Andy DeForest was born and spent the earliest part of his preteen years in Sidney NY, the youngest of 3 brothers. During his early teenage years, the family moved into Unadilla and Andy found the changes to his home, schools and friends a very difficult adjustment and he did not settle in well. Andy was 13 when his oldest brother started to attend the Youth Group at Wells Bridge Baptist Church where he learned about his need for a Savior. Andy’s Mom decided she needed to understand the changes taking place in Andy’s oldest brother’s life and she too started attending services and over time became a follower of Christ

It was not long before Andy started attending Youth Group events with his oldest brother and he could sense a real difference between the kids he met through the church’s youth group and those he knew at school. One of the older boys in the youth group asked Andy if he knew anything about Christ, salvation and eternity. Andy realized that he could not answer any of those questions. Over a period of several weeks Andy was able to learn about Christ, salvation and eternity as he interacted with the leaders of the Youth Group.

Andy’s mentor in the group challenged him that “he needed Christ in his life.” Through this young man’s testimony, Andy accepted Christ as his Savior. However Andy didn’t follow through with his decision and drifted away from the Lord. He always had a sense that God was there, but his goal in life became to work hard, to make money and to become successful in the building trade, which he accomplished in the next 22 years. In time Andy started his own construction company and made a trip to New Zealand with Habitat for Humanity. For the next eleven years he worked hard building his own construction company but became burned out and disillusioned. It was at this point in Andy’s life that he began to question what life was all about so he prayed “God, I need to do something different.”

That Sunday he visited Main Street Baptist Church of Oneonta, New York where he heard about short term mission trips to third world countries. At this point Andy felt the need to use his construction skills to support third world Christian missionaries which resulted in him spending a year in Papua Guinea with Pioneer Bible Translators before returning to America. While researching a new ministry opportunity, Andy joined a short term mission team to Honduras in Central America. This was followed by him spending a year in Cambodia where he helped Cambodian Christian Ministries finish building a medical facility before building a guest house needed to support visiting medical missionaries. These trips helped him to reconnect with the Christian community and inspired him to want to use his skills to help people in need, in the Susquehanna Valley.

Andy’s desire is to provide practical assistance to people who can’t afford needed repairs or maintenance to their homes. Out of this desire came the concept for Kingdom Builders and its guiding principle: “Serving God through serving people.” Over time, Kingdom Builders plans to expand its base of local volunteers who can demonstrate in a practical way the love of Christ, while sharing the truth of the Gospel with those they serve.