Each Ashram has an Ashram Director, an Evangelist, and a Bible Teacher.
2023 Evangelist: Don Stephens
Brother Don is no stranger to our Ashram.
He is a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College (1975) and has been with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) since 1994. He has spent the last two decades teaching “Worldview and the Kingdom of God” in YWAM schools across Europe and the United States. With a background in professional music, missions, and youth ministry, the messages will use Scripture, story, music, art, and film to explore the Kingdom of God.
Retired now, he continues to serve God as an Evangelist and Bible Teacher to the Mountaineer, Western Pennsylvania, Buckhannon, and Brookville Christian Ashrams.
His inspiring musical abilities and use of multi-media helps participants experience the Lord in a real and tangible way.
2023 Bible Teacher and Ashram Director: Rev. Gary K Wheeler
Gary began attending Ashrams in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas as a teenager with his family. As Director, he guides the daily events during the Ashram as well as the Board of Twelve leadership team during the rest of the year.
He is a pastor in the Global Methodist Church who has served churches in Kentucky, Georgia, and Ohio, and is currently serving Germantown Methodist Church in Germantown, Ohio. His other activities include membership on the Board of the West Ohio Wesleyan Covenant Association. He is very involved in the Greater Dayton Walk to Emmaus Community. He is a member of the Faith-Based subcommittee with the Valley View Drug-Free Coalition. He is also a member of Dayton Pilots’ Club and serves on its Board of Trustees as the Treasurer. His hobbies include flying (he has his Private Pilot’s License), watching sports, computers, and music.
Gary is also an author. “Hanging On In An Upside Down World” is about how to cope with the events in life that turn one’s world upside down. You know, no matter what is happening in a person’s life, Jesus has a way of taking us from our worst to our best. His follow-up, “Living Right Side Up: Jesus’ Guidelines For A New Life” answers the question: what does a right side up life look like? His book “Unseen Warfare” addresses the invisible spiritual warfare that is going on all around us. He has also published the first three books in his Christian historical fiction series “The Messengers” that tells the story of a young boy from the 1820s and how he and those around him discover Christ. All these books are available on Amazon. See his website: www.garykwheeler.com.
Gary is married to Myra, who serves as the Registrar for the Ashram. She leads Women’s Bible Studies at Germantown Methodist Church. She is also very involved in the Greater Dayton Walk to Emmaus Community. She is a social worker with Children’s Services, and loves to shop!
They have four adult aged sons: Marty, Kevin, Matt, and Greggie.
Gary is passionate about helping people growing in the relationship with God, and reaching out to people who are far from Him. His favorite passage of Scripture is Joshua 24:15 “But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”