Church Relations

Collaborating with You

Adventist Young Professionals (AYP) strives to be a collaborator and supporter of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s divisions, unions, conferences, missions, and local churches. Each month, a memo is sent via email to conference, mission, union, division, and GC youth/young adult directors to keep them informed of the plans and progress of AYP as well as to provide them with the opportunity to share feedback and council to the AYP leadership team.

Furthermore, the AYP president meets individually with 4-6 conference, mission, union, or division, youth directors each month to hear their needs, ideas, and feedback, and to strategically explore opportunities for AYP to collaborate in mission with the entities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

Previous Memos

Below are previous memos. If you are a youth director interested in being included on this monthly distribution or in scheduling a conversation with Tim Kosaka, AYP founder & president, please email Kaelin Peart, Administrative Assistant at president@AYP.me. If you are interested in subscribing to AYP’s monthly newsletter with general updates, please create a free AYP account.

Greetings!

As we head into the holidays, I hope you are doing well. If this is your first time receiving my monthly Adventist Young Professionals update, it is a pleasure to connect!

The past few months have been packed and I want to thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. As I share each month, below are three AYP updates for you.

Community Calendar

The AYP Community Calendar continues to serve as a hub for young professionals to discover service projects, social events, Sabbath schools, vespers, and mission trips in their area! Many of your churches actively use this space to engage young adults in their area. Google has even awarded us a grant to help drive web traffic to this resource.

We want this to be a FREE resource that you can use to engage our 7,500 AYPers and to inform them about your conference/union/division events and gatherings that are of interest to them. Please feel free to submit any relevant program at AYP.me/Events/Submit and we’ll happily help to spread the word.

Chapter Feature – AYP Orlando

AYP operates chapters in urban centers across North America. I invite you to hear directly from one of our chapter leaders regarding the blessing he has experienced through AYP!

If we don’t already have a chapter in your conference’s urban center(s), we’d love to collaborate. Please feel free to visit AYP.me/LaunchAChapter or email Gabriel Saldana, Assistant to the President for Programming, for more information.

AYP Blog – Invitation

AYP offers an array of resources for our thousands of subscribers. Our blog serves as a hub of inspiration and information. I am pleased to share that in 2024, we would like to expand our resources by partnering with you!

We are excited to extend an invitation to our conference/union/division leaders to share perspectives and inspiration with our members. Whether this is through a single devotional or a monthly column on topics such as stewardship or evangelism, our goal is to provide young professionals with relevant content that inspires and equips them for mission!

Many of you have told me that you struggle to get young professionals to engage with your current communication channels (ex. union magazine, e-newsletter, etc.). We are here to help! Please feel free to email Xander Roper, Church Relations Manager, for more information about this opportunity!

I hope you find these three updates informative and of interest to your work and ministry. As usual, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Hope you have a great rest of your week.

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Greetings!

I hope this email finds you well. The past few months have been packed and I want to thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. As I share each month, below are three AYP updates for you.

Event Highlight – Minneapolis Fall Retreat

AYP Minneapolis recently hosted their first weekend retreat near Lake Superior in northern Minnesota! The weekend focused on the importance of cultivating rest, and provided AYPers with an intentional opportunity to rest and reconnect with Christ and each other.

Our Minneapolis chapter is currently hosting a weekly book club and will be organizing a personal finance seminar for members of the community next month! This is an example of just one of our many communities across the NAD. Please keep our chapters and groups in your prayers!

Save the Date for Our Spring 2024 Mission Trip

Save the date! AYP will be hosting its next mission trip on May 22 – 27, 2024 in Miami, Florida. This trip will once again be operated by Build and Restore International. Details will be shared in the next couple of months. In the meantime, I invite you to view the recap video from our mission trip to Los Angeles.

Pray For Us As We Prepare for 2024

AYP is impacting the lives of young professionals each and every day. This year, we were blessed to expand our emphasis on mission and engage Adventists and non-Adventists alike!

As we head into the holiday season, we need to raise $25,000 towards the ministry’s operations in 2024 and we are asking our members to consider giving just $10 per month. As a self-supporting ministry, we don’t accept tithe and rely on the generosity of individuals of all ages who believe in our mission. I invite you to please keep us in your prayers – especially in regards to our upcoming fundraising season.

As usual, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Hope you have a great rest of your week.

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Greetings!

I hope this email finds you well. The past few months have been packed and I want to thank you for your ongoing prayers and support. As I share each month, below are three AYP updates for you.

Mission Trip Report
Our first AYP mission trip was an incredible blessing! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. To see how God worked through the experience, please read a report on the trip and view photographs from our time in the Southern California Conference.

If you are interested in having AYP’s next mission trip in your conference, please send an email to Claudia.Suarez@AYP.me and Xiomara.Perdomo@AYP.me.

2024 Convention Speaker
We are excited to share that David Asscherick will be the keynote speaker for the 2024 AYP Cultivate Convention. Please join us in praying for God to lead all aspects of the upcoming leadership convention.

Our team is currently working to select breakout speakers and a worship team for the event. If you have any recommendations, please email Alberto.Mares@AYP.me. We’d love to hear from you as we finalize invitations over the next few weeks.

Leadership Transition
Cinthya Molina, who serves as an assistant to the president overseeing strategy, will be departing from the AYP team at the end of this month. While we are sad to see her leave, we are thankful for her ministry service over the past year.

We’re also excited to welcome Gerald Bedney as Director of Strategy! Based in Chicago, IL, Gerald works in business development for AdventHealth and currently supports Cinthya and the strategy team. He’ll be taking leadership over our strategic plan and will work with AYP’s 70+ team members toward effective ministry focused on Christ’s mission.

As usual, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Hope you have a great rest of your week.

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Good Morning Youth Directors,

Over the weekend, Adventist Young Professionals hosted its 3rd annual AYP Convention – welcoming hundreds of young professionals from across North America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

This global gathering was an impactful blessing, and I want to say thank you to each of you for your prayers, partnership, and trust over these past few years. I wanted to send you a press release about the event hope you will take a moment to read and share how God worked powerfully through this weekend.

For those of you who have not heard, registration for the 2024 AYP Convention is now open at AYP.me/Convention. I hope each of you will be able to join us in Texas, USA for our 2024 AYP Cultivate Convention.

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Dear Youth Directors,

I hope your summer is going well. As I do each month, here are a few ministry highlights from the past month. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, feedback, or ideas.

Convention – Final Reminder
The AYP Convention is just two weeks away and I am excited to share that we have as many people signed up this year as the last two years combined. We are so appreciative to each of you for helping to spread the word and for your ongoing prayers and mentorship. Please keep our team in prayers as we make the final preparations, please pray for the presenters and contributors who will be sharing their talents, and please pray for each and every person who will attend. If you know anyone who would like to attend but still has yet to register, I invite you to encourage them to sign up as soon as possible. 

Mission Trip
It’s hard to believe that our first mission trip – Cultivate LA – is now just 7 weeks away! We have just a dozen spots remaining for this impactful weekend in the Southern California Conference. Please watch/share our promo video for more information and encourage your young adults to sign up before the trip fills!

Introducing Gabriel Saldaña
As we embark on our 2023-2025 ministry strategy, I am pleased to introduce you to Gabriel Saldaña who has joined our team as Assistant to the President for Programming. In this new role, he will lead our chapters and groups directors and support me in AYP’s relationships with each of you. I look forward to each of you having the opportunity to meet Gabriel in the coming weeks and months.

Cultivate: Rhythms of Christ
Finally, on August 1, we officially kick off our 2023-2025 theme – Cultivate: Rhythms of Christ. I previously shared an overview of our theme, but wanted to take this opportunity to provide you with an advanced copy of my collections of Presidential Perspectives for the 2023-2024 season which will be released each month on our newsletter and blog and which will guide the other content pieces deployed during the month.

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Dear Youth Directors,

As we approach the summer camp season, we want to extend our thoughts and prayers to all of you. We hope that your recruitment efforts have been successful, and that logistics and camp sign-ups are going well. Our team is also praying for divine appointments this summer. Please convey our well wishes and prayers to the rest of your teams.

In this email, I would like to share some important highlights from the past month. I encourage you to reach out with any questions, ideas, or feedback you may have.

