In September-October 2009, Unification News featured Lovin' Life Ministries at the onset of its beginnings. Two years later, our September-October 2011 issue explores and highlights the initial vision for the many areas of ministry and the many individuals it inspired to take on the roles that they have.

In this issue readers will meet Andrew Love, a young, charismatic individual who has taken on the role as witnessing team captain for the Lovin' Life Ministries Learning Center and Tamara Beth Gavin, a creative individual who serves as our national Ministry Support Developer and Ministry Creative Director for the Lovin' Life Learning Center.  Unification News brings you news from the west coast with our brother George Kazakos, Lovin' Life Ministries Pastor for Los Angeles, and gives you an update on the development and progress of our national youth ministry, Launch Pad, Starting Point, and CARP.

A Glimpse: September-October 2011 Developing a Vibrant Life of Faith

A Growing Entity: Reaching Out with a Parental Heart
Interview with Andrew Love
Andrew Love is the Team Captain for the witnessing department at Lovin’ Life Ministries, New York City.

Q: Your last name, Love, what ethnicity is that?

A: My family goes back to the U.K. So, Ireland, Scotland and Britain. My grandparents are Canadian. My great grandparents came from England. One of ancestors died when he came over. But even my grandma is an atheist. We have a long tradition in our family of not believing in God so much.

Q: And yet, here you are.

A: That’s why it was such a shock to everybody. That was why during the first conversation with my mom after I joined, I threw my cell phone for the first time in my life. There was so much accusation. They just couldn’t understand the process of how this came about. I hadn’t been just a passive non-believer; I was definitely an in-your-face non-believer, always challenging people. One of my best friends’ grandpa was a Baptist priest and his father was a strong believer in God and he was kind of a new-agey guy, always bringing up God in this weird, vague way that was convenient to him. I was always nagging on him: “That’s so stupid. That’s so naïve. You believe He’s up in the clouds? I’ve flown through the clouds in an airplane, what are you talking about?” If I felt inspired, I would just nag on him about God. So this is a huge departure from that.

Q: So what happened to turn an atheist into someone who loves God and believes in Him?

A: Yeah… it was a gradual process of breaking myself down and being as honest as I could be with myself. The lady who invited me – her name is Maiko, she’s my spiritual mother – she was so good at calling me out. Since then I’ve been my own nanny, calling myself out on my lies, challenging myself more and through the fundraising process. I could break down my fake self – the self that I used to protect myself, the self that I used to make it in society, to get my piece of the pie –  and be recreated.

To get your copy of our September - October 2011 issue of Unification News, visit 
www.hsabooks.com/unews
and subscribe  today!