Dean of Students Mark Hyde hosted the Dining with the Dean event Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. in the private dining room at the Reber Thomas Dining Center. Students heard from special guest David Wheeler, Professor of Evangelism and Church Ministries, who shared his testimony of how God has worked in his life
The original idea for the Dining with the Dean event came to Hyde after he was hospitalized for an extended period due to COVID-19 and was in a coma for four weeks. After he recovered, he felt a calling from God to use his story and show students how God can work in miraculous ways.
“The purpose behind Dining with the Dean is threefold. The first one is to honor and glorify the name of God. The second one is to connect students with faculty or administrators that they don’t usually see and the third one is to encourage students who might be going through a difficult time,” Hyde said.
Wheeler has worked at Liberty University for 20 years and teaches an evangelism course. He also serves as an advisor for Pastoral Care at Liberty and as the Senior Executive Director of the LU Shepherd through the Office of Spiritual Development.
He began by sharing stories of his upbringing in Tennessee and his home life. He described his parents as people who were always looking for a chance to serve and evangelize.
“Faith in my life and in my family was never something we just talked about. It’s something we did,” Wheeler said.
He then shared how he went from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to Liberty. Wheeler began as a guest speaker for Liberty, but after his second visit he was asked to teach evangelism at the university.
“For the first time in my life I thought, I’m among my people,” said Wheeler.
The next Dining with the Dean event will be held Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Reber-Thomas private dining room and will feature Ellen Black, Senior Executive Director of Departmental Planning, Research and Assessment of LU One.
Somers is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion.