Meet the YM Team - Andrew Suarez, Teams Department Director

Andrew and Carmel Suarez's Testimony

My name is Lee Andrew Suarez.  I was born on May 06, 1985.  My wife’s name is Emily Tisado-Suarez.  To our friends and co-workers we are known as Andrew and Carmel.  We both work for International Teams Philippines (ITP) as fulltime missionaries under the Youth Mobilization team. Both of us also were full-time workers of our church before we became ITP missionaries.  I joined International Teams, first as a volunteer youth worker in 2004 and then became full-time in 2006. On the other hand, my wife joined ITP right after we got married in 2008.

My ministry with the Youth Mobilization team started with helping street kids and mentoring youths. Then the Lord enlarged the territory of my service as I have been given the responsibility of handling the YM team finances.  Also, I became the director for YM teams hosting department. Our job (Carmel and I) is to coordinate schedules, reserve venues for ministries and accommodations for the team, which we enjoy doing.  Furthermore my wife is in charge of the department’s communication.  She answers all the emails and informs teams the important things they need to know about working with the Youth Mobilization team.

I came to know the Lord when I was in high school when a friend invited me to attend a youth fellowship at our church. I just found myself coming to church afterwards. I was not a good boy then, I took high school for six years instead of just four years because I always skipped or cut classes. My mom cried a lot because of my ways and my dad was so mad at me. This was the lowest point of my life, I felt so wasted and hopeless but then God came and He changed my life.  He put meaning and purpose to it and called me to serve Him.

On the other hand Carmel came to know the Lord when she was in college and was running away from home. She hated God then because she felt that God was unfair and He didn’t care for her. But then again during those confusing time of her life God rescued her and called her for a higher purpose. She served as a volunteer youth leader in our church before she became a full-time church worker in year 2000.