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Longitude:-82.05893
GPS location Date/Time:04/13/2015 09:37:38 EDT

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DAYS 93-103 (52 Days)

THE NEXT 10 DAYS ARE ALL ABOUT THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL!!

During the next 10 days (including today) we are planning out and hiking part of the Appalachian Trail in preparations for future GTD - AT Backpacking Trips.

There is so much to get done so keep us in your prayers and follow our daily updates as we venture up to NC and TN.

It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 92 (52 Days)

TRAINING: "THE GTD WAY"!! Today and over the past few weeks we have been concentrating on training our new staff and volunteers about "The GTD Way". It's how we run camps and outdoor ministry. It's what makes us unique. It's what distinguishes us from other great camps. In essence it is our identity. Here is a snippet from our training manual:

'Before we set up an activity we need to take a moment to recognize what we want our participants to experience at a GTD Event. What makes GTD different? What makes us unique? Anyone can set up tents, chairs and a bunch of random activities, but we are not just building a temporary experience, we are constructing a lifelong memory. We’re not just erecting a makeshift game, we are directing an outdoor symphony of God-awesome excitement. This isn’t splattered paint on a piece of canvas; it’s a work of art. This isn't a hodgepodge recipe of leftover ingredients thrown into a bowl to make goulash. We are outdoor, fun loving, Jesus focused culinary chefs creating a savory, eternal, deliberate dessert that no one will ever forget. And it will cause our participants to leave both satisfied and craving more. This is not just another activity, it’s an event where souls are saved, hearts are recommitted, burdens are released, fears are overcome, friendships are born, relationships are restored, visions are received, new beginnings are produced, hope is revived, spiritual gifts are utilized, laughter is seized, and fun is relished! This is a GTD Event and it’s done The GTD Way."

We hope that you will join us on a God-awesome event and/or consider becoming a GTD volunteer. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!


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DAY 91 (52 Days)

HAPPY EASTER!!
We have a risen Savior!
We have so much to celebrate!!
LIFE begins at the CROSS!!!


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DAY 90 (52 Days)

IT'S OFFICIAL!! This year's GTD Grand Canyon Trip is set for Oct 5-10 and will include some new additions:

- Full day at the NORTH Rim!!
- Optional canoeing down the Colorado River and camping at the base of Horseshoe Bend (including trout fishing)!!
- Fly into & out of Las Vegas
- Visit Hoover Dam!!
- Visit Glen Canyon Dam!!
- Beautiful 5200 sq ft Home Rental!!

And we are bringing back a few recently added favorite adventures:
- Canyon kayaking on Lake Powell
- Slot Canyon Tour
- Horseshoe Bend Visit
- Sunset dinner at the North Rim

This trip is still developing... the website will be completed in a few days. It's going to be another amAZing trip to one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World! This is going to be one of the most God-awesome adventures of your life! Start planning to join us this fall. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 89 (52 Days)

WHICH WAY DID THE THERMOMETER MOVE??? ......IT WENT UP!!! We trekking closer to our $250,000 funding goal. We have seen the needle go up (& down) over the past month, praise God it settled on a 5% increase as of the end of March. That brings our current total projections to 60% of our total goal! Thank you Jesus!!

$150,045 projected ....only $99,955 more to go!!!!

DEBT ELIMINATION: It is only fitting that we release our funding update on Good Friday since today marks the day Jesus took the sin debt of the entire world upon His body and paid it all in full. In regards to GTD's debt, hitting the 60% level marks the moment at which every additional dollar raised goes directly to paying off the remainder of GTD's debt that was left over from The Great Recession. This is a huge development as we look forward to ridding this ministry and our lives of this anchor that holds us back.

As you know, THIS IS A VOLATILE THERMOMETER which means it can go up or down based on projections over the remainder of this year. Things that can make it go up are new Ministry Partners, fundraisers, unexpected donations, adding more private trips to the calendar, exceeding anticipated amounts of participants on events, renting out gear, and product line sells. Things that can make the thermometer go down are cancelled events and lack of follow-through of monthly pledges.

