-makers in their spheres of influence, both by practising and creating a culture of mentoring within the church and beyond its walls in our communities.’

Alastair and Debbie look forward to talking through their services with visitors at CRE Midlands 2023.

• The Nicodemus Charity is on stand A27 at CRE Midlands 2023

Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3

Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)

Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands