McCabe meets with Heath for mentoring.

“I think that at some point in their college career, every student needs to meet one-on-one with a faculty member,” says Dustin Heath (’12) of mentoring. In his time at Bethel, Heath has had four mentors — two students and two professors — who poured into his life. Now Heath is pouring into the lives of others.

“I’m graduating. It’s time to develop students for the next four-year class,” says Heath.

Mentoring has been both a humbling and growing experience for Heath, who came to Bethel with a self-described rebellious spirit. He says it was professors like his former mentor John Dendiu, Ph.D., associate professor of religion, and current mentor David McCabe, Ph.D., assistant professor of New Testament and Greek, who invested in him, that really shaped his way of thinking.

“Dr. Dendiu helped me align things that were completely crooked,” he says. “Now I see that I am here to support the institution. There is no room for rebellion in the body of Christ.”

Heath says that discipleship is the root of community at Bethel, and through serving as spiritual life director, director of vespers and resident assistant, he has seen this firsthand.

“We have community because discipleship is valued here at Bethel,” he says.