Round Table:

We want to express our gratitude to those of you who joined us for our first AYP Youth/YA Directors Round Table. For those who were unable to attend, we have recorded the session for your convenience. If you are interested, you can view the recording by clicking here.

Our aim with this round table is to create meaningful and practical spaces for our leaders to hear your ideas and perspectives, and for you to help shape the direction of AYP’s ministry. As we plan for our next round table, we value your input on how we can make this experience more relevant and meaningful for you. Additionally, please let us know if there is a particular day of the week and time of day that is most convenient for you.

Convention:

It’s hard to believe that we are just over a month away from the 2023 AYP Convention. We sincerely appreciate each and every one of you for spreading the word about this event with your pastors and young adults. These next six weeks are crucial as we finalize details and encourage young professionals to sign up!

We kindly ask for your prayers for our team and for everyone attending the Thrive Convention. Please ask God to lead those who need to be there to sign up. Furthermore, please inform your pastors and young adults about our efforts to make the convention affordable and accessible to all young professionals.

Consider sharing our convention media kit with your stakeholders so they can gain a better understanding of the impact this convention will have on the lives of their young professionals:

  1. Powerpoint Slide
  2. Promo Video (45 Seconds)
  3. Flier/Bulletin Insert with Event and Speaker Information
  4. Information on Discounts, Promo Codes, and Group Rates

Additionally, we invite you to visit our blog and Instagram page to witness firsthand how God is using this ministry and the AYP Convention to impact lives for the Kingdom. If your schedule permits, we encourage you to sign up at AYP.me/Convention and join us in Texas!

Team Growth:

We are thrilled to announce that the AYP team is growing. We have introduced a new leadership role – the Assistant to the President for Programming – to strategically coordinate our groups and chapters. We are delighted that Gabriel Saldana will be joining us in this capacity. Furthermore, under the leadership of Stephanie Carlson, we have launched our presence in Denver, Colorado. Stay tuned as this chapter grows, and as we continue to establish additional chapters and groups across the AYP network.

Cultivate Theme:

Our team is actively working on solidifying the theme for the 2023-2024 year – Cultivate: Rhythms of Christ. This theme will guide our resource content, programming, and convention. It will consist of 12 sub-themes that will be reflected in blog content, conversation columns, podcast episodes, and convention breakout sessions. We value your input and invite you to view the attached document and share any feedback or ideas you may have.

We hope these updates are relevant and of interest to you. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or ideas you may have.

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Dear Youth Directors,

Hope you are doing well. As I do each month, below are a few AYP highlights for you:

AYP Advisory:
This is a friendly reminder that our first youth director advisory call is this Monday, May 15 @ 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT. As previously shared, this advisory will provide an opportunity for our youth and young adult stakeholders to share ideas, feedback, and questions that will help shape the future of AYP. Please sign up for the Zoom link.

New Chapters:
I am happy to share that in the next couple weeks, we will announce the launch of AYP chapters in Atlanta, Georgia, Denver, Colorado, and Boston, Massachusetts! If you are interested in launching an AYP chapter in a major city center within your conference, please visit AYP.me/LaunchAChapter and reach out to me so we can begin the process together.

Strategic Plan:
At our Spring 2023 board meetings, AYP’s Board of Directors approved our strategic plan for the next two years (2023-2025). In this next season of ministry, we will focus on continued growth of communities. Additionally, we will expand our emphasis on missions and outreach and will launch new resources to equip young professionals to actively share Christ and to actively integrate into loving Adventist churches. I invite you to read more about our strategic plan’s pillars, goals, and objectives.

Mission Trip Update:
Registration for the AYP 2023 Cultivate Mission Trip in Los Angeles, California, is now over half full. If you have any young adults who might like to participate in this project, please encourage them to register as soon as possible. As a reminder, AYP Convention attendees will receive $50 off their registration costs. If you have any questions, please feel free to email the assistant to the president for mission at Xiomara.Perdomo@AYP.me.

Convention Discount Opportunities:
With just 6 weeks until standard pricing for the 2023 AYP Thrive Convention wraps, I wanted to let you know that we will be running a 48 hour flash sale next week on Monday and Tuesday where anyone who uses the code AYP20 will be able to get $20 off standard priced tickets.

