Shape the Future: Transforming Lives Through Faith and Innovation

Discover the vision behind Oklahoma Baptist University's transformative "Shape the Future" campaign with our insightful guest, Dr. Heath Thomas, the university's 16th president. He shares how OBU is setting the stage for students to impact the world, especially in essential fields like STEM and healthcare. With their focus on expanding engineering programs and introducing new degrees in software engineering and health sciences, OBU is meeting the workforce demands of tomorrow while infusing Christian values into education. Dr. Thomas also emphasizes the university's mission to develop students into leaders who embody the "all of life, all for Jesus" vision.

Explore how OBU is not only innovating in academic programs but also reshaping its campus facilities to foster an enriching learning environment. Our discussion highlights exciting updates like the renovation of Shawnee Hall and the expansion of online learning opportunities for adult learners. We dive into the practical aspects of creating spaces that inspire, discussing the essential facility enhancements, including the funding secured for Thurmond Hall and future plans for Raley Chapel. The podcast underscores how these developments are integral to OBU's goal of transforming lives and preparing students for meaningful contributions to society.

Finally, we reflect on the resilience and forward-thinking strategies embedded in the comprehensive Campus Master Plan, especially in light of challenges like the impact of a tornado. Dr. Thomas shares his vision for leadership, emphasizing the importance of community support and prayer in overcoming adversity and shaping a bright future for the university. Join us on this journey as we celebrate the power of teamwork, faith, and an unwavering commitment to excellence in education. Together, let's embrace the role of "future shapers" and support OBU's mission to lead with integrity and purpose.

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Transcript

00:04

Welcome to the All of Life podcast, where we explore how Oklahoma Baptist University is shaping the future. I'm your host, Niccole Hall. Join us monthly as we delve into OBU's mission to provide Christian education across all fields, impacting students' lives for generations to come. Remember it's all of life, all for Jesus. This is an exciting time for our university as we are moving forward with our Shape the Future campaign. Today, we have with us President Heath Thomas, the 16th president of Oklahoma Baptist University. Dr Thomas became president in 2020, but has been with OBU since 2015, serving in multiple leadership roles. A 1998 OBU graduate, he holds a PhD in Old Testament from the University of Gloucestershire. 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

00:56

Shoot, I missed it. Gloucestershire, think Worcestershire, only Gloucestershire. 

Niccole Hall Host

01:00

Okay. He has authored several books on theology. Dr. Thomas is passionate about helping people understand scripture and has served churches in the US and the UK. He is also passionate about shaping the future of OBU. Dr. Thomas and his wife Jill have four children: Harrison, Isabel, Simon and Sophia. Welcome to the podcast. 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

01:19

Thank you very much. It's great to be with you. 

Niccole Hall Host

01:21

Dr. Thomas, we're very excited to dive into a more comprehensive discussion with you on OBU's current initiatives, on the Shape the Future campaign that we know we are kicking off this weekend and, of course, just on your vision for the university. So today we'd like to hear more about how you believe this campaign will propel OBU into the future, where students' lives and really all of our lives will be changed and we can actually embrace this all of life all for Jesus mentality. 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

01:52

Yeah. So I think that's a great question. So, first of all, to back up, you know we need to remember why OBU exists. Universities, at their foundation, always have a purpose. What is the purpose of OBU? Well, our university was formed just over 114 years ago with this really clear purpose. 

02:14

Our founders believed that we needed followers of Jesus in every sphere of life and they had this crazy radical idea that if you were a follower of Jesus in business and technology and nursing, or in medicine, or in government or ministry or education, whatever it might be, they had this crazy idea that that would provide good for the new state of Oklahoma. So they had this view that a life lived, all of life, all for Jesus, would bring good to the world. And we just happen to believe that here still today. And so when we talk about all of life, all for Jesus, that's really what we mean. And if you go back to our founding charter in 1910, OBU, our founders had an extraordinarily broad and ambitious vision. They believed in Christian education that would be impacting an entire fabric of a community, from law, politics, medicine, technology, business, whatever it may be. I mean, in the charter it even says you know, the science is both abstract and applied and any other technical or professional education that might fit under the auspices of this university. So they had an extraordinarily ambitious vision. They really wanted to see OBU provide public good in the state of Oklahoma. Well, as we've received that vision and that mission and that purpose, over the past hundred years we've seen our influence grow as well. And so right now what we're doing is we're trying to ask the big questions what are the big needs of our day and how can OBU flex to meet those needs? And that's not really rocket science, that's just keeping your eyes open and keeping your ear to the ground, asking businesses and communities what are your needs and how can we help? And what we've discovered and our faculty have helped us lead the way on that,  

04:13

we've identified three major areas where we need to provide help. The state needs workforce in STEM-related fields and they've been very upfront about that and in engineering. Now OBU has had an off-the-charts science and math program here for decades and decades and decades. Physics unbelievable. But we've never really flexed in the engineering space. 

04:37

And so you know, out of our last strategy, the multiply strategy. We said we're going to invest in that, and so we began mechanical engineering and electrical engineering in the fall of 2023. In the next 36 months, we are going to enhance the engineering programs that we have and add to them. So, for instance, in the fall of 25, we'll add software engineering and other STEM related fields, because those are areas of great need in our community and it's not just need in a theoretical sense. The Oklahoma Chamber and this entire aviation corridor from Texas to Kansas have made it very clear they need engineers in STEM-related fields that then can be tooled towards aviation, aeronautics, aerospace, those kinds of fields, and so we're going to provide workforce to help that need help meet that need. The second major area that we've said that we're going to invest in is health care and health sciences. Why? 

05:34

because, as we all know, especially after covid right, it's had an absolutely devastating effect to our health sciences and our applied health sectors, and so OBU is building on the world-class healthcare degrees that we already have, the pre-med program, which nine out of 10 of our grads go into the med school of their choice, so that program is world-class. 

05:58

But then also our nursing program has just been absolutely phenomenal and we've always had this incredible emphasis in what used to be known as kinesiology or sports medicine or, you know, physical pre-PT, pre-OT, all that kind of shape. We've had that for many, many years, decades, and it's always been very, very successful. But we're building on the success of all of that health-related and care-related programming to provide our first doctoral health science programs as well as our first master's health science-related programs. So we'll be investing in a doctorate in physical therapy, a doctorate in occupational therapy, a master's in physician assistant and then a master's in speech assistant and then master's in speech language pathology. All of these healthcare or health-related degrees are there because we want to provide help, but we don't want to do it like everybody else has done it right, so these are accelerated hybrid programs. 

07:00

That means they're accelerated. They're shorter than the normal brick-and-mortar programs and they're hybrid, which means that we can pull from anywhere in the nation and they come on campus for concentrated periods of time and then they go back to where they live to do their clinical. And to do that work we actually paired with a healthcare provider who has an incredible training arm called Evidence In Motion and we partnered with them to build all of those programs and ensure their success, and it's been a great partnership. Those will be launching in the next two to three years. 

Niccole Hall Host

07:34

That’s exciting.

Dr. Thomas

Yeah, it's great. It makes me think a little bit about just talking about how OBU is focused on meeting the needs of the community. 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

07:40

Yes. 

Niccole Hall Host

07:40

It makes me think a little bit about we had a conversation with a hospital last spring, that's right. And we're starting this partnership with Integris Hospital, and it makes me think about them sitting down there and saying to you,  you know, we need, we need students from all of these different spheres, not even just you know, nursing and pre-med, but we need business students. 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

07:58

We need. 

Niccole Hall Host

07:59

you know accountants, and so it's so exciting that you have seen this need and you're you know heading in that direction to meet it. Okay, I want to focus in a little bit on the campaign. I love this. It's really exciting because you have talked a lot about we have three kind of areas or main buckets. 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

08:14

That's right. 

Niccole Hall Host

08:15

So this, all of these programs would be, would fall kind of under this academic investment piece of the campaign. So on that note, so we've got the master's programs, we've got these new health science. Yeah, doctoral programs, and then, of course, engineering. So are there any other things that you want to add to that piece of it that you want our listeners to just know? 

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

08:40

Yeah, absolutely so. One of the areas that we're going to invest is business and industry related degrees that are needed. So it would be a sad reality that someone gets a degree and they have all the skills in the world, they have a job, and yet they don't have character to back it up, they don't have integrity, they don't have honesty. So one of the things that we've really emphasized in all of our degree programs and all of our education since our beginning is not just an education or skill acquisition or the skills necessary to get a job. Any university does that but what we're doing is providing a Christian education and a Christian foundation that really develops the soul of our learners, that builds in character and integrity and work ethic. 

