The mission of the Saint Andrew Commission is to provide the Gift of Pastoral Counseling for those facing life’s most overwhelming storms. 

There are times that families and individuals can find themselves overrun with unexpected storms. A job is lost, a medical diagnosis is made, a beloved child becomes sick. The heartache and hardship that these can create – both from mental and financial perspectives – is devastating, and often prevents people from getting the help that they need. 

In a storm, even small swells can quickly grow into massive, crashing waves. Most of us can face the lesser but find it harder to stand firm against the greater… they crush, devastate, and sweep us off our feet. The Saint Andrew Commission endeavors to be the lifeline that helps people cope and face the waves with strength, resilience, and eventually healing, before they can be pulled under. 

The approach of Pastoral Counseling goes beyond listening and shepherding an individual or family… it means getting into the water to stand with and give support until the tides are manageable again. It combines sound biblical scholarship with training in psychology to provide a unique framework for support that encompasses all aspects of what makes us who we are: mind, heart, and soul. It comes from a place of compassion and understanding, rooted in belief and faith that God is our source through whatever life can throw at us. 
 

Andy's Story

Andrew Theodore Obrastoff was born September 30th 1985.  At the end of his eighth week of life he was diagnosed at Seattle Children’s Hospital with severe Cystic Fibrosis and moderate asthma. Despite this tremendous challenge, the boy grew in grace and strength of character. He was full of life, love, and laughter.  At age nine, he received a double-lung/heart transplant at Stanford University Hospital in California.  A transplant meant up to two more years of life.  As it turned out, Andrew enjoyed two years of renewed health and then four more years in decline.

With his usual good form, Andrew embraced this new challenge. The transplant purchased him two wonderful years wherein he enjoyed a level of health he had never before experienced. After those first two years though, his health took a turn, and slowly over the next four years his condition deteriorated until  living was once again a daily struggle.

It became clear that Andrew was now in his final days upon this earth. His anxiety increased. He struggled. He had a very dark night of the soul. He asked his father to move into the hospital with him, which Theo did.  There was a day when a well-known musician, whom Theo and Andrew both loved, came to the Seattle hospital from Nashville to sing and pray over the boy. It was a special moment, but seeds were planted for good works that would come later. Andrew Obrastoff touched thousands of lives during the short time he was among us. When he passed into the arms of his Savior, Christ Jesus, his story literally went out to millions all around the world.  

Andy's Angels, Commission, and Legacy

After Andrew's passing, Theo Obrastoff teamed up with Terry Scott Taylor to produce a number of tribute CDs, featuring many of the songs Theo had composed about Andrew and his other two sons as well.  The projects came under the title “Come As A Child (or not at all),” and the 501(c)(3), Andy’s Angels Records, was established in order to handle donations and sales of the CDs.  Furthermore, Theo toured opening for The Lost Dogs (Terry Taylor, Mike Roe, Derri Dougherty), teaching on Cystic Fibrosis and on fathers making the days with their children count.  This exciting endeavor went on through 2005 and then everything quieted down.

Until now!

The same commission which Andrew gave to his father before passing away, “Don’t let them forget,” now breathes new life and a new work! The Saint Andrew Commission was established to bring pastoral counseling into the lives of families and individuals who are facing extraordinarily difficult times of life.  Andrew’s commission is to always remind people that during such hard seasons of life, no one need be alone, whether family or individual. The Saint Andrew Commission brings this to life by affording individuals and families with pastoral counsel at no cost to them.