Why Mentoring?
RBI Austin is an organization that is passionate about the development of baseball and softball in the inner-cities. We desire to see the people of our community developed athletically, academically, and spiritually, empowering them to lead the transformation of their communities.
While we continue to see the progression of baseball and softball in our communities, we believe that if we just give this East Austin community baseball and softball opportunities, then we have failed to develop holistic people.
Therefore, we have our discipleship program for high school baseball players and as of this year launched our mentoring program in the Oak Springs community as two of the means to see restoration in a community that is plagued by fatherlessness. In the Oak Springs neighborhood, 3 in 4 kids live absent of a biological father. Here are few other stats on the fatherlessness in America:
“Government statistics show that one in three boys grows up without a father in the home – a statistic that rises to two out of three for African Americans.” Tony Dungy (Former coach of the Indianapolis Colts)
57.6% of black children, 31.2% of Hispanic children, and 20.7% of white children are living absent their biological fathers. (Family Structure and Children’s Living Arrangements 2012. Current Population Report. U.S. Census Bureau July 1, 2012.)
Children with Fathers who are involved are 70% less likely to drop out of school.
85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Fulton Co. Georgia, Texas Dept. of Correction)
90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]
71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Friday, March 26, 1999
We look in the Scriptures and see fatherlessness & mentoring are not new “things” but have been here for thousands of years. In Psalm 68, David calls God the “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.” Solomon describes mentoring in Proverbs 22:6 when he states, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” God cares for the fatherless and if He does and we believe that what He says is true, then so should we.
You may or may not be asking, “This is cool and all but what does this have to do with me?”. We are here to say that the fatherless in East Austin need mentors and people to come alongside them. RBI Austin needs you as we seek to develop and raise up mentors for the fatherless and marginalized people of East Austin.
If you would like more information on how to get involved with RBI Austin and our mission to mentor fatherless youth, click here.