Niccole HallHost

09:28

Which is lacking? 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

09:28

Yes, perseverance, the virtue of sticking to it, because we don't want to climb the ladder of success only to find out once we get to the top the ladder has been leaning on the wrong wall. We want to build that soulish virtue, that character, into our students. So all of that strength of what we've been doing since our inception is going to be integrated into these programs, and then we're going to be adding industry-related programs like cybersecurity, data analytics and business analytics huge degrees. Why? Because our world desperately needs security from cyber attacks. This is a sad world we live in. Again, this is a great example. 

10:15

You have all the technical skill in the world, you can do amazing things with computers, but those skills and those gifts can be used towards destructive ends or constructive ends. We want our students to be able to defend from those bad actors in our society, for our businesses and for our health care systems and for our energy grid. Make sure all those systems are safe. But we also want to be constructive in providing good systems and infrastructure for businesses and systems as well in states and governments for that matter, and so we're excited about this. So the industry-related degrees are high-yield, high-need degrees. We want to impact as many students as we can, and I just found out, one of our professors told us that we should be expecting, uh, an ai degree, um coming in very soon. 

11:09

So the proposal is going to be coming in this fall and that will probably be implemented sometime in 25 or maybe 26. So again, those are the kinds of degrees that we're trying to add value. We, we even uh, you know, since the tornado we've we've learned a lot about construction, let's say, because of all the damage that we experienced and the incredible renewal that we're experiencing. But one of our construction partners said, hey, we need workforce, and both in the commercial and residential space we need workforce. Would you guys be interested in a construction management degree? We can help liaise on that and we can help advise on that, and then we can create workforce for our industries. So construction management is coming online. 

Niccole HallHost

11:54

That's going to be huge. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

11:54

And then finally let me just mention this as well, because this is really important we are expanding online non-traditional and graduate offerings, both at certificate programs, whether it's project management or whether it's alternative certification pathways for our teachers. We're providing online non-traditional and graduate education to expand the kinds of opportunities that our learning communities want. 

12:23

Many of our communities are going to be adult learners and they want online undergraduate education. Some of our learners that we're going to be impacting are going to want online graduate or online or non-traditional doctoral programs. Those are the degree programs industry-related programs that we're going to be providing in the next 36 months. 

12:44

But it all goes to the priority of academics. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

12:47

Academics is what we do. We are in the life transformation business. We are in the people business. We just happen to do that transformation through education, and that means that we need to provide degree programs that people are looking for and our communities need. 

Niccole HallHost

13:03

So then pulling that into okay, so these academic investment opportunities. Obviously you need space for your students to enhance these academic opportunities for them. So let's dive a little bit into just how you can create a more vibrant campus through facility improvements. We need spaces that are practical for these students to actually carry out their studies. So what does that look like in regard to kind of the facility improvements that are actually happening right now on campus? 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

13:39

That’s right. 

Well, excellence always needs a center, and so our academic priorities that our faculty have set for us, in conjunction with the administration, what we've been able to do is say, ok, these are the investment areas, right, we're going to be investing in health science. We're going to be investing in STEM-related fields, we're going to be investing in industry-related fields, we're going to be investing in the liberal arts tradition and honors to help reach into those classical school pathways that are unbelievable. But all of that needs a space right where our learners can enjoy, and that means that it can't just be a dingy room with a light, it doesn't need to be the Taj Mahal, but it does need to be world-class space. So I am so excited that in the next 36 months, we have four facilities that we're investing in, and two or three of those facilities are absolutely tied to our investment areas in academics. 

14:41

So Shawnee Hall, the crown jewel of OBU's campus, is Shawnee Hall. 

