Bluffton Magazine: Alumni Feature

Andi IrwinAlumni profile
Andrea (Neiswander) Irwin
Missionary, Ecuador
Bluffton ’95
Major: Clothing/textiles 

2005 Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipient 

Ecuador Missionary 

Many duties. Both Andrea (Andi) and her husband, Chad, work for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), an interdenominational missionary organization that provides transportation and logistical support to a variety of missionaries serving remote areas around the world. MAF also serves as the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health’s air ambulance. Chad serves MAF as a pilot and mechanic, and Andrea’s responsibilities vary from day to day. On one day she might be driving patients from the airplane hangar to the hospital. On another, she’s sewing windsocks for the 200 airstrips into which MAF flies. One constant duty: caring for their home and two children, Josiah and Olivia.

 Life in Ecuador.  Andrea lives in Shell— a place that receives about 20 feet (no, that’s not a typo) of rain in a year.  “On a clear day we can see two snowcapped volcanoes,” she says, “and the road basically ends here, at the base of the Andes Mountains.” According to Andrea, life in Shell moves at a slower pace than in the U.S. and she has a near-constant battle against mold and mildew because of the humidity.  She notes, however, that the mental and spiritual challenges are more difficult than the physical. “It’s hard to worship in a second language. It can also be hard to make deep relationships in a second language and culture.” Her principal struggle is “trusting in God to protect my family and especially my husband with the work he is involved in.”

Far from home. If she could change one thing about the missionary life, Andrea says she would like to be closer to family. When Chad’s father passed away recently, Chad and Andrea had to make the difficult decision that Chad would travel to the funeral while Andrea stayed behind. “Every time the phone rings at an odd hour we panic that something has happened to someone,” she said. Andrea and Chad do take furloughs to the U.S., but even that isn’t without its difficulties.  “Getting accustomed to it all (life in the U.S.) and being a part of your family again and then having to say goodbye is hard.”

Answering God’s call.  Even before she became involved with MAF, Andrea felt God’s hand at work in her life. She says that “without a doubt, Don and Nancy Schweingruber had and continue to have an impact … My time in their BASIC group challenged me to think beyond myself. I cannot imagine my time at Bluffton without their friendship and guidance. God has used them mightily in my life.” And now, in spite of the challenges she encounters every day, it’s clear that Andrea is fulfilled by missionary work. She says her life is filled with purpose and meaning — “we are doing what God has called us to do.”

Setting an example. Andrea hopes that her children will gain important lessons from their family’s time in Ecuador. “I hope they see their parents trusting God … that they develop a broader view of the world and an understanding for people who don’t look/act like them … that they see there are things in this life that are worth doing no matter the consequences.”

--Gina (Faccenda ’98) Mantero