Douglas and Amanda Tunney are the base directors of YWAM in Pittsburgh.  

Doug has served in YWAM since 2002 and has traveled to more than 25 nations as a missionary. In YWAM he has overseen follow-up of large scale evangelism outreaches, lead Pittsburgh's outreach team, and networked churches together for various evangelistic efforts. He also served as youth director of the Christian Center Church for 4 years. He has a passion for evangelism and enabling people into missions. His heart is see all Christians become people that can communicate the gospel in simple, relevant and effective ways.

Amanda hails from Lindale, Texas and did her DTS in Pittsburgh in 2003.  Her DTS outreach took her to Israel, one of the most exciting times of her life.  She joined the staff and has served in many areas;  DTS and Joshua Generation leadership and Office Manager and accounting.  Amanda brings her love for Jesus and heart for people to everything she does. 

Lima Jamir is from Nagaland, India.  Lima did his DTS in 1997 in Maui Hawaii. Since then, he has served on staff with YWAM and then joined our staff in 2002. He has been to over 26 Countries and loves Mongolia, China, Thailand, South Korea, and South American countries.

He still holds his homeland India close to his heart. Lima now serves as the assistant director at YWAM Pittsburgh and spent many years overseeing our Discipleship Training Schools. He loves discipleship and the opportunity to send young people into missions. His other passions are preaching, story-telling, and entertaining people.

Lima has a large family in India and has been blessed with an amazing testimony of how his tribe found Christ. Nagaland is one of the only Christian states in India because of missionaries serving just like Lima serves today.     

Originally from the Pittsburgh area, Mark’s first missions experience was with Joshua Generation in the summer of 2002.  Right away he knew he wanted to serve the Lord in missions with the rest of his life.  That fall he did a DTS and has been on staff in Pittsburgh ever since.

Tara is originally from Ventura, California.  Her first experience in YWAM was with King’s Kids in Barcelona.  She did her DTS in Pittsburgh in the fall of 2004 and joined our staff following her gradution. Mark and Tara have been married since February of 2006. 

April Harding is from Bentleyville, Pennsylvania. She did her DTS in the fall of 2002 and traveled to Liberia West Africa for her outreach phase. After completing her DTS, she knew the Lord was calling her to join with YWAM Pittsburgh, which she did in 2003.

Since then, she has traveled to many nations of the world: Romania, Hungry, Brazil, Peru, Malaysia, Singapore, Mongolia and many more. For the past four years, April has served the ministry by coordinating Joshua Generation in the United States and in Peru. She has a great passion to see young people obtain a heart for missions.

She desires to see them trained and equipped in evangelism and release them to share their faith with the world. Throughout the last seven years in YWAM Pittsburgh, she has learned many amazing truths and has seen God move in ways she never thought possible. Her heart is to serve the Lord and walk with him wherever he leads her. 

John Matarazzo, or "JMat" as he's also known, grew up in Monroeville, PA and did his DTS in the fall of 2003.  His school outreach was to Israel and he has been on staff since graduating in January of 2004.

He has done missions work in 12 foreign countries, including four trips to Peru.  John has worked with a variety of ministries in YWAM Pittsburgh, including DTS, Joshua Generation, and the Go Team.  He also serves in the maintenance and multimedia departments.

John has a heart to reach the world for Christ and call people to missions using a wide variety of new media. He is currently leading our Discipleship Training Schools and is a part of our leadership team.

Ryan Dutra is from Manchester, New Hampshire and Crystal is originally from Centralia, Washington. They met during their DTS here at YWAM Pittsburgh in the fall of 2007 and have been a part of our staff since their graduation. They married in September of 2009.

Ryan and Crystal have been involved in missions from their youth. It was at the age of 14, while on a trip to South Africa, that Crystal heard the Lord call her into full-time missions. Together they share a heart for the nations and for worship and carry a burden for Biblical Discipleship. They are currently receiving further training in discipling the many university students of Pittsburgh through various avenues. 

They have done ministry throughout the world and together have traveled to Peru, Haiti, Brazil, and Singapore.

They have been involved in the pioneering of YWAM Pittsburgh's city team as well as communications, advertising and video production.

