I, Ethan Thurman, have been accepted to Youth With A Mission Outdoor Discipleship Training School (YWAM ODTS). This means in July, I will be embarking upon a five-month-long journey to deepen and strengthen my relationship with God. To participate, I will be flying out to Davos, Switzerland, along with 20 other young adults. This will be very important to me as I use these six months before beginning my college studies to further explore my calling in life. I will use this opportunity to build upon the legacy my parents have given me around mission work and to gain more clarity on what God has for my future. I believe this will be a life-changing experience. For this to become a reality, I am asking for a group of supporters to help me get there. And I thought this might be something you’d like to invest in. Both spiritually in the form of prayers and financially to help me pay for this trip. But first, I would like to share with you what I will be doing.
A YWAM DTS is designed to give young people like me an opportunity to discover their passions and discover God’s purposes for them in the world. It is a five-month-long program integrating classroom learning, personal reflection, practical service, and community living. More specifically, Outdoor Discipleship Training School (ODTS) is geared toward people with an affinity for the natural world. This speaks to me in a unique way as God has blessed me with love, appreciation, and desire for the mountains and outdoors, and this ODTS will allow me to experience both.
A DTS is broken into two phases. A lecture phase and an outreach phase. In the lecture phase, we learn not only from teachers but also from communal living and practical training. And during the outreach phase, our class will go out into the world to serve God in practical ways. In total, we are going to spend two months out in the nations to share the love of Jesus, heal the sick and share the good news of the Gospel.
The cost of the school is $5000, and the 2-month outreach mission trip will be an additional $2,000-$3,000. Fortunately, God has already blessed me with my plane ticket to Switzerland, as my parents had enough United Airlines miles to get my ticket. With a few more months before I leave, I plan to work to save some money to cover additional expenses. With that said, I still have an audacious goal to try to raise $8,000. If you would like to invest in my life and God's heart for the world, you can do so through my go-fund-me. It would mean a lot to me! Along with any prayers for a strong finish for my senior year and for safe travels. Thanks, friends.
With regards,
Ethan Thurman