Written by Mercy

Andrew was born in Italy, the 10th of July 1954, and grew up in Canada where his parents had moved when he was 3 years old. His Mom talks about him as being a special child, always ready to help and see if you needed something

Later in his teen years he began looking for a deeper meaning to life and when his friend Darrel who had just joined the Family, witnessed to him, Andrew received the message and later prayed and received the Lord...he had such a beautiful experience that right there and than he decided to drop out and return along with Darrel to Vancouver to join the Family. That was in 1973, and he was 19 years old.

Shortly after that he began working in Base there, he slept there and ate there and that was his life for about a year. He said that his highlights during those long hours were when Lydia, a sister, would call him and asked him if he wanted to hear a personal message for him. Then she would read him a quote or something like that. Then he came to Italy where he faithfully 'hit the streets with the lit', and was often on the "shiner's" list.

Andrew was living in the Home in Bologna when I fist met him at "Dance Night" at the Bassetto Home. I noticed he was a crazy dancer! So free and uninhibited. He would always smile and he made everyone feel comfortable around him.

We met again later in Poggio Secco, Florence where we had such wonderful times going together on the road for faith trips. It was there that we fell in love. Not long after this, we got married and I soon got pregnant with Victoria. At that same time we were on our way to Pakistan. Eventually we later had 6 more children (7 all together).

We spent almost 10 years working for the Lord in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. We had many exciting times and, thank the Lord, He protected us and always provided for us.

Andrew used to play the guitar and sing and the Lord often used his singing to touch people's hearts. Many times when our home had difficult moments, Andrew had a special way of keeping things together and smoothing out everyone's ruffled feathers. He had a positive thing to say in the worst situations and would make me feel so relieved to hear him say, "Everything will work out fine, you'll see. The Lord will do it."

When we returned to Italy we worked together shepherding different Combos. Andrew was often busy and on the road, but wherever he went his favorite thing to do was have "Get Out" with the Teens. Andrew was very good at sports and always encouraged everyone to work in a team spirit.

He especially had a heart for the kids that they were doing okay, had good food, good exercise and inspiring witnessing outings.

When Andrew fell sick and we found out he had cancer, it came to us as a real shock. He had not been well for some time and he suddenly had to be hospitalised. When he returned from the hospital the first time after he received the news, he invited me out to a restaurant. The Lord gave us a real sweet fellowship and fun time together, then at the end of our meal, Andrew calmly told me that the doctors had given him only had a few months left to live; that we needed to make some important decisions and prepare ourselves. When I began to cry he pleaded with me to be strong and look to the Lord that He would see us through.

Through the ordeal of the 8 following months, Andrew tried with everything that was in him not to make things weigh on us, but rather he encouraged us constantly telling myself and the kids how good we were doing and how he was so proud of us.

With most of our family around him, Andrew died peacefully in July of 2000. He was 46 years old. He remained clear in his mind and conscious till the last minutes.

A few days before his death, he had called me over by his bedside and told me that there were angelic presences in the room, that "Someone" was often caressing him on his forehead or on places where he was hurting, but when he would open his eyes to see who was touching him, there would be no one there. He smiled softly. I knew then that he was going to go very soon.

We miss him a lot, but are comforted to have received messages from different brethern where Andrew says that he is happy and healthy and still very busy for the Lord helping the Family gear up for the Endtime.