14:48

It was our first academic building and the tornado totaled it from an insurance perspective. So what we're doing is we are keeping the shell of the building, but we are rebuilding it completely from the inside out, and that will house a number of our liberal arts, our honors, our core curriculum but that will also house our counseling programs and some of those industry community needs where mental health is so challenged. We'll provide a counseling space and behavioral and social science office space in there. We'll also provide multi-purpose space for these accelerated hybrid health science programs. In addition, we're gonna have general classrooms in there. Our education classrooms are going to be in Shawnee Hall and again that's a major area for us. Again, some of those accelerated non-traditional programs, the access program for alternative certification, the masters in teaching are unbelievably I mean just exceptional education department is going to be housed there as well. So Shawnee Hall helps get us where we need to go in terms of our academic investments and I'm so excited to say

Niccole Hall Host

 Tell us when, tell us when this is going to be opening up. 

16:04

That is going to be open for business in August of 2025. I had a meeting about it and I have regular meetings about it, but just recently had a meeting on this and I have regular meetings about it, but just recently had a meeting on this just to validate with our builder and with our architects and everybody that goes into that planning, ensuring that we are going to be in by the August of 2025. And we're praying in that direction and planning in that direction and executing towards that. So August of 2025. So that's number one. Number two we are looking for Thurmond Hall. Why Thurmond Hall? It was built in the 50s. Thurmond Hall has always been science and math and administrative, because of the explosive growth of our engineering program. 

Niccole HallHost

16:45

Right. Tell us how many students are in there right now. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

16:48

We built a model for our first year of engineering students to be 12 students matriculated into the program. We had 37, I think it was so we had explosive growth there Again, we were supposed to be at something like 50 students in our pro forma or maybe 40 students in year two. 

17:04

We've already exploded above that. We're about 50 to 60 students, I think, right now in the engineering program. Well, if we keep on that growth rate and if we're looking at the inquiries into our engineering program right now listen, Niccole, we are going to run out of space like that. So we already invested in the lab space for mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. We've already put the space for the wind tunnel in there and the drone and everything else that we've got. That's already been installed. But because of the generous donor, we got the startup money to renovate the second and third floors so that the entirety of Shawnee Hall or Thurmond Hall will now be our engineering building. 

Niccole HallHost

17:46

So Thurmond  will be engineering, and when is that? I mean, are there? I know you have some work to do.

Dr. Heath A. Thomas Guest

We do but we've already begun working on that. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

17:55

We anticipate the actual construction on the second and third floors of Thurmond Hall begins in January of 2025. And we anticipate in the winter of 2026 or maybe the spring of 2026. But say January-ish, February, March of 2026, then the engineering building will be completely done. 

Niccole HallHost

18:20

And, like you said, just necessary. I mean we have so many if you have so many engineering students. You have to have a place to house their classes. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

18:25

You have to have a world-class space. The good news is we are going to have that. It is well. The space already is just phenomenal, and students are loving it, our industry partners are loving it, and so we're excited about that. So in 25 we will celebrate Shawnee Hall. In 26, the beginning of that, we'll celebrate Thurmond Hall and then we're praying in  late 26, most likely, we'll be celebrating the reopening of Raley Chapel. 

18:56

So that is so exciting. And then, finally, to close everything out, the last major building project that we're focusing on in this next 36-month period in the Shaping the Future campaign is a Wood Science Building, and again, what that does is that helps our industry degrees, that helps our health science degrees, that helps our STEM investment. We've already done phase one and it is absolutely incredible We've got to do phase two in Wood Science Building, and so we anticipate Wood Science will be completed in 2027. We've got a lot of fundraising to do on that building as well as Rayleigh, but I feel very confident God's going to provide and our alums and friends and supporters are going to step up and help us close it out. 

Niccole HallHost

19:43

I have a daughter who's super excited about Wood Science Building. She's a biology major and so she is pumped about some new labs. Yes, because I know that will include some new labs for those programs. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

19:53

Well, we redid the bio lab in the phase one and that set the standards so students could see exactly where we're going. So the physics labs, the chemistry labs and all the other labs that we have. We'll all be redone Life science labs yeah, those will be of that same standard and we've got to do some other things that are major in that space, including office space and some classroom space and general classroom as well as the labs. But it is going to be absolutely unreal. 