Please feel free to share this with your young adults and pastors so they may be blessed by this powerful discipleship conference. If you have any questions about the convention, please feel free to email our convention director at Jazzmine.Bankston@AYP.me.

As I wrap my monthly update, I invite you to read a recent article from the Southwest Union Record about how God is working through AYP. I also invite you to visit AYP.me/Blog for a collection of testimonies, devotionals, and resources that I hope will be a blessing for you!

As usual, please reach out with any questions or ideas. I hope to see you this Monday, May 15 for our AYP Conference Youth Director Advisory.

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Dear Youth Directors,

Hope you are doing well. As I do each month on the 15th, below are three AYP highlights for you:

AYP Advisory:
I’m happy to share that your registration for our first youth director advisory call is now open. Happening on Monday, May 15, 2023 @ 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT, this advisory will provide an opportunity for our youth and young adult stakeholders to share ideas, feedback, and questions that will help shape the future of AYP.

This advisory will initially meet bi-annually and will consist of a brief ministry update followed by a virtual roundtable where AYP leaders will listen to you! Please sign up for the Zoom link.

Mission Trip Registration Now Open:
I’m pleased to share that registration is now open for AYP’s first mission trip at AYP.me/MissionTrip. This 5 day trip will be in California and will focus on restoring a local Adventist Church and providing outreach to the community.

The trip costs just $200 (including meals and lodging) and we are happy to provide a 25% discount to young professionals attending the AYP Convention. We appreciate your support in spreading the word about this upcoming opportunity.

Convention Discount Opportunities:
We are now just over three months away from the 2023 AYP Thrive Convention! Thanks to each of you who have been helping to spread the word. We recognize that budgets are tight – both for conferences and young adults – and are pleased to share several ways we are working to make the convention more accessible.

CONFERENCES: We are happy to share that we will provide a discount code to conferences seeking to promote this event to their stakeholders. This will cost nothing to you as we truly want to provide you with opportunities to offer your young adults. An example of something similar is our partnership with Southern Adventist University which will make the convention more accessible to their alumni – we would be happy to work with you to make the event accessible to your stakeholders. Let me know if you’d like to discuss this opportunity further.

CHURCHES: As previously shared, we are making group rate tickets available (12 tickets for the price of 10). Please let me know if any of your pastors would like this for their churches.

INDIVIDUALS: Finally, for any young adult who still cannot afford their ticket, we have a limited number of scholarships that are being made available on a needs-basis. It’s our goal that money is not a hindrance for anyone.

As I wrap my monthly update, I’m excited to share that our chapters and groups continue to thrive and grow. Currently, we are in the process of preparing the launch of chapters in Boston, Atlanta, and Denver. We look forward to continuing to work with you to launch and grow communities that support your ministry toward young adults and empower them to grow together in Mission.

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Dear Youth Directors,

As we approach the start of spring, I hope you are doing well. I know a lot of you are crisscrossing the country recruiting summer camp staff and praying for traveling mercies as well as success in your recruitment. It was a pleasure to see many of you a couple weeks ago at NAD advisories and I look forward to keeping in touch.

As I do each month on the 15th, below are three AYP highlights for you:

AYP Advisory

During my presentation at the NAD, I shared our plans to launch an AYP advisory to provide a space for our youth and young adult stakeholders to share ideas, feedback, and questions that will help shape the future of AYP. This advisory will initially meet bi-annually and will consist of a brief ministry update followed by a virtual roundtable where AYP leaders will listen to you!

Our first advisory will be Monday, May 15, 2023 @ 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT. If you are interested in joining this, please RSVP. While this invitation is only being distributed to youth/YA conference/mission/union/division/GC level leaders, you are welcomed to invite pastors, lay people, or other department leaders from your conference. We simply ask that each person RSVPs so we are able to plan accordingly.

WhatsApp Chat for Young Adult Leaders

In addition to this advisory, I am pleased to share that AYP is launching a WhatsApp chat for Adventist pastors and youth/YA directors to be able to share ideas with each other and with AYP leaders on an ongoing basis. You are invited to join Young Adult SDA Pastors and at your dispersion, share this chat within your conference/mission/union/division.

