The Irvins: TFC Alumni Recall Global Missionary Effort

 Steve and Claudia Irvin have been serving with the Christian Missionary Alliance for forty-four years, retiring this year. They both attended Toccoa Falls College, graduating in 1978 and 1979.

Claudia was raised in a CMA family, with her parents spending thirty-four years in Ecuador, serving on the mission field. During her parent's furlough years, they spent time serving at Toccoa Falls College. This ultimately led Claudia to decide to attend the college.

Steve grew up in Charlotte, NC, where he met a friend who invited him to a small Alliance church. Steve heard about TFC during that season of his life, and he took part in the ‘Campus Preview’ event and felt that God was calling him to attend the college. The couple met at the college. Claudia's goal after graduating college was to become a full-time Christian missionary. Steve, on the other hand, did not receive the call to missions until he started regularly attending TFC’s "Foreign Mission Fellowship," known today as " Student Mission Fellowship (SMF)."

Steve said that every Wednesday he would attend "Foreign Mission Fellowship," and on Sunday nights he would attend a prayer band where each week was focused on prayer for a different part of the world. Foreign Mission Fellowship, other missions-focused campus groups, The Woerner Mission Lecture Series and a short-term mission trip all impacted him greatly and were the things the Lord used to call him into the mission field full-time.

Photo courtesy of Steve and Claudia Irvin.

The Irvin’s in Consuegra, Spain.

Steve grew up in a church that lacked an emphasis on missions. He was deeply impacted by seeing his missionary peers prepare for their work. He changed his degree to missions, while Claudia majored in Christian education. After getting married and then graduating college, the two headed to Colombia. They spent twenty years preaching the gospel and serving the people of the country. Claudia spent her time looking after their four children, leading bible studies, and mentoring other women. Steve taught at several different Bible institutes and spent years church planting, but his primary passion in the field was to evangelize. After their time in Colombia, they spent time in Argentina, Canada, and finally, Spain, prior to retirement. 

The two experienced difficulties that were challenging but formative during their first term in Colombia. Their daughter, Julie, was born prematurely and had to have surgery a month after her birth. Their youngest son, Bobby, was born a month prematurely and got an infection in the hospital and almost died, but the couple credited God with saving his life. Steve said that looking back on such difficult things was very formative in the couple’s faith.

The 1977 Toccoa Falls flood disaster was one of the most challenging seasons of the Irvin’s lives. Steve said, “Everyone who lived through that devastating experience deeply affected their faith. He said these painful experiences ultimately show you “God's faithfulness while also teaching you to persevere.” Claudia said that God was continuously teaching her to trust in Him during those seasons of pain and suffering. Through hardships, they both said it was nothing compared to the twenty years of ‘great harvest’ they witnessed in Columbia of people coming to salvation in Jesus. 

Irvin's advice for current TFC students wanting to join the mission field is to understand that the gospel is the power of God and the salvation of man and that believers should never embellish the gospel. Claudia said that she wants students to know that as missionaries, you must stay in the word. She said, “it is only God's word that will get you through those seasons of confusion, loneliness, sadness, and missing your family”.

“I want to encourage students to really pay attention in their Bible and Missions classes to learn to really read the word,” Steve said.

Steve’s final message to students is, “The gospel is that Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose from the dead. Everyone who wants to serve Christ, do not be ashamed of the gospel; it is the preaching of the gospel that is the power. You can not be saved by your good works, and your good works can not save anyone else." 

Today, Steve and Claudia have retired from the Christian Missionary Alliance, but are still preaching the gospel to all those around them.