The Next Obvious Thing: Pastor Dave Andersen’s Story

On January 10, 2025, Pastor David Andersen was called home to eternity with his Savior, Jesus. While we deeply mourn this great loss here on earth, we can rejoice knowing that he is in the presence of the Lord and Savior he so faithfully served. To honor his life, we wanted to share with you an interview with Pastor Dave that took place in the summer of 2024.

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The year was 1970, and a young pastor had just moved his family to Troy, Michigan, to lead a congregation that would — decades later — become Woodside Bible Church. As a husband, father, and leader with a heart for missions, David Andersen assumed the role of senior pastor at Troy Baptist Church with a mindset for growth, praying that God would work mightily to advance the Gospel in the city of Troy and beyond.  

Now, more than 50 years later, Pastor Dave has watched the Lord multiply what was once a 125-person assembly into a church of thousands that spans across southeast Michigan. When Pastor Doug Schmidt stepped in to lead Troy Baptist in 1988, Pastor Dave established Envoy International to train and deploy missionaries for Christ around the world. Thirty years of global missions have since led him back to Troy, where he helps lead pastoral care initiatives through the work of Barnabas Ministries.   

After almost 70 total years in ministry, here’s what Pastor Dave Andersen has to say about his life, the Lord’s direction, and the importance of doing the next obvious thing at hand for the glory of God.   

Q: How did you come to know the Lord? 

A: My parents were committed believers, and probably the first Sunday we were alive in this world, we were in church. It was through hearing the Gospel through that church that I committed my life to Christ. 

At eight years old, I made a commitment that I’d be a missionary. I’d heard about boys and girls who didn’t know Jesus — and I heard about Jesus every week! So, growing up, I just assumed that one day, I would go overseas and be a missionary. And when I met the young lady who became my wife, I didn’t know what her goals were. But she said, ‘You know, I’ve always felt like God wanted me to go to China.’ So, we both had the same calling.
 

The one thing I didn’t want to be was a pastor. Obviously, along the way, God changed my heart. Oh, God can do amazing things. He put in my heart to like people, to like to study, and to like to preach. And one day, it dawned on me: that’s what preachers do. Isn’t that neat? 

Q: You and Mary spent years living out the Great Commission together. How did you meet? 

A: She came to church — I looked across the auditorium, and I said, ‘I think I’d like to go out with her.’ And so, we just got to know each other. There were another couple of guys at the church who were interested in her, but they didn’t make it. We both went away to college in New York, and it deepened our love for each other more. So, we decided that it might be nice to get married.  

God’s always put in her heart what He’s put in my heart. She worked in the kitchen back in the days when they used to feed a couple hundred people on Wednesday night. And I said to her one time, ‘You don’t have to do that, you know.’ She said, ‘Yeah, but I love to do it.’ And she did. She just loved people. 

In Psalm 139 where it says that God made us, put all our parts together and everything — well, I’m six months older than her. So, God was putting everything together in me, and then He started to put everything together in her that was going to match. I think that’s why it always went so well. We were married for 64 years. We would have been married for 65, but she wouldn’t wait. 

Author’s Note: Mary Andersen went home to the Lord on March 17, 2022. 

Q: When you pastored Troy Baptist, how did you see God at work? 

A: There’s been very real evidence of the hand of God. When I came in 1970, it was very exciting. I had asked the search committee when they were interviewing me, ‘What will you do when we fill this auditorium?’ And they said, ‘We’ll open the balcony.’ And I said, ‘What are you going to do when we fill the balcony?’ They said, ‘We’ll build another auditorium.’ That was their attitude, which still flows through the church today. God sent us people who wanted to grow, wanted to reach out, wanted to do whatever God had in mind for us to do.  

In those days, there weren’t very many churches that had two Sunday services. But even after we built a new structure to handle what the balcony could no longer handle; God began to fill up the church again. So, I said, ‘Well, we’ve got to do something to find out whether God wants us to build again. And the only way I know how to do that is to add another service. And if God fills that up, we’ll know we need to build again.’ So eventually, we did go to two services, which was really somewhat unusual. And finally, we realized we needed to build an even bigger facility.  

