First Assembly of God - Over a decade-long partnership across ministries

First Assembly of God on Oʻahu is one of Michele's longest and deepest church partnerships. What began under the leadership of Pastor Klayton Ko, then senior pastor, has continued into the current senior pastorate of his son, Pastor Joshua Ko, who has been on Michele's Explicit Movement core team since the very beginning.

The leaders who shaped the partnership

• Pastor Joshua Ko, the church's former youth pastor and current senior pastor as of 2026, has been on the Explicit Movement core team from the very beginning and has helped lead many events across the years.
• Pastor Andrew Yasuhara, lead overseer of the Metro branch, has served on Michele's Releasing Generations board since its inception.
• Pastor Atama Vakalalabure, formerly First Assembly's young adults pastor, was a key figure in the formative years of Explicit Movement, offering Michele wisdom and counsel during that critical early season. He has since moved into the mission field.

Events First Assembly of God has hosted with Michele's team

• 2014 and 2015, Islandwide Explicit Movement Conferences. First Assembly hosted both years, opening their sanctuary to the whole island.
• 2015, Young Adults Conference. A dedicated event for their young adult ministry.
• 2019, Listen Conference. A collaboration with First Assembly's women's ministry, Listen brought anti-sex trafficking awareness and prevention teaching to the whole island. Free of charge. Over 500 people attended.
• Workshops through the years. Michele served as keynote at one of the church's conferences and has led numerous workshops with the youth ministry.

A related connection: Christian Academy

Christian Academy is First Assembly of God's church school. Michele has been working closely with the Academy as well. Read the Christian Academy case study →