A dedicated, passionate youth worker with over 15 years of experience in a variety of church and community settings who is searching for an established and growing church community to partner with.
My calling is to empower young people, their families, and members of the church community to model God’s love in a relational, Christ-centered way. I have successfully achieved this goal in multiple positions, which includes an ecumenical youth ministry program I created (with four churches) that grew by 580% over the five years I was director. Connect with me via LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/aoyamadt/ or DavidThompsonYM@gmail.com
2. I was born in
my (American) parents were missionariesJapan
...and lived there for 10 years
3. Then my family moved to
Washington State
(where my parents are from)
Seattle
4. Even though I was American and spoke English...
I felt different,
like I didn’t belong
especially at school
5. As I struggled with being a third culture kid*
*Third culture kid (TCK, 3CK) is a term used to refer
to children who were raised in a culture outside of
their parents' culture for a significant part of their
development years.
I became active in our church’s youth group In high school, I joined the student worship team
& helped with the junior high ministry
7. In college I realized that the
unconditional lovE & acceptance
I experienced through mentoring
relationships at youth group had
made a on me...
big impact
8. God’s calling for my life
...to use my gifts & skills to
be an example of God’s love
and I found
in the lives of
young people
9. I graduated from
Seattle Pacific University
with a degree in educational ministry
and a minor in youth ministry
10. Ministry opened to me before I even graduated...
with a youth ministry I helped create called
Magnolia Mission Youth
11. 4 churches
in a small community
ecumenical
non-profit youth ministry
made up of
MMY was an
12. As the director of MMY,
5 years,
I focused on relational,
Christ-centered ministry
for
13. As the director of MMY,
5 years,
I focused on relational,
Christ-centered ministry
for
14. As the director of MMY,
5 years,
I focused on relational,
Christ-centered ministry
for
15. As the director of MMY,
5 years,
I focused on relational,
Christ-centered ministry
for
16. As the director of MMY,
5 years,
I focused on relational,
Christ-centered ministry
for
17. We didn’t care about numbers, but our
c o m m u n i t y r e l a t i o n s h i p s , w i t h G o d ’ s
blessing, helped the middle school group
grow from 5 to 35 kids
attending our weekly program and
3 to 12 students
for our weekly high school program
like volunteering in the schools
& coaching youth sports
18. We didn’t care about numbers, but our
c o m m u n i t y r e l a t i o n s h i p s , w i t h G o d ’ s
blessing, helped the middle school group
grow from 5 to 35 kids
attending our weekly program and
3 to 12 students
for our weekly high school program
like volunteering in the schools
& coaching youth sports
19. We didn’t care about numbers, but our
c o m m u n i t y r e l a t i o n s h i p s , w i t h G o d ’ s
blessing, helped the middle school group
grow from 5 to 35 kids
attending our weekly program and
3 to 12 students
for our weekly high school program
like volunteering in the schools
& coaching youth sports
20. We didn’t care about numbers, but our
c o m m u n i t y r e l a t i o n s h i p s , w i t h G o d ’ s
blessing, helped the middle school group
grow from 5 to 35 kids
attending our weekly program and
3 to 12 students
for our weekly high school program
like volunteering in the schools
& coaching youth sports
21. We didn’t care about numbers, but our
c o m m u n i t y r e l a t i o n s h i p s , w i t h G o d ’ s
blessing, helped the middle school group
grow from 5 to 35 kids
attending our weekly program and
3 to 12 students
for our weekly high school program
like volunteering in the schools
& coaching youth sports
24. later, I followed God’s leading to
revisit my roots... 5 years
teaching English to high school students.Japan in
25. I continued to invest in the lives of students
building relationships
& making connections
26. I continued to invest in the lives of students
building relationships
& making connections
27. I continued to invest in the lives of students
building relationships
& making connections
28. I continued to invest in the lives of students
building relationships
& making connections
29. I continued to invest in the lives of students
building relationships
& making connections
30. I continued to invest in the lives of students
building relationships
& making connections
31. I got engaged to Ashley in Japan.
(she came to Japan a year after me and lived in another prefecture)
(not the actual ring)
32. I got engaged to Ashley in Japan.
(she came to Japan a year after me and lived in another prefecture)
(not the actual ring)
we married in 2009
33. We moved to another city, where
I continued to teach English,
build relationships
and volunteered with a program
for elementary school students.
34. We moved to another city, where
I continued to teach English,
build relationships
and volunteered with a program
for elementary school students.
35. We moved to another city, where
I continued to teach English,
build relationships
and volunteered with a program
for elementary school students.
36. We moved to another city, where
I continued to teach English,
build relationships
and volunteered with a program
for elementary school students.
37. We moved to another city, where
I continued to teach English,
build relationships
and volunteered with a program
for elementary school students.
38. But my focus shifted when my
daughter
was born in Japan in 2011
39. But my focus shifted when my
daughter
was born in Japan in 2011
Awwwww
40. Japan can be expensive salary, on so a in January teacher’s
moved 2013 we
back to Washington
hoping and trusting right God doors.
to open the
41. ...but jobs have been hard to come by.
Nothing
opened for me in education or ministry,
despite applying to 30+ positions.
42. Ashley’s health suffered
for many reasons after giving birth and an
overseas move.
So I realized God wanted me to focus on my family and I
was blessed to spend more time with my daughter.
43. Currently...
I am connecting with others at the
job I was able to find and trusting
God as we walk through our
dark night of the soul
44. ...but
my heart is in ministry
working with young people
seeing God’s hand
working in their lives and showing them
His love
45. Thank you in advance for the potential
opportunity to talk with you about
partnering with your community
to positively impact your students and
their families.
Contact me
(clickable links)
Email: davidthompsonym@gmail.com
linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/aoyamadt
46. Credits
Icons used in presentation credited to:
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Kids icons made by Freepik, http://www.freepik.com, from http://www.flaticon.com, licensed under
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC BY 3.0, modified by separating and changing color
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC BY 3.0, color modified
American flag by sebi01 from Vecteezy.com
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