WE DID IT!! ...AND WE HAVE RETURNED!

  

The boys are back in town! Praise the Lord, and ALL glory to God - we returned home a few days ago safe & sound and overflowingly blessed!! Carson, Andrew, & I ran 3 back-to-back-to-back Adventure Trips in northeast Georgia. It was literally a God-awesome time!! Usually it takes 5 people to run an Adventure Trip smoothly, but Andrew works as hard as 5 people just by himself... Carson works as hard as 4 people, and I work as hard as half of a person so when you add it all up we had 9.5 people working on each trip haha!! Special thanks to Gavin Williamson who came over from Atlanta to help us for a few days (especially on rock climbing day with SEU!!). And special thanks to the Lazzaro's who launched us into these trips with the use of their house & hospitality (& local Sam's Club lol) just before we started these sets of trips! GTD's 30th summer was amazing!!! God blessed all of us immensely, and worked powerfully in each group. We are now back home working on the upcoming Annual Banquet that is literally 4 weeks from today! This year we brought the truck and trailer back to Florida (from NC) so that we can FINALLY switch over to our "new" bigger & better trailer that we purchased a few years ago. We are going to build all new shelves in the new trailer and prep it for taking it back up to the mountains as we RELAUNCH GTD into our next 30 years!!! Thank You Jesus for all that You did, and all that You are doing!! God is up to something special!

 

 

.

1 MONTH TILL OUR MOST IMPORTANT EVENT OF THE YEAR!!!

   
Join us on October  20, 2026 as we celebrate 30 years of God-awesome outdoor adventure ministry (1996-2026) PTL!!! Aaaaaaaaand we are RELAUNCHING GTD into our next 30 years of ministry on October 20th!!! SAVE THE DATE >>> GTD'S ANNUAL BANQUET IS ONLY 1 MONTH AWAY =)

Click this link for DETAILS & RSVP!

Going The Distance Adventure Ministry
God-awesome Adventures Since 1996!

 

 

.

IT WAS NO mis"STEAK" MAKING THIS GUY GTD'S FUTURE CEO!!

  
Carson is 9 months into a 2 year process of replacing me as GTD's next CEO (target date: January 2028), and he is doing a fantastic job rising to the occasion 👏 👏. We have a saying in GTD for everyone who comes on as a new volunteer, staff member, or board member: "You can add to the ministry, but you cannot take away from the ministry." In other words, your presence makes us better, not worse. Carson has been adding to GTD since the day he was born! Over the summer he took our menu and made it better by adding new delicious meals (I loved the new chicken quesadillas!!), and even an option to upgrade your menu to steak, bacon, & sausage for an additional charge. The Calvary Church Men's Adventure Trip was our first steak & potatoes dinner along with Carson's world famous sausage, egg, bacon, & cheese breakfast sandwiches!! They were BIG HITS!! He just added to the ministry (per usual)!! It was definitely no mis"STEAK" making Carson GTD's future CEO! Great decision God!!!

(PS: I have not done a great job of describing what I'm doing after I pass the torch to Carson. Lord willing, I'm not retiring from GTD... just pivoting to new roles and new programs. Carson will become my boss! I'll assist him however he needs without pseudo micro-managing him while I focus on developing new areas of the ministry I have wanted to work on for the past 30 years. I'm definitely not retiring. The last 5+ years made it evident that I need to start passing the torch sooner rather than later. By the grace of God I'm not having any problems "letting go". It's God's perfect timing to pass the torch to the next generation FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!)

 

 

.

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY... EVERYONE LOVES RAFTING DAY!!

    
The Calvary Church of Clearwater men soaked up & savored every minute of our 7 hour white water rafting trip on "The Beast of The Southeast" - Chattooga River Section 4!!!

 

 

.

JESUS IS THE "SECRET SAUCE" OF GTD!!

