Dino Dig jumpstarts faith-deepening journey at Montana Bible College

Sep 23

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Incoming Montana Bible College students participated in a Dino Dig paleontology intensive at the start of the fall 2025 semester. In the classroom, they explored a biblically based creation perspective with Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum Director Robert Canen. Field Paleontologist Tommy Lohman then showed them how to prospect for fossils, how to extract fossils from the sunbaked dig site, and how to clean and reassemble fossil fragments. The experience not only satisfied science credit requirements, it deepened faith and set a solid foundation for academic and spiritual growth throughout their college journey.

Students often begin their Montana Bible College journey eager to "learn more about the Bible" or "prepare for ministry or career." Then lecture-by-lecture and experience-by-experience, they discover the layered depth of those initial hopes.

Scriptures come alive as instructors help students mine their meaning, context, and application. Roots of faith grow strong in the soil of discipleship and service. Each step of the MBC journey further equips students to be disciple-makers wherever God may lead them.

For incoming students, the annual Montana Bible College Dino Dig jumpstarts the process of deepening their understanding of God and faith. The four-day paleontology intensive done in partnership with the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum not only satisfies required science credits, it immerses students in a hands-on, foundational education experience.

A row of Montana Bible College students dig for dinosaur bones in the arid landscape near Glendive, MT. — Montana Bible College students and staff work alongside Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum field paleontologists to reveal and extract dinosaur bones and other fossils. This particular site has been active for over 10 years, producing a vast array of fossils used for research, education, and display.

“When you look at the biblical view of things, it all makes sense. If you have one little thing that proves the Bible, you start looking at everything else and everything else gets proven also," freshman Nicole Ziegler said.

A Montana Bible College student with her curly hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans, and boots uses a paintbrush to reveal a dinosaur fossil on a dinosaur dig site near Glendive, MT. — Montana Bible College student Nicole Ziegler uses a paintbrush to further reveal a dinosaur fossil while on the dig site near Glendive, Montana. She eventually extracted a rib bone that she was able to piece and glue together in the lab.

A man with a white beard and wearing an orange plain shirt and blue baseball cap helps a young woman wearing a burgundy sweatshirt to clean a dinosaur bone in a fossil prep lab. — Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum Field Paleontologist Tommy Lohman helps Montana Bible College Student Nicole Ziegler clean one of the dinosaur bones she extracted at a nearby dig site.

Fellow freshman Laysa Bergeron agreed: “It’s made me realize that all of God’s creation echoes his glory and echoes his magnificence. Even some of the dinosaur bones, some of those are so intricate, and you just see that, 'Wow, God created this, and he washed it up on these mountains for us to come and find.'"

A man with a white beard and sun hat uses a pocket knife to help a woman in a red baseball hat to dig out a crocodile jaw bone at a dinosaur dig site. — Montana Bible College student Laysa Bergeron, right, works with Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum Field Paleontologist Tommy Lohman to expose a crocodile jaw bone at the dig site.

For Laysa, the creation-based perspective presented in the course was new, something not explored in her public high school education. As she carefully used a screwdriver and paintbrush to reveal a fossil wedged into the sunbaked earth on the dig site, she felt powerfully aware of God's sovereignty all around her. And when she pulled pieces of a crocodile jawbone from the ground--complete with a few jagged teeth--she felt a profound sense of God's love and design for her life.

“It’s really built up my faith and made it stronger.”

A woman with blonde hair and a pink sweatshirt holds up a crocodile jaw bone that includes a sharp tooth on one end. — Montana Bible College student Laysa Bergeron displays the crocodile jaw bone she discovered at the dig site for the 2025 Dino Dig. Laysa used a screwdriver and paintbrush to remove the bone fragments then cleaned and pieced them together in the fossil prep lab at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum.

Two complete dinosaur skeletons are on display in a museum. — Montana Bible College students completed coursework for their Dino Dig paleontology intensive at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum.

A group of six people stand on a natural rock bridge under golden evening light. They are all raising their hands in the air. — Montana Bible College students and staff stand on a natural bridge they discovered while hiking the Caprock Trail in Makoshika State Park near Glendive, Montana.

*If you know someone seeking to be equipped for God's calling on his or her life, please consider inviting them to take a look at Montana Bible College. You can find more information about MBC programs by clicking this link.