Niccole HallHost

20:19

Okay, so for our listeners, let's talk a little bit about I mean it sounds like I mean making a lot of headway on obviously Shawnee Hall, Thurmond Hall, if I'm a listener and I love Oklahoma Baptist University, which I think a lot of these people do. Where would you say you feel like a lot of investment needs to go right now. Are you thinking Rayleigh? Just because that's the one that has sustained a lot of damage as well, and it seems like it's a little further on that list. Is that something that you would say? 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

20:49

Well, number one we have had a lot of support for Shawnee Hall and we're grateful for that. We might need a little bit, but pretty much Shawnee Hall is close to the finish line. 

21:04

If you are passionate about helping OBU in the next 12- to- 24 months. Raley Chapel is where we really need the investment. The good news is Thurmond Hall we have that funded. We had some donors and friends really step up. We received an exceptional gift from a family who really wanted to invest in engineering, and so we're grateful for that. So that is funded. Where we need help is Raley Chapel, and so we want that facility to be absolutely world class. 

21:40

Now, if you were to go into Raley Chapel right now, there are no seats, there is no ceiling. There's nothing in there except a sea of scaffolding from the interior of the facility, as well as a scaffolding on the exterior of the facility, as well as scaffolding on the exterior of the facility. What we are doing and what the plan is on that facility is to completely redo the inside of Potter Auditorium, bring everything up to code, replace all windows, make sure that the wings are in great shape and for those of us who have grown up in or around Raley Chapel of us who have grown up in or around Raley Chapel be very encouraged. Everything's going to be brought up to code, including bathrooms. 

Niccole HallHost

22:20

We are excited about that. They're going to be a little bigger. They're going to be a little bit bigger and everything's going to be ADA compliant. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

22:27

That means that bringing everything up to code, including making sure the facility is fire suppressed which it's not, it will be fire suppressed. Making sure that all of our seating is ADA compliant, making sure that all of our crazy levels that are all through that. We have seven different kinds of elevation levels in that building, and so in the architectural designs, we've already begun to level that out and reduce the number of levels in that building and make sure that we have all the necessary bathrooms and accessibilities that we need in a 21st-century building. The good news is that I’ve got a Raley Advisory Committee and that’s comprised of alums from every decade, from the 60s to today, and they're helping advise on the architectural design of that space and we've made incredible headway on that. 

23:25

So I'm excited about that process. In addition to all of the work that's being done around Rayleigh, we're also going to flex towards the master plan because when the tornado hit we had heavy machinery all over the campus and it impacted the drainage and the water flow and the water shedding all across the campus. It destroyed irrigation lines all through the campus, drainage lines below grade all through the campus. So we are working to flex towards our master plan as we address all of those issues as well. 

Niccole HallHost

23:57

That's very exciting. Yeah, it's super exciting. So I happen to be on the advancement team which is exciting. 

24:02

So I know a little bit about some of these things, but I do want our listeners to know that if you are interested in investing in any of these facilities, please connect with me or with Tim Rasnic, our VP of advancement. We would love to bring you on campus, take you on a tour, just talk with you more about what it looks like to invest in OBU's facilities. I want to move on to our third bucket or area, which is focusing on the campus life enhancement and just, I guess, the student experience. 

24:30

And so you have several things that you want to address, I'm sure with that Food service improvements athletic facility improvements. So can you talk a little bit about that third area for us? 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

24:42

So every year we like to learn how we can be better, and one of those pieces that we include in the ways that we can improve is student satisfaction survey, and you know, sometimes that's very difficult. 

24:56

Sometimes, you know, students will say things like you know. Well, maybe my wife has said she wants a lazy river in and around campus. Well, you know we all would like that, but that's probably not as viable as some other, you know, achievable things, and so you know our students have said and I know this is shocking, Niccole, but students don't have the same sleep schedule as me, right, and so sometimes they're up in the, you know, studying and hanging out in the GC until 3 or 4 am. I know that's hard to believe, but just remember when we were students and yes, that's absolutely right. One of the things they said is we need greater food and drink options in our student union in the Geiger Center 24 hours and so, again out of that student satisfaction survey, we were able to accomplish that this summer and this fall and we've already gotten really positive feedback on that. 

25:50

So we have coffee options and we have hot food options and we have cold drink and then, of course, the vending machines. But all of those are part of the student satisfaction. Now, if we take that as kind of a microcosm, a one-off to what a campus experience needs to be, a community experience needs to be, one of the things that we find from our students is they want great game day experiences, right, and that means that we need to make sure we're attentive to our athletic facilities, make sure they have great game day experiences. So that tailgating and football we had a great success there and we'll be really celebrating such fun with tailgating, you know, in our homecoming weekend. It's going to be awesome. 

