Ranjy Thomas serves as a teaching pastor and elder at Mannahouse Church in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife, Shine, and two kids, Sydney and Pax. He’s also an entrepreneur, a mentor, and a friend to countless people. Thomas serves others, helping them live into God’s calling for their lives, with a strong dedication.

In his early twenties, Thomas helped launch the start-up business which eventually became Nextel Communications, a national wireless communication company later bought by and folded into T-Mobile. At Nextel, Thomas learned how to grow an idea from something small to something with a national or even global impact by finding like-minded people in different cities who could collaborate and create something of value with an impact broader and deeper than solo ventures.

Just a few months before his thirtieth birthday, Ranjy Thomas featured in Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual “Young Millionaires” edition. From that moment forward, Thomas launched into a lifetime of being sought out as an advisor, investor, and encourager, serving Kingdom-minded, world-changing leaders like Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott (co-founders of eHarmony) and Scott Beck (former chairman of Blockbuster Video and CEO of Gloo).

Because of his passion for storytelling, Thomas later became the CEO of Flying Rhino. This Christian animation company produced a variety of successful children’s videos over the span of several years. With those experiences under his belt, Thomas started searching the world and investing in young, innovative leaders drawn to building businesses and using their resources to impact God’s Kingdom significantly through these thriving ventures.

The list of Thomas’ friends and partners includes Poncho Lowder, founder of Subsplash; Fady Hanna, founder of Flagship; Dylan Thomas, member of Hillsong United and co-founder of CREATR; Mart Green and Dallas Jenkins of The Chosen; the musical duo JVKE; and more.

While Thomas serves in an eclectic variety of roles across a wide range of companies—with focuses that span from technology to faith, music, and animation—the common denominator in these successful start-up ventures is Ranjy Thomas. Throughout his life he has proven himself to be a highly talented, founding visionary called to serve God and others as they in turn seek to serve God.

Dr. Michael Carmichael has a heart for missions. His life verse is 1 Corinthians 15:58, which reads: “Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” While on faculty at the University of Florida’s School of Medicine, Dr. Carmichael was asked to co-chair an international cardiovascular surgery conference in Beijing, China. He stated, “I learned that the number one cause of death of Chinese males was coronary artery disease and heart attacks. However, coronary artery bypass surgery (one of the most common operations performed in the US) was unavailable in China. In fact, open heart surgery generally has a 50% mortality in China. At that time, I felt called by the Lord to be involved in using heart surgery as an avenue to share the love of Jesus with the Chinese people.” Since 1992, Dr. Carmichael and his wife have traveled to China to practice “lifestyle evangelism.” In addition to their missions work overseas, they also welcome two teams of Chinese doctors, nurses, and administrators to come and live in their home annually. This allowed the Chinese opportunity to not only learn “western medicine” in the US but for Carmichael’s six children to be involved in the mission effort.

In 2019, Dr. Carmichael received the Chinese Government Friendship Award, the highest honor the Chinese government gives to foreign experts. Dr. Carmichael is also an honored member of America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals and an honorary citizen of Nanjing, China. He has received numerous awards, including America’s Best Physicians, the Compassionate Doctor Award, and the Patient’s Choice Award.

Speaking about Dr. Carmichael, president of IWU Dr. Jon Kulaga said, “Each year, we search for individuals that have dedicated their lives to changing the world for the good while demonstrating living out Christlikeness through their personal and professional works. Dr. Carmichael has worked in China for over 20 years. He has leveraged his cardiovascular skills to save thousands and built relationships that have allowed him to share the love of Jesus with the Chinese people.”

Few Christians have impacted the tech world as heavily as Pat Gelsinger. For almost fifty years, Gelsinger has played an increasingly vital role in the tech industry as he changes the world for Christ.

After obtaining his associate’s degree in electrical engineering in 1979, Gelsinger began to work for Intel, starting what would prove to be three decades with the company. Over the next few years, Gilsinger continued his educational journey, earning a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University in 1983, followed by a master’s degree from Stanford University in 1985. Over the course of the next few decades, he became the first chief technology officer, driving the creation of key industry technologies like USB and Wi-Fi. As the architect of the original 80486 processor, Gelsinger also played a significant role in steering Intel to dominance in the microprocessor supplier market.

He has authored more than 20 technical publications, including the foundational Programming the 80386, and holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture, and communications. In 2003, Gelsinger wrote Balancing Your Family, Faith & Work. He followed this with The Juggling Act in 2008, the same year he was named a Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from William Jessup University. Gelsinger departed Intel in 2009 to become president and COO of EMC, where he would work for three years. During this time Gelsinger was responsible for all of EMC’s products—as well as information storage, backup, governance and security, and data analytics. Moving on from this role he became CEO of VMware. This software company more than doubled in size under Gelsinger’s leadership over the course of the eight years he worked there.

In 2018, Fortune Magazine named Gelsinger one of their top businesspersons of the year, and in 2019 Gelsinger earned the number one spot on Glassdoor’s list of top US CEOs, with a 99% employee approval ranking.

In February 2021, Gelsinger became the Chief Executive Officer of Intel, returning to the company where his career began. Today, he is recognized as one of the most visible Christian leaders of a publicly traded company. Gelsinger is involved with a range of Christian charities including William Jessup University, Stadia, Luis Palau Association, Missions of Hope International, and Mercy Ships. He spearheaded the formation of TBC (Transforming the Bay with Christ), serving the San Francisco Bay Area to bring unity to the Christian community. He regularly preaches and teaches work-life balance in a variety of church, business, and international settings.

Raised in a Christian home, Tamika fully surrendered her life to the Lord during college. She has been a vibrant witness throughout her professional basketball career and into her executive management role within the Pacers Sports & Entertainment organization.

Her path to stardom was not easy. Born with a profound hearing disability, she would find that dedicating herself to the sport of basketball provided a way to overcome challenges as a youth. Impassioned to share this gift with others, Tamika founded the Catch the Stars Foundation whose mission is to empower youth to reach their dreams. Catch the Stars promotes fitness, literacy and youth development by holding camps, fitness clinics, back-to-school celebrations, mentoring programs, reading corners, and scholarships in communities all over the USA.

Tamika’s accomplishments are vast. While making her mark as a starter on the women’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Elite Eight during her tenure, Tamika graduated from University of Tennessee with a degree in sports management and a minor in business in 2001. She went on to complete her master’s degree in sport’s studies, also from the University of Tennessee, in 2005.

Drafted by the Indiana Fever immediately following college, Tamika would go on to win four Olympic gold medals and play an instrumental role in helping the Fever advance to the playoffs 13 times in 15 seasons, capturing the WNBA title in 2012 and being named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year five times.

In 2016, Tamika married Parnell Smith, a former basketball player from the University of Buffalo (NY) and published Catch A Star: Shining Through Adversity to Become a Champion. Being a tea-loving entrepreneur at heart, Tamika purchased Tea’s Me Café, a premier tea bar and café located in Indianapolis in February 2017. It is not uncommon to find her in the store joyfully serving the teas she loves.

All throughout her basketball career, Tamika kept a watchful eye on the inner workings of the home office. Following her retirement as a full-time player, she was hired as Director of Player Programs and Franchise Development by the Pacer’s Sports & Entertainment Organization. She also began working as an Analyst for Women’s Basketball Games for ESPN’s SEC Network. In March 2019, she was promoted to Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Indiana Fever.

Ernie Johnson Jr. is one of sports’ most respected and beloved personalities. He is a veteran sportscaster for Turner Sports and hosts their NBA coverage, as well as the Emmy Award-winning show Inside the NBA with analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal. He is also a studio host for Turner and CBS’ NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship coverage and a play-by-play announcer for TBS’ exclusive coverage of Major League Baseball. Previously, Johnson has covered the National Football League, the British Open, the PGA Championship, Wimbledon, and the Olympics. He also called games for the Atlanta Braves on SportSouth from 1993-1996 with his dad, Ernie Johnson Sr., a former MLB pitcher and Braves play-by-play announcer.

Johnson is a graduate of Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and studied Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. He was named Outstanding Young Alumnus in 1986. He and his wife Cheryl have six children, four of whom are adopted.

Already a successful sportscaster for Turner Sports, Johnson became a Christian in 1997 through the ministry of Kevin Myers—a 1982 IWU grad—at 12Stone Church. Since that time, Johnson has been and continues to be outspoken about his faith in both his personal life and his very public and successful professional life. He has won four Emmy awards for Outstanding Studio Show as well as the Sports Emmy for Best Studio Host/Personality three times—in 2001, 2006, and 2015. He was also awarded the Athletes in Action honorary John Wooden Keys to Life Award in 2007, which is reserved for individuals who exemplify Wooden’s “Seven Keys to Life” including character, integrity, and faith. Additionally, in 2015 he received the Bill Hartman Award and the Musial Award, presented in honor of Stan Musial’s legacy by celebrating iconic “good sports” and the year’s greatest moments in sportsmanship.

In April 2017, he released his memoir, Unscripted: The Unpredictable Moments That Make Life Extraordinary, and in 2023 he was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Johnson lives his faith out in everyday life and also through his work with the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and Samaritan’s Feet.

Cheryl Bachelder is a passionate restaurant industry executive and former CEO of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. She is known for her strategic thinking, franchisee-focused approach, superior financial performance, and the development of outstanding leaders and teams.

Bachelder joined Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen in November 2007, after serving as an active member of the board for a year. She brought more than thirty-five years of experience in brand building, operations, and public-company management at companies like Yum! Brands, Domino’s Pizza, RJR Nabisco, Gillette, and Procter & Gamble. Using her previous experience in the food industry, Bachelder helped lead Popeyes through a decade of success, increasing profits and placing an emphasis on better serving franchisees.

“It [was] the most fun role of my lifetime, because it was God’s idea, not mine,” said Bachelder in a 2016 interview. “I think of it as a kind of redemption. This job has redeemed the early years of my career, when I was less focused on serving God in my work.”

Bachelder holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and Marketing from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She has been married for over forty years to Chris Bachelder and they have three grown daughters.

Combining her Christian faith with her restaurant experience, Bachelder wrote and published a book titled Dare to Serve: How to Drive Superior Results by Serving Others. The book chronicles the tenets of how Bachelder reformed the culture within the Popeyes franchise by committing to serve the people in her organization well. She views a servant leader as someone who embodies Joshua 1:9 and Philippians 2:3.

In 2012, she was recognized as “Leader of the Year” by the Women’s Foodservice Forum and received the Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. She has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and was named by CNBC’s Jim Cramer as one of his “21 Bankable CEOs” for 2014. In September 2015, Cheryl was awarded the Norman Brinker Award from Nation’s Restaurant News.

Richard Stearns’ life took an unexpected turn in 1998. At the time, he was the CEO of Lenox, Inc. where he was thriving and growing in his business career; however, he began to feel led to leave his position and serve those affected by poverty around the world.

Following God’s prompting, Stearns resigned from Lenox and accepted a new position as president of World Vision—a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Since becoming president in 1998, Stearns has been able to put his faith into action daily by working to improve the lives of the poor. Over the years, he has had the opportunity to visit more than forty of the nearly one hundred countries where World Vision works and has a first-hand understanding of the issues that affect the poor.

“Ending systematic poverty is possible if individual Christians respond and if the whole church exercises its massive resources and voice," wrote Stearns in an article from 2012 titled “Christians Really Do Reduce Poverty”.

Stearns is known as a trustworthy voice illuminating the critical issues that affect the world’s poor and urging those with recourses to make a difference. He is also the author of The Hole in Our Gospel and Unfinished. These books address the importance of living out the whole gospel and brining the good news to a hurting world.

Driven by his passion to raise awareness and support for poverty and justice issues, Stearns appears regularly as a commentator on some of the top issues of our day in outlets including Christianity Today, Relevant magazine, Fox News, and Huffington Post. He speaks in churches regularly and in recent years has spoken at the Lausanne Conference, Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit, the Christian Leadership Alliance, Movement Day, Worship Together, and dozens of other conferences.

Stearns’ greatest legacy will be his leadership in calling on the Church in America to respond to some of the greatest needs of our time, most notably the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the global refugee crisis. Since stepping down from his role as president of World Vision in 2018, Stearns has gone on to serve as the president emeritus—a role which keeps involved in the organization as new leadership has grown. Stearns and his wife, Reneé, live in Bellevue, Washington, and have supported World Vision since 1984. They have five children of their own–plus millions more around the world.

July 4, 1976 is a day John C. Maxwell will never forget. The twenty-nine-year-old Maxwell was preaching a normal Sunday morning message when he felt something stirring inside of him. God was calling him to develop leaders. “I had never even thought about that.” Maxwell said in a 2011 interview. “I wasn’t even preaching on the subject, then suddenly I realized my calling was to train leaders.”

As he pursued this calling through his vocation as a pastor, Maxwell took a leap of faith in 1985 when he founded INJOY, a company dedicated to creating leadership tools and materials for pastors and lay leaders. At the time, Maxwell was also the senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church. For fourteen years, Maxwell poured himself into pastoring the church, challenging the church body in the areas of leadership and laity involvement, and ultimately saw the church grow to three thousand members. In 1995, God called him to step down as pastor and commit to working full time for INJOY.

In 1997, the Michigan native moved INJOY’s headquarters from San Diego, California to its current location of Atlanta, Georgia. Eventually, INJOY became the INJOY Group. To date, Maxwell has trained more than five million leaders in one-hundred eighty-eight countries across the globe.

Maxwell’s leadership philosophy is, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” He has written over seventy books—nine of which are New York Times bestsellers. Some of his most popular titles include Failing Forward and Your Roadmap for Success. In 2005, Maxwell became one of twenty-five authors named to Amazon’s 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame.

Every year, Maxwell speaks to more than three-hundred fifty-thousand people about biblical leadership, success, and the power of self-development. Maxwell realizes the world is in desperate need of strong, biblical leaders and has dedicated his life to training and mentoring those who wish to receive it. Over the years, Maxwell has spoken to a wide variety of clients from organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, the National Football League, foreign governments, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the United Nations.

For both his local and global work he has been recognized by the American Management Association, Business Insider, and Inc. magazine.  Yet, through it all, his aim remains clear. “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts,” Maxwell has said. “It is about one life influencing another.”

A native of Salisbury, North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole graduated with distinction from Duke University as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, earned a law degree from Harvard Law School, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Harvard University.

Her resume includes six years as a member of the Federal Trade Commission, and two years as Assistant to President Reagan for Public Liaison. In 1983, she became the first woman to be appointed U.S. Secretary of Transportation, serving five years. She later served as U.S. Secretary of Labor where top priorities included workplace safety and initiatives to help youth-at-risk.

“My most rewarding times in public service career were in classrooms, listening to at-risk youth and teen mothers who were turning their lives around; in fields, meeting with migrant workers who were seeking a voice on their behalf; deep in a coal mine, meeting with miners concerned about their safety; and in far flung corners of the world, witnessing the great humanitarian power of people helping strangers at their most desperate hour,” said Dole.  

Elizabeth Dole was only the second woman to serve as president of the American Red Cross since Clara Barton founded it in 1881. She totally restructured the world’s largest humanitarian organization during her eight years as president, serving as a volunteer in her first year. She led a massive transformation of the way the Red Cross collects, tests, and distributes one-half of the nation’s blood supply.

Following the Red Cross, she sought the Republican presidential nomination, becoming the first viable female candidate from a major political party. Elected in 2002, Senator Dole became the first woman to represent North Carolina in the United States Senate. In 2012, she founded Caring for Military Families: The Elizabeth Dole Foundation to raise awareness and support for over one million caregivers of our nation’s wounded warriors. In 2021, Dole’s husband, former senator Bob Dole, passed away at the age of ninety-eight. The couple had been married for almost fifty years. In 2024, she received the Medal of Freedom for her accomplishments. Through her work both in and outside of politics, Elizabeth Dole has striven to create lasting differences in the lives of people across the world.

David Green has never forgotten what his mother used to say to him back when he was just starting out in the retail business, at a five and dime store chain called TG&Y. No matter how well he did, she would always respond with, “but what are you doing for the Lord?” This simple question has motivated him ever since.

Green founded Hobby Lobby in 1970 as Greco Products, a miniature picture frames company he started in his garage with a $600 loan. Today, Hobby Lobby has roughly one thousand stores across the United States. He has appeared multiple times on the Forbes 400 list of the world's wealthiest people, most recently in 2012 with an estimated net worth of $4,000,000,000. Green's Christian witness is evident to all: in 2006, Forbes wrote that Green "lives to spread the word."

