Ragged Andy

Can you believe that July is almost over? Pretty soon you all will be headed back to school. For some of you, it will be a new school. I remember each time I started at a new school. I was nervous and so scared. "Will they like me? Will I fit in?" Those were questions I asked myself over and over. It's hard to know who will be a good friend to you and who will be not so nice to you. When our family moved to Davenport, IA, we were enrolled in a Christian school. That was a huge change for me. I had grown up in a public school but once the school year started everything turned out really great. I just had to put myself out there and be outgoing and extremely friendly which, for me, is very hard to do. I'm not that outgoing of a person.

I wanted to share part of an article that I wrote for ONE magazine for their April-May 2009 issue. You might have read it then when it came out but I wanted to share part of it with you again today. This is a true story that did happen to me and my brother the first year we transferred to a new school. The title of the story is Ragged Andy.*

He sat alone at his desk quietly eating his sandwich. No one talked to him. He was tall, overweight, and pale-skinned with fiery red hair and wire-rimmed glasses. You could tell his clothes were not name brands, nor did he look like other teenage boys. After talking with him for a few moments, it was apparent something was different about Andy.

This difference caused him to be an outcast of sorts from his fellow students. My heart went out to my classmate as I watched him eat his lunch alone - surrounded by classmates yet ignored by everyone. My brother and I were new to school, and we weren't sure exactly how to approach this strange boy.

My family and I had recently moved to the area to plant a church. When the youth leaders planned a youth outing to try to build up our youth group, my brother and I decided to invite our new classmates and friends. On a whim, my brother invited Andy to join us. To everyone's surprise, he showed up for the evening of pizza, bowling, and ice cream.

That night we learned more about Andy. His parents had abandoned him as a baby, and he lived with his grandparents. They didn't go to church but sent him to the Christian school so he would "stay out of trouble." Our hearts were saddened for this boy, and the youth befriended him. Eventually, he began to come to church on a regular basis. He became deeply involved in our church family and found a place to belong.

Throughout the next year, Andy blossomed into a confident, strong person who wanted to live for the Lord. Perhaps it wasn't his strong point, but Andy loved music and he loved to sing before the church. When he sang, it was clear that he sang only to the Lord. God's presence move among our congregation. It was evident that lives were being touch and changed through my classmate's love for his Lord.

I learned early in parent's home missions ministry that my brother and I were missionaries as well. We realized that we could reach people like Andy more easily than our parents. We made it our goal to invite our friends to church, and to share the gospel with them when possible.

It was an awesome sight to see them come to church, and sometimes their parents would come, too. Most exciting was when they gave their hearts to the Lord. It was a wonderful feeling knowing we had a hand in building the Kingdom for Christ.

*Reprinted from One Magazine April-May 2009

To give you a little bit more background on Andy (whose name has been changed). Andy, at first, was so odd and strange. I had never met anyone like him before. He seemed so goofy to me and I didn't think I would have much in common with him nor be able to talk to him like a normal person. He had a huge speech problem which only made him more like an outcast. Being in a new school we, or rather, I was afraid to be friends with him because I didn't know what the other kids at school would think. I didn't want to make friends with the wrong people. But it was my brother who showed me how wrong that was. He invited Andy on the spur of the moment to an youth outing and it turned to be the biggest blessing any of us could ever imagine. He was the sweetest and most kind person you could ever have met. In the article when it says that perhaps singing wasn't his strong point was a huge understatement. Andy just flat out could not sing. He was tone deaf but that didn't stop him. When he sang he ministered to everyone in the church because we knew his heart.

The point I'm trying to make through all this is that you can't let what others think about you distract from when you try to become friends with others. Sure, you don't want to get in the wrong crowd that will lead you away from the Lord. Be wise in choosing your friends but be very prayerful about it as well. There may be a classmate who needs the Lord so badly and He may be leading you to that person so they can come to know Him. Every class has a ragged Andy. It's your job as missionaries and Christians to spot them love them as Christ would.