We are Andrew and Joanna (Bell) Flavin, born and raised in New Providence and Summit, NJ. We met in grade school at our church’s youth group. We remained friends throughout middle school and high school and started officially dating after our junior year. We dated through college (Andrew at Wake Forest & Joanna at Elon, both in NC). We got engaged our senior year (December 14, 2006) and got married September 1, 2007. We started our married life in a one bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens. Andrew was hired as a loan administrator in midtown, Manhattan, at the Bank of Scotland (now Lloyd’s Bank). Joanna started working in administration at Highbridge Capital Management, a hedge fund overlooking Central Park South.
After our first 18 months of marriage (while saving our paychecks) we started thinking about our career and life goals. We knew we wanted to make a difference serving others. We knew we weren’t meant to work in finance forever. In August 2009, we quit our jobs and drove west…destined for San Diego, CA. We would work as year-long interns at Amor Ministries, a Christian mission organization that primarily builds houses in Mexico, Arizona, and South Africa. After the first year, Andrew was hired full-time at Amor and Joanna started a 2-year, full-time MSW program at San Diego State University. She will graduate in May 2012.
We gave up our salaries to raise our own support. We gave up cable, shopping, vacations, and proximity to family to do something we believe in and feel called to.
Why? “To whom much is given, much is required.” Luke 12:4
CONTACT: joanna.flavin@gmail.com or andrewglennflavin@gmail.com