Closing on Sunday was an especially hard decision for Green. It was the most profitable day of the week for the craft store chain, but it was also the Lord's Day, and Green believes God has blessed the company since it began closing on Sunday: they are doing better financially than they were before.

In 2010 he signed the Giving Pledge, an agreement among many of the world's wealthiest people to give away more than half of their fortune before they die. Green is also directly involved in the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, helping to ensure it runs smoothly and providing resources.

he Kansas-born Green spent some time feeling like the black sheep of his family because of not being directly involved in pastoral ministry. In time, he began to understand that ministry wasn't just a pastor's job.

"I felt like God passed me up," Green recalls, "in that I was not called to preach like my brothers and sisters… It took me some time after God had talked to me about doing something, and then I saw it all come together. Then I said, 'I think he could use a businessman as well.' But I also think he can use every one of us, no matter where we are."

Kirk Cameron may be best known as an actor, but it is the totality of his life and work—his unashamed passion for Christ and the gospel, his dedication to his family, his extensive work with multiple humanitarian causes—which makes him a strong example of Christian commitment. Cameron has lived in the spotlight since he was fourteen, when he was first cast on the sitcom Growing Pains. He later became known for his starring roles in the films Left Behind and Fireproof. Cameron has impressed many with his dedication to living out his love for Christ in his public and personal lives. He has demonstrated a keen commitment to sharing his faith, in one-on-one encounters and with a wide audience. In addition, he has been involved with organizations providing rest and recreation for seriously ill children, offering advice to married couples, and raising awareness of human rights abuses in Southeast Asia.

Cameron was one of the biggest teen idols of the 1980s, but while he had everything he could want, he started asking fundamental questions about his place and purpose in the world. Spurred on by the father of a friend, he visited Pastor Chuck Swindoll's California church and read a book by apologist Josh McDowell. He started to rethink the atheism he'd held onto for most of his life.

"God knew the core of me—the totality of every thought, emotion and action—and cared about the real me," Cameron wrote in his 2008 autobiography Still Growing, "Surrounded by a world of superficiality, this was a new and humbling concept." Since then, Cameron has used his celebrity as a platform to speak plainly and directly about Christ's work in his life, in the Hollywood community where he still lives and to myriad audiences around the world.

He has found many ways to live out a Christian example. Since 1989 he and his wife, Chelsea, have personally run the Firefly Foundation. They invite seriously ill children and their families to spend a week at a Georgia summer camp, to rest and make friends with people going through similar situations.

The inspiration for Camp Firefly came from Cameron's work with sick children while on Growing Pains, through groups like the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Most camps of that sort focused only on the children, but Cameron had seen the toll disease could take on an entire family: "I felt something more needed to be done for these exhausted, strapped, stressed families," he wrote. Cameron has been married to Chelsea Noble, his on-screen girlfriend from Growing Pains, for more than thirty years. Kirk and Chelsea live in Southern California and are the proud parents of six children.

1. Truett Cathy was founder and chief executive officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc. Cathy started the business in 1946 when he and his brother, Ben, opened their first restaurant. In 1967, Cathy founded and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbriar Shopping Center. Today, Chick-fil-A is the third-largest restaurant chain in the United States based on annual sales. At the beginning of 2011, there were more than 3,000 Chick-fil-A restaurants across 48 states.

Cathy's approach was largely driven by personal satisfaction and a sense of obligation to the community and its young people. His WinShape Foundation, founded in 1984, grew from his desire to "shape winners" by helping young people succeed in life through scholarships and other youth-support programs.

The foundation annually awards up to thirty students wishing to attend Berry College, in Mount Berry, Georgia, with scholarships up to $32,000 that are jointly funded by WinShape and Berry College. In addition, the Chick-fil-A chain has given more than $25,000,000 in scholarships to Chick-fil-A restaurant employees since 1973.

As part of its WinShape Homes program, eight foster care homes have been started in Georgia, two in Tennessee and one in Alabama that are operated by the WinShape Foundation. WinShape Camps were founded in 1985 as residential, two-week summer camps to impact young people and families through experiences that enhance their Christian faith, character and relationships.

