Mentoring is Effective: A Serial Killer Apologises
I recently came across this short piece in New Life – which is Australia’s Christian Newspaper.
Way back in 2002 ….. two serial killers were
shooting in random fashion. One was the
older John Allen Muhammad who, with his
young 17 year old protégée Lee Boyd
Malvo, killed ten people and injured three
others in October of that year.
Malvo managed to get a call through
from his prison cell in Virginia to the daughter
of one of his victims, Jerry Taylor. He
apologised to Sheryll Witz, and she said
she was glad he had not got the death
penalty. He assured her that earlier Lee
(himself) and the present Lee, were two different
people. A New York social worker
said he ‘has freed himself from his mentor
Muhammad’s psychological grip. He has
evolved into a young man who really wants
to make amends, who is truly remorseful’.
How tragic it is that older mentors can lead
young people astray. A wise mentor is a gift
from God but young people need to be sure
they do not make a terrible choice such as
Lee Malvo did.
I find the article challenging – not so much from a personal perspective because I believe I am not leading young people astray but more that the influence one person can have on another. Challenging to know that God has given me giftings to shape the lives of young people, challenging in that I so want to get it right.
