Garren and Bonnie Dent, Business Owner and Teacher

Garren is the owner of our local Village Do It Best hardware store and at the time of this story, Bonnie was a teacher in the Physical Therapy Department at Andrews University.

One evening I discovered that Garren and Bonnie had hired a babysitter so they could attend our Contagious Adventist training seminar. I was amazed at their commitment and asked them about it. Bonnie said, “If a student attends Andrews University and doesn’t grow spiritually, then we’ve failed.” She wanted to learn how to do her part so the school would not get a failing grade in its mission.

As I pondered her statement, it became internalized into the intentional way I choose to do ministry. I rewrote the statement as follows: “If a person attends ______ church and we don’t provide the opportunity for them to grow spiritually, then we’ve failed.” My job was to provide the opportunity, the Holy Spirit would do the job of convicting and converting. Providing the opportunity for spiritual growth was about more than providing a great sermon. This conviction led to developing small groups where discipleship, friendships , and accountability occur.

One year, our congregation went from having 200-300 people in small groups to having 800 people join a group. This was a result of wanting to be intentional about providing the opportunity for our students, and our members, like Bonnie, to grow spiritually.