"I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you ... in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’" — Matthew 24:36-37; 39-40

TeenWorks Mentoring is embarking on an exciting new venture in fulfillment of this commendation by Jesus concerning the blessings of serving Him vicariously by serving "the least of these" His brothers.

Our organization was recently contacted by the Tuolumne County Probation Department in response of a judge's order that a young man he was sentencing to the county's juvenile justice detention center in Sonora be matched with an adult mentor. His legal guardian, the Probation Department, turned to TeenWorks seeking to fulfill the judge's mandate.

Although TeenWorks has not worked inside an incarceration facility before, we felt this was a unique opportunity to further our mission of "bringing hope to youth through Christian-based mentoring." Providentially, a new mentor had recently volunteered to begin working with us, and he has a background in working in detention facilities. The Probation Department and leadership at the juvenile detention center quickly facilitated granting access to our mentor, who expressed eagerness to come alongside this young man with love, friendship, guidance and concern. Our mentor responded, "[It] seems like all the doors are opening for us to do this."

Please pray that this new venture would be fruitful in the life of our new imprisoned mentee. It is our hope that sharing the love of Christ with him and providing a suitable role model will have long-term positive effects in this mentee's life.