On Sept. 18, Darwin and Darlis Anderson returned to the place where their story together began more than 50 years ago. This time, they stood before the Trinity Western University community to receive the 2026 Live Faithfully Award.
Presented during TWU’s Alumni Awards Dinner as part of Homecoming Weekend, the Live Faithfully Award recognizes alumni who embody the University’s commitment to equipping graduates to faithfully participate in advancing God’s kingdom. For the Andersons, that faithfulness has taken them from the dairy industry into decades of global missions and, most recently, into a ministry caring for the people who spend their lives caring for others. Their story has crossed countries and generations, but it began much more simply: two students trying to decide whether the faith they had inherited would become their own.
A life built together
Darwin arrived at Trinity Western College from Iowa in 1973. During his first days on campus, he was carrying students’ trunks up a narrow staircase when he met Darlis, the student council secretary standing nearby with a clipboard. Soon, they found themselves walking to chapel together and meeting in the cafeteria. They would walk out to the bridge and talk about faith, marriage, and the kind of parents they hoped to become.
They married in 1975. Darwin eventually entered dairy management, work he loved and expected to make his career. But years later, as opportunities for Christian ministry opened in Eastern Europe, he began wrestling with a question that would change the direction of their lives.
“If God took away everything that you consider a blessing, would you still worship him?” Darwin recalled asking himself.
Eventually, the Andersons accepted an invitation to help a small missions organization. They expected to stay for about two years.
“We’re on year 36 of a two-year commitment,” Darlis said.
Staying when the calling became difficult
Those years grew into a life of international ministry.
Darwin and Darlis helped prepare missionaries, train Christian leaders, strengthen marriages and families, and support local churches around the world. Their work eventually included ministry in more than 25 countries.
But their story is not simply one of longevity. It is also one of staying through seasons when leaving would have been easier.
In the Middle East, they worked with couples through marriage and parenting camps, including people carrying years of hurt. Some marriages began changing after decades together. Their mission also became known for welcoming missionaries who needed another opportunity to serve.
“We became the mission of the second chance,” Darwin said.
Strengthening those who strengthen others
Decades later, the Andersons are still saying yes, but the work looks different. After years spent travelling, training, and supporting others, they began dreaming about a quiet place where missionaries could recover from the demands of ministry. That vision became The Hills Abide and Rest in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Their home overlooks a canyon of pine trees. Downstairs, they have prepared a walkout apartment where missionaries and ministry leaders can sleep, pray, talk, grieve, laugh, and regain their footing before returning to their work.
“We are hoping that we can say we understand, we have been there,” Darwin said. “Let us just debrief together.”
Saying yes to the next thing
More than 50 years after meeting at Trinity Western, Darwin and Darlis speak about faithfulness differently than they might have when they were students. It is less about knowing exactly where God will lead and more about being willing to follow when the next step becomes clear.
“Living faithfully to me makes me think of just responding to God,” Darlis said. “Just being willing to say yes to the next thing.”
That is what Darwin and Darlis Anderson’s 2026 Live Faithfully Award ultimately recognizes: a marriage built on faith, a calling sustained through decades, and a lifetime of saying yes to whatever God asked of them next.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life. Uniting faith and reason through Christian teaching and scholarship, TWU is a research institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences as well as in several professional schools. TWU has its main campus in Langley, B.C., and campus sites in Richmond, B.C., and Ottawa, Ont.
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