Our Story
Andy and Bianca are both proud Aucklanders and personify the saying “opposites attract”. Although they have strikingly different looks (and tastes in music), together they make an incredible team.
Both became Christians at age 16, before falling ridiculously in love shortly after Bianca turned 18. They married 11 months later. After hearing the message at youth church one night “We all have a destiny from God”, Bianca heard the audible voice of God say, “You are going to be a youth pastor and then pastor a church”. This is exactly the same calling Andy had received from God too.
Growing up, Andy was your typical insecure teenager looking for acceptance. He loved sport and was active and competitive. He developed a passion for hard rock music (leading to some strange haircuts). Andy first discovered God at a youth camp where he prayed: “God if you’re real, show me”. As the youth pastor prayed for him, he had a supernatural encounter where he experienced the tangible presence of God for the first time. God revealed that He knew exactly where Andy was at and what he had been going through. Andy then threw himself into the life of the church and has never looked back since.
Meanwhile, Bianca was quite the partygoer and as some would say, part of the “in crowd”. One day, while looking up at the stars, she said, “God, I don’t know if you’re real but if you are that would be pretty cool”. Having never really been to church before, she got invited to go to church and couldn’t believe what she saw—the life in the place was evident, from how people greeted her, the music they played and the message the pastor spoke. She too knew that God was real from that night on. Her life changed so dramatically that friends and family became curious about the change in her.
Later Andy and Bianca became youth pastors at Encounter Christian Centre. Fast forward to today and they are parents to three amazing kids: Judah, Carolina and André, who also share in their own passion for God, life, and His church. Together as a family, they have a love for this generation, for God, for life, for the church and for the move of God here in New Zealand.
Andy and Bianca give tribute to Pastors Brent & Patricia Douglas and Peter & Bev Mortlock for raising them into the people they are today. In 2019, after pastoring for 20 years, they were released to go and run after the vision and passion that has been beating loudly in their hearts since they met Jesus and still beats loudly within them every single day.
So now Andy and Bianca are honoured and incredibly excited to begin the journey of Catalyst Church. This is a big part of what they have been created to do in life. Together they are passionate about partnering with God in seeing people thrive, discover who they are called to be and then go hard after it.
We want to invite anyone who wants to partner with them in this journey to get in touch. We would love to hear from you. We truly believe that this dream will not come alive without a strong team standing together with us.