Wednesday, December 31, 2014

ANOTHER GTD BIG NEWS ALERT!!!

ANOTHER GTD BIG NEWS ALERT!!!  $3000 DONATION PUTS US IN THE BLACK!!

I'm thrilled to announce that an amazingly generous Ministry Partner from TX has donated $3000 to GTD!! That donation has been matched and transitioned our ministry from finishing in the red to finishing in the black for our 5th straight year!!!! WOW, We are BLOWN AWAY!! This is nothing less than a miracle! We are so thankful for our incredible, thoughtful, and generous supporters who care so deeply about this ministry. This has been an incredible & miraculous 6 day worst-to-first journey!! /// I'm about to board a flight to Alabama so I have to stop typing. Our profound thanks to our big donor!! We are floored!!! God bless you. We love you! And God bless each person involved in this miracle. We didn't do an end of the year appeal... no mail-outs... God just dropped this in our lap and moved the hearts of donors, many of which didn't know the need. Our jaws are dropped! He did the same thing for our Annual Banquet. WOW! Thank you Jesus!!

Thank You Year-End Donors!!

Our immense gratitude goes out to all of our end-of-the-year donors who have contributed $25, $50, and $100 donations over the past few days in conjunction with our $6500 Matching Gift Challenge and in an effort to push GTD out of the red and into black. We are blown away if anyone gives even one dollar to our ministry. We thank God for you and your partnership in the Gospel! Every one of your dollars has been matched which makes it a double blessing for us! THANK YOU!!

There is still time to make a Matching Gift donation... just click this link to make a donation to GTD and watch it get doubled!

We also want to let you know that we have ANOTHER BIG ANNOUNCEMENT coming up shortly... stay tuned!


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LAST DAY TO DOUBLE YOUR DONATION TO GTD!!

Today is the last day to double your donations to GTD through our $6500 Matching Gift Challenge from a very generous Anonymous Donor.

It's very simple, whatever you donate to GTD gets matched dollar-for-dollar by our anonymous donor up to a cumulative total of $6500!! That's amazing!! And TODAY is the deadline!!

Just 1 week ago GTD was on the verge of finishing the year in the red for the first time since 2009. We were on track to take a $15,000 loss this year, BUT then on Dec 26th the miracles started happening... a $5000 unexpected donation followed by another unexpected $6500 end-of-the-year Matching Gift!!

Over the past 5 days donations have been coming in from amazing people who love this ministry and want to see us continue the streak to 5 straight years of finishing in the black (during the roughest economy of this generation). We are touched and honored by anyone who would support our ministry. Thank you generous donors!!

Several people have been asking, "What's the update? How much has been raised so far?" AN UPDATE OF FUNDS RAISED WILL BE POSTED TODAY, but I can tell you this, the Matching Gift Challenge has not been completed.

To donate to GTD and help us maximize the $6500 Matching Gift Challenge click the link below. Also, any checks dated on or before Dec 31st that are received by Jan 7th will count towards this challenge. Thank you in advance for your kindness & support to this ministry. You're awesome!! God bless you!

Donate Here: http://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/payments-donations.html


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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Landry Academy & GTD

Yesterday I had a wonderful meeting with an administrator of Landry Academy - Jen Henriksen - and her husband Tom. Landry Academy offers Christ-centered online classes for 4th through 12th grade students on a wide variety of standard subjects such as math, literature, history, science, grammar, etc. They also offer several unique electives. They reach thousands of students all over the US. Jen and Tom have immediately become 2 dear friends to me. They love Jesus and have a huge heart for ministering to young people. Among other things, Jen leads up mission trips all over Europe for Landry Academy and has a huge passion for adventure. Today we discussed the possibilities of GTD putting together some God-awesome adventure events for the Landry community. I don't know where this will lead, but it has an incredible feeling of something God-breathed... it feels like a God-thing. We are excited about what lies ahead. Stay tuned for future developments =)


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2nd Meeting

Just returned from an early morning business meeting in Orlando with my amazing cousin Dana Ward. This was our 2nd meeting this month. Dana is a finance major and very successful entrepreneur / businessman who is guiding me through a new and revised business plan for GTD as we prepare for the next 20 years of ministry. His insights and life experiences are more valuable than gold. I deeply appreciate his investment of time, passion, and energy into me and this ministry. This is a very exciting time to be a part of GTD!

- "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed." (Proverbs 15:22)


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Monday, December 29, 2014

BIG NEWS #3

We just hired our first employee since 2009. It's a part-time position for the next 2 months, but it's a game changer for our ministry!

