“Only hypocrites go to church.”
Andrew knew it wasn’t true, but the stinging words from his mother and stepdad met him at the door week after week. He enjoyed going to church with his grandparents. As an added bonus, the girl he liked attended there. In time, those weekly trips would become part of a much larger journey, one that would carry him from criticism and distance to belonging, service, and spiritual leadership.
“When I turned sixteen and got my driver’s license, I started driving myself to church every Sunday,” Andrew said. “But when I’d come home, my mom and stepdad would immediately start criticizing me.”
After a few years, the verbal objections wore him down, and church became a thing of the past.
“Unfortunately, I also started adopting many of the same ideas and criticisms that I heard growing up,” he said.
Andrew Landis was born in Texas, where his dad was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, but moved to central Pennsylvania before he knew how to crawl. He has lived in the area ever since.
“Growing up, when my parents were still married, it was cool because after church on Sundays we’d all get together at an aunt’s house or my grandma’s house. We’d have dinner as a family, and the kids would go outside and play. It was always a lot of fun.”
As a regular attendee, Andrew knew about Jesus and was well-versed in the usual Sunday school lessons. That sense of stability changed in third grade, when his parents divorced.
“I don’t care who the kid is – divorce is always tough. No matter how much people tell you it’s not your fault, you’re still going to think it is.”
Most of the time, Andrew and his little brother lived with their mom. Over time, she pushed their dad farther away from the boys. Their dad eventually conceded and signed over his parental rights entirely to their mom.
“At the time, it looked like a good thing because my stepdad stepped in and adopted us,” said Andrew.
Andrew remembers his family dynamics changing dramatically. He and his brother learned early what it felt like to live with emotional unpredictability. His mother often struggled with her own emotions, reacting to small situations in overwhelming ways. Tension filled the home.
“Constantly walking on eggshells is the easiest way I can put it,” Andrew said. “You did not have a voice that got heard unless you agreed with how they felt, what they said, or did what they wanted you to do. My brother and I, we just went and hid out in our bedrooms until things started to smooth out.”
As family routines changed, church gradually disappeared from Andrew’s life.
“The only church attendance I really had was when I’d go with my grandparents,” said Andrew.
He would go to the races with his Pap on Saturday evenings, stay overnight, and then attend services with his grandparents the next day. It was there that he met Christina, his future wife.
“I distinctly remember one Sunday sitting in the back pew with my grandparents. Her family always sat on the left side of the church a few rows ahead of us. I was in eighth grade, she was in sixth grade,” he said. “I remember looking over at her and thinking to myself, ‘She’s going to be my wife someday’.”
And he was right. Years later, Andrew and Christina married.
“Down the road, Christina and I got our first apartment together,” Andrew remembered. “She would tell me that she wanted to go to church, but she didn’t want to go without me. At the same time, she didn’t want me to go just because she wanted to go.”
“So we started visiting different churches. Then one of Christina’s friends, who attended West Shore at the time, invited us to come here. The very first time we came, we walked out of the East Entrance. I looked at Christina and said, ‘I know you’re not the biggest fan of big churches, but I can’t help but feel like this is home.’”
Over time, God slowly began breaking down the walls Andrew had spent years building.
“I would say for a long time I tip-toed around in my faith. I never fully jumped in. That changed when I went on my first Men’s Retreat. But what made the biggest impact wasn’t the message itself. It was seeing a room filled with one or two hundred men, hearing men worship together, experiencing the camaraderie, the brotherhood, the vulnerability. That showed me something important – it showed me that all of this is okay. Not only okay, but good. That was a major turning point for me. It made me want to dive deeper into my relationship with Christ and see where it would lead.”
“If you told me back then that I’d eventually be involved in youth ministry, deeply connected with people at church, serving regularly, participating in a LifeGroup, and doing all the things I’m doing now, I would’ve told you that you were crazy,” said Andrew. “But this church family has truly become a family.”
Something that was especially compelling to Andrew was God’s relentless pursuit of mankind.
“I’ve spent a lot of time praying about Luke 15,” Andrew said. “You have the parable of the lost sheep, where the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one. You have the parable of the lost coin, then you have the prodigal son. All three stories show the same thing – God is constantly pursuing us.”
Years later, Andrew can see how God used the broken pieces of his past, including the pain of his parents’ divorce, a difficult childhood, and his time away from church, and redeemed them for His glory. Today, he serves as a LifeGroup leader in Student Ministries, walking alongside a group of high school boys. In that role, God uses Andrew’s past to help him become the steady, caring presence he once needed.
“How tremendous is it that I have had all of those experiences because God can use them,” he says.
“When I look back at my life, I see all the sin I was trapped in. I see the struggles from my upbringing. And one thing that stands out is that I didn’t really have someone like me in my life then. I didn’t have someone walking alongside me through those things. And if I can be that person for someone else, then it’s worth it.”
Becoming a husband and father has also given Andrew a new perspective on what it means to lead and love a family. He says his relationship with Christ has changed the way he sees Christina, not just as a wife, but as “a precious gift that was given to me”. Through marriage, Andrew is learning to offer the intentionality and care that were often missing from his own childhood.
Then came fatherhood. When Andrew and Christina chose Colossians 3:12-17 as a ‘life verse’ for the dedication of their son, Zachary, Andrew initially viewed the passage in terms of the person he hoped his son would become. As the dedication drew closer, however, he realized something else: these were qualities he needed to live out as a father. Because his own childhood left him carrying wounds, fatherhood has given Andrew another opportunity to let God redeem his past and become for Zachary the loving presence Andrew once needed himself.
Over the past few years, God has opened doors for Andrew to serve as a vessel for His kingdom. In each opportunity, God continues to use his past to help him notice, encourage, and walk alongside others. Andrew has learned to listen for those opportunities, even though he sometimes finds himself thinking, “God, why me?”
“I’m just so broken, I’m so battered,” Andrew says. “I’m not a good human. I’m not someone who should be doing this. But it also reminds me of Saul to Paul. You know, if God can take Saul, who was killing God’s people, and turn him into a messenger for Him – that means he can use everybody.”
Andrew hopes every believer, regardless of the past, will be ready for God to redeem their story and use it for His glory. God is always pursuing us. Because Jesus has already granted us redemption through the cross, our role is to accept His invitation, follow Him, and make Him known. The words that once pushed Andrew away no longer define his story. Today, his life carries a new invitation: there is a place to belong, a purpose in serving, and a God who is always calling His children home.
“Come home running to God,” Andrew says. “Be ready, because you will be used to glorify Him.”
