Amanda Cheatwood
There’s a steadiness to Pastor Andrea Penn that comes through almost immediately. It’s the kind that’s been formed over years of faithful work—showing up, saying yes, and trusting God even when the path ahead wasn’t clear.
Andrea and her husband, Pastor Patrick Penn, have pastored The Dwelling Place Church in Huntsville, Alabama, for more than twenty years. Their journey into senior leadership began in a season they didn’t set out to pursue. They were serving as youth pastors at a church then called Abundant Life when the senior pastor resigned. They stepped in as interim pastors. Over time, interim leadership became long-term stewardship. About a year later, they sensed the Lord leading them to develop their own vision and rename the church.
The name The Dwelling Place speaks to what they want their church family to be: a place centered on the presence of God, where people encounter Him and experience change that reaches real life.
“We really have a heart just to see people’s lives changed,” Andrea said. “We believe that as people encounter God that He will change their life.”
Identity at the Center
When Andrea talks about ministry—whether it’s Huntsville or the nations—she keeps returning to identity.
“It’s all about identity,” she said. “The youth of our nation and the nations around the world… they’re really in an identity crisis. And so that’s our heart: to help them come into the identity of Christ.”
That focus grew out of her own story. Andrea shared that she grew up in a denomination that didn’t recognize women in ministry. Even as a child, she sensed God had called her, and she carried that call through a season where the path forward felt limited.
“It shaped perseverance in me,” she said. “I had to press into God and see what God said.”
When she reached college age, she began attending a church that affirmed women in leadership, and she credits that environment with helping her step fully into what God had placed on her life. Today, she speaks to students and leaders with the perspective of someone who has learned that identity is more than a message—it’s a foundation.
The First Missions Yes
Andrea and Patrick’s missions work began while they were still youth pastors. In 2001, they approached their senior pastor and told him they felt called to take their youth group on a mission trip to Mexico. He connected them with a friend in a Texas border town who regularly traveled into Mexico. That one relationship opened a door.
“Over Father’s Day of 2001, we went on our first mission trip,” Andrea said. “We took a team of all young people—high schoolers.”
It was also Andrea and Patrick’s first time in Mexico. They went anyway. They served in rural areas, and the trip stretched the team in every way it could.
One moment from that first trip still stands out clearly. The team was visiting homes in a rural village when they entered a house where a woman had been bedridden and hadn’t walked in months. They prayed for her, and she stood up. Later that evening, she walked to the service being held in the center of town.
“The people knew she was bedridden,” Andrea said. “When they saw her walking, it was a living testimony.”
She believes it shifted the whole village. Many came to Jesus, and the testimony carried beyond that night. It also marked the teenagers who watched it happen—young believers seeing the gospel move from words into power.
Colombia: Schools, Students, and Soft Hearts
Andrea has traveled and ministered in Mexico and Honduras for years, and most recently in Colombia. What stands out in her Colombia stories is the access to public schools and the openness of students.
Andrea described visiting two schools serving children with profound special needs. One included residential care with children and young adults living on campus. The other was a day school where students also worked. The team began their program with music and dancing—meeting the kids with joy and connection—then shared the message.
Andrea said she carried two simple principles throughout the trip: love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. She used those commandments to open the door to identity, self-worth, and purpose.
“If you’re loving your neighbor as yourself, then you must love yourself first and foremost,” she explained, describing how that truth leads naturally into who we are in Christ and the gifts God has placed inside each person.
At one school, Andrea prayed for a young woman named Allison. Andrea didn’t anticipate what followed. Allison experienced a strong touch from the Lord, and when she sat back up, Andrea asked her what she felt.
“She said, ‘I felt the fire of God go through my body,’” Andrea recalled.
Andrea emphasized that Allison had significant speech limitations—yet she described her encounter with God in a way that carried clarity and meaning. For Andrea, the moment reinforced something she’s seen again and again: the Lord meets people personally, right where they are.
Two Girls, One Schoolwide Testimony
Another story from Colombia came from a school with students roughly kindergarten through sixth or seventh grade. After the presentation, two girls approached their principal because they wanted to share a testimony.
They stood in front of the entire school and explained that they had been bullying one another. They described themselves as enemies who had spoken cruel things to and about each other. During the presentation, God convicted them. They said He told them to forgive one another and become friends.
“They came in front of the entire school and gave this testimony,” Andrea said. “It was powerful.”
Andrea talked about the ripple effect. Forgiveness between two students can shift a friend group. A friend group can shift a classroom. A classroom can shift a school.
