David Thompson was born during the crisis years of World War II in Miami, Florida. He considers himself very blessed to have grown up in the stable and prosperous post war era in Miami. His family, consisting of two loving parents, an older brother and two younger sisters was very loving, close knit and highly functional and would be considered idyllic in these days when so many marriages have ended in divorce leaving families broken and dysfunctional. David has a unique picture of his parents holding hands when they were three years old and lived on adjacent farms in Iowa. David’s father and mother were always close to home. His father, Donald E. Thompson, was a Miami mail carrier for 38 years. He delivered mail in the neighborhood in whicDavid Thompson was born during the crisis years of World War II in Miami, Florida. He considers himself very blessed to have grown up in the stable and prosperous post war era in Miami. His family, consisting of two loving parents, an older brother and two younger sisters was very loving, close knit and highly functional and would be considered idyllic in these days when so many marriages have ended in divorce leaving families broken and dysfunctional. David has a unique picture of his parents holding hands when they were three years old and lived on adjacent farms in Iowa. David’s father and mother were always close to home. His father, Donald E. Thompson, was a Miami mail carrier for 38 years. He delivered mail in the neighborhood in which David, his siblings and many life-long friends all grew up. David and his brother delivered the Miami Herald and Miami News newspapers.
During World War II, David' s father was one of the many mail carriers who were deferred from military service because mail delivery was considered a critical wartime service. David and his siblings and even his mother, Wanda R. Thompson, attended the same Shenandoah neighborhood schools (not at the same time of course) and they all graduated from Miami Senior High School. David played center on Miami High' s 1960 undefeated football team that was rated the number one high school football team in the nation that year.
David and his older brother, Ronald W. Thompson, studied mechanical engineering at the University of Florida. His brother graduated in 1966 but David did not complete his baccalaureate degree until 1982 because he opted to enter the Navy’s Flight Officer program in 1965 during the war in Vietnam. David served as a Naval Flight Officer for ten years specializing in Electronic Warfare. He was assigned overseas for seven years, living in Japan for three years, in Vietnam for a total of 14 months and in Rota, Spain for three years. During his extensive involvement in the Vietnam war, David flew many electronic reconnaissance missions from 1966-69 and served as an Advisor to the Vietnamese Navy in 1972-73. During his last year in the Navy David served as the electronic warfare officer on the Carrier Task Force Sixty (CTF60) staff in the Mediterranean.
David’s spiritual journey with God began when he was a child attending Sunday School at Shenandoah Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida. David’s Sunday School/ Church experience instilled a desire in his young heart to want to know God,. The hymn Holy, Holy, Holy was particularly instrumental in creating this desire to know God. David wanted to know the Holy God, who was hidden in darkness so that the eyes of sinful man may not see Him. David’s pastor at that time was Daniel Iverson, who wrote the well-known invocational hymn, "Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. David’s father delivered mail to Pastor Iverson that kept him informed of what was happening with his son who was a Navy pilot fighting in the Pacific theatre of WW2. After David’s Naval Service ended in 1976, David returned to Florida with his wife and two-year old son. He settled in Ocala, where he worked as a real estate sales associate and high school science teacher.
While living in Ocala, David attended a small charismatic Church where he experienced the charismatic renewal experience in praise and worship. At that time, he first learned that God inhabits the praises of His People . It was also during this time when God began to reveal His mysteries to David. In 1986, David moved to Virginia Beach to attend CBN (now Regent)) University's Business Management Graduate School.
At CBN university, David began to grow spiritually so that he began to see what God was doing in the affairs of man, especially in the world of business. After getting his MBA, David worked for Marriott Corporation as a hotel engineering manager for ten years. His last position with Marriott Hotels brought him back to Florida to work...more