As stated before, we are humbled and thrilled by God's mighty hand of support, and we are elated by the generosity of our donors. This has already been an amazing 4½ months of rebuilding the walls of GTD. We are excited, but we are not relaxing. We are pressing on towards the goal that will put GTD in position to effectively minister to the next generation for the next 20 years.

The $250,000 amount represents the sum total needed to:
<>  Cover all 2015 operating expenses
<>  Pay off remaining debt from first 18 years
<>  Repair & improve aging equipment
<>  Acquire necessary new equipment & gear
<>  Organize & archive 20 years of data, pictures, etc
<>  Launch new events, ministries, and endeavors
<>  Strengthen & fortify our current vibrant programs, events, & ministries
<>  New marketing campaign (brochures, ads, proactively promote GTD)
<>  Office renovations and administrative infrastructure improvements
<>  Begin "famine" savings account for future recessions & troubled times
<>  Hire on needed part-time assistants & co-laborers
<>  AND MORE!

14 Month Timeline:
Nov 18, 2014 - Jan 4, 2015: Assess "The Walls"; Communicate the needs
Jan 5 - Feb 25, 2015: "52 Days" Objective ("All-Hands-On-Deck")
Feb 26 - Nov 16, 2015: Transformation of a ministry; Run regular events
Nov 17, 2015: Annual Banquet ("The Mother of All Banquets")
Nov 18, 2015 - Jan 18, 2016: Reintroduce "The New GTD"!!

This is an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY!!

Today Christians celebrate the internal, external, and eternal freedom that has been freely received from our Savior as He paid for our debts from our sins that we could not pay... remembering the HIGH PRICE that was paid for our liberation. It is not only ours, but for all who will receive it. Thank YOU Jesus!

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends... I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends..." - Jesus (John 15:13,15a)

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DAY 88 (52 Days)

DAY OF RECOVERY! After 3 events over the past 6 days, today has been a day of rest and recovery. Special thanks to everyone who helped make the past 3 events great for First United Methodist Church of Oviedo, Smiley's Young Adult Ministry, and SOUL Adventures. We look forward to sharing some highlights from each of these events.

AND THEY'RE OFF!!

We just kicked off our 2nd retreat in 4 days. This time we are partnered with SOUL Adventures and 23 outstanding youths. We have smashed a lot of excitement and a lot of good meals into the next 3 days... "Beat Them & Feed Them" - that's the motto we regularly adopt ;)

1 DOWN... 1 TO GO

We finished up a great retreat with the high school youth group from First United Methodist Church of Oviedo (FUMCO). We praise God for how well everything went!! Special thanks to an incredible team of volunteers and GTD staff for all the time, effort, and heart you poured into the students and this event. Your help made a bigger impact than you may ever realize! THANK YOU!

Our next retreat starts in 6 hours!!!! Goodnight! And keep us in your prayers =)

DAYS 82-87 (52 Days)

ON THE ROAD... BACK-2-BACK RETREATS!! Pray for our 2 retreats over the next 6 days that God will impact lives, protect lives, and change lives. We have some great plans that we are looking forward to putting into action. Check back for our retreat updates each day =)

DAY 81 (52 Days)

EDITED MOVIES ORGANIZED!! THANK YOU CAROLYN & JESSICA!! One of our staple activities on GTD base camping events is showing an outdoor movie during one of the nights. We hang up a bed sheet, crank up the generator, plug in the projector and push play. It's a pretty cool experience to sit outside under the stars next to the campfire while roasting marshmallows and watching an exciting flick. We use edited movies so all the garbage (profanity and sexual content) is removed and the actual substance of the movie can be enjoyed. Over the period of many years we have collected about 200 movies. They've needed to be organized for a long time. Now I'm thrilled to say that Carolyn Butler and Jessica Marie have tackled that project and they did a FANTASTIC job! They categorized each movie according to title, year, genre, original rating, run time, and main actors. Then they printed up 4 different copies so that the group leaders could search for movies by 4 different categories. It's absolutely a phenomenal job!! And it's just in time for our next 2 retreats. Thank you Carolyn and Jessica!!! As usual, you blow us away! Great, great job! Oh, it's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!