The School That Was Hard to Enter
Andrea also shared a story from a school the team had difficulty entering. Administrators hesitated because of the realities surrounding many of the students’ home lives. When they finally gained access, Andrea described the children’s response as immediate excitement.
As the team danced, shared, and prayed, the Holy Spirit moved. Andrea said she has video of students weeping in the presence of the Lord. Students prayed for one another and asked the team for prayer. Teachers, the principal, and staff were impacted as well.
“I wish we could be there for much longer,” Andrea said. “But I saw the Lord move so powerfully.”
Favor That Reaches Government Offices
One of the biggest doors in Colombia opened through a meeting Andrea didn’t arrange. She described partnering with local Colombian pastors who have churches in multiple cities around the region. Over time, what was happening in the schools drew attention.
The regional Secretary of Education requested a meeting. Andrea said the presence of God filled the office. The Secretary asked for prayer, and Andrea and her team prayed and prophesied over her and the region.
After that meeting, Andrea said the Secretary granted them access to the entire district—over 16,000 students—with an open invitation to return and serve in all the schools.
“It’s divine favor,” Andrea said. “That’s the only way I know to explain it.”
The Way Andrea Lives It
Andrea’s stories carry a common thread: she expects God to move anywhere people are.
“When you go out—whether you’re in your own hometown or another nation—go and love them like Jesus would do,” she said.
She described praying for wait staff at restaurants, watching God touch people in everyday conversations, and seeing “tremendous favor” in ordinary settings. The approach stays consistent: look for the one God highlights, then respond with love and prayer.
Andrea also shared one of her core convictions about hearing God.
“People are always asking me, ‘How do I hear from the Lord?’” she said. “And I tell people… if you haven’t done the last thing that He told you to do, then maybe He’s waiting on you.”
She described obedience as the follow-through that turns a word into a life.
Then she told a story that captures her point in the most personal way. Years ago, when her husband and sons were already in Mexico on a trip, she stayed home. Leaders on the ground were asking her to come. Andrea was driving to work and asked the Lord for clarity.
“Lord, I need to know now,” she prayed.
She stopped at a red light and heard the Holy Spirit prompt her to look to the right. The sign in front of her included the word “Tijuana.” Andrea booked her airline ticket and flew out the next morning.
“He wants relationship,” she said. “He can speak through all kinds of ways.”
A Miracle on a Street Corner
Andrea’s most sobering story from Colombia happened outside any planned ministry setting.
Last year, in a town she called Chiquinquirá, the team came upon a motorcycle accident in a narrow street. One team member—a retired police detective—checked the scene and called Andrea over because he knew she had nursing training.
Andrea assessed the injured young man. He had no pulse. He wasn’t breathing. He was ashen gray and bleeding heavily. She could see trauma that made CPR unrealistic.
So she prayed.
“I began to declare life into him,” she said.
After continued prayer, the young man took a deep breath. Paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital. Later that day, Andrea learned he walked out of the hospital completely okay. His name was Kevin.
In that moment on the street, Andrea said they led Kevin to the Lord.
“That still takes my breath away,” she said.
What She’s Learned in Twenty Years
When you asked Andrea what she’s learned in two decades of ministry, her answer held both honesty and growth.
“Christian people really can tend to be very cruel,” she said. “My little quote is that sheep bites are the worst bites.”
She also spoke openly about being a woman in ministry in the South and the reality that some circles still resist that. Over time, she said, her confidence has anchored more deeply into her identity in Christ rather than approval from people.
She described a simple daily practice that has shaped her life: starting the day with the Holy Spirit and asking the Lord to help her see people the way He sees them—looking for the “gold” inside each person.
What’s Next
Andrea said she and Patrick will be returning to Mexico soon for a three-day leadership training. She loves street ministry and the stories that come with it, yet she also sees the multiplying power of equipping leaders.
“There’s only so many places Patrick and I can physically be,” she said. “But when we multiply the message to other leaders… the impact spreads.”
Patrick and Andrea Penn founded The Dwelling Place in Huntsville, Alabama in 2005 and continue to serve as senior leaders. They have a passion to equip others, advance His Kingdom, and see lives transformed by the power of God. Throughout the last 20 years, they have led teams throughout the nation of Mexico and continue to work with pastors and leaders there. Patrick earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and a Masters Degree in Applied Ministry at Wagner University. Andrea earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing the University of Alabama in Birmingham. They are both ordained with Harvest International Ministries based out of Pasadena, California. Patrick and Andrea are native Alabamians, born and raised in Cullman County, where they were high school sweethearts and married in 1995. Together they have three sons, Seth, Samuel, and Charly.
For those who want to support their work internationally, giving can be done through their church website: dwellingplace.us.