Cathy built his life and business based on hard work, humility and biblical principles. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Georgia, where he has taught the same Sunday school class for over fifty years, before his passing. Based on these principles, all of Chick-fil-A's restaurants operate with a "Closed-on-Sunday" policy, without exception. Company sales figures have consistently proven that Chick-fil-A restaurants often generate more business per square foot in six days than many other quick-service restaurants produce in seven.

Cathy was a dedicated husband, father, and grandfather. His son Dan now serves as the chairman and chief executive of Chick-fil-A, while his son Donald is senior vice president of Chick-fil-A and the WinShape Foundation. Cathy's daughter, Trudy Cathy White, serves as the Girls' Director with WinShape Camps. In 2006, Cathy welcomed the third generation of Cathy family members to the business. S. Truett Cathy passed away in 2014, at the age of ninety-three, but his legacy lives on a decade later.

At a time when the music of the church leaned toward traditional gospel songs and lyrics composed in religious language, Bill and Gloria Gaither brought an upbeat, contemporary sound featuring lyrics that grew out of their everyday lives as full-time schoolteachers. In the years since, Bill and Gloria have partnered to write more than seven hundred songs, many of which are sung in churches today, including "Because He Lives," "Let's Just Praise the Lord," and "The King is Coming.”

The Gaithers have mentored performers such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, and Sandi Patty, influencing entire generations of artists. Bill and Gloria have performed in concert around the world, shooting music videos in Ireland, South Africa, and Israel. Ken Abraham, who co-authored Bill's memoir It's More Than the Music, recalls hiking through Jamaica with his brothers and coming upon a makeshift church building where the congregation was singing "He Touched Me."

In the 1970s, the Gaithers recorded the musical Alleluia! A Praise Gathering for Believers, which was written with the idea that local congregations and choirs could do their own productions. In fact, it was performed in churches and communities around the world including countries such as Romania and China. Alleluia! became the first certified gold record in Christian music and virtually transformed the world of church music.

Releasing hundreds of recordings, the Gaithers have won eight Grammy Awards and two dozen Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association, earning GMA's "Songwriter of the Year" recognition eight times.

Bill was once cited by Entrepreneur Magazine for his successful business conglomerate, which includes a record company, concert booking, television production, a recording studio, and more. Several years ago, out of his desire to bring hopeful music to a heartbroken world, Bill formed the Gaither Vocal Band, a group that has released over thirty recordings, including one which reached number one on Billboard's music video chart.

An advocate of Christian higher education, Gloria has served on the board of directors for both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and the United Christian College Fund. She has received honorary doctorates from six universities, including one from IWU in 2002. Although the Gaithers have traversed the globe, they always return home to Alexandria, Indiana, so they can stay involved in their community and the lives of family and friends. Working just minutes south of the IWU campus, the Gaithers are living proof that you can be a world changer right where you live.

Joni Eareckson Tada was just seventeen when a diving accident left her paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair. Despite these hardships, Tada has written almost fifty books, accepted a presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability, spoken in more than forty-five countries, and established a disability ministry that reaches around the world. While recovering from her accident, Tada also learned to paint and draw. Today her highly detailed paintings and prints are sought after by collectors.

Tada's best-selling autobiography, Joni: The Unforgettable Story of a Young Woman’s Struggle Against Quadriplegia & Depression, chronicled her struggle to accept her paralysis as part of a divine plan. Translated into forty languages, Joni was also made into a movie with Tada starring as herself. A full-time disability advocate, she founded Joni and Friends, an organization dedicated to serving the worldwide community of the disabled and their families.

The Joni and Friends International Disability Center, based in Southern California and headquarters for her ministry, has produced a variety of programs, including a daily radio program, a television series, and a family retreat program serving hundreds of special needs families around the world. Another important aspect of the Disability Center’s work has been the Wheels for the World program which works with inmates who refurbish donated wheelchairs, helping to distribute them to children and adults in need across over one hundred countries. The Field Services program, meanwhile, provides training and educational resources for churches interested in disability ministry. Finally, the Christian Institute on Disability provides a training center with curriculum development, internships, and a policy center to promote a Biblical worldview on disability-related issues.

