Mentors are identified through the National Ministry’s volunteer network, as well as through local church partnerships and relationships. They are required to undergo an application process, including a pastor’s recommendation, and they must sign the confidentiality policy which includes our child protection policy. Mentors complete an annual training before engaging with children, which includes child protection training, the training on the use of scriptural materials and mentorship best practices. National ministries then determine how Mentors and children are matched.
Gatherings are primarily held at local churches, rented facilities or wherever the National Ministry can find the space to hold an event to accommodate the number of children they have in their program.
The Child’s Journey (TCJ) program is a more traditional ‘sponsorship program’, with a child paired with a single sponsor, who has the ability to correspond and witness that child’s growth and development over time. TCJ also features more intensive case management, and social worker engagement with the children. PromisePath is a volunteer-led, community-based program that is designed to care for children in three of the most crucial areas of need, including Education, Mentoring and Spiritual development, however there is no 1-1 sponsorship component to it. Supporters invest in activities and engagements that will help ensure children stay on a positive path. And, since National Ministry teams are able to generate support from local churches, it is easier for them to run and grow the program to reach even more than TCJ within a single country context.
PromisePath has four major engagements with children throughout the year – an Angel Tree® event, a back-to-school event, and at least two mentoring activities, ideally in their home or immediate community. Although there could be additional small gatherings at the local offices or in churches within the child’s village in order to distribute school supplies, scripture resources or provide mentoring activities, as each of the national ministries are able to further supplement these activities as they see fit.