Every boy should get the experience of discovering who they are and what they were made for."
David Geus
About David
Academy Founder, Director of DG Programs
David Geus's DG leadership academy hosts a number of different programs that combine over a decade of his personal experience coaching in all capacities – from youth ministry, to soccer & sports training, serving at-risk youth as a social worker in Germany, and working in the Bethel Healing Rooms.
"Outdoor adventures have always been an essential part of my life as young as I can remember. Growing up I found joy and freedom being active, doing sports, and enjoying life with my friends. As a young adult growing up in the Christian faith, I started going on camping trips and enjoying fun outdoor activities with my friends, going on adventures like rock-climbing, fishing, canoeing, backpacking, playing soccer and more. “
David has a formal education in Pedagogy and Theology, he has attended two bible schools, Lutheran Bible School in Germany and BSSM in Redding, CA, and is a licensed and trained lifeguard. He served as a youth pastor in a church for two years, taught in a pre-K school, and was employed in Germany as a social worker for seven years. “The most impactful work I did in Germany was with Jugendwerk St. Joseph, a social program for foster kids in Germany, where I spent my time helping transform teenage boys, ages 12-16. It was here that I discovered my love for mentoring and leading boys, helping them discover who they are, and guiding them toward living their best life.”
​ ”This incredible program was a government funded organization, and at the end of 7 years serving here, I was hungry for more and curious about what would happen if I created a program that involved the best from my social work background with my faith.”
In 2019, David came to Redding to attend Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry. “My passion for seeing people transformed grew exponentially during my time in BSSM as I saw what God could do in a person’s life, especially mine.” After two years of ministry training and serving weekly in the Bethel Healing Rooms, David left school to be married and he and his wife, Delfina, founded DG Adventure Life Academy for boys in 2022 and Passion is Powerful Academy for girls in 2023.
David Geus
Founder, Adventure Life Academy
About DG's Programs
DG offers Christ-centered discipleship programs for boys to equip them with social/emotional skill and spiritual tools for life. Our adventures are filled with games, movement, and active talks that help boys discover more about who they are inside, how to relate to God and others, and what a faith-filled life looks like beyond the walls of the church.
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We primarily focus on the age group of 10-14 in our programs to help boys this age make a successful transition form boyhood into young adulthood while being surrounded by male mentors that can help him navigate the 'separation' and 'independence' stage with grace and wisdom.
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Our programs at DG are designed to give the boys an introduction to powerful social & emotional tools they can use for life to better relate to themselves, God, and others. Throughout our many sessions, they will discover new ways of solving problems with the Holy Spirit and build a foundation of inter-personal life skills, such as working through fear, setting boundaries, identifying their needs, setting goals for their life, recognizing their strengths, breaking 'lies' off their self-image, & talking with God.
Our Method
We believe in the power of storytelling & doing physical activations to engage boys where they learn best - through their bodies & imaginations. Concepts are taught through first-hand stories by the leaders and followed up with a game or activity that physically reinforces the idea. We seek to make their faith relevant & powerful, connecting what they believe to real-life applications so they understand on a deep level how important and practical their faith is in life situations, relationships, their future careers, and for their own personal health.
Core Values
Value Statement
Our goal is for each boy to know that who they are inside is good & valuable. It's important that they feel loved, seen, heard and known, not just for their contribution to the group, but for who they are and who God made them to be
Courage
We have the courage and everything we need inside of us to conquer challenges, overcome fears, and bring peace to unresolved issues. We can always find the courage we need to break through barriers and find true freedom.
Willpower
Willpower helps us to stay committed to our tasks in life especially as difficulties arise. Expanding our willpower helps us finish things we begin and pushes us forward in life with momentum so we can feel good about ourselves.
Honor
We honor and respect each other in all our differences of personalities, giftings, and characteristics. We celebrate the individual to bring out the best in them. We show our appreciation for each other with our words and actions.
Love
Love is important and everybody needs to feel loved. Love is not just a feeling, it's an action. Love means bringing connection to our family, our city and the nations. As we learn to love ourselves, we can better love the people around us.
Identity
Building self-esteem helps grow our self-confidence, which is important so that we can be proud of ourselves and go after our dreams. As we get know ourselves, we can learn to love how we're made and believe we can achieve big things in life.
Purity
When we know that who we are inside is good, we make choices that make us feel good. When we are mindful of our goodness, we take good care of our body, mind, and soul by doing, speaking, and thinking good things.
What is SEL?
Spirit-Filled Social/Emotional Learning
Our programs at DG Adventure Life Academy are designed to give the boys an introduction to powerful social & emotional tools they can use for life to better relate to themselves, God, and others. Throughout our many sessions, they will discover new ways of solving problems with the Holy Spirit and build a foundation of inter-personal life skills, such as working through fear, setting boundaries, identifying their needs, setting goals for their life, recognizing their strengths, breaking 'lies' off their self-image, & talking with God.
There are a lot of interpretations and applications for the term SEL. For us, SEL is simply a language of connection. 'Social' refers to how a person relates to others & 'emotional' refers to how a person relates to themselves. We add a third component, which is the Holy Spirit. It is important in our sessions that the boys shape their understanding of who they are directly through the eyes of the Father.
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Our practical application of SEL can be observed in the conversations we have with the boys, the questions we ask them, the listening we give them, and the responses we encourage them to share. When someone comes to us with a problem, we reflect to them their feelings & needs and empower them to find their own solutions with God.
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The foundation of our SEL tools are based on a number of teachings by Danny Silk of Keep Your Love On and Barry & Lori Byrne of Nothing Hidden Ministries, to name a few. We practice compassionate, Christ-centered listening and teach the boys to relate to one another with empathy, patience, kindness, accountability and integrity.
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Since our primary focus is to disciple our boys, we are committed to helping them overcome frustrations, agitations, fears, and at times aggression. We are not punishment focused, though we emphasize loving accountability to self, God and others as a standard for behavior. We show forgiveness in helping boys deal with their mistakes with honor, giving them a chance to show repentance and improve their behavior.
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When a challenging situation comes up, we go the extra mile to work alongside parents to help participants conquer behavior challenges. However, we do not condone violence and will remove participants who refuse to confront and change aggressive behavior.
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We believe that inside every child is a powerful light and we are dedicated to helping each child shine by teaching them the language of connection.