Dana Bates graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He finished his Masters of Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in 2005 and is currently a PhD student at Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (through the University of Wales) on a theology of development using Eastern Orthodox theology. (PhD Title: The Glory of God is Humanity Fully Alive: Eastern Orthodoxy in Conversation with the Human Development Approach). Dana Bates envisioned and supervised the development of Romania’s first ropes course in 1999. In 2000, he founded New Horizons Foundation to launch youth developmen programs in the Jiu Valley and was the principle architect of the IMPACT model that is now approaching 170 clubs in Romania and Latin America. Dana is also adjunct professor at Northwestern College and Gordon College and runs the Romania Semester. He has published several articles, one notably in the Journal of Youth and Theology: Journal of Youth and Theology article on Staniloae and Development