My name is Dave, short for David in English, Dawid in Hebrew or Dauod as I have often been called in Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka.

The meaning of the name is uncertain, but in the concordance one of the variant readings of the name is loving which is very close to what my parents said my name meant. They said David meant beloved.

In this sense I have grown up as a David. I have grown up feeling loved by my father and mother especially and by the God who my parents represented. I have been loved, and feel as if my fundamental identity is in being loved and in being able to love.

Dave Andrews