When several of Emory Dent’s friends asked if he wanted to go to Chicago one fall Saturday afternoon to see how they could help the homeless there, he was not expecting to feel as hesitant as he did. “I was super reluctant,” Dent, a Senior Medical Laboratory Science major at Andrews University, says emphatically. This was not the first time Dent had been involved in ministry. He had been canvassing and participated in homeless ministry before. Still, he was resisting. “It’s Sabbath afternoon. It’s not much of a break. What if people don’t accept? What if our endeavors are basically fruitless?” he remembers wondering. After prayerfully examining his feelings, Dent decided that he did not want his selfishness to get in the way of something awesome that God might want to do. He finally agreed to join his friends on their mission. Taken aback by the great need he discovered, “that reluctance… just started to diminish.”
“We were really blown away by the amazing deficit that is out there,” Dent recalls. Gesturing to his backpack, he remarks that most of the homeless have nothing more than a backpack containing their few material possessions. Dent knew that he could not go help these people just once. In September, 2015, he and 7 of his friends were moved to organize a ministry they call the “Least of These.”
One Sabbath a month, Dent and his fellow team leaders take a group of 20 to 30 volunteers to Chicago to minister to the homeless. Splitting up into smaller groups of 4 or 5, the participants spread out and distribute bags of basic necessities, such as personal hygiene products and snacks, to the homeless, simultaneously fellowshipping with them and establishing friendships. Visiting the same general area, Dent says he sees 65 to 70 percent of people he has seen before. And when it comes to sharing the Gospel? “We’ve had way more acceptance than rejection,” he says with a smile. “These experiences that you go through, and the people that you meet, and the ways that you minister to them… That made it totally worth it all.”
“There’s always a standing invitation,” Dent says. “It’s called the Great Commission.” God constantly presents His people with opportunities to serve Him. He meets us where we are and moves us forward. He can always use us, even if we are reluctant servants.
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