Brent Vicars' Story

A covenant that I have is with a former student from my first youth ministry. I meet him when he was 14, and I was his Sunday school teacher. He was a nice enough kind, kind of a loner, but in need of some direction. When he was 15, I asked him to come to work for me in my business as my first employee. He ended up working for me for 4 years until he left for college, going from just a kid I hired to answer the phone and send out the mail, to a trusted partner and someone who I not only mentored, but also someone who taught me a lot as well. While working together, we discovered a mutual love of the outdoors, and started backpacking together all over TN and NC on weekend trips with friends and my family. When he left for college, I kept in touch with him, spending time with him when he was home from school, giving him advice when he was in trouble, and trying to help him achieve his goals for life. Shortly after he left for college his sophomore year, his parents divorced and he went into a major depression. I called him often, even drove to his school one weekend to take him to dinner, and tried to help him see that his was not his fault. Eventually things got better, and even I after I left the business world for full time ministry, he and I still kept in contact and still spent time together. His junior year of college he called me up, stressed out about finishing his course work and graduating, and asked if we could take a 3 day backpacking trip. This became the first of our now yearly trips around the holidays. Even though he has graduated for the University of TN and is now making his life in Knoxville, we still keep in touch. I have since moved to Marietta, and don’t see him as often, but we still talk, he still calls and asks for advice, and we still get together each year for three days around Christmas to go backpacking. I have a covenant with this young man to be his mentor, and it is one I take seriously and thank God for. Even though he is normally the one calling for advice, I am the one who seems to be learning the most.