Forging New Connections: Alumni Todd Kleppin and Brian Vaughan Start Forge Youth Mentoring Ministry – Corban University

May 8, 2021

Todd Kleppins(93)journey toward youth mentoring initially had very little to do with youth. After helpinghis churchteam with the city tobuild astate-of-the-artskate park on their propertytoconnect with and serve the youth of theircommunity,Todd was surprised to see each day that,among the 100-plus kids who flocked to the park, there was never an adult in sight. This promptedhimtoactivelyencouragethe congregation to sit on a park bench and see if a kid would come upandtalk with them.

A fewweekslater,I had a lady in her mid-80s come up and talk to me, Todd remembers. She said that she took my advice and within the first half-hour of sitting there, she had three middleschool boys come up and talk to her. It was a stark symbol of the starvation for meaningful adult interaction that he had witnessed amongteensinyouth ministry. That was where God said to me, Time to wake up.Its a totally different world.

Todd began to reflect on his ministry goals, asking God how he might better meet the needs of the kids in his community. His prayer and research began to move himfrom his role as a youth pastortoward youth mentoringthe uncommon image of an 80-year-old woman engaging with middle school boys still fresh in his mind.

Over the next few years, Toddsteppedsteadily intohis new calling, eventually landing in the role of Director oftheChristian Association of Youth Mentoring(CAYM), an organization that provides mentorship training to churches interested instarting mentorship programs.It was soon after that he wasreunited with Brian Vaughan(91), a fellow Corban graduate and current CPA with a practice outside of Portland,Oregon.

I had always kind of followed what Todd had been doing through the years, Brian says. Todd and Brian were teammates on the Corban mens soccer team back when they attended the University. Even before they had considered mentoring as an official ministry course, it was on the soccer pitch that they had first encountered its impact.

Corbanprovidedmy firstrealexperience with discipleship and mentoring, Brian says, remembering thespiritualaccountability shared among teammates.When I look at my own personal growth as a believer, its tied to those individual relationships where someone was coming alongside of me, investing in me, and pushing me.

When Todds work with CAYMsent him toward thePortland areafor a series of meetings, he stayed with Brian, whovolunteered someconsulting and strategic planning advicefor CAYM.Brian posed theideaof amentorshipmodel thatwasnttiedspecificallyto asinglechurchorpastor. As opposed to going into a community and doing the training to launch a program with one church that wont have any carry over, why dont we form an executive leadership team, go into that communityandbring all the churches together so that they canalltake ownership of that program in their own community?Briansuggested.

Todd and Brian took the idea and ran with it.I always thought that I was the big visionary guy, Todd says,and then I get around Brian and this guy pushes me way out of my comfort zone, and I love it.Fast forwardtwo-and-a-half years and Forge Youth Mentoring is helping churches and individuals make an impact throughout Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii, with plans to expandfurther.

Forges unique approach, helpingtoidentify and support organizations and individualsandequipping communities with the capacity to serve beyond the borders of a single church, has been a major reason for its quick expansion.One of our main focuses is that church staff already have way toomuch on the plate, Brian says.So, lets not add anything to it, but lets help take the members of their congregationswhoare ready for mentorship and plug them into the secular community.

Forge accomplishes its mission by networking with multiple churches,connecting withpeopleinthese congregations,andmatching them withat-risk youth.We want to come inandhelp pastors provide a ministry, but we can do all the work, and let God claim all the glory,Toddsays.My hope is to stir up the average person in the pews.The cool thing about mentoring isthatit pulls a lot of peoplewhodont normally serve. You dont have to have special skills or a dynamic testimony. You just have to be willing to let God use you.

For Todd and Brian, the need for more dedicated involvement from the church community has never beenmore dire.We adults simply do not understand that the world is completely different for kids today in light of adult connection, Todd says.We thinkthatkids todayhave the same adults we did, and the truth is they just dont. With 42-55% of kids being born to unwedsinglemothers, coupled with the ever-present effects of divorce, Todd sees a growing void for todays youth. Not only are they missing a second parent, but they are missing all the extended family that comes along with them.

The problemhasonlybeenexacerbated by societal trends and patterns of abuse that often stem from the same sort of long-term relational brokenness Forge is trying to address. In a society where everyone is scared of lawsuits, teachers and coaches are pushed awayfromthe personal connection they used to have with kids because its dangerous, Todd says. I believe the average kid has less thanthreeadults that they feel they can trust enough to turn to.