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DAY 80 (52 Days)

BACK-2-BACK GTD RETREATS STARTING THIS FRIDAY! We are getting ready for 2 God-awesome back-to-back retreats that kick off this weekend. Our first retreat starts Friday night with the high school youth group from First United Methodist Church of Oviedo. We've been hosting events for this wonderful church for 11 years! Our 2nd retreat begins Monday morning as we kick off our first annual partnership with SOUL Adventures which is based out of Skycrest Baptist Church in Clearwater. This retreat is open to all youths aged 10-15 and will take place at Cedarkirk Camp in Lithia, FL. It lasts till Wednesday. And squeezed in between these 2 retreats Erin will be helping lead up our March SAC (Sunday After Church) event with Smiley's - PAINTBALL!! It's going to be a GREAT 6 days of outrageous Christ-centered fun. Keep us in your prayers and pray for God to use us and these events to impact lives for His glory and kingdom. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!


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DAY 79 (52 Days)

RETURN OF THE STAFF MEETINGS! With only 2 people on staff for the past 5 years we fell out of the habit of having regular Staff Meetings. Today marked the return of the Staff Meetings. It went a little long, but it was effective. It was another step in the right direction. We are thrilled to have some more hands on deck. God's doing some cool things. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 78 (52 Days)

THINGS ARE "HEATING UP"... ERIN POWELL HITS THE PERMANENT PRESS CYCLE IN GTD!! We are "busting out" with great news! We are excited to announce that GTD has hired on Erin as our permanent part time staff. She was originally brought on temporarily for 1 month to help us with our 52 Days campaign. One month turned into two months and now we've asked her to stay on as long as she likes. We're honored and excited to have her on Team GTD. Erin is one of the most fun, intelligent, hard working, and Christ-centered young adults we've ever encountered. She will play a critical role in helping GTD with hundreds of tasks we want completed during this year (our 19th year of ministry). Erin is a full time nursing student and will work for GTD about 15 hours per week. We look forward to the year ahead and all that God has in store. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD! (PS: A lot of people ask me where I get all of my dry jokes from. Just look at the picture... now you know!)


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DAY 76-77 (52 Days)

WEEKEND OFF! Usually a post about taking the weekend off isn't really note worthy, but for GTD it is. There is so much work to get done that it's very difficult to make yourself take some time off (or at least be comfortable while you're taking time off). Ministry work is like digging a hole at the beach - just when you start to make some progress a ton of sand slides back into the hole. A part of rebuilding the walls of GTD is to finally take hold of the elusive goal of balance. We are no where near patching that hole, but we are at least talking about it and taking a baby step in the right direction. This weekend was a beautiful time spent with family & friends while spending time at restaurants, a festival, a wedding, going to church, going to a hockey game, taking a nap, and watching some wilderness shows. It was hard for me not to get up and go work, but I resisted the constant urge. =)

DAY 75 (52 Days)

ORGANIZATION & BALANCE! Laurie has been working on organizing hundreds of GTD tasks. She has been entering them into our Google Drive account so that our staff & volunteers can have access to them (and hopefully adopt some of them!) from anywhere in the world. About 85-90% of the work of the ministry falls on my shoulders and this is one of the ways we are trying to share the load. Nearly 20 years of 12, 14, 16, and 18 hour work days 6-7 days per week is more than enough. Actually it's way too much. It isn't sustainable and that's why we are striving so hard this year to get to a healthy place in running this organization. Many hands make for light work and God has been blessing GTD with some great faithful volunteers, partners, and staffers in ministry. We still have 9 months until we turn 20 years old and we are pushing hard to have everything in order to go into the next 20 years in GREAT shape.

Speaking of great shape and balance, I'm working at getting back to a strong level of fitness. My nutrition has been pretty poor for the past 5 or 6 months. I'm happy to say I started back working out 2 weeks ago. Tonight Laurie and I went grocery shopping. She already eats healthy regularly. I'm getting back on that wagon. Soon I hope to also add a few more hours on to my 4 hours of sleep each night. We only have 1 body to use for our entire lives and I had better get back to taking care of this one if I want to be of any use for the next 20 years of ministry.

