Growing Together
Not a Statistic A Generation that is Involved and Engaged
“I’d heard so many stories of people leaving the church after college, and I didn’t want to be part of that statistic, so I was very intentional about my walk with Christ.” Tim Kosaka spent his teenage and college years determined to stick with God and stick with the church. Once he graduated from college, however, Kosaka realized that following years of planning, the next step of life was truly in God’s hands. While working at summer camp he applied for jobs and prayed. A college contact told Kosaka she was recommending him for an opening at Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU), and though he didn’t expect to be hired, all the doors opened, and “I took a leap of faith,” Kosaka says. So Kosaka joined SWAU in 2018, and has since been promoted to director of marketing and public relations, and uses his talents in what he considers to be ministry: The mission to inspire knowledge, faith and service through Christ-centered education. “Christian education is a form of evangelism because not only are we educating people in our church, but we really serve as a gateway to the non-Adventist community as well,” he says. At the end of 2019, Kosaka felt inspired to create a way for young people in the church to connect professionally, and Adventist Young Professionals (AYP) was born. It started as an Instagram page, “But God had bigger plans,” Kosaka says. Today, AYP is a network of thousands of young Adventists starting their careers around the world, and has official representation across the United States as well as in Canada, Australia and Liberia. Kosaka says their goal is to be a hub of resources to help these young people be strong in their careers and grounded in their faith.
4 RECORD MAGAZINE
