Contributors

• 

  Jim Phillips

  Senior Fellow for Cross-Cultural Discipleship
×
Team Members

Jim Phillips
Senior Fellow for Cross-Cultural DiscipleshipJim Phillips founded the C.S. Lewis Institute in Annapolis, Maryland in 2009 and is currently a Senior Fellow helping facilitate the discipleship of Believers in Christ from non-Western cultural backgrounds. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. After graduation he served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an AV-8A Harrier pilot and in the corporate world as an information technology executive. He received an MLA from St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland, a Post Graduate Diploma in Theology and Religion, Oxford University, UK, and a PhD in Islamic Studies from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/Middlesex University, Oxford, UK. Jim has authored several books which can be found at https://amazon.com/author/phillipsjim.  
• 

  C.S. Lewis Institute

  Author
×
Team Members

C.S. Lewis Institute
Author
C.S. Lewis Institute, in the legacy of C.S. Lewis, works to develop wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ who will articulate, defend, share, and live their faith in personal and public life. Founded in 1976 by Dr. James Houston and James R. Hiskey, the Institute provides leading teachers who address important issues of the day from the perspective of Biblical orthodoxy, while also providing discipleship for individuals in small groups.
 
• 

  Barry Wilmore

×
Team Members

Barry Wilmore
Barry Wilmore, NASA Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore served 25 years at NASA, is a decorated U.S. Navy captain who has flown numerous tactical aircraft operationally while deploying aboard four aircraft carriers during peacetime and combat operations. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, he went on to serve as a test pilot before NASA selected him to become an astronaut in 2000. The Tennessee native earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee Technological University and a master’s degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee.
 
• 

  Dana Wichterman

  Speaker
×
Team Members

Dana Wichterman
Speaker
Dana Wichterman made policy recommendations and decisions in the areas of economic development, microenterprise, trade, investment and sustainability with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Agency for International Development. She also served nonprofits involved in economic development work as an advisor and board member. She has a Master’s in International Relations from Columbia University.
 
• 

  Bill Wichterman

  Speaker
×
Team Members

Bill Wichterman
Speaker
Bill Wichterman spent many years serving on Capitol Hill as a Chief of Staff to two Congressmen, a Policy Advisor to the Senate Majority Leader and Special Assistant to President George W. Bush. Bill is a non-lawyer Senior Advisor in Covington’s Public Policy practice where he leverages his more than 35 years of experience in policy-making to help counsel Fortune 500 clients in various industries on a wide range of matters related to semiconductor technology, patent policy, trade controls, cybersecurity, among others. He has a B.A. from Houghton College and an M.A from Catholic University of America.
 
• 

  Patricia Liddell Russell

  Guest Speaker
×
Team Members

Patricia Liddell Russell
Guest Speaker
Patricia Liddell Russel is the eldest daughter of Eric Liddell and the only surviving relative with personal memories of him. She was born in China in 1935 and was only six years old when she said farewell to her father for the final time and moved with her mother to Canada for safety.
 
• 

  John Merrishaw Hoyte

  Author
×
Team Members

John Merrishaw Hoyte
Author
John Merrishaw Hoyte was born in 1932 in Ping Yang Fu, China, of medical missionary parents. He attended a British-run boarding school at Chefoo, Shantung Province, along with his three brothers and two sisters. During World War ll, he was taken to the Weihsien Prison Camp where Eric Liddell served as his mentor. After the war, John went on to study in England and then worked as an engineer for Hewlett-Packard before founding his own company, Spectrex Corporation.
 
• 

  Bob Rendall

  First CEO, The Eric Liddell Community
×
Team Members

Bob Rendall
First CEO, The Eric Liddell Community
Bob Rendall was the first CEO of The Eric Liddell Community and worked for years in Edinburgh to establish a community center in his honor.
 
• 

  John MacMillan

  CEO, The Eric Liddell Community
×
Team Members

John MacMillan
CEO, The Eric Liddell Community
John MacMillan is CEO of The Eric Liddell Community, a charity serving the people of Edinburgh, Scotland through community health and wellbeing programs, dementia and caregiver support, and more.
 
• 

  Gary Habermas

  Professor
×
Team Members

Gary Habermas
Professor
Gary Habermas is a Distinguished Research Professor of Apologetics and Philosophy at Liberty University. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University and has dedicated his professional life to the examination of the relevant historical, philosophical, and theological issues surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus. Dr. Habermas has contributed more than 60 chapters or articles to additional books, and over 100 articles and reviews in journals and other publications. His most recent books are On the Resurrection, Volume 1: Evidences and On the Resurrection, Volume 2: Refutations. He has served as a visiting or adjunct professor at about 15 different graduate schools and seminaries in the United States and abroad.
 
• 

  Benjamin C.F. Shaw

  Professor and Author
×
Team Members

Benjamin C.F. Shaw
Professor and Author
Benjamin C.F. Shaw received his Ph.D. in Theology and M.A. in Religious Studies from Liberty University in Virginia. He also serves as adjunct professor of theology at Liberty University and as an affiliate faculty member of Colorado Christian University and is president of Core Apologetics, a ministry dedicated to helping churches, organizations, and individuals equip disciples. He has published various book chapters, journal articles, and reviews including an article titled The Resurrection of Jesus Christ as Christianity’s Centerpiece with Dr. Gary Habermas for the C.S. Lewis Institute’s Knowing & Doing quarterly publication. Benjamin’s most recent book is Trustworthy: Thirteen Arguments for the Reliability of the New Testament (IVP).
 
• 

  Maryam Rostampour-Keller

  Author
×
Team Members

Maryam Rostampour-Keller
Author
Maryam Rostampour-Keller was born into a Muslim family in Iran. After becoming a Christian in her teens, she studied theology in Turkey. Her story of how Maryam and her friend, Marziyeh Amirizadehis, were imprisoned for their faith and sentenced to death in Iran is told in the book, Captive in Iran: A Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph Amid the Horror of Tehran’s Brutal Evin Prison. Maryam has a B.S. and M.S. in International Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.
 
• 

  Matthew Mullins

  Professor
×
Team Members

Matthew Mullins
Professor
Matthew Mullins is Associate Professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University. He joined the Department of Language and Literature at OBU in 2024, having taught at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2012 to 2024. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He teaches courses in American literature, English Composition, and the Western Civilization sequence. His research focuses on contemporary literature, and his academic articles have appeared in journals such as African American Review, Arizona Quarterly, and Christianity and Literature. Mullins’s book, Enjoying the Bible: Literary Approaches to Loving the Scriptures, was published in 2021 by Baker Academic and won an Award of Merit in Christianity Today’s 2022 Book Awards.
 
• 

  Lynne Marie Kohm

  Professor
×
Team Members

Lynne Marie Kohm
Professor
Lynne Marie Kohm serves as the John Brown McCarty Professor of Family Law at Regent University School of Law. She is the author of the books Estate Planning Success for Women and The Christian Guide to Wills, Living Trusts and Estate Planning. Her professional affiliations include and have included the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section Board of Governors, Virginia Bar Association Domestic Relations Council, Christian Legal Society, American Bar Association, Eagle Forum, Alliance Defense Fund, Concerned Women for America, and Bethany Christian Services. She and her husband have two children.