What Now?  You graduate high school or college and need direction, you drop out of university because it wasn’t what you thought, or you are faced with a thousand different roads and don’t know which one to travel.  And you have a heart to follow God’s best for your life, but you just can’t figure out what that is.  And deep in your soul there’s a craving to hit the “pause” button on life’s fast-track to the future,  and you want time to evaluate, to experience, to grow, to travel.  Before you step into a four-year college or a lifetime career, you want to see more of God’s world, want to get more comfortable in your own skin, and want to drink of  God Himself more deeply than you’ve tasted so far.  If any of these longings connect with you, if you are between the ages of 18 – 24, if you are committed Christian and want to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Thailand, consider spending a few months as a Destined Traveler.

Why Mentorship?     Jesus Himself told his followers to make disciples– to lead others in living and thinking like Christ.  If we look at the life of Jesus, we can see how He chose to do just that–  He gathered a small group of willing hearts around him.  These twelve disciples did life with Jesus.  They ate with him, they slept beside him, they watched him handle intense situations and broken people.  They saw how He loved others and got to listen to His explanations of hard teachings.  They were on the inner circle in His earthly ministry and had a box-seat to the miraculous. 

Obviously, we at Destined Traveler are by no means claiming to be the spittin’ image of Jesus Himself, but we do see the value of allowing a young adult to walk closely alongside an older Christian in ministry and in life.  We also recognize the power of a small group of individuals who are all pursuing the same spiritual goals and the dynamic energy that a group like that can create.  With over 12 years of experience in ministry, both in the United States and in other countries, we recognize that the classroom of another culture can oftentimes be one of the most powerful for spiritual transformation.  When young people get out of their comfort zones, they are challenged to grow in their faith in ways that are difficult to experience within the borders of  normal life.  Students will be given the space to study God’s word, practice the spiritual disciplines (meditation, prayer, silence, etc.), engage in various outlets of Christian service and ministry, learn from sound Biblical teaching, enjoy one-on-one discipleship with an older Christian, taste true community within the team, observe what normal life is like for a Jesus-loving missionary family, practice loving and living in a foreign culture, evaluate their God-given gifts and their God-directed futures, and get a bigger glimpse of God’s heart for the world.  

 The Details?  The mentorship program will begin (hopefully) in September of 2010.  We will host teams of no more than 12 young people, ages 18-24.  The Fall program will begin in September and finish at the end of November.  Students will have a required reading list to prepare for the trip, as well as an intensive interview process before acceptance into the program.  If you are interested or would like more information, contact Matt Parker (co-director, Joy to the World Foundation, Thailand) at coloradoparkers@gmail.com.