Strategic Planning Season

Each spring, our President’s Cabinet journeys through a season of planning for the future. Included in this process, is the development of our theme/focus, a series of cross-departmental strategic goals/objectives/benchmarks, and actionable methods to successfully implement the strategic objectives within the context of the theme and organization’s mission overall.

As I shared at NAD advisories, our 2023-2024 theme will be Cultivate and will focus on helping AYPers integrate their work and life journey in Rhythms of Christ. Under the leadership of our Assistant to the President for Mission, Xiomara Perdomo, an AYP Taskforce is developing a series of 12 focus areas within this theme which will guide our resources and events in the year ahead. Simultaneously, our Assistant to the President for Strategy, Cinthya Molina, is leading cross-departmental discussions to develop a plan that puts these mission-focused goals into action.

I hope these updates are helpful to you and look forward to hearing from you with any questions or feedback.

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Happy February Youth Directors,

Hope you are doing well. January has been a blessing for AYP and has been met with an array of productive meetings, a number of new team members, and several new partnerships. Our team is also hard at work developing our theme and strategic initiatives for the 2023-2024 year as well as in beginning the planning process for our 2024 convention happening July 19-21, 2024. Below are a few highlights I wanted to bring to your attention. Please reach out with any questions!

New Chapters

This past month, we launched two new chapters in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas! Both are located in areas with large clusters of young professionals and our leaders are looking forward to making a positive impact in these communities. Visit
AYP.me/chapters
for a full roster of AYP chapters and email

Mechee.Cherine@AYP.me with any chapters-related questions.

Convention Speakers Update

I’m happy to share that we have finalized our roster of breakout speakers for the upcoming AYP convention. The individuals below will join us. Ben Lundquist – sharing perspective and expertise that will equip attendees to thrive for Christ.

  • Ann Roda, VP for Mission Integration & Spiritual Care at Adventist HealthCare
  • Michael Gibson, Senior Pastor, Keene SDA Church
  • Shawn Johnson, Author, Speaker, and Generational Consultant
  • April Snyder, Pastor for Discipleship, Keene SDA Church
  • Stephen & Felicia Lee, Past Co-Presidents, ASI Young Professionals

Please stay tuned as more information about their breakout session tracks become available, and visit AYP.me/convention for more information. If you have any questions about the convention, please e-mail Mark.Antonio@AYP.me.

AYP Chaplain

AYP has welcomed a number of new team members over the past month and has filled a brand-new chaplaincy position that will focus on providing spiritual care to our team members and leading a team that develops programs and resources for the global AYP community. I’m pleased to share that Pastor Kayla Goodman – an alumna of Southwestern Adventist University who is currently at Andrews University for seminary – has accepted the invitation to serve in this role. Stay tuned as she acclimates into her new role and feel free to reach out to her at Kayla.Goodman@AYP.me.

Please continue to keep AYP in your prayers and please continue to reach out with any ideas or questions. We are here to support and collaborate with you as we work together for Christ!

Blessings,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Hello Youth Directors,

I pray you are doing well during these first few weeks of 2023. In my first monthly update to you, I want you to know that our team continues to keep you in our prayers and looks forward to collaborating in ministry during the year ahead. Below are a few quick updates:

Our Partners
As we embark on a new year, we are thankful to the organizations that make this ministry possible. Included in our family of supporters for 2023 are the Texas Conference of SDA Young Adult Department, ADRA, Kettering Health Network, and Hope Channel International. Many more denominational and supporting organizations equip the ministry of AYP as vendors, sponsors, and advertisers. If your department or conference is interested in partnering financially with AYP, please let me know.

AYP Blog
Each month, on the same day I email you my monthly update, I share a devotional thought with AYPers from across the globe. This, and many additional stories, are included in the AYP Blog. Our blog features inspirational insight and stories for and by Adventist young adults, and I invite you to explore and share these stories!

Mission Trip
AYP is planning its first domestic mission trip in partnership with Build & Restore International. The project will be August 31-September 4 in the Los Angeles, California area and will be filled with a variety of opportunities to positively impact SoCal for Christ. More details will be available soon!