We are excited to announce that GTD has hired one of our amazing interns - Jessica Marie - to be a vital part of our staff for the next 2 months as we engage in the most important campaign of our ministry's 18 (soon to be 19) years of operation: the 52 Days campaign that starts on Jan 5, 2015

Jessica is in her last semester at USF. She is one of the most extraordinary and capable people I've ever met. She loves God, loves to serve, loves to work hard, follows directions perfectly, has an amazing attention to detail, strives for excellence in all she does, turns good ideas into great ideas, and displays an incredible level of wisdom at a young age. I could go on and on. Laurie & I are excited to have Jessica on our team and we look forward to how God is going to use her over the next 2 months!

Welcome aboard Jessica! …Now get to work ;)


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BIG NEWS #2

About an hour after receiving an unexpected jaw-dropping donation of $5000, I received a text from one of our amazing Ministry Partners saying he wanted to make a donation to GTD. He asked me to call him. I did. This leads me to BIG NEWS #2. He asked to stay anonymous, but our awesome supporter has decided to make a $6500 Matching Gift end-of-the-year donation to GTD!!! WOW!!! We are speechless!! We are blown away!! We are praising God for this amazing & wonderful news!!

That means that our donor is willing to match anyone and everyone's donation dollar-for-dollar up to $6500 until 11:59pm Dec 31st. That means that for every dollar you donate, he will donate a dollar. Your $50 donation becomes a $100 donation to GTD! Your $1000 donation becomes a $2000 donation to GTD!

Simply put, we are within striking distance of finishing this year in the black for the 5th straight year. We are literally standing right in the middle of a miracle-in-the-making. And we are asking you to jump right in the middle of this miracle with us. Will you consider making an end-of-the-year donation to GTD so that we can maximize this Matching Gift and finish strong in 2014? Will you help us snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

On Dec 25th, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that GTD was going to lose this year's fiscal battle, BUT then God stepped in. In a matter of 2 hours on Dec 26th the tide changed. The foregone conclusion is now on the verge of becoming a foregone illusion. Will you help us keep the streak alive? Let's make it 5 years in a row of finishing in the black! Let's make it a great finish to 2014, which will make it a great start to 2015!

Click here to help us snatch victory from the jaws of defeat... click here to make the end of our 18th year of ministry a miraculous one!


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BIG NEWS #1

On Friday GTD received an unexpected $5000 donation from a wonderful local foundation!! Until we receive permission to share who our generous donor is we will keep it anonymous.

That's a HUGE donation for our ministry! GTD is a non-profit organization and we have been on a 4 year streak of finishing in the black (not losing money), but this year we had one event that severely hemorrhaged our annual budget. As of Dec 25th, we were $15,000 in the red (losing money) this year - even after a record breaking banquet in November.

With just a few days left in the year it looked like we were going to have our first year in the red since 2009. We were licking our wounds, preparing to shake off the loss, and preparing to have a major comeback year in 2015. BUT, God seems to be interested in writing a different ending in 2014. This donation takes us within $10,000 of finishing in the black for 2014... with only a few days to go!

Do you think it can be done? Can GTD go from red to black in under a week?? Can the financial frown be turned upside down? We will see...


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Friday, December 26, 2014

BIG NEWS... Coming Tomorrow!

Today has been a day full of unexpected BIG NEWS for our ministry!!

Can't wait to share it... tomorrow =)

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry CHRISTmas!!!


Much Love & Yuletide Greetings from the GTD Staff, Interns, & Volunteers
(Doug, Laurie, Traci, Carson, Jessica, Erin, Alex, and Bobby)


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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Thanks Morgan!

Enjoyed hanging out with a good friend and ministry partner - Morgan Streetman. Morgan is an attorney and runs his own law firm in Tampa. We deeply appreciate his friendship & support of GTD! Coal oven pizza from Grinaldi's was on the menu tonight. Delicious!

Weekly Discipleship

Great time with my discipleship guys last night as we studied 4 characteristics of a disciple based on Matthew 16:24 (Continue in His Word, Deny Yourself, Take Up His Cross, and Follow Him). Love being a part of this journey with them. And special thanks to Deacon - Dick LaBrant for joining us too =)
- DUG <><

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Welcome Back CCSP!

Welcome back Calvary Chapel of St Petersburg!! GTD is excited & honored to host their 2015 annual middle school youth group summer adventure camp. This will be our 10th straight year together!!

Freedom -or- FreeDUMB??

