Paul Dybdahl, professor of mission and New Testament, will give the annual WWU Distinguished Faculty Lecture on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Melvin K. West Fine Arts Center Auditorium. Dybdahl’s lecture, “Barricades or Bridges: Adventism and the World Religions,” will focus on diversity and mission within the context of Christianity.

Dybdahl was born in Thailand to missionary parents and lived in Asia for the first eight years of his life. This instilled an affinity in him toward mission work. He returned to Thailand when he was a sophomore in college to teach English primarily to Buddhist students in a refugee camp for 10 months. Not only did he spend most of his day teaching Buddhist students, he also lived with a Buddhist family for the duration of his mission work, pushing him to “consider his faith from a more global perspective.”

“From early on in life, I’ve had a missional interest in telling the story of Jesus in ways that make sense to those of other religions,” says Dybdahl. “In order to do that, I believe it is important to understand where others are coming from. If we are going to understand, we must listen.”

Dybdahl began teaching at Walla Walla University in 2001. He is the 2005 recipient of the WWU Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2013 recipient of the WWU Excellence in Advising Award.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The Melvin K. West Fine Arts Center Auditorium is located at 200 S. College Ave., College Place.

The lecture will be streamed live online at wallawalla.edu/DFL at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Posted January 24, 2017