I was raised in a small town in eastern South Dakota called Gary. I was raised a Christian by a very supportive Christian family. I have one older brother and two younger sisters who are adopted from Guatemala. When I graduated from high school everyone told me I needed to go to college, so I went. I ended up going to Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach Florida.
After a year I realized that college was not the route for me. I ended up that fall down in New Zealand doing a Discipleship Training School with Marine Reach, a ministry with Youth With a Mission. Marine Reach is an organization that does medical work aboard ships throughout the South Pacific.
After that I moved back to Florida and ended up starting a ministry called Love Bobbers. Love Bobbers had been a vision that God had placed on my heart years before. Love Bobbers are basically a witnessing tool that uses fishing bobbers to tell the gospel of Jesus. If you would like more info check out andrewmaas.com
I moved back to South Dakota to get it started and ended up doing quite a bit with my brother Nathan and our friends, Joel and Barry. We bought a Van and painted flames on the side of it and decided to move to Florida. We lived on the beach out of the van for about a month before deciding to buy a sailboat and live on that. We got a sailboat but Nathan and Barry left after about a month and so I was stuck with the payments and the boat, which was fine because I loved living on the boat. I really wanted to go and do mission work, but couldn’t because I had to make payments on the boat.
A few months had gone by and I was talking to a couple of friends and we decided to ride our bicycles from West Palm Beach, Florida to Sherman, Texas to go to a Passion conference. We had been praying about the trip and felt like God was leading us to leave with no food, money, or extra clothes, based on Matthew 10. We were to just put total faith in God to get us there and provide all our needs. I also ended up giving away all my stuff and selling my sailboat to a friend, which al
lowed me to go.
We set out with nothing but camelbacks full of water and a bible and journal. We had 1350 miles to go and no way of knowing what was going to happen. But God did not disappoint us; in fact God completely blew us away and provided every day more then we needed. It was so awesome to see how big God is and how much he provides. If you would like to read my journal from the trip you can find it at andrewmaas.com
I came back after the trip and found out that my friend could not buy the boat after all so I began praying that God would help me sell the boat so I could go and do mission work. I tried and tried and it wouldn’t sell. Finally in the fall of 2004 I saw a hurricane coming and I asked God if perhaps this would be a good time to get rid of the boat since I had insurance on it. Sure enough hurricane Francis came and took my boat; in fact I never did find my boat “The Sailing Angel.”
So after I got the insurance check, I took off for an organization called
Friendships in Louisiana.
Friendships is a ship ministry that takes food and relief supplies all over the world. They also do medical work. I ended up going to Haiti with them, and then began feeling God telling me to go and just find Him. So I went to the woods to be alone with God and didn’t last too long because it is scary out there all alone, but I did get to know God a little more which was what I needed.
That fall I ended up going to a ministry in Oaxaca, Mexico that works with the un-reached people groups down there. It was called Global Frontier Missions. We had training in a classroom for the most part and then every thursday we would go out to the villages to get to know people and do some church planting. I was there for about 4 months before leaving.
I went back home for awhile and went back to work with Friendships in Louisiana. I ended up going with them to Haiti again. This time we took two ships down and were doing more of a medical outreach to the people in Port au Prince. In total we saw close to 3000 patients. However for me the first day we got down there I was helping to unload the cargo and ended up busting my finger open on a chain binder that snapped requiring ten stitches and left me to security detail aboard the ship. I also had the opportunity on this trip to be on watch detail, which meant I helped steer the ship and look for other vessels out on the water. On the way home we got stuck behind a tropical storm and had to detour to montego bay jamaica for a day. Which turned out to be a very pleasant detour I would have to say.
I left there in june and was going to go visit some friends when I got a couple hours away some guy pulled out
in front me an
d totalled my car, which was pretty lame. But at least now I don’t have to worry about selling it:)
So I am back home now in South Dakota working, raising support and waiting patiently for January.
I am so excited about this opportunity to be a part of the World Race. I love the chance to minister to people and really get to rely on God for everything. I also have no idea where I want to serve or what I want to do. I had been thinking about just traveling around to see what was out there and where I was needed. This is such a great opportunity to get to go to so many different cultures and countries and really see what is needed and where God is working so I can get on board with that. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for this year.
I also hope the Worldrace would turn into so much more than just a mission trip, I hope to see the Worldrace ignite a spark that will in turn be a catalyst for this generation to be transformed to the glory of God. And to see young people from all over have a passion and drive to change this world for Christ.
Roll out!!!
