Donna A.
Lakeland, FL
My name is Donna Alder, and I’m on the board of trustees at the college. I’ve been on the board for 20 years, and my current ministry in my church is that I am a Sunday school teacher for adult students. What I like about it is that we usually go through the New Testament, and we’re just marching right through it. I happen to be in the book of James right now, which is a very challenging book, but it’s a delightful experience to be with a group of people who want to know more about God’s word and to spend the time I need to in order to make this interesting and important to them. And so, my Sunday school teaching is wonderful; I really enjoy it.
I’m an educator. I taught college biology for 30 years, and so I value an educated individual. So, in addition to the fact that the Bible College provides people with a good education in ministry, what impresses me about the students — and why I would trust myself to send students there — is because the people who come out of there, the women and men who come out in ministry, almost uniformly say what a wonderful experience it was. I hear from district superintendents who say things like, “I like to select people who are graduates of the college because they are well-trained and they’re passionate,” and so much good comes from that.
It does take time for me to get here to spend time (serving on the board of trustees), but I think it’s an investment in the lives of men and women both old and young, and I think it’s a valuable thing for me to do. I think I’d like for other people to understand that it's kind of a hidden resource in the church because it’s not broadcast widely, and I don’t think there are as many people who understand its message as there should be. And so, I’d like to do whatever I can to spread the word that this is a great place to go. It's personal, it's informative, it's educational, it's life-changing, and it's transforming — as I see it from the outside. I’m not a teacher or a preacher, but my husband is a pastor, my son is a pastor, my daughter is ordained, and her husband is a pastor, so I’ve seen a lot of ministry occur, and I very much value the education available to anyone who wants to go into ministry so that they can be a more effective minister.