'Mentoring is about coming alongside someone to support, encourage, challenge and inspire them. It's about facilitating someone to make their own decisions and to take ownership of their lives and to guide them in a positive direction. It's a relationship that allows them to be totally honest, without judging them, but encouraging them to run wholeheartedly after God. It's about helping to break down the spititual/secular divide and helping them to apply their faith to the whole of their lives. It's about leading humbly by example and being honest about your own weaknesses and shortcomings. It acknowledges that the little things in our lives matter to God. As a mentor it challenges me to grow closer to God myself as I have a responsibility to set a good example. For someone starting out in mentoring I would say that it is so important to build a good friendship first and that just having fun time together is actually as valuable as when you have really open spiritual times together as without the friendship and trust, the person you mentor is less likely to open up about the things that are really on their heart. And don't be over-critical of yourself after you've spent time with your mentee - the enemy would love to make you feel like you've done a rubbish job. And pray for your mentee, with them and see how their faith is built up as they see our awesome God answering their prayers. I believe that we'd all benefit from some form of mentoring, so I'd recommend seeking out a mentor for yourself if you don't already have one'

Ivanna Giles loves God, is married to Chris, has a joyful little boy called Daniel and is a Children’s Physiotherapist