Niccole HallHost

26:34

Right. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

26:35

So those kinds of experiences are really important to our students, based on the student satisfaction survey. So we need to attend to that. So we've already begun to do that. We put some stands in the north side of the end zone at the Crane Family Stadium. We've been able to redo the track to make sure that our our track is phenomenal yeah, it looks great. 

26:56

Yep, we've improved our softball baseball fields, uh, and those complexes, uh, and there's more to do there, but that's the concept. So athletic facility improvement, overall campus environment, uh, improvements right, um, and part of that will be flexing towards our master plan, the master plan we've been working on now for years. We got the first draft of the master plan on April 14th 2023, just five days before the tornado. 

Niccole HallHost

27:29

I think this is such a key story as well because you had all of you and leadership kind of had a plan even pre-tornado that really just helped. I guess you would say outline this campaign and launch this. And so talk a little bit about that. I think that's interesting. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

27:46

Yeah, that's great. So our previous strategy was called the Multiply Strategy and we had about 10 or 12 key projects with deliverables from that Multiply Strategy and those were oriented towards, you know, major goals, right? So one of those is looking at our facilities and student experience and saying, all right, where do we need to go with our facilities? So we did a baseline assessment and we realized, you know, we really need to get an overall master plan design so that we're, as we think about our individual facilities and how everything fits together as a campus, that it's not just hodgepodge or ad hoc. It's actually designed, designed with a community experience feel, designed where we have an unbelievable. It feels like home. It becomes an incredible attractional space. Students want to hang out, our community members want to hang out. It's just an incredible space. So we worked with an incredible architectural firm. We vetted it down from six to three to our finalist and they have provided us an unbelievable master plan, making the campus coherent, giving us beautiful spaces and sight lines literally from east to west, north to south, all through the campus so that everything ties together. The first draft of that master plan, which this process began in 21-22, it was delivered to us on April 14, 2023. 

29:13

The tornado hit on April 19th. Now what's interesting is, on any of these master plans, they always do a current state and then future state. Right? With labeling everything. When the tornado hit, we were like, how are we going to divvy up the hundreds of contractors that we have? Oh, we have a current state with every building numbered. So that became the baseline of tornado response and divvying out the work, and it also provided us kind of a roadmap as we think about tornado response. 

29:45

What buildings had to be demoed? Where do we want to run underground infrastructure? What's this building going to look like? How's this facility going to fit on the master plan? How do we want to divide the campus and into districts and begin to tackle the renewal towards campus improvement, right Campus enhancement, student experience enhancement. We were able to have a kind of a roadmap already in place to execute towards. So in the next 36 months in the Shape the Future campaign, what we're going to be doing is flexing towards the master plan, particularly around Raley Chapel and the environs around Raley Chapel, the Raley District. We're also going to be investing heavily in the Oval District, which is Shawnee Hall, Thurmond Hall. 

30:32

Wood Science Building which is Shawnee Hall, Thurmond Hall, Wood Science Building and the space in between Shawnee Hall and the GC, and part of that is because all of the below-grade infrastructure has to be addressed anyway. So we're going to flex towards the master plan. It's going to be phenomenal. 

Niccole HallHost

30:49

I'm so excited. Well, I know, I mean, there's so many things that we can talk about and I want to kind of wrap up with maybe just some, maybe a little more personal questions. 

30:59

But I mean, I have seen you lead just over this last year and a half and have, just you know, been very in awe of you and your family and how you're tackling this. I know so many on campus just deeply respect you and love you and see you, just you know, pouring blood, sweat and tears into what's going on here, and I know the Lord has called you to do that for this time and it's really awesome. So, but I feel like we need to be praying for you, and so I'd love you to share just a few ways that we can pray for you and your family. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

31:37

And. 

Niccole HallHost

31:38

I know it hasn't been easy. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

31:39

No, it hasn't. I don't think anybody ever signs up knowing what God is going to bring them through I mean, we aren't promised foresight like that and so we are encouraged to trust God, and I think that's what I've learned more in my presidency than any other. It began in January of 2020 with COVID  and so we've been through COVID, tornado to renewal, and you know it's not. 

