Business Name: Dayton Christian School
Contact Name: Matt Baker, Head of School
Business Addresses:
9391 Washington Church Road
Miamisburg, OH 45342
Website: https://www.daytonchristian.com/
Business Phone: (937) 291-7201
Dayton Christian School is a PreK to 12 chartered, private, Christian educational facility that services students from 28 different school districts and over 180 different churches.
What first inspired you to get into your line of work? And what motivates you to do the work you do still today?
I’ve been an educator for 27 years, from starting in the classroom, to building an administration and into superintendency. I came to Dayton Christian because I truly felt the Lord had drawn me here through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The last four years or so, I’ve been in private, Christian education because I’m hopefully preparing the next generation of harvesters for the harvest that is very ripe.
How did you come to faith in Christ?
I was saved when I was eight years old, after a Wednesday night church meeting. My Pastor helped me understand that I couldn’t ride my parents’ coattails into heaven. And sitting on the bottom bunk of my bunk bed, I looked up at the Lord and said, ‘I don’t want to go to hell and I don’t want to try to do what my parents do. I want it to be my own thing.’ So I gave my heart to Christ. And although I’ve fallen off many times and failed him many times, I believe that’s the start of my personal salvation story.
How does your faith impact the way you do business?
I think everything goes through the Holy Spirit as a delineator of facts. Everything — from who we use in our cafeterias to what our general contractor’s supposed to do to what curriculum to buy — is passed through the Holy Spirit through prayerful consideration.
The term I’ve used a lot is ‘steeped in prayer,’ like a tea bag. It’s our decision, but it’s a decision that should be influenced by the Holy Spirit. God does give us a brain, and if we’re in the right place spiritually, he will direct us to make the right decisions. But it’s almost a temperature check; we need to go back to the Holy Spirit and say ‘hey, how’re we feeling about this one?’ A great example [of this] would be our recent athletic director search. We interviewed 28 athletic director candidates, but it wasn’t until we got to the last one that I felt the Holy Spirit give me clearance [and say] ‘here you go, this is who I brought you.’ While others had experience and capability, I just couldn’t get the peace from the Holy Spirit in those hires. [Peace] was in the last hire.
What ministry/cause do you champion and why?
The ministry I’ve served with the most personally and with my family is a group called Sugartree Ministries in Wilmington, Ohio. It’s a faith-based relocation center that [serves people through] things like meal preparation and clothing. The idea is to do first what Jesus called us to do, and that’s to serve others. And when we serve through giving people necessities, they can let their mind be open to Gospel conversations. Matthew 7:9 says, “which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” I think a lot of times, we are too quick to throw the Gospel on people — which sounds kind of bad — but it’s not meant to be. Jesus even says, you’ve got to take care of their needs. There’s things people can’t get past and they won’t be able to hear the Gospel if their stomach’s rumbling. Or, if they’re coming off a particular drug, it’s going to be hard for them to understand what you’re talking about when [you say] Jesus died for their sins. So, we have to take care of some of those things first before your mind can absorb the Gospel. Just like the parable of the sower, we can sow into fertile ground rather into thorns and thistles or onto the rocks to be trampled. So, I think Jesus says, ‘hey, why don’t you cultivate some fertile ground? Then, tell them about the Gospel.’