D. Scott Eshleman

Mathematics major
Class of 1985

(1/6/2014) When I was a sophomore in high school I knew I wanted to be an engineer and dreamed of someday focusing my life’s work on designing and building bridges and large structures in a mission setting. I didn’t even know if that was possible much less if it was practical as a life career. Amazingly, God has now allowed me to do just that for over 6 years now, all the while amply supplying my needs as well as those of my family. I should however note that the path to my present circumstance was never straight forward or planned by myself, but rather has been a series of responding to opportunities that only God could have orchestrated. Here’s my story.

My dad, who was a Mennonite Pastor, had only one request regarding my college education and that was that I start out at a Christian college and from there I was free to go wherever I desired. I just had to finance my own way. Once I researched Goshen College I discovered they had a partnering program with the Engineering School of Purdue University so I enrolled and started at Goshen in the fall of 1981. The 3-2 program that Goshen had with Purdue consisted of 3 years at Goshen to obtain a BA in Mathematics followed by 2 years at Purdue to obtain a BS in Engineering. It actually took me 2 ½ years to complete my engineering undergrad degree in the Civil Engineering Department following my 3 years at Goshen. I enjoyed it so much that I then stayed on for another 1 ½ years at Purdue to obtain a Master’s Degree (MS) in Civil Engineering and graduated in May of 1988.

After graduation I secured a position with a transportation engineering firm in Tallahassee, Florida that designed various high-end complex bridges, including segmental concrete bridges that most attracted me to this profession. It was a dream job for me and I enjoyed it thoroughly. After 3 years there however, my wife Joy and I decided we’d move up to Chicago so that she could complete her master’s degree in Counseling Physiology at Trinity Theological Seminary. We did that and have lived in the Chicago area ever since. My first 10 years in Chicago I worked at a major bridge firm designing bridges under the tollage of some wonderful predecessors. The one thing that always nagged at me however was that here I was doing what I always wanted to do, but not in the context of serving those who had a dispirit need for my services. I was simply helping comfortable people become more comfortable. This fact further exasperated me by the knowledge that my company, while a solid ethical engineering firm, was simply just that. They were a business. They existed to extend their presence as a reputable service provider and expand their bottom line, nothing more. While there was nothing wrong with this, I knew if I stayed there any longer, I’d advance to the point that would make it very hard for me to leave and for some reason it felt like selling out. I enjoyed designing bridges and advanced in management, but I was restless.

At that same time I was pursued by another firm, Stanley Consultants, that was larger in size, but that had “small town” values and guiding principles that were in line with my own and they actually seems to live by them. They also had a history of their past presidents being leaders in industry as well as the developing world. I was so enticed that I joined this firm in 2001. I’ve never been sorry that I made the move and have found my work environment both challenging and most rewarding. My role and title is Structure Department Manager for Stanley’s Chicago Office. I work with other transportation departments to plan and design transportation infrastructure projects. My team inspects bridges, prepares bridge inspection reports, assesses bridges for repair, retrofit and widening and prepares design plans that contractors use to construct bridge projects. Last year we completed the design of one of the longest span concrete girder bridges in Illinois and we were just awarded another challenging bridge project that will include tri-level bridge structures to provide access to the west side of Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

While this is all great and very rewarding, the significant difference is that this firm actually encourages and supports involvement in outside service organizations. So in 2007 I joined a team of people from a group called Engineers Without Borders who were designing a pedestrian bridge for 8 Mayan tribes deep in a mountain jungle in Guatemala. Since none of the team had more than a few years of experience in bridge design I was able to play a key role in design review and later lead construction activities in Guatemala. The cross-cultural experiences that I had had thru my student service trimester at Goshen in Costa Rica really came in handy and allowed me to embrace the new cultural surroundings. The bridge site was located 5 miles from the nearest point accessible by four-wheeled vehicle. We backpacked all our gear and equipment in to the jungle site that the Mayans had cleared for us and worked with them for 2 weeks to construct a structure that would allow them to access outside markets to obtain clothing and supplies in exchange from their raised crops. It was not a Christian led project and in fact after we completed the bridge a nearby Catholic priest came and blessed the bridge with incense and song only to be followed up by a Mayan ceremony consisting of a Mayan priest blessing the bridge by sacrificing 4 ducks, one for each of the four corners of the bridge in a service with duck blood, flaming tamales and all sorts of pagan practices. It was from this experience that I knew God was calling and making a way for me to be used by him to make a difference to a world that desperately needed the good news of Jesus as well as the skills God had given me.

Since that time I have raised funds and lead and prepared travel teams for over a dozen trips to Central America to build both bridges and water distribution systems. My strategy is to partner with para-church organizations and the developing world churches and communities they serve to address their most needed infrastructure needs. Since the organization I’m with is secular and consists mostly of people who value preserving the environment and native culture far more than sharing the good news of Jesus, they are my primary mission field. Faith conversations are often a result. God has been good in providing a blend of technical challenge with the rewards of service. I continue to grow and be humbled by God’s bountiful provisions.