Engaging Our Youth Directors
We continue to be blessed by the conversations our team is able to have with leaders from across the Adventist Church. This month, we are meeting with the youth directors for the Trans-European Division, Chinese Union Mission, and a number of local conferences. Please keep AYP in prayers as we continue to explore opportunities to support the work of the Adventist Church in collaboration with our conferences, missions, unions, and divisions.

Thank you,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Hello Youth Directors,

Wishing you many blessings this holiday season. I wanted to take a moment to provide you my monthly AYP update. Additionally, I want to let you know that we have developed a new resource for Adventist Church youth directors and will be building in additional content over the months ahead. Please check out the page, view the updates below, and let me know if you have any questions or ideas.

Chapter/Group Update/Invitation:
We recently launched a new chapter in Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as two new exciting groups to engage and empower young adults. I invite you to learn more about these and many more groups at AYP.me/groups; please encourage your young adults to consider starting their own AYP group by visiting AYP.me/StartAGroup. Below are overviews of our newest groups!

Adventist Entrepreneurs, led by Vitaly Lim, founder of AdventTech – creator of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church Sabbath School app, is a brand new space for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to network, share ideas and more through Christ-centered friendships.

The AYP Prayer Room creates a space for you to join AYPers from across the globe every day in prayer, praise, and community as you surrender each day to Christ and thank Him for His multitudes of blessings in your life.

Conversation Columns & Convention Update:
In January, we will be launching a new monthly resource – Conversation Columns – focused on engaging young adults through meaningful and insightful conversations about topics that are relevant and important to them. Under the editorial leadership of Pastor Jazzmine Bankston, these columns will be centered on our convention theme – Thrive: the Next Level and will help young adults prepare their hearts for our time together in July.

As we approach the end of 2022, I wanted to remind you one final time that there are just 2 weeks remaining for your young adults to reserve their tickets for the early bird rate of $84.99. Furthermore, please continue sharing with your pastors about our 12 for the price of 10 church group rates.

Fundraising Update:

As I conclude, I just want to thank each of you who have donated to Adventist Young Professionals this holiday season. I know you have so many causes to support and I appreciate your support to AYP. Together, we have raised nearly $10,000 for AYP and in the last few weeks are prayerfully aiming to reach our goal of $24,000. To read testimonies about the impact AYP is having on young adults and to learn more about the projects that donations will support in 2023, visit AYP.me/give. Thank you for your continued prayers, advocacy, and support.

Thank you,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Hello Youth Directors,

I hope you are doing well. Is there anything I can be praying for you about? I have been blessed over the past couple months to connect with around 30 of our youth directors across the division and have loved hearing your strategies and plans as we explore how AYP can best support our conferences and churches. Yesterday, I visited Lincoln, Nebraska and was blessed to connect with our Mid America Union leaders!

For those of you whom I have not yet had the opportunity to connect with, please do reach out at your convenience. I’d be happy to find a time to connect and explore how AYP can best support your initiatives! As I share each month, below are three things I wanted to keep you in the loop about!

End of Year Giving Season
Between now and the end of the year, our team is hard at work raising funds to sustain and grow the ministry next year. Thank you to those of you who donate to AYP, your personal contributions are such a huge blessing. As I’ve been asked by some, I want to let you all know that AYP does NOT accept tithe, we strongly encourage all to give to their local church before supporting the ministry of AYP. With this said, if you know anyone who might like to make a gift to AYP, please encourage them to visit AYP.me/give to make a donation of any amount. We truly appreciate all who believe in this cause. Please check out a video that shares how God has blessed us this past year!

Convention Update
I am excited to share that Pastor Ben Lundquist, Oregon Conference Young Adults Director, will be the keynote speaker for the 2023 AYP Thrive Convention. Details are being finalized, so stay tuned as more information becomes available! As a reminder, tickets are discounted to just $84.99 till December 31. Furthermore, our group discount enables your churches to reserve 12 tickets for the price of 10! Please encourage those you think would be interested to click here to reserve their discounted tickets! For international attendees seeking a visa letter, please have them email Jazzmine.Bankston@AYP.me.

AYP Talking Points
Finally, a number of you have requested talking points to help you accurately share AYP with your administrators, pastors, and young adults. I’m happy to share a PDF (attached) that provides an overview of the ministry as well as fun facts/ways to get involved. This is meant as an internal document to help our friends/team members share the ministry and I hope it is helpful to you. I’d ask you to direct members of the public to AYP.me/about for our public overview.

