Andrew, who was last year’s Mountain Scene Queenstowner of the Year, says "it’s incredibly humbling to see what we’ve achieved, not just alone but with all those other incredibly gifted people throughout our community Queenstown is so blessed to have".
Overseeing the building of the Sallies’ $10million hub at Remarkables Park, which opened a year ago, probably allowed them more time here before they were moved on, he suggests.
The couple’s workload escalated when job losses mounted during Covid.
"It was definitely for Queenstown, and for myself, a time of banding together, of forging pretty strong relationships across agencies and even across parts of the community that wouldn’t often necessarily meet shoulder to shoulder to work towards just a common goal of supporting those in need in Queenstown."
Andrew also championed housing problems, especially after Covid, and even skydived to draw attention to inequities with the accommodation supplement.
He notes the new hub’s not only helped their own ministry but also provided much-needed space for community groups.
"It’s amazing when you just walk in and the place is like living, with people in and around the place."
Just in their time, the community ministries team had grown from two to 12.
Andrew says their last service will be on Christmas Eve before leaving next day, along with daughters Isabelle and Miah, for Christmas dinner with rellies in Christchurch.
Their new post’s running the Sallies’ church in Newtown, Wellington, while they’ll be replaced by another couple who, like them six years ago, are also fresh from training — Anna and Manasa Natera.
"Anna is a previous social worker, Manasa a previous youth worker, and they’ve got some pretty big hearts, too, so I think they’ll be a pretty good fit here in Queenstown," Andrew says.
