Never settle for less

David Towles goes “beyond the classroom” to minister and teach students

“If I would want to say something good about myself, it is that I’m never really satisfied.”

It is not that David Towles is dissatisfied with life, it is just that he never settles for less. As the director of the Liberty University Spanish Institute and professor of Spanish, Towles has a full schedule, but he is committed to going “beyond the classroom to truly touch a young person to become all that he or she is called by Christ to be.”

In 1976, Towles and his wife were living in California when he heard something that would change the course of his life. He was watching the “Old Time Gospel Hour,” the television ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church, when he heard Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr. make a request for English teachers to come teach at the college that Falwell had founded in Lynchburg. Having taken a couple of graduate level English courses, Towles sent a letter to Falwell and expressed his interest in a position.

“I said, ‘God, I’m ready for you to tell me what you want me to do with my life,’” Towles said. “(God used) Jerry Falwell to provide that answer. I had never held a job for more than three years. That was 39 years ago.”

Towles began his career at Liberty teaching 100-level English courses before founding the modern languages program in 1980. He completed his doctorate of education from Virginia Tech in 1991.

“I came with Spanish. That was before (the university had) French, German, Chinese, Arabic (and) Latin,” Towles said.

Shortly after creating the program, Towles toyed with the idea of leading a group of students to Mexico for an immersion experience, but eventually decided against it. He later went on to lead several mission trips throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including El Salvador in 1994 and 1995, Chile and Puerto Rico in 1996, Honduras in 1997 and 1998, Argentina and Guatemala in 1999 and Guatemala from 1999-2015.

Through a connection with a Liberty alumnus, Towles learned of Hope of Life International, an organization founded by Carlos Vargas of Guatemala. According to the organization’s website, Hope of Life International exists to “rescue the future generations of Guatemala and the world through the power of a practical gospel. To never meet a physical need without meeting a spiritual need. Transforming generations from dependency to independence, to become strong leaders for the world and for the kingdom.”

In January 2003, Towles visited Hope of Life International for the first time and found what he was looking for. That same year, he founded the Liberty University Spanish Institute (LUSI).

“God has blessed me,” Towles said. “He let me work for a man named Jerry Falwell, (who I watched) a man shake a country. And he also let me work with Carlos Vargas, who is (the) Jerry Falwell (of) Guatemala.”

In 1999, Towles and a team of students traveled to Guatemala for a month of ministry and Spanish immersion — and Liberty University became the first university to partner with Hope of Life International in its ministry to the Guatemalan people.

And, as Towles readily admitted, he was not satisfied. His students were not coming back as fluent in the language as he had hoped, so he stretched the trip to two months the following summer.

“When you look at the mission of Liberty University, I don’t think you’ll find a single ministry or program that fits it any better, because it’s academic and it’s also sharing the gospel,” Towles said. “We have an array of people who go. We have Spanish majors, education majors, TESL majors, nursing majors, pre-med majors and more English majors than you
would think.”

For their first month in Guatemala, students engage in partial immersion: they live on Hope of Life International’s campus, take college level Spanish courses and participate in weekly outreaches including evangelism, medical aid, food and clothing distribution and orphan rescue. The second month, students are fully immersed in the Guatemalan culture and Spanish language by participating in home stays with native families and continuing their various ministries.

“The thing that motivates me here is the opportunity to make a difference,” Towles said. “The thing that motivates me in Guatemala is the opportunity to forge leaders for Christ, to forge people who will make a difference.”

It is this passion, this vision, that Towles said keeps him teaching at Liberty — hopefully, for another 10 years.

“Why do I care? Why do I want to keep teaching? The young people,” Towles said. “The opportunity to make a difference in a life.”

Towles knows well what a difference a teacher can make in the life of a student. He is the first person in his immediate family to graduate from high school and earn a college degree.

Reflecting back on his years as a student, Towles expressed his gratitude to a teacher who never gave up on him, who never accepted less than Towles’ best. The influence of that one teacher made a profound difference in Towles’ life, an influence Towles is determined to imitate.

Towles said the decision to major in Spanish in college was an easy one — he was good at both Spanish and biology, but because he was working full time to put himself through school, he did not have time for biology labs. So Spanish won out by default.

“It was that simple. There was no great passion for it. But you know what I believe? I think anything you put your heart and soul into will become a passion if God called you to it,” Towles said.

For Towles, his greatest joy comes not from teaching Spanish, but from teaching students. He also has the unique opportunity to work alongside his wife, Carolyn Towles, professor and chair of general education English, and his son, Matthew Towles, a professor in the Department of English & Modern Languages.

“Spanish is just a tool, it’s just an instrument,” Towles said. “And it’s only important to the degree that it helps a students become what God called them to be. … We faculty are only important to the degree that we make a difference in those lives.”

GRAF is a feature reporter.