As usual, please feel free to reach out with any questions or suggestions. Also, please continue to utilize our community calendar to share your conference’s and churches’ young adult gatherings with AYPers,

Thank you,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Hello Youth Directors,

I hope your October is going well. This week, we are exhibiting at the Society of Adventist Communicators at the NAD where our team is meeting with your conferences’ communication teams and sharing about Adventist Young Professionals. I wanted to take a moment to share a brief update on AYP!
 
Chapters
Over the past month, our existing 10 chapters have continued to grow. Our San Antonio, Texas chapter hosted their first gathering last week and in the next few weeks, we will be establishing our newest chapter in Anchorage, Alaska. If you are interested in exploring how an AYP chapter can be established within your conference or union, please let me know so we can schedule a time to connect.
 
Mentorship
A goal of mine is to pair each of our 50+ team members with 1-3 seasoned mentors who can mentor them as a follower of Christ as well as a leader on our team. We are looking for mentors who can provide guidance in ministry programming, fundraising & development, marketing & communications, strategy & mission integration, recruitment & volunteer engagement, and ministry leadership. If you or someone you know would be interested in mentoring an AYP leader, please let me know so I can get you introduced. We greatly appreciate your consideration.

Conversation Column
Our team is beginning to explore how we can equip our chapter and group leaders as well as AYPers across the AYP network with a relevant and interactive resource that can drive intentional conversations. The goal is for this to become a monthly resource that any young professional can use to lead a vespers or Bible study amongst their fellow young professionals. We have a Texas Conference pastor serving as a mentor/editor of the project, but if you have ideas for topics that you feel would benefit young adults in your territory, please let me know.

I look forward to hearing back from you with any questions or suggestions. As a quick reminder, please continue to utilize our community calendar to share your conference’s and churches’ young adult gatherings with AYPers.

Thank you,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals
 

Hello Youth Directors,

With a number of recent leadership transitions across the division, I wanted to take a moment to re-introduce Adventist Young Professionals (AYP) to you.

AYP has now grown to a community of over 6,000 Seventh-day Adventist young professionals. Through online resources, local chapters, and an annual leadership convention, we help young adults build their community and discover opportunities to advance their faith and career. Our goal is to engage each AYPer in their local church and to be a resource and collaborator to you and your team.

Hearing Your Needs
I met with Pastor Tracy Wood earlier this summer and at his suggestion, we have begun meeting with the various NAD union youth directors. I appreciate the many mentors I have gained through this process and we continue to gain insight into how AYP can be a collaborator and supporter of our conferences and churches. I am looking forward to continuing these conversations and am especially excited to join both the Columbia Union and Mid America Union for their youth director advisories this fall.

AYP Community Calendar
We recently launched a community calendar to help churches and conferences build awareness for their young adult focused events. AYPers actively use the calendar to discover in-person and virtual gatherings that enable them to build community, grow faith, and serve others. Please feel free to share your conference’s events (via the red button on the page) so we can help build AYPer’s engagement with your young adult events. Please also feel free to share this resource with your fellow department directors and conference pastors.

Thrive Convention
Tickets for AYP’s 2023 Thrive Convention are quickly selling and our team is already working hard to plan for the leadership convention. We are very appreciative to the Texas Conference Young Adult Department for their financial support for the third convention in a row. I wanted to let you know that AYP is offering a group discount to help churches seeking to send their young adults to Thrive 2023. If you would like more information about this group rate, please email our convention director, Mark Antonio.

As I have shared with many of you, our leadership team is committed to collaborating with you in advancing the work of our Church. In the season ahead, I plan to provide more frequent email updates to better involve you in the development and growth of AYP, and I invite you to reach out anytime with your questions, concerns, or ideas.

Thank you,

Tim Kosaka
Founder & President
Adventist Young Professionals

Meet the President

Tim Kosaka is the founder and president of Adventist Young Professionals. As A native of the Pacific Northwest, he resides in Maryland. the global leader of Adventist Young Professionals, Tim is thankful for the opportunity he has to connect with talented young adults from across North America and around the world. He is passionate about merging his interest in marketing with his passion for ministry and supporting a team to creatively innovate the global ministry.  