We are striving after some significant changes. Hopefully you will notice many great improvements as we journey on through 2015. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 74 (52 Days)

RECON FOR DUG! COSTA RICA PLANNING FOR LAURIE! I spent the day "reconing" (aka: doing reconnaissance of) campgrounds and mt bike trails with my good friend Paul Williamson - Director of Soul Adventures. Soul and GTD are teaming-up for our first ever retreat partnership. The retreat is called The Spring Break-Out Retreat and is geared towards youth 10-15 years old. It takes place during Spring Break March 30 - April 1. Reconing is invaluable. It's the first step at figuring out how to logistically accomplish our mission. It allows us to work through the learning curve, make mistakes, and implement immediate solutions so that the entire group doesn't have to experience the setbacks of doing something for the first time. A lot of times reconing can actually be uneventful and somewhat boring, but today was a blast as we zipped down some exciting mt bike trails at Alafia River State Park.

While I was away from the office "playing" Laurie was at the office working diligently on our upcoming summer mission trips to Costa Rica. She loves to work on mission trips and pieced together the preliminary agendas for 2 private events planned for June and July.

There is a lot of good stuff going on in GTD and we are thrilled about what God is doing and where He is directing.

It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!



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DAY 73 (52 Days)

DAY OF REST for me. DAY OF STRIVING for Laurie. Part of rebuilding the walls of GTD is getting to a place of healthy balance between striving and resting. We are getting there and the ministry will only flourish more when we attain this balance.

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GTD STUFFED PANCAKES!

One of our new additions to the GTD menu is mega sized stuffed pancakes. Choose from bananas, blueberries, walnuts, pecans, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Fill your cup. Then STUFF your pancake! It's been a big hit. Delicious!

DAY 72 (52 Days)

EXHAUSTED! Working through a day full of personal exhaustion. So glad to have a growing team of staff & volunteers that are shouldering more & more of the load.

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:30-31

CBCC RETREAT FINISHES STRONG!

One of the measurements we use to gauge the success of a GTD event is whether or not our participants want to come back again. Based on that one indicator I would have to say this past weekend was an overwhelming success. God blessed us with such a great time. The students, the volunteer leaders, and Pastor Justin and Carie made it easy to succeed. They were so much fun and dove into every part of the retreat with positive Godly attitudes. Justin and Carie made the most of every opportunity to speak into their student's lives and convert our daily adventures into teachable moments for Biblical life principles. The students soaked it in! Our prayer is that God uses each of our events as part of a transformation process as we strive to become more Christlike. Our time around the campfire each night became a time to share highlights of the day, sing praise & worship, and dive into a challenge from Pastor Justin... as well as a time to make some smores. In the mornings we took time to seek God through prayer and reading from the Bible. Then we would come back around the fire ring and share what God was teaching us. It's always an amazing time to listen to young people share what God is teaching them... which also ends up teaching us as well. One of my highlights from the weekend came when we were 30 feet underground in a cave and we all turned off our headlamps so we could experience total darkness. The students wanted to sing a praise song with the lights off. It was such a powerful moment. This morning also served as another highlight as we watched 22 young participants work hard to breakdown & pack-up camp before leaving. They did a FANTASTIC job. We gathered up for one final farewell and hugs goodbye. As the group drove away one of our GTD volunteers commented that this had been a great group of students that displayed positive attitudes, strong work ethic, and a real hunger for God. All I could say was that the students are a reflection of their leadership. We are excited to see what God is doing in the lives of the youth at Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater and we were blessed to work with Justin, Carie, Dickie, and Denise. We look forward to watching what God continues to do in and through Elevate High School Youth Group!

CBCC RETREAT CONTINUES

We had a FANTASTIC day today with the high school youth group from Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater! It's hard not to have a good day when it's filled up with stuffed pancakes, daily devotions from John 15, wagon rides to the bathroom, caving 30 feet underground, total darkness, singing worship songs in total darkness, teachable moments, non-stop fellowship in a shuttle bus, make your own pizzadillas, praise & worship around the campfire, a day full of challenging message from Pastor Justin, smores, and late night showers. It's been an amazing day of great memories. Thank you Jesus for what you are doing in the lives of young people!!

