It was in August of 1983 while serving in the US Air Force, that Andrew Cunningham felt the call of God on his life. He knew at that point the only thing that would give him real joy and a sense of purpose was to help people meet Jesus and discover their God given purpose. His new call to duty would be to show people they could live life to their full potential in God. When his tour of military duty ended he returned to Colorado, the place of his upbringing, took employment and began his new journey.

In the fall of 1987 he was invited to come work at the SouthGate Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona. With his dog, all the clothes he could fit in his ragged old car, and $100, he left to fulfill this new journey. He began serving as groundskeeper, bus driver and children’s church worker at SouthGate Church. In 1988 he met his precious wife Jeri Lynn and married in 1989. God continued to work in his life and in 1992 he became the Associate Pastor of the church. Only a year later, in 1993 he was offered the position to serve as Senior Pastor. At the young age of 31, he knew this was what God had prepared.

As the years have gone by he and his wife have been blessed with five wonderful children and a group of people they call their family and friends at SouthGate Church. He has never regretted his choice to leave all he knew and journey down this path called the Christian life and to the vision God planted in him so long ago, knowing this vision would live beyond what he could fulfill in his lifetime. The one thing he knows for sure is that the real joy is not in the fulfillment, but in seeing what we become in the journey to obtaining it!