How does a clothing and textiles major from Bluffton wind up in rural Ecuador? Andi (Neiswander) Irwin, Bluffton class of 1995, serves as a missionary with her husband Chad and children, Josiah and Olivia.
Chad and Andi Irwin knew early in their relationship that they would marry and serve the Lord as missionaries. Andi had visited Honduras several times in high school helping missions build communities and schools. She knew that the skills she gained at Bluffton were life skills and would help her in the mission field.
After graduating from college and marrying Chad, Andi gave up her pursuit of a job in the clothing and textiles industry and worked with Chad to answer their calling as missionaries. Chad graduated from Moody Bible Institute as a trained pilot and flight instructor. Soon they were working with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) organization and traveling the Eastern Seaboard speaking with churches and Christian organizations to sponsor them and fund their ministry in Ecuador.
Chad’s job is easy to understand. He serves as a pilot using aviation to further the work of the church and overcome barriers in reaching the world for Christ. Chad flies cargo for various aid organizations around Ecuador, as well as transports locals to receive priority medical attention, all while furthering the word of God. Chad also serves as a flight instructor to help pilots in Ecuador maintain their licensing.
Andi supports Chad and the MAF organization through various roles – book keeping, office management at the hanger and ongoing communication with their sponsors, including a regular newsletter. Every three years the Irwin’s receive a furlough where they can come home for six months and touch base with their sponsors to ensure continued commitment to their cause. Andi is responsible for lining up speaking opportunities, meetings and conferences where they could touch base with sponsors – all done electronically from Ecuador.
Because Chad and Andi are serving in Ecuador as missionaries, they have to live each day as a Christian example. That itself is a challenge. In a smaller community where you are known to be an outsider and a Christian missionary, all eyes are on you as an example. It can be hard to have faith in the dark times when you miss your friends and families thousands of miles away, you’re struggling to use a new language and you are adapting to new customs.
However, Andi sets an amazing example of a strong Christian woman to those in her Ecuadorian community of Shell, as well as her friends, family and sponsors in the United States. She does amazing things like identifing needs in the community – like toys at a church or cribs at a daycare and works with churches in the states to gather donations of these items and have them shipped to Ecuador.