CBCC RETREAT STARTED TODAY!!

Our retreat with Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater's High School Youth Group kicked off today!! We love this group of high energy enthusiastic students. The day was full of setting up tents, devouring hamburgers & hot dogs, adventure racing, swimming, camp games, hammock chill time, tree climbing, fellowship, singing praise & worship songs, laughter, campfire Bible study, playing in the rain, tacos, cart rides, roasting marshmallows, movie night, and more!! It has been a God-awesome day with some wonderful people... and it's only day one. Looking forward to another day full of adventure tomorrow. Thank you Jesus =)

DAYS 68-71 (52 Days)

CBCC RETREAT MARCH 14-16!! We are excited about our camping retreat with the high school youth group from Calvary Baptist Church of Clearwater. We spent today setting up camp. We have a great weekend planned including a day of caving, an adventure race, outdoor movie, campfires, smores, and some great time seeking God. It's going to be a God-awesome weekend! Follow our posts to see all the fun. Maybe your group will want to experience a GTD event! It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 67 (52 Days)

MAKE A DIFFERENCE! VOLUNTEERING FOR GTD JUST GOT SIMPLER! GTD is growing and we need more volunteers!!! Special thanks to "Scrubs" (aka Erin) for creating our new online Volunteer Application Form. Click on the link, complete the form, and start making a difference in a ministry that God's using to impact lives. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 66 (52 Days)

PARTNERSHIP, PLANNING MEETING, AND BACKPACKING WITH LANDRY ACADEMY! We are honored, excited, and thrilled to be partnered with Landry Academy for 2 big backpacking trips this year. We loved meeting with Jen Henriksen today as we continued planning out 2 big backpacking trips for this summer. Jen is an administrator for Landry Academy and has the position of Director of Travel and Community Network. We love Jen and what she's doing to advance the gospel through adventure and international travel... not to mention her adventurous spirit and zeal for life! We look forward to all that God is going to do through this partnership! These partnerships another way God is rebuilding the walls of GTD! Good things ahead. It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!


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DAY 65 (52 Days)

WATCH OUT APPALACHIAN TRAIL (AT), HERE COMES GTD! We are planning out 2 section hikes on the AT for this year and talking about the real possibility of doing the entire 2180 miles of trail (thru hike) next year! It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!


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DAY 64 (52 Days)

SUMMER IS ALMOST FILLED UP! One of our goals during our 52 Days campaign is improving our approach at filling up our annual event calendar. Well, God beat us to the punch! Before we even had a chance to implement enhanced efforts God moved the hearts of several pastors & group leaders to register for GTD events. We've had a very busy spring and our summer calendar is almost filled up. In fact, one of the good "problems" of why we didn't get even more done during the actual 52 days (and we did get A LOT done) is that we had so many groups signing up for GTD events this year. A lot of work goes into building God-awesome trips so a lot of time has gone into writing contracts, reserving activities & venues, planning out daily agendas, and creating Trip Organizers for each group. In fact, I'm working on 2 more contracts right now. Praise the Lord! It's panning out to be an amazing year! It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!

DAY 63 (52 Days)

DAY OF REST! I was planning on doing some GTD work today after church, but I resisted. It's hard to cease from striving when you love your work, are seeing great progress, and see more that needs to be done. But sometimes the greatest act of faith is doing nothing.

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DAY 62 (52 Days)

WORK DAY PROGRESS... RECLAIMING THE 2nd FLOOR TERRITORY FOR GTD! We loved our work day with our small army of awesome volunteers. Special thanks to Richard Dunn, Erin Powell, Alex Powell, and Laurie Finger for their hard work and fun-loving attitudes as we stormed the GTD office and attacked the projects that will unleash this ministry to make greater impacts for causes of Christ. LOVE these people, LOVE this ministry, LOVE where we're headed! It's an exciting time to be a part of GTD!