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March 23, 2015

Alvin Anderson ’86 (Physics): Associate Regional Director, Central Europe for Young Life

Alvin Anderson ’86 (Physics) has a long family history with Roberts Wesleyan College. His grandmother graduated from the high school (back before Roberts was a college), and his mother, Mary Eleanor Anderson ’51, graduated from Roberts Junior College and then again from the newly-formed Roberts Wesleyan College, as part of the first four-year class. So, it’s understandable that, for many years, Alvin wanted to get away from Roberts and experience something different. For many reasons, Alvin chose to attend the College, and that decision has made a life-long impact.

Alvin did the 3-2 program in Engineering with Clarkson University. He was greatly challenged by Dr. Phil Ogden (Physics) and Dr. Barbara Rose (Mathematics). Dr. Ogden studied physics at UC Berkley and had to personally deal with big questions about faith, God, and the universe. He helped Alvin, and countless other students, think critically about their own beliefs and how they could integrate science with faith. Besides being an excellent math professor, Dr. Rose reached out to her students in personal ways. Meals at her house, with other students, are a great memory of Alvin’s time at Roberts.

After graduating from Roberts and Clarkson, Alvin spent nine years working as an engineer in both Vermont and Rochester. During that time, he started volunteering with teenagers at his church, and God began to lead him toward more significant outreach with teens. When he turned 31, he decided to go overseas for a two-year stint working with American teenagers whose parents were in the US military stationed in Germany. Alvin worked with Club Beyond, a cooperative effort between Youth for Christ, Young Life, and Catholic Youth. Some of the service projects took him to formerly communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe where evidence of Christian faith was difficult to find.

Alvin returned to the States and enrolled at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He completed a Master of Intercultural Studies, and met his future wife, Stacy. They were married in 2002 and in 2004 moved to the Czech Republic to work for full-time for Young Life.

This ministry has been the adventure of a lifetime. Alvin serves as the Associate Regional Director, Central Europe for Young Life. He guides and develops a national team of staff who lead ministries and share about Jesus to teenagers in many different former communist countries. Their vision is to introduce a new generation of teenagers, who have been born into a post-communist secular culture, to the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

However, it’s not without challenges. Alvin says, “I thought people who worked in full-time ministry were always really close to God. This isn’t necessarily true. People who work in full-time ministry have to work at their relationship with Jesus just like anyone else. I think God is working in my life right now challenging me to have real faith and challenging me not to rely on my own strengths but on His strength.”

Alvin and Stacy live in Ostrava, Czech Republic and attend a Cirkev Bratrska church. They have two children, Jake and Ellie.