Featured Alumni

Chad Isenhart

You know you're spending time with someone special when you're in the company of  Chad Isenhart.  You can actually FEEL that God has great things planned for him.  I was lucky enough to have a chance to sit down with Chad and talk about what he's been up to since he graduated from Concordia.

Chad attended Concordia from 1st through 8th grade. After graduating from high school he attended PLU and played football there for two years.  Unfortunately, a migraine disorder kept him from graduating with a degree.

After leaving college, Chad was working in the construction field and trying to figure out his future.  After a series of conversations with his grandfather, Chad decided to join his uncle as a missionary with Convoy of Hope - an organization that feeds over 20,000 people a day around the world.  In his first 6 hours of ministry feeding orphans in Haiti - Chad knew what God had planned for him.

Chad has worked in eight to nine different countries through Convoy of Hope.  He did that for a year and a half with his last stop being Armenia.  He spent a month there and during that time was invited by another missionary couple to head up their humanitarian relief and development group.  

Chad just returned to Armenia on October 7th to do just that. He is now out on his own as a missionary and had to raise enough funds prior to leaving to sustain him for his two-year mission  there. While in Armenia he will be planning for church placement, building water filtration units, participating in building projects, helping to revamp the local hospital, assisting the people of Armenia by helping them to acquire livestock and livelihoods. 

As for his headaches - he still has them about three times per week.  He works through them with the help of a mentor who has dealt with them for over 30 years.

When asked how his time at Concordia has influenced him as a person he said:

 "I'm still good friends with the people that I went to Concordia with.  I think it's pretty special that those relationships are still growing and I'm still close with those people.  Mr. Hagen has had a huge impact on my life and for a long time I wanted to be a band teacher because of Mr. Winters.  I remember loving to play music because of him.  I still play several instruments and use them all the time in ministry.  I just think having good Christian teachers that instill biblical values into everything you do is so crucial.  Not only do you get a great education at Concordia, but you also see the teachers as a living example of a Christ-centered life.  Even after all these years my teachers at Concordia remain huge supporters and have had such a positive impact on my life.   I always find myself wanting to keep in touch with my teachers here."

If you would like to check in on Chad's work in Armenia or if you would like help support his efforts there
go to his website:

www.projectisenhart.com