Complex only begins to tell the tale of Andrew Pitchford. You may have come across me for the first time or you could be an old friend trying to glean some new background on my sordid past. The truth is I am a guy with a past. Thankfully I can also tell you a little about my present and the future.
As I look at the mistakes I’ve made particularly through my teenage and early adult years I wish we could reformat and start again. Wait one cotton picking minute. You have got to be joking. Like all of us there are some aspects of our past years you wouldn’t want to risk doing again and there are moments of heaven you relive like fresh strawberries and ice cream. But do it again, nope, it ain’t happening.
I can tell you this. I’m the oldest of three sons to a Yorkshire couple who jumped on a boat with two pre-schoolers and moved to New Zealand in the early 70s. The Split Enz track ‘Six Months in a Leaky Boat’ had a dance mix version as we took six weeks from Southampton to Auckland. From here we settled in Te Awamutu and began life amongst Pommy and Scottish friends who ‘kept the dream alive’ with soccer and parties and friendly reminiscing.
Growing up I did well at school without trying and this became a bad trait still to be worked on. I loved three things during this time. The arts, soccer and computing. Trying to keep it all in the air got me in plenty of trouble from home to girlfriends. I loved to dance, act and sing so any opportunity to play a stage I took. Playing centre-half in the school soccer teams was the best fun a guy could have. A great team sport with me using my kicking skills to score occasionally or just boot the ball out of our half of the field. And then there was computing. While I was a math wiz I wasn’t the genius of other members of my class but I knew enough to buy the Computer Gamers magazine out of the UK take it to school and program some entertainment.
Leaving school I missed an opportunity to be a secondary school teacher and entered the work force. Clerical and retail jobs abounded until I ended up moving through a few sales management type jobs that probably used my performer skills to help me clinch high sales. That performance aspect brought me back to a career I entertained (excuse the pun) in highschool. I wanted to be a Radio DJ following in the steps of Dave Jamieson. This brought me through a variety of personal circumstances back to what was then Radio Rhema.
The pure enjoyment of media combined with a deep sense that it was changing lives including my own has kept me focussed in my roles both with the Rhema Broadcasting Group as well as with sister organisation UCB Australia for 18 years. Now I have the privilege of working with UCB International in a role that allows me to talk to our affiliates around the globe connecting them to each other and finding ideas and resources that will help them go further and faster.
To sum up who I am, take in these thoughts.
I am a Son, Brother, Husband and Dad
Who is charged with the responsibility
of raising a Precious Family and
has the joy and privilege of serving
in Media Ministry using
my Creative and Leadership talents
because while I recognise I am a sinner
I love Jesus
and I want to see others find
the Freedom, Forgiveness and Peace
I have found in God
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