Niccole HallHost

32:08

With a few ice storms in between. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

32:10

Yeah, that's right With a polar vortex and ice storm and everything else. So it wasn't what I expected, but that's good. That just gives me more opportunity to rely on the Lord. I think what I would say is one of the ways that our listeners and viewers can pray is pray with us. 

32:31

When I started the presidency, I began very quietly praying what I believe is an audacious prayer God give us favor as we align the university to your priorities. God give us wisdom to help us operate along the grain of the universe. God give us insight to see the invisible that only you see. And then, finally, God give us miracles so that when they happen, we can only give glory to You. So favor, wisdom, insight, miracles. I began praying that myself in prayer walks around the campus, and then I opened that up to the cabinet, and then I opened it up to the board of trustees and now I open this to our entire Bison Nation. 

33:14

Pray with us. Pray with me that God would give us favor as we align ourselves to his priorities. God give us wisdom to help us live and work along the grain of the universe that God has designed. God give us insight so we can see the invisible. And God give us miracles so that we can give all glory to You. Pray with us like that. Pray for me that I would be dedicated to that vision. Secondly, pray for our team. You know, it's true, it takes a team to launch a dream. And right now, listen, our Bison community, our entire leadership base, our faculty, our staff, we really have incredible people, and so pray that God continues to build and enhance our team and for those people that don't even know they're about to be on our team for that God would prepare the way, and that's not a work thing. 

34:09

That's a very personal thing for me. I want people here that are radically committed to what we're doing. This is not a job. 

34:17

This is a calling. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

34:18

It's an opportunity and as we're in the people business, we get to impact the next generation. The students we have today are those that are going to be leading our country tomorrow. They are going to be the ones who are taking care of us. They're the ones that's setting the future and leading around the globe. So we want to invest in their lives so they can make an impact in our world and do beautiful things for God. So that's why I say this is not just a job. When we're praying that God brings us team members that understand what we're doing and are committed to it, man, that's personal. That's why I'm doing this, right. And then you know, I would say just I think, pray for Jill and myself that we have the stamina to maintain what we need to do. It is a demanding job. I had a number of presidents laugh at me when I started and say you're not ready for what you're about to experience. And I wasn't and I thought I might know what the job entailed. 

35:27

Nobody understands what the job entails me included, until you actually have to step into those shoes. So pray that God continues to give me the stamina to do this and the passion to do it, and then you know, some sleep would be nice too. Yeah, definitely yeah, but that's okay. 

Niccole HallHost

35:43

Well, we are so thankful for your leadership and your passion. I mean you feel it when you're with you and Jill, I mean I see you guys walk across campus. Students know you, faculty staff. So we will be praying for you, praying for your family and again, like you said, just praying for the university that we can continue to live all of life all for Jesus, and just press forward with this Shape the Future campaign. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

36:07

I would just say, you know, pray with us, but participate yes don't sit on the sidelines right to all of our bison nation, from any generation, listen, get involved in this campaign. Jill and I are giving, we are committed to what is going on. We believe in what is going to be. We're going to look back in 36 months and we are going to see the hand of God at work and and I don't know how he's going to do it and I don't know how we are going to do it but I believe we are going to look back and be amazed at the difference we made for these students, the difference that we made for the kingdom, the difference that we made for our communities, so that OBU can continue that founding vision of really equipping this next generation to make a difference in their world. 

Niccole HallHost

36:51

Right, I mean we're all future shapers. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

36:52

That's right. 

Niccole HallHost

36:53

And so, whether you're a student on campus or a donor or a friend, I mean, we're all future shapers, that's right. Thank you so much for joining us today and we look forward to hearing more from you in the future. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

37:03

You bet. 

Niccole HallHost

37:04

Just as things progress on campus, and thank you so much. 

Dr. Heath A. ThomasGuest

37:06

All right, thanks, Niccole. 

Niccole HallHost

37:10

Thank you for joining us on the All of Life podcast. Stay connected by following us on social media and subscribing on your favorite podcast platform To support OBU's Shape the Future campaign. Visit okbuedu/shape the future Together, we are future shapers. See you next time.