James Bourdon
FOUNDER / DIRECTOR / BOYS GROUP LEADER
James has combined two of his greatest passions outdoor adventures and sharing the gospel, into one incredibly unique ministry. Prior to UMA, James served as a Youth Pastor in Richmond where he and his wife, Juli Ann, ministered to teens and were involved in a jail ministry. After prayerfully responding to the Lord’s prompting, James took a step of faith and in 2007 he moved his young family to the Daniel’s Hill neighborhood of downtown Lynchburg.
What started out as a simple desire to “love your neighbor as yourself” quickly grew to the realization of a bigger need. In 2008, Urban Mountain Adventures was established initially taking a few neighborhood boys backpacking, fishing, and camping. It soon developed into a community of believers intentionally moving into the neighborhood to invest in and disciple the boys and girls of Rivermont. James is currently a full-time Firefighter and has been since 1999. He serves there as a member of the Technical Rescue Team.
James is also a devoted mountain and ice climber who has made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier twice (unguided) along with others such as The Grand Teton, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Baker. He has culminated his life experience as an Eagle Scout and outdoorsman to lead the UMA staff in safely facilitating adventure trips for our youth including river rafting, rock climbing, rappelling, back-packing, and much more. As a recipient of Lynchburg’s Youth and Prevention Volunteer Award, James’ heart is to see a generation of urban youth not only experience things they have never imagined, but to model God’s love as they grow into tomorrow’s leaders!