Brian sees youth mentorship as the root treatment to this relational epidemic, transcending generational gaps.We adults have a really difficult time doing discipleshipwith each other, he says.Were afraid of it.Through youth mentoring, Brian and Todd hope that reinstating a pattern ofbiblical discipleship early on, with intentional interaction at its crux, will lead toward healthier adult-to-adult relationships in the future. Its a starting spot because,ifayouth has a mentor in their lives, when they get older, they mayfeel moreable to come alongside another adult later on in life.

Even though Forge has only been running for two and a half years, Todd and Brian have already begun to see the incredible impact that mentorship programs can have on a community, for mentees and mentors alike. And it begins with the church.I look at it as an amazing opportunity for the church to lead the way in shaping the future, says Todd.And these kids want it. Its not an issue of wrangling upenoughkids to be mentored. There are thousands of kids in every community who want meaningful connections with adults.Their efforts have already begun toverifythe formal findings that kids are twice as likely to stay in and succeed in school while staying off of drugs when given a dependable adult influence in their lives.

The process has been rewarding for adult mentors as well.Weve seen that adultswhobecome mentors actually begin doing more ministry in the church after they became a mentor than before,Brian says.We love to see adults also find their purpose and redeem their pasts and use them to help kids overcome theirchallenges.

With adults and youth benefitting from church-guided youth mentorship, the secular world hasbegun totaken notice.Forges workhas beenrecognized bymultiple secular outlets, includingHarvard Universitys Leadership Institute for Faith and Education,for the groundbreaking waysthey have been able to help equip andmobilize program leaders and mentors, particularlyfrom Hispanic communities.

Through theirministry, Forgehasoffered another avenueto heal divides between sacred and secular communities in the towns and cities where they serve.This is a way for us to go into communities and instead of doing something in a separate building or handing out food one day of the week,wegetto make avisible,material change in the lives of people in the community,Brian says.

As a result,Forge now hassecularschools and agenciesactivelyseeking help from theirpartner churches, requestingmentors for their kids in public schools.The church has the opportunity like never before to lead the way, Todd says.When we go into a community and offer a mentoring program and we say we are teaming with the churches, that means the churches are solving the greatest problem in that community. Theworldgetsto see theChurch as the ones solving problems, not causingthem.

Looking toward the future, Brian and Todds dream is to expand further into Oregon and Idaho, down the I-5 corridor into Salem and Portland, where Brian lives. If theres a community that says,Were interested, were there, Brian says. Wewere able tolaunch on the island of Maui during COVID. Why could we not make it happen in Salem?

Because Forge Youth Mentoringcan offer their services at a third of the cost of most other agencies, they see incredible flexibility for God to be able to direct them to new connections and new communities as needed. One ofthose new connections is an old connection for Brian and Todd, as they look to partner with the University that first impressed the prominence of mentorship on their hearts.

It would be great if we could team with Corban gradswhohave their own churches that want something like this in their community or for their congregations, Brian says. And we dont need their resources. We dont need their staff, or their monetary contributions. We just need them to partner with us and encourage their people from the pulpit,and we will take it from there.As Forge looks to expand toward Salem, Todd hopes that soon they will alsobe able tooffer internshipsand service opportunities to Corban students, fostering in them apassion forlifelong discipleship.

Every day,Todd encounters fearfulness from adults who believe they have nothing to offer. Weve bought way too much into the media telling us that kids dont want us around, he says. But when a sweet old lady can sit at a skate park and have multiple middle schoolers come to her, you know thats not true. What do they have in common? She doesnt skateboard, and they dont crochet. But these kids are desperately looking for someone who has life experience who can show them how to get the most out of life.

For Brian, the calling is clear. Ifweclaim to be followers of Christ and do whatHes done, then who are our 12 today that we are training to go out and find their 12? he says.

For Todd, the formula is simple. Take one hourout of your weekand have funsharing whatwhatyoulove todo, he says,fishing, gardening, cooking, or just walking in the park. God wants to use your story to shape their story by telling His story.

If you are interested in discovering more about Forge Youth Mentoring or want to find a way to get involved, visit their website athttps://forgeyouthmentoring.org/

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Forging New Connections: Alumni Todd Kleppin and Brian Vaughan Start Forge Youth Mentoring Ministry - Corban University