First, thanks for all of the ideas and advice! I am going to print out this thread and discuss it with my husband. A couple of you have also contacted me by PM, and we will look at those, too!
For those questioning why he wants to do this: The kid barely graduated high school. He was severely bipolar and hallucinated so much that he couldn’t sleep at night. He has always been spiritual (he gets upset at the word “religious” due to its negative connotations) and is a deeply committed Christian. He attended a YWAM (Youth with a Mission) school in the fall of 2013. Not to be overdramatic, but they have turned him around. He is off all meds (with permission of his doctor), sleeps well, and is down to about 180 pounds from 270 (he is 6’-1" tall). He went on a two-month YWAM trip to Amman last winter. He loved the people and talking to them about politics, God, their living conditions, etc. He liked the Middle East SO much that he signed up for another YWAM semester and is currently with a group of kids in Beirut. They have been visiting three families a day, five days a week. Mostly just listening to their incredible stories. It has made a huge impact on him. He’s also been doing volunteer work. He mentioned carrying heavy boxes of food over rivers! A car bomb went off a couple of weeks ago, but he said it was 60 miles away. He said they feel very safe in Beirut - one of the group is a former Green Beret. I know, I know, it’s still incredibly dangerous. He raised his own support for this trip, so we’re not financing him at this point (we said we would help with college, but not other endeavors).
If it were up to him, he would just move over there and start helping people on a permanent basis. But he knows he has to find a way to support himself. He is really not the type of kid suited for college, but he’s accepting the fact that he will need the degree to accomplish anything meaningful. He wants to study over there so he can learn Arabic quicker. He hopes to do volunteer work while going to school.
He has ALWAYS marched to a different drummer. He is about as polar opposite from me as you can imagine - I was the first-born overachiever who went straight through to grad school, met my husband, and got married. When we were really butting heads when my son was younger, a close friend said, “You do realize that your son is a poet being raised by two engineers?” That was the first time I had realized that!