FM REPORTS
Thank you for visiting. This site is where I, Andrew Sandeen, intend to regularly share updates about my ministry efforts with International Association for Refugees (IAFR), thoughts about situations related to those who have been forcibly displaced, and family news.
I grew up in the northwest corner of Oregon, moving a few times during my childhood. After graduating, I attended Ecola Bible School for one year of foundational Bible training, something I would recommend to anyone (check out www.ecola.org). During that school year, I was encouraged to consider participating in a two-month missions trip to Swaziland. I decided to go and basically spent two months living with a rural pastor, living a ministry life alongside Babe Msibi and his wonderful family. It turned out to be a pivotal summer which continues to impact my passions and the direction of my life.
Figuring out my next big life steps took a few years. Drawn to animal agriculture, I ended up getting Animal Science degrees from Oregon State and Ohio State. After graduation, my first job landed me in SW Nebraska doing embryo transfer work with beef cattle. Then there were a couple dairy industry jobs that provided opportunities for extensive travel mostly around the U.S. but also including a brief trip to China.
Meeting and eventually marrying Misha (aka Michelle) opened the door I had been waiting for to return to Africa. From 2010 to 2014 we lived in Tanzania together and were part of the Bible translation project Misha started working with in 2006 and has consistently been a part of up to today in 2022. My primary role during the four years there on the shores of Lake Victoria was community engagement, which found me often traveling out to small villages and engaging in activities for the purpose of engaging with materials (both written and oral) in people's mother tongue language.
Since 2014 I have been working for Penn State Extension as a dairy educator based in SW Pennsylvania. It has been a season where our family has grown, we have been very engaged in our local church, and I have learned many things. Though employment has been stable and productive, at the beginning of 2022 both Misha and I felt God calling me back to some sort of ministry type of work. It became clear that working with the International Association for Refugees was the right fit, specifically working in an area of NE Colorado where a high number of refugees and other foreign-born people are working for a variety of agricultural employers. If you follow articles on the blog, you will learn much more about my roles and activities with IAFR. Thank you for your interest!
