Alumni Gatherings: Coming to a town near you!

Alumni Director Mike Bush and the Bible Institute's new director of admissions, Greg Dyson, are going to be at a bunch of alumni events and gatherings in the coming months. They want to encourage alumni to come, and to bring prospective students with them. Here's a complete list of upcoming events (check back at the alumni website for more details):

April 1: Sheets Memorial Church
210 Cotton Grove Road
Lexington, NC 27292
6:30 to 8 p.m.
                                                               
April 6: Fellowship Bible Church
590 Jackson Road
Sewell, NJ 08080
5 to 6:30 .p.m

April 9: Calvary Church
1051 Landish Valley Road
Lancaster, PA 17601
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 10: Cairn University (details still in the works)
Langhorne Manor, PA

April 11: Heritage Baptist Church
219 Breezewood Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24502
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 15: Maryland (possibly adding)

April 16: Baptist Bible College and Seminary
538 Venard Road
Clarks Summit, PA 18411
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 23: Columbus, Ohio (details still in the works)

April 25: Plainfield Bible Church
752 North Dan Jones Road
Plainfield, IN 46168
6:30 to 8 p.m.

April 26: Sugar Grove/Wheaton, Illinois (details still in the works)

April 27: Mayfair Bible Church
5339 W. Pierson Road
Flushing, MI 48433
5 to 6:30 p.m.

A message from the new alumni director, Mike Bush.

By Mike Bush, Class of 1981

Hello, alumni! Don’t be alarmed — Wayne Lewis is still around. We just wanted to take this time to let you know about some changes that will be going on at Word of Life, and specifically for Bible Institute alumni.

Wayne has spent the last couple of years working on ramping up our alumni connections, and now I’m coming on board to help as the new alumni director. Wayne will continue as the “alumni director emeritus,” and we’re already looking at a few new ways we can connect with and serve alumni.

First of all, this marks some changes for me and my wife, Amy. We have had the high honor of serving at the Word of Life Inn since September 2000. That ministry has been one of the most demanding, stretching, tiring, exciting, impactful, fun, and rewarding things Amy and I have ever done.  We’ve seen God at work, changing the hearts and lives of children, teens, adults, and families from all over the world. We renewed old friendships and made many new ones. We served with some of God’s most faithful servants and loved being part of a wonderful family, including full-time, part-time, volunteer, and summer staff.  But, like they say, “All good things must come to an end.”

Now, we’ll be moving our focus to two things: connecting with alumni, and helping host the winter conference season in Florida. With alumni, I will take the lead from Wayne and continue to encourage, help, and support our 18,000-strong alumni family. Wayne and I have already been working with Greg Dyson, our new director of admissions, on events this spring in partnership with our Local Church Ministries missionaries. Wayne has called this our “Back to the Future” tour. We are encouraging alumni to attend these events and bring prospective students with them (“back” = alumni, “future” = admissions). We would appreciate your help with these events as well, as we hope to introduce many new people to the Bible Institute.

My other responsibility, the winter conference season in Florida, will be very similar to what I have done at the Inn.  I will host guests, lead Bible hour, and plan activities. I will also spend time connecting with alumni in the Southeast. We will be in Florida from the first week of January and return to Schroon Lake in April. Amy and I will be in Schroon Lake for much of the spring, summer, and fall, connecting with friends in the ministry and alumni.

We look forward to these exciting new changes, and how we continue to extend the reach of the Bible Institute by connecting former students and finding new ones. Please be in prayer as we make these changes, and we look forward to continuing the work God has done.

“I will seek unto God, and unto God will I commit my cause. He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number” (Job 5:8-9).

Q&A: Greg Dyson.

QUICK FACTS:

Title: Dean of Admissions, New York campus
Education: Graduated from the Bible Institute in 1985; bachelors degree in Bible from Cedarville University; working on a masters in organizational leadership from Cairn University (formerly Philadelphia Biblical University)
Background: Has served in several local churches and Christian ministries, beginning with the First Baptist Church of Willingboro, New Jersey, where he was an associate pastor. Greg has also been the senior pastor at Church of the Acres in Springfield, Massachusetts. Greg worked as the Protestant chaplain at Springfield College and was the executive director of the Lion's Den youth ministry in Springfield before joining the Bible Institute staff this fall.

What have you been up to since attending the Bible Institute?
The most significant thing that has happened since graduation is marrying my wife Gina and raising our three daughters, Michaela, Miranda, and Jessica.

What does your current role at the Bible Institute include?
I am serving as the dean of admissions, and my role is to facilitate connections and relationships with future Bible Institute students and their families. Many people do not realize how academically strong and spiritually nurturing the Bible Institute can be. It is my desire that we will communicate this truth to a large amount of our alumni as well as a large amount of people around the world as we encourage new students to attend the Bible Institute.

What do you like most about your role?
I love the team I work with, and I love the interaction with potential students.

What does Word of Life do that you haven't seen happen elsewhere?
Word of Life entrusts so much ministry to young people, but not in a way where they are leaving the ministry to novices — rather, Word of Life is careful not to “despise” the youth (1 Timothy 4:12). Young people are allowed to be examples in every aspect of ministry.

What do you do in your free time? Do you have any interesting hobbies?
I enjoy riding motorcycles and riding a tandem bicycle with Gina -- as long as she pedals. Since 1984 when I saw one of my professors, Ray Namie, ride a motorcycle, I have been fascinated with wheels.

What do you remember most about your Bible Institute year? I remember the missions conference, when we created a missionary superhero named Tiny and strung him on a wire so he could fly into Council Hall.

And, of course, I remember meeting Gina. (Dean of Women) Ginny Newton told me that many couples who don't think they are dating actually end up getting married. She was right.

What advice do you have for fellow alumni?
Never forget what God did for you by bringing you to the Bible Institute.

What about for current students?
Remember that Word of Life is a first step. Begin by making strategic steps towards God's best future for you.

Do you have someone at Word of Life you would like to hear from in a Q&A? Email alumni@wol.org. 

What is going with alumni?

What is going on with alumni?

Alumni Director Wayne Lewis and new Bible Institute Dean of Admissions Greg Dyson decided to make a video to let you hear it straight from them.

Hear what's going on with Word of Life alumni from beautiful Schroon Lake, and email alumni@wol.org or waynel@wol.org if you want to get involved.