Born in England, Andrews grew up the son of a Baptist pastor in the West End of Brisbane. After spending time in Afghanistan, he went to India with his wife Ange and stayed from 1972 until 1984.
Andrews was [[excommunication|excommunicated]] from [[Youth With A Mission]] by their International Council. The reasoning, according to Andrews, was that "I was a rebel and, as an unrepentant rebel, would be summarily excommunicated," and that "it 'was what the Lord told' them to do." Andrews described the [[Post-cult trauma|aftermath]] as devastating: "I became [[suicidal]] because all the significant people I turned to denounced me, no one else would speak to me, and the people who had promised to protect me ended up having [[mental breakdown|psychological breakdowns]]. One guy was taken away to an [[Psychiatric hospital|asylum]]."