Reading through one of my favorite books in the Bible - Galatians! It's all about my favorite word - FREEDOM. True freedom isn't without boundaries, otherwise it becomes reckless and unsustainable. True freedom with appropriate boundaries becomes a liberation that can be both perpetually sustained while at the same time fully relished since it is not in jeopardy of facing personal extinction. Anyone can be reckless with freedom and steer their life into addictive behaviors & dependencies that make them enslaved. I call this kind of freedom, "freeDUMB". But sustainable freedom embraces self imposed limitations to protect against personal enslavement. Christ didn't come to set us free TO sin; He came to set us free FROM sin. He then gave us instructions about healthy limitations that would preserve that freedom so that we could maximize our full potential for His glory. For instance, I have the freedom in this world to smoke cigarettes, but the real danger of becoming addicted to nicotine can enslave me and destroy my health & finances. The result would be a loss of my freedom because I won't be able to control my "fix", as well as losing my health and finances. Freedom is a precious gift, but it is vulnerable to loss. The worst freedom I've ever experienced was when I did whatever I wanted to do because I could. On the other hand, the greatest freedom I've ever experienced happens each time I follow Christ's instructions in the Bible. It causes great celebration inside my entire being. It has no regrets. It adds to my health. It perpetually sustains my future freedom. I love freedom and I thank God for my freedom and for the fact that He loves my freedom too... so much that He not only died for it, but also gives me boundaries to sustain it.

"It is for freedom sake for which Christ has set us free." - Galatians 5:1

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Trail Life Meeting

I had a great dinner / meeting last night at BJ's with some awesome local leaders of Trail Life. They are kicking around the idea of doing a summer Adventure Trip with GTD for their troops. I happen to love that idea!

Loved meeting with some great Godly guys who care about the next generation of young men and desire to steer them towards Christ... and the great outdoors. Learn more about Trail Life here.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Thanks Heather & Bobby!

Special thanks to Heather Litterello & Bobby Sikes for their excellent volunteer service at the GTD office last week!! You guys are M.A.D. (Making A Difference)! =)

GTD Teams Up With Soul Adventures For Spring Retreat

GTD is excited to be teaming up with Soul Adventures (run by Heather & Paul Williamson) to host a spring adventure retreat for youth ages 10-15 on March 30 - April 1. Details coming soon!!

Learn more about Soul here: http://www.souladventures.us/

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Book a 2015 GTD Event For Your Group!

GTD is NOW booking private group trips for 2015!!
- Mission Trips
- Adventure Trips
- Retreats
- Day Trips
... and more!!

Click here for more info or to reserve a God-awesome GTD event for your group!

Welcome Back MorningStar Church!

We are honored and excited to have the men of MorningStar Church returning back again for another GTD Men's Retreat!! Can't wait to kick off the new year with these great men =)

Click here to learn more about MorningStar Church in Tampa, FL

Friday, December 5, 2014

1 Month Until "52 Days" Begins!!

1 month until GTD's "52 Days" Objective.

Start your New Year off by making a lasting impact in the lives of our next generation.

Get involved with a special mission project called 52 Days. GTD has set aside 52 straight days (Jan 5 - Feb 25) of concentrated work to prepare for our next 20 years of ministry.

Can you organize files?
Can you scan pictures?
Can you repair a trailer?
Can you paint walls?
Can you do graphic design?
Can you call people?
Can you build?
Can you do electrical work?
Can you do office work?
Can you repair a kayak?
Can you recruit more volunteers?
Can you promote a God-awesome ministry?
Can you find great deals?
Can you get new office carpet for free?
Can you get building material for free?
Are you mechanically inclined?
Can you run errands?
Can you adopt our ministry for 1 day or 1 week or 1 month during our 52 Days?
Can your family or youth group set aside 1 Saturday to do a major work project?

We have set aside 52 days to "rebuild the walls" of GTD as we prepare for the next 20 years of ministry and we need your help.

If you want to be a part of our 52 Days Objective then click this link and sign-up... the work that you do will help transform lives for the next 20 years!

Click here to sign-up.


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Wise Counsel

This morning I had a nearly 4 hour business advisory meeting in Kissimmee with my awesome cousin, GTD supporter, and successful businessman - Dana Ward. Part of preparing for the next 20 years of ministry in GTD is acquiring knowledge & wisdom from proven experts. I'm so blessed to have one of those experts right in my own family. It was a GREAT meeting... Dana is a wealth of knowledge and such a wonderful & fun person! This was a great investment of time =)




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Monday, December 1, 2014

"Value Others Above Yourselves"

One of the most distinguishing character qualities that should be evident in a Christian is selfLESSness - the willful decision to put other people's interest above our own. This includes the motives for which we put others above ourselves. Some people teach that putting others above ourselves is one of the best ways to get what we want, "If you help others get what they want then they will help you get what you want." or "When you help others then it makes you feel good." Motives count. The motive for putting others first shouldn't be done for a self serving agenda, because it then is no longer selfLESS, but rather becomes selfish in its intent. The true reason that Christians should put others first is genuine care & overflow. If my heart is in synch with God's heart then I will genuinely care about others above myself. And if I spend daily quality time in God's Word and in His presence through prayer then He fills my cup so much that it overflows. When your life overflows with the goodness of God then all you want to do is put others ahead of yourself. SelfLESSness becomes a very natural reaction from hanging out with God. It's how He rolls =)

Philippians 2:1-8

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