Earlier this week, I attended the memorial services for the founding minister of my church in Chicago, the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Colemon. For 50 years, Rev. Colemon founded and led an international ministry that grew out of her Chicago-based church, Christ Universal Temple, with approximately 30,000 followers world-wide. The list of people and organizations that she supported and #mentored include well known individuals like the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Les Brown. Her service was set to be two hours but, with over 30 speakers there was no way this could be achieved, even with some of the most efficient planning in the world. For five total hours, speaker after speaker, whether they were ministers, elected officials, celebrities, educators, entertainment executives, they all talked about the tough love, advice, endless support, and mentorship that Johnnie provided them that helped them achieve their dreams.
Although, I was just one of many that day paying tribute to this awesome lady. I, like many of the speakers was also inspired to achieve my personal best in life by Rev. Colemon, whom we all lovingly called Johnnie. And, although I may not have had many personal interactions with her, through her sermons, books, publications, and some meetings, she was very much a mentor to me as well. Johnnie had this electric energy that just made you want to be powerful, and bold, and dynamic just like her. Whether you had the opportunity to be personally mentored by Johnnie, or inspired from a far, she made us feel like we could take on the world with the faith that any of us could have live the best life possible, if we should so choose to.
So, WHY AM I A MENTOR? I thought to myself what better tribute and thank you could I give to Rev. Colemon could I give, but to dedicate my time to inspiring another generation of girls that they too can live healthy, happy, and prosperous lives. We all have received some help, mentoring, and love from someone else at some point in our lives, and it’,s our responsibility to keep this mentoring recycling process in motion.
Kelly
So share with us why are you a mentor?