Their excitement and passion for the face of God pushes them into a deeper relationship with Jesus every day. They are excited for each new door that is opened to them because it is just another way to serve the Lord with all that they are. 

Melissa is originally from San Jose, California. She did her DTS in the fall of 2007 and has since joined YWAM Pittsburgh full-time and traveled the world.

Melissa has traveled to Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Haiti, Singapore and Malaysia. Melissa currently is a part of administration and kitchen service here with us. She has many gifts including an ability to relate with others and bring people together.

Her heart is to serve where she is needed and to work with young woman who come from abusive situations. 

Lindsey hails from the little town of Galvin, WA. She did her DTS in the Fall of 2008 and went to Brazil and Peru for her outreach.  The Lord absolutely revolutionized her life during that time and brought dreams and ambitions to her heart that would only be possible with His help. After going home for a short time, she returned in September of 2009 to work with YWAM full time.  

Lindsey is working as an administrative assistant as well as participating in weekly outreaches to the community.  Her heart is to show God's love to children and women who are going through hard times.  Making disciples of those who are generally forgotten about is her life's mission.  Ultimately, she would like to open a bookstore ministry for women as a refuge/getaway where women from all walks of life can have a retreat with God.

Melanie grew up in the Mid-Mon Valley here in Pennsylvania. She's a graduate of our Fall 2008 DTS and joined us on staff the following September. During her DTS outreach to South America, she felt that the Lord was impressing upon her heart to perhaps live there one day as a full-time missionary. She loves to see the passion and fire of evangelism burn inside of others, to spread the Gospel in various forms, see lives transformed and to watch people's love for and relationship with God expand. Her desire is to impact the nations for Jesus Christ.

Brittany came to us from Souderton, PA, for the Wild Hearts DTS in the spring of 2009. She felt God was redirecting her back to himself and to the work he wanted to continue doing in her life. She is very thankful for all God has done in her life since she arrived. 

In 2007, Brittany traveled to Costa Rica to teach English at a school there and in 2009, traveled to Romania with her DTS. She is truly full of life and enjoys traveling, sports, the beach, singing and meeting new people. Her passion is for the Lord as she continues to trust and follow Him in His will.

Kayla grew up in Philadelphia, PA. Her first outreach was to Savannah, Georgia followed by an overseas trip to Uganda, Africa. She has always had a heart for missions. Coming to DTS in the spring of 2009 only reinforced her passion for missions and helped her understand what a Christ-like life truly is. Although she longs to serve in Africa one day, she's found herself content to be where God wants her to be as he teaches her more about His plan for her life and His perfect timing. 

Paul hails from the small town of Orange, VT and graduated from the Fall ’09 DTS. He first got started in missions in 2001 on a church building and planting trip with his youth group to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After a full day of physical labor, they often spent their evenings performing Spanish puppet shows for local churches and parks, which shared the message of salvation and Christ’s love for people. While performing, he came alive with passion and knew God wanted to use him in that arena on a greater scale. Since then, he has been writing and performing puppet shows for churches in VT, ME, MA, NY, NJ, NH, and PA. 

Up until his DTS, he was convinced puppetry was the only medium through which God could use him. During his DTS however, he realized just how much he was limiting God and hiding behind a puppet stage, afraid to get out of his comfort zone. But the more he stepped out, the more God continued to use Paul for healings, evangelism, preaching, etc.

Paul will be working with Children's World Impact, our children’s ministry department. He looks forward to utilizing his puppet ministry along with other resources to share the Gospel with kids, build relationships with them and show them who Christ really is and what He wants to do through them, even at such young ages.

He is currently in our Step 2 program that trains and equips oncoming staff.

Gabby comes to us from Johnstown, PA, and is a graduate of our Fall 2009 DTS. She has a heart to share the Gospel all over the world and has done ministry with YWAM in Singapore, Philippines, Colombia and Peru.

Her greatest passions include reaching out to those in need, counseling, discipling, evangelism, writing, singing and public speaking. Her vision is to use her gift of vocal performance to minister to people and reach the nations with the good news of Jesus.

She is currently in our Step 2 program that trains and equips oncoming staff.