   
One of the guys on the Men's Adventure Trip was complimenting us on what a great ministry GTD is. He said, "The activities and experiences are great, but it's the devotionals and authentic conversations afterwards that are your secret sauce!" I couldn't agree more. In fact, that's very intentional. We could put together a thrilling, fun-filled, adrenaline oozing adventure absent of the focus on Jesus and it would be like a cup of sugar - full of empty calories leaving you still hungry and unsatisfied. Or we can put together that same exciting adventure combined with a continuous focus on Jesus and authentic transparent faith-emphasized conversations and then it becomes like a plate full of healthy food with a delicious dessert leaving you fully satisfied and well nourished in your body & your soul. In fact, we make it no secret at all, Jesus is our "secret sauce"!! It's all over our website, social media, and we wear it on our sleeve... He makes everything better, especially outdoor adventures in His amazing playground!! At best we can change your moments by giving you something memorable to do, but Jesus... well He can not only change your moments, He can also change your life & your soul!

 

 

.

A PERFECT DAY FOR AN 8 STORY FAITH RAPPEL!

  
"A rappel is the controlled descent down a steep slope or cliff by sliding down a fixed rope." The men of Calvary Church of Clearwater were fearless on Currahee Mountain as they rapelled 80 feet down one of our favorite cliffs! Thrilling! Exciting! Faith Building!! God teaches us so much about faith through adventure... you can study for years about the definition of "faith" or you can learn it in minutes by rappelling! God is our anchor. His promises is the rope. Faith is committing yourself over the edge of the mountain. I was once taught that a one word definition of "faith" is "risk". Fear tells you to stay away from the edge. Faith responds with a factually based courage that compels you to risk what you fear over the edge. Faith OVER fear!

 

 

.

REAL MEN SLIDE DOWN WET ROCKS LOL!

  
We had a blast hiking down into Tallulah Gorge State Park and sliding down Bridal Veil Falls then hiking out of the gorge! It was a complete adventure, and everyone loved it!!

 

 

.

AND OUR 3rd STRAIGHT ADVENTURE TRIP HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN!!

    
A small men's group (not midgets mind you) from Calvary Church of Clearwater arrived yesterday afternoon to kick off their annual GTD Adventure Trip!! Here we gooooo!! Shooting for a hat trick of back-to-back-to-back God-awesome events to complete our 2026 Summer of Fun!!! GLORY! TO! GOD!!!!

 

 

.

WELCOME TO THE GTD CAMP FIT LAUNDROMAT!

   
Carson brought his weight lifting set so we are able to maintain our workout consistency... and wash our clothes with this handy dandy portable "washing machine" GTD got a couple of years ago. Who needs CrossFit when you can wash your clothes and workout at GTD's CAMP FIT LAUNDROMAT hahaha 😅

 

 

. 

YESTERDAY WAS AN ADVENTURE LIKE NO OTHER!!

  
Some days take on a life of their own. That's how yesterday was. We probably had 10 different adventures within one day of adventure. I'm still processing and savoring it... Yonah Mountain = new destination (for the other 3 guys, and I haven't been there in 20+ years), intense uphill hike, each person carried 2 backpacks, thick fog at the mountain top with 20 ft of visibility, temporarily "lost" from low visibility, teachable training moments for Carson & Andrew, miraculous-like clearing of the thick fog in about 5 minutes to reveal breathtaking views (and the trails as well as the edges of the cliffs), miraculous-like encounters with strangers that helped us get reoriented to find our trail to our rock climbing spot, a near fall off of a narrow trail edge about 10 feet above the rocks below (I was able to grab a tree to keep me from going over the edge, but slammed & twisted my left knee), slightly injured but still able to hike & climb with a limp, the injury meant Carson & Andrew had to set up the climbing anchors (a true passing of the torch as I always set up the rappel & climbing anchors, and they were able to apply the anchor training I have been teaching them), we all got to climb before darkness hit, hiking downhill with headlamps on, fully exhausted and fully alive, getting back to camp late for dinner and Impact Point, and probably several other adventures within the adventure!! Emeil, and all of us, had one of the best days of our lives full of unknown outcomes while relishing in the moment. A lot of it was captured on pictures, videos, & drone footage. It was truly an epic God-awesome day!!

 

 

.

AN AUDIENCE OF ONE!

