Diane Averill: Building Connections That Lead to Jesus

After more than 30 years of faithful service, Diane Averill is retiring from her role as a local mission leader on the East Coast with Global Coffee Break and Resonate Global Mission. Throughout her work in ministry, Averill said, she has focused on building deep, relational connections with churches and pastors, and she has helped to launch Bible study groups to lead others to Jesus.

Averill’s journey with Global Coffee Break began in the late 1980s, when she was hired as a regional representative for the Bible discovery program, which was originally designed for women’s groups. Based on the East Coast, she trained leaders and helped to launch Bible study groups that sometimes grew to include 90-100 participants. “There were about 14 to 16 regional reps across the U.S. and Canada” at that time, she explained, “and the groups grew very rapidly.”

One highlight she said she remembers fondly had to do with organizing a convention at Gordon College in the 1990s that drew over 1,000 women from across the U.S. and Canada. “I remember that the hospitality team was worried about dining options because the usual facility was under renovation. There were so many participants that we ended up eating in tents outside,” Averill recalled. “Despite rain all around, we had sunshine and even a full moon during our tent dinners. People said it felt like heaven.”

Averill added that prayer has always been a key part of these gatherings. A prayer team is assigned to pray over every room and participant, she said, creating an atmosphere of encouragement and spiritual readiness. “The three things we have emphasized most in Coffee Break have been prayer, relationships, and Scripture,” she said. “Those make all the difference.”

A Ministry That Adapted with the Times
“Back when Coffee Break began,” recalled Averill, “most women stayed home to care for their children.” Many Coffee Break programs met on a weekday morning and “included a parallel Story Hour program so that moms could have meaningful adult conversations while their kids were cared for nearby.” 

“Some women would come for the childcare, but then God did the rest,” she added with a smile. 

As more women entered the workforce in later decades, Averill noted, Coffee Break adapted to meet different needs. “We started offering evening groups, and even one at 3:30 in the afternoon for women who worked earlier shifts, like school teachers.”

But not only schedules changed; so did attitudes toward Christianity. “There was a time when you could put an ad in the newspaper, and women would call and join a group,” Averill affirmed. “Now it’s not like that. Trust takes more time. People ask, ‘Why are you inviting me to this?’ Today you need to build that trust one-on-one.”

In today’s culture, where Christianity isn’t always viewed positively, Averill said, she has learned the importance of presence and persistence. “Now most invitations happen through personal connection,” she reflected. “It’s a lot more relational—and slower—but just as powerful.”

Today Averill still leads several types of groups, she said. Some are smaller and filled with women around her age who quickly form close bonds. Others are one-on-one Bible discovery studies, including one she is doing with a college student in which they’re going through the book of John. “It works for both of us,” Averill shared: “The Word does the convincing 99 percent of the time. I just sit back and watch it happen. And I’m being changed all along too.”

Even after leading group studies for many years on Bible books such as Mark and John—some of which she has helped to write—Averill said, Scripture still surprises her: “Different things speak to you in different stages of life. It’s not a textbook. It’s living. And it changes you and the people around you.”

Sometimes the work can become deeply personal, she added. Averill shared a story about a young Korean flight attendant who discovered Coffee Break through a flyer left in a laundromat. She started attending a group, eventually brought her family, and was baptized by Averill’s husband, Rev. Brent Averill. “We saw many women come in who had never opened a Bible before,” she recalled. “And the Word did the work; they left transformed.”

To new leaders, Diane Averill offers this encouragement: “Just try it. You don’t have to be an expert. You’re facilitating, not teaching. The beauty is in discovering the Word together. And the Word is what changes people.”

Averill also shared that she has been encouraged by others over the years, including leaders such as Sam Huizenga, former Global Coffee Break learning program lead. Averill has also introduced Coffee Break to and encouraged people who later became leaders within the ministry, such as Juan Sierra, former Global Coffee Break program manager, and his wife, who helped to grow the Spanish-language ministry of the program. “You never know where a conversation about the Word of God will lead. You learn by teaching and by listening to others.”

Relationships through Connections
Averill reflected on how connections have often extended beyond Coffee Break as well. Working with Resonate Global Mission became another significant chapter in ministry, she explained, as she worked closely with Marco Avila, Resonate’s regional mission leader for the Eastern U.S., serving as a local mission leader in the region alongside her husband, Brent.

Together, Diane and Brent Averill traveled to numerous churches, she said, building deep relationships with pastors, learning their stories, and forming friendships rooted in trust and shared mission. “Brent and I are outgoing and relational by nature, so connecting with people has always come naturally,” she said. She recalled, for example, a church conference where, after spending a full day on their feet, both she and Brent were physically exhausted—but they were also completely energized by the joy of connecting with so many people.

Leading as a Team

Averill and her husband have served side by side in ministry for decades. “The great thing about Brent is that he’s always encouraged me to use my gifts,” Averill said. “When I started with Coffee Break, we had little kids – babies! – and I had to travel. Brent picked up the slack. . . . It’s not always 50-50,” in marriage, she added. “Sometimes it’s 80-20. You learn to give and take, supporting each other’s gifts.”

The Averills have also worked as a team in writing. Brent brought his seminary training and helped with theological depth and structure, and Diane brought her teaching gifts and ability to ask the right questions, she said. Together they contributed to leader guides and curricula, each doing what they were gifted to do. “I would never have written anything without him,” Averill said. “We were always a team. God’s grace carried us. We’re not special – God is!”

Looking Ahead

As she retires from formal leadership, Averill said, she doesn’t view this as the end of ministry service. “Ministry is a lifelong calling,” she emphasized. “We just want to keep saying yes to whatever God puts in front of us.”