Participant Blogs

 Before this year, the only thing I knew about Cuba was that Buena Vista Social Club is from there and something about a revolution, with a guy named Ché, who looks cool on handbags and t-shirts.  After being here for 3 weeks, I can tell you there is so much more to this long, narrow island in the Caribbean.

 

3 weeks ago we found out that the Transkei needs some help, so we answered the call. To fund the various projects, we had 3 blikskud sessions in PE - in less than 5 hours, God blessed us with R35 000! So from the word go, we felt the Lord's hand of provision on us, in finances, material and tools. Our first week, we spent in Coffee Bay, serving at Coffee Bay Comprehensive Christian School. We painted classrooms & bathrooms; put in a new door; pulled straight a wooden classroom dubbed "Plankie" & put up a new sink roof over...

Yes, that is what Luke 10:3-4 says.  "Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.  Carry no moneybag, no knapsack (bag), no sandals..."  Okay Lord, so I'll only be taking only a toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues, papers, a pen, my passport and a tennisball.  I trust You to provide EVERYTHING else I need for this 11-day journey.  Man, and what a diverse few days it was...

 

     

 After experiencing many miracles traveling from Colombia to Peru, via the Amazon I must add, we arrived in Chiclayo.  To mention but a few, we slept on the pier waiting for our 16 hour speedboat ride on the Amazon; ran out of petrol and drifted in the Amazon for about 2 hours, which ended up in a praise&worship session on the roof of the boat; slept inside a locked airport, all by ourselves; overnight bus ride from Lima to Chiclayo – which only cost us R70!

Distant Islands.  In a team sense, only the islands are true, because we are not distant from each other at all!  Paul, Clara, Annelize (Arthur's mom) and Elle (Ashleigh's mom) can testify to this.  Why?  Because for a few weeks, they were part of our Distant Islands family!

 

It is said that every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.  With that in mind, I start my preparations for GCEX 2011!  But who am I and how did I get to be so blessed to be chosen for the journey of a lifetime? As you can see on the home page, my name is Linel le Roux.  Born in Namibia and proudly bred in South Africa!  At 25 I'm enjoying my first retirement, that from ship life.  After 2 years of serving as a butler on a cruise ship, I'm convinced that I love the traveling, but...

Hong Kong is a city like any other big city.  Many people, pretty lights, expensive shops, tall buildings and signs you can't read...

   

Repentance is like breaking out kitchen cupboards.  It's fun if you're the one doing the breaking, but it hurts to be the cupboard.  Everything inside of you gets exposed - you have nowhere to hide anything, anymore.  Every single thing that has ever been placed inside you, needs to be removed.  You, the old cupboard, has to be thrown away; it can't be fixed, it has to be replaced with a new one.  The way you are now, is completely useless.  You need the Carpenter to give you a new body.  And He's already done it in you.  Religion says:...

Our last island in the Caribbean leg of our Distant Islands journey, Curacao, 7-15 May 2012.  That's what our itinerary said, but God had other plans...

 

There is a question we all ask and hear, a few times every day.  And our response is always the same, no matter how we really feel.  The past few days, this question has challenged me and made me sigh every time I'm asked or see it in an email or Facebook message.  Not because it's a difficult question, but because the answer is actually much more complex than the usual, "Good, thanks."  So, okay, tell me now really, "How are you?"