When Tada accepted a presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability, she helped draft the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law in 1990. In 2005, she was appointed to advise Condoleezza Rice on policy and programs that affect the disabled in the State Department and around the world.

Throughout the 2010s, Tada was diagnosed with and overcame cancer on two separate occasions over the course of several years. Although her life has been filled with difficulties and struggles many people never have to even consider in their daily life, Tada’s dedication to her faith, commitment to fostering positive change, and fervent spreading of the gospel message is a testament to the power of God to do great things in those willing to listen to him and follow where he leads.

Raised in Jackson, Michigan, Tony Dungy is an outspoken Christian in the sports media sphere with decades of experience in a variety of areas of the sports world. Dungy attended the University of Minnesota, where he played college football. After graduating he signed onto the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he spent three seasons and won Super Bowl XIII. Dungy next signed on to the New York Giants before being cut by them. At this point, he returned to his alma mater, taking on an assistant coaching position. At the age of twenty-five, Dungy was the youngest assistant coach in the history of the NFL.

In 1996, Dungy became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, taking the team from one known for its history of failure and achieving success with them over six seasons. While in this role, Dungy was actively involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action, using his public presence to advocate for the organizations and beginning a mentorship program called Mentors for Life.

In 2002, Dungy was replaced as coach, with his replacement leading the team Dungy had crafted on to win Super Bowl XXXVII. Dungy is now known as the most successful coach in the history of the Buccaneers.

During part of his coaching career, Dungy considered moving into prison ministry, but eventually chose to stick with coaching, feeling he could make an impact in the spaces he was already in. Since then he has been involved with the Prison Crusade Ministry.

Dungy was hired as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts the same year he was fired by the Buccaneers, and in 2007 he led the team to victory in Super Bowl XLI, becoming the first African American coach to win a super bowl. After this he coached two more seasons before retiring, while also engaging in prison ministry by mentoring incarcerated NFL player Michael Vick during this time.

Later, Dungy started work as a broadcast analyst and in 2009, he became an informal advisor for the president’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Dungy has worked with other charitable organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, and All Pro Dad. His book Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance debuted at number two on the New York Times best-seller list and eventually became the first NFL-related book to ever reach number one.

From playing to coaching to serving as an analyst, Tony Dungy has been closely connected to the sports industry for almost fifty years. Throughout that time he has used his prestige and public image to lift up a variety of ministries, providing a good example of what a world changer is.

Dr. Benjamin Carson Sr. was born in 1951 and primarily raised by his mother, Sonya Carson. At the age of eight, Carson had a desire to become a missionary doctor, but as he grew older this evolved into a desire to become a psychiatrist and finally a surgeon.

Only having enough money to afford to apply to one university, Carson applied to Yale and was subsequently given a full scholarship which covered tuition, room, and board. In 1973, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, and in 1977 received his medical doctorate from the University of Michigan Medical School. Over the next six years he worked as part of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s neurosurgery program, before becoming the school’s director of pediatric neurosurgery in 1984.

In 1987, Carson led a team of physicians who became the first in history to successfully separate conjoined twins. Although this kind of surgery comes with a high risk, Carson received public recognition for his success in pioneering and refining procedures for it over the course of his career.

In 2001, Carson was named one of the nation's twenty foremost physicians and scientists by CNN and Time Magazine. In June 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ben and his wife, Candy, are founders of the Carson Scholars Fund, which rewards students with college scholarships and aspires to name a Carson Scholar in every school in the United States.

In 2013, Carson retired from medicine, stepping down from his role as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Carson’s reason for doing so was stated to be a desire to retire while still at the height of his career. Not long after, he began to become heavily involved in United States politics, culminating in his 2015 presidential campaign. When it became clear that he would not be selected as the Republican party’s candidate, he withdrew.

Carson subsequently served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. Since then he has retreated from the public eye, enjoying his retirement from medicine and a step away from the center of politics with his wife and family.

Born in 1936, James Dobson grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana as the product of three generations of Nazarene minsters. In 1960, Dobson married Shirley Deere, who he now has two children with—Danae and Ryan. Dobson obtained his bachelor’s degree from Point Loma Nazarene University, where he also served as captain of the school’s tennis team. At the age of thirty, he received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Southern California.