Tim holds a degree in Marketing from Walla Walla University. During his time there, Tim served as the student association’s social vice president and was involved in other ministry and leadership roles.  He has also previously worked at Southwestern Adventist University, Upper Columbia Academy, and the Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventist’s Sunset Lake Camp

Tim is excited to use his God-given talents to advance the ministry of Christ and looks forward to connecting with you!

Timothy Kosaka

Timothy Kosaka

Founder & President
Chairman of the Board
877-AYP-1844 x701

Next Steps

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David Asscherick

David is a speaker/director for Light Bearers and ARISE co-founder and instructor. Since his baptism in 1999, David has traveled the globe preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He and his wife Violeta are the happy parents of two boys, Landon and Jabel.

Keynote Speaker

Benjamin Lundquist, host of Rise & Lead, will headline 2023 AYP Convention.

Benjamin Lundquist is a top motivational speaker and one the leading voices for leadership development and empowerment. He is passionate about helping students and professionals see their worth and value, see themselves as a leader, and see their potential to change the world. The message he shares is motivating, relatable, and highly practical. Audiences are challenged to take extreme ownership of the unique gifts and opportunities they have. He is an international speaker and host of Rise and Lead Podcast which has been downloaded in over 110 countries providing aspiring and experienced leaders of all ages with world-class content and conversation. He frequently speaks at corporate and faith events, universities, and high schools.

Identity in Christ | Breakout Track

April is currently an associate pastor for discipleship at Keene SDA church. She is enrolled in a dual graduate program for Public Health and MDIV chaplaincy. She enjoys working with different ministries that highlight service, hospitality, and life enrichment. 

Her hobbies include traveling, reading, music, and extreme sports. An introvert at heart, she enjoys moments with close friends and in the quiet. Her and her husband, Blake Snyder reside in Burleson, Texas.

Purpose & Calling | Breakout Track

Ann Roda likes to describe her life as one long adventure with God. She began her career as a registered nurse in OB then transitioned into healthcare administration. Then, God unexpectedly redirected her path to the Adventist Theological Seminary, for an MDiv, and into pastoral ministry. She spent 15 years as a church pastor in Marietta, Georgia and Fulton, Maryland. Six years ago, God had another adventure for Ann, and called her back into the health care ministry, serving with Adventist HealthCare as Vice President for Mission and Spiritual Care. 

This position is the perfect combination of both pastoral ministry and health care. Ann is married to Jose Hernandez, a licensed professional counselor. Ann and her husband enjoy hiking, biking, and traveling.

Relationships | Breakout Track

Stephen and Felecia Lee are partners in the mission. They share a mutual passion for young adult ministries and using their talents to share the Gospel online and through speaking engagements. Stephen helps individuals and businesses function more efficiently through time management and productivity techniques. Felecia is a full-time homemaker and also the founder of the New Wives Club. 

In addition to this, she runs a program teaching women of color how to learn principles of faith through natural hair care. They live in New Hampshire and speak in different places on topics related to singleness, courtship, communication, evangelism, and faith.

Spiritual Health | Breakout Track

Shawn is passionate about generations coming together! She grew up in a four-generation family business and knows, from first-hand experience, that when people of all ages work together, everyone wins!

She has a B.S. in marketing from the University of Nebraska and is an award-winning sales and marketing professional. Her professional certifications include being a member of the John Maxwell Team and DISC Behavioral Consultant. Recently she published her first book “Strategies for Generational Inclusion at Work.”

Communities | Breakout Track

Michael Gibson currently serves as the Lead Pastor at the Keene SDA Church where he most previously served for four years as Pastor for Young Adults and lead Elevate, a growing and thriving young adult community in Keene. Michael is married to Melissa and they both enjoy the outdoors, long walks, and traveling to new, unexplored places. 

Most days, when he’s not teaching, preaching or studying, you’ll find him playing disc golf or working on home renovations with Melissa. They recently welcomed their son, Micah Eden, into the world last October and ever since, life has taken on a whole new meaning. Above all, Michael and Melissa have a passion for discipleship and telling others about the incredible God they serve. For them, the gospel boils down to loving God and loving people.