A few years ago I was challenged to read through the entire book of Proverbs in one afternoon with the expectation that God would reveal his wisdom and truth to me as I read. During the exercise I felt that God purposely illuminated the passage of Scripture in Proverbs chapter 24 verse 11. The Scripture was direct and firmly mandated me to “Rescue those being led away to death." The verse immediately reminded me of those individuals in my life who I intuitively knew were staggering under the mundane and mediocrity of life and relationships. Living a life marked by disappointment, frustration and lack of joy, rather than the life Jesus spoke of in the Gospels. It was a pivotal and life changing exercise for me in many ways.

This awakening in me created a passion to bring together two very distinct loves in my life, first pursuing Jesus Christ and secondly spending time in his created wilderness. After spending most of my years in business and ministry in Florida, my wife Shannon and myself decided to take God up on a very specific adventure that he was calling us to late in 2013, Colorado here we come!

Since I was a young boy I have loved anything to do with adventure and outdoors and dreamed of combining at some point my two greatest passions. First my pursuit after the heart of Jesus and secondly anything remotely adventurous and outdoors. Now, as a grown man raising a teenage son and 3 daughters all with hearts that seek adventure and truth my desires for the Lord and adventure have been galvanized; not in myself alone but in my legacy through my family. Project 2411 was formed with this purpose in mind. It is a catalyst for that personal adventure and spiritual development to take place. Every organized expedition that we as an organization partake in, has this central and eternal focus in mind. To explore the heart of an individual and to allow that heart to be fully captivated by God's beauty and majesty.

Looking forward to having you join the adventure!

In the fall of 2015 Project 2411 Ministries registered as a legitimate not-for-profit Christian ministry. We have prayed through and installed a tremendous board of directors to assist us in our launch year and beyond. Once we completed all of our necessary front office prerequisites, we began working on our next very big adventure. Late this past summer, we began discussions around the opportunity to acquire ownership of an existing Christian family western guest ranch with a rich history of ministering to families and a strong legacy for adventure. Deer Valley Ranch, a western family dude ranch, located in Buena Vista, Colorado was originally established in 1954 and sits on 123 incredible acres at the base of Mount Princeton. Deer Valley Ranch or "DVR" has a rich history and many established traditions, all focused towards building community, strengthening families and encouraging leadership. Deer Valley Ranch will allow us as a ministry to continue the rich traditions already established at DVR each summer and give us the ability to create a much needed location to establish the "Base Camp" for all of the Project's retreats and expeditions.

As we launched the ministry in 2015 and began as a leadership team to explore ways to create the adventure and community needed for families today, Deer Valley Ranch became available for consideration. After spending a few summers getting to know the current owners of the ranch and spending time with their families and the staff, both Shannon and myself became convinced this was the next step in the journey God has had us on. The only problem with God sized visions, God sometimes brings the "cart" before the "horse" with regards to the financials and we are relying on God's continued provision to allow Deer Valley Ranch to continue an amazing legacy of leading and growing families and to create a much needed platform for Project 2411 Ministries to operate.

This is a giant leap of faith, one that myself along with the current board of directors of the Project are certainly aware of. I am writing this first newsletter of the year to inform those that are close to us as a family and a ministry. I have received many inquiries as to what is next regarding the "Project" for 2016. Our goal as a ministry is quite simple this year, first we are committed to continuing to establish incredible opportunities for families, individuals and corporations to experience Jesus utilizing the wilderness of Colorado as our primary platform. Our leadership team will be meeting to finalize the fall 2016 and spring 2017 list of expeditions and our goal will be to create specific corporate and individual adventures for you to join us on. Secondly, we are working on the creation a specific leadership and spiritual formation curriculum that will be utilized and customized for each group and expedition we organize. This curriculum will not just inform but truly transform an individual body, soul and spirit. Lastly, and certainly not the least is to finalize the transaction of Deer Valley Ranch. Currently we are under contract to purchase the ranch with an expected close date of early spring 2016.