Witnessing 1960s counterculture led Dobson to become concerned by widespread rejection of authority and the destabilization of moral absolutes, convincing him that it was essential he do what he could to promote traditional family values. Dobson worked at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for seventeen years, before departing in 1976.

Following this, he began to broadcast lectures on a variety of topics, but due to his own father’s frequent lengthy absences, Dobson committed to recording his lectures on video and distributing them that way over being constantly absent from his home and the lives of his children. In 1977, he founded the organization Focus on the Family which has since created a variety of radio programs, magazines, videos, and other programs.

Over the decades, he has served as an anti-abortion advocate, sought to promote traditional family values and roles, and spoken on a variety of other issues. In 2008, Dobson and Focus on the Family were inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in recognition of their influence and effects.

Through projects like Wait No More, Dobson and Focus on the Family helped to increase adoption rates in Colorado and sought to encourage Christian families to engage in adoption more often as a way of living out biblical values.

In 2010, Dobson stepped down from leadership within Focus on the Family and founded the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute—an organization primarily focused on a radio program he continues to host.

Frank Peretti was born in 1951, In Alberta, Canada, and raised in Washington, where he has spent most of his life. Although he had a facial tumor which impacted his speech as a child, after its removal he quickly began to tell monster stories to anyone who would listen, starting what would be a life full of storytelling. After high school, Peretti did not immediately go to college, instead choosing to play the banjo, join a bluegrass group, and marry the love of his life, Barbara. He eventually went on to study English, screenwriting, and other forms of media storytelling at UCLA.

A few years later, Peretti wrote and published the seminal novel This Present Darkness and is sequel Piercing the Darkness. With these books, Peretti has often been credited with creating the Christian suspense and thriller genre, providing a distinctly Christian perspective in the largely secular realm of supernatural and horror fiction.

Although he has written almost thirty books over the past four decades, his two Darkness books have remained his most enduring legacy. Other novels have received film adaptations, however, such as Hangman’s Curse, The Visitation, and House—the last of which is based on a novel he cowrote with arguably the other most prominent Christian supernatural horror and suspense author, Ted Dekker.

In the early 2000s, Peretti began to write nonfiction as well, releasing his memoir This Wounded Spirit, which talked about the isolation and bullying he experienced as a child due to his facial tumor as well as additional books about the subject of bullying over the following years. He also began to write young adult fiction at this time. In 2004 he also appeared in the children’s series Hermie and Friends, marking what is to date his only voice acting role.

From 2006 until 2017 Peretti only published one novel, Illusion, choosing to spend much of the period simply living his personal life in relative privacy. Over the course of 2017 and 2018, however, Peretti published five novels in a new series called The Harbingers, showing that while he is perfectly content to live a simple life of carpentry, banjo making, sculpting, bicycling, hiking, and spending time with friends and family, writing will always be part of his life, and it is most likely only a matter of time before he once again returns with a new book.

Born in 1935, Robert Briner was an award-winning TV producer, sports executive, and author. He brought television and sponsorship deals to tennis as an executive of World Championship Tennis and as executive director of the Association of Tennis Professionals players’ union.

He was also instrumental in opening major international tournaments such as Wimbledon and the French Open to professionals. Briner was also the first American sports executive to enter China after the fall of Mao Zedong, creating deals to allow NBA games to appear in China. His international work with sports also extended to Israel, Cuba, South Africa, and more.

While he contributed a considerable amount of work to The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, the writing for which he is best remembered is his work Roaring Lambs, in which he wrote about the relationship between Christians and the secular work. “It’s time for believers to confidently carry their faith with them into the marketplace so that our very culture feels the difference.”

Although he passed away from cancer in 1999, Briner’s work in Roaring Lambs as well as other faith books Lambs Among Wolves and The Final Roar has left an indelible mark, with his writing being directly responsible for conversations on IWU’s campus which led to the creation of the Society of World Changers. In 2003, Briner was posthumously inducted into the group as its first member, in recognition of the effect his work had on the world, on our university, and on the concept of “World Changers” itself.

Without his work, the Society of World Changers would not exist, and so for that Indiana Wesleyan University is forever grateful to Briner. While he may not be the most famous of public figures today, Briner showed through his life and his writing one way in which Christians can make a Kingdom-difference in the world.