Q: What did God teach you during your years as a senior pastor? 

A: To recognize a need. At Troy Baptist, we recognized the need and took the next step. And what’s the next step? Doing the next obvious thing at hand for the glory of God. We had empty seats. Need to fill them, right? People need to get saved. People need to get baptized. Knowing the will of God is not as difficult as we make it. It’s just — what’s the next obvious thing? What door did God just open for me? If I go through it, there’s probably another one. But if I don’t go through this one, we’ll never get to the next one. So, you have to recognize needs and God will help you figure out how to meet them. 

You want to also recognize blessing. I often told people, ‘If we don’t take advantage of what God is doing, He’ll go to another church.’ So, you’ve got to decide: Do you want God’s blessing, or do you want to just ride along? 

Q: When you retired from Troy Baptist, how did you step into the mission field? 

A: When I left Troy, I really wanted churches to recognize the importance of world missions. And, you know, I had challenged people for years to go out and do this, so I’ve got to do what I told them to do. And I started knocking on doors and calling pastors and churches. God was so gracious amongst our friends, and so we were able to raise our support.  

We spent 28 years traveling every month, oftentimes more than one place. One of my early trips, I had an opportunity to be in eastern Europe right after communism. And one of the pastor’s wives had written a letter, saying, ‘We don’t want this missionary guy coming. We’ve been under communism for 80 years, and we’ve had enough of people telling us what to do and when to do it and how to do it.’ After I got there, [I found out that] she was going to interpret for me. I said, ‘She is? She doesn’t even like me.’ But that night, I hadn’t gotten too far into the seminar, and I looked over and tears were flowing down her face. God just broke her heart open for missions. When we were done, she said, ‘If you come back, please, I want to interpret for you again.’ And I did go back and she interpreted for me again. Anyhow, we just kept that going for all those years. 

Q: What is your role within Barnabas Ministries? 

A: So now, we’re coming to the end of my time with Envoy International. Pastor Doug Schmidt was on my board, and I called him one day. I said, ‘Doug, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve got to resign from Envoy — I can’t travel anymore, and I don’t have any idea what’s next.’ He said, ‘I’ve come across this organization called Barnabas, and they work with pastors who are discouraged and ready to quit. Is that anything you might be interested in?’ And I said, ‘Yeah!’ And I went home and told Mary. I’m crying — I said, ‘You won’t believe what Doug just told me.’ And that’s how I got started in Barnabas as the director of pastoral encouragement.  

There’s a book we repeatedly use with the pastors. The author uses the illustration of a play, a big production of some kind where they have a curtain. Behind the curtain is a lot of junk, broken pieces, cobwebs, maybe. And then you have the audience in front of the curtain. Our lives are like that — we all fall into that category. As pastors, sometimes the back room is a mess. We still put on a good show in front of the curtain, right? But we don’t get behind the curtain to meet with God and heal the broken things in our lives that need to be fixed. So, our approach to the pastors is mentoring, sharing life with life. We’ve got to get everything out there, in front of the curtain. 

Q: Do you have any encouragement for the generations of Christians who are coming after you? 

A: Never have people been hurting like they’re hurting now. Both Christians and non-Christians are hurting because nothing is stable anymore. What used to be one thing last year is not the same this year. And instability is one of the bad things that can happen to us. But I think there’s more light in the Church than there has been in a long time. And I think we’re seeing more and more Christians taking a stand, more than they have in a long time. I think we’re going to have some hard days, but there are going to be some good days as far as the Gospel is concerned.  

Q: Will you pray over what was shared today? 

A: Father, thank you for the time spent looking back over one’s life. Thank you for each step, and for leading the way. You provided when we had nothing to give. When we had nothing to hand out, you were there.  

I thank you for the Church at large, and for what you’ve done over the years. It’s amazing. One could never envision that you had all this in your mind, but thank you that there were people who were willing to listen to you, get on board, and get it done before it’s too late. I pray that you’ll allow what was given today to be a help to someone. Guide and direct, we pray — in Jesus’ name. Amen.