   

At one point we had about 8 people signed up for Go Vertical, and it slowly trickled down to one. Sometimes we cancel an event if participation falls below a certain number, but since we had private events right before Go Vertical and right after we could still run it if the one person (Emeil) wanted to still go vertical. Emeil was still all in and so were we!! And since we are in a 2 year process of passing the torch this became a good opportunity to also train up our next generation of GTD leaders that we treat a group of one with the same level of enthusiasm and care as we treat a group of 25! Andrew and Carson have risen to the occasion, and are working hard to give Emeil a God-awesome rock climbing & rappelling trip... and Emeil is loving it!! The truth is that we should always work each trip as unto an "Audience of One" - God, and then everyone walks away with a lifelong God-awesome memory!! Emeil got to go rappelling several times on Currahee Mountain. He relished it!

 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people." - Colossians 3:23

 

 

.

STEADY PROTEIN & EMERGENCY CAFFEINE!

  
We are 7 days into 13 straight 16-hour work days!! Gotta have some on-the-go constant easy access protein and "emergency" "getting very lethargic" quick caffeine!! Both can be life savers in those "hitting the wall" moments. Just gotta get some healthier energy drinks!! This is the door before the first trip, and this is the door at the finish of the first trip =).

 

 

.

PANCAKES, DEVOS, BIBLE TRIVIA, VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT, ROPE SWING, & SALSA DANCING... SEU TRIP ENDS SPECTACULARLY!!

   
What more can I say... the title says it all, except for our nightly campfires, worship, highlights of the day, s'mores, Christ-centered messages, & God-awesome fellowship!! Well, I guess there was a lot more to say hahaha!! We are praising God for a spectacular week with the SEU college students and so many answered prayers!! Only 1 trip to the ER, 1 vehicle breakdown, & perfect rain-free weather all week. God is so good!! SEU came, they saw, they conquered!! Now they are driving back to Florida... and we are already missing them!!

 

 

.

ROCK ON!! ...SEU TAKES ON CURRAHEE MOUNTAIN!

   
We were blessed with a fantastic day on Currahee Mountain with the Southeastern University students (Countryside Christian Center satellite campus). They rock climbed and rapelled their way to a lifelong memory as some overcame fears, some pushed themselves past previous limits, and some increased their skills. No matter where each person was in their skill & fear level it became a day of personal growth and accomplishment. Rock on!!

 

 

.

INNER TUBING BY DAY, WORSHIP BY NIGHT... SEU ADVENTURE TRIP HAS BEEN GOD-AWESOME!!

   
It was a perfect day in Helen, Georgia for inner tubing on the Chattahoochee River... then a perfect night around the campfire for praise & worship!! God is so good! We love this group!

 

 

.

SEU TAKES ON TALLULAH GORGE!!

   
It was a challenging hike in and out of Tallulah Gorge, but it was so worth it! SEU loved sliding down Bridal Veil Falls!!

 

 

.

SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY HAS ARRIVED!!

   
We love this group! This is our 5th annual Adventure Trip with the students from Southeastern University (Countryside Christian Center satellite campus)... Every September they kick off the school year with a GTD Adventure Trip to create deeper bonds of friendships, lay a Godly foundation, refresh their souls, and build lifelong memories together. We are so honored to host their group each year! Looking forward to all that God has in store this week!!

 

 

.

FIRST MONTH'S RESULTS!!! ...GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING SPECIAL!

   

Wow, just wow!!! 90 RSVP's, 11 Table Sponsors, 2 new Monthly Partners, a Pampered Chef fundraiser, a Venue Sponsor, a T-Shirt Sponsor, a Dinner Sponsor, and a $12,000 Legacy Donor Match Sponsor all in just one month!!!! Totally! Blown! Away!!! Speechless!!! That brings our current total to $18,085 raised in the month of August (does NOT include the 12k Donor Match Challenge)!!! Glory to God!!! Thank You Jesus!!! Aaaaaaaaand thank you so so so so much loving & generous amazing Donors!!!! Wow, you guys are relaunching us into our next 30 years of ministry!!!! I can't wait to see what God does in September!!!!!! This is a total faith journey!! 

To follow our Annual Banquet faith journey click on the links below, and prayerfully consider jumping on the GTD faith train 😀

 

Annual Banquet RSVP link:

https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/rsvp-annual-banquet.html?m=1 

Annual Banquet info & donation link:

https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/annual-banquet-pppac-2.html?m=1 

Fundraising Tracking link:

https://gtdbullhorn.blogspot.com/p/fundraising-tracking.html?m=1

 

 

.