Participant Blogs

As our plane touched down in Tanzania I was immediately humbled by the miracle  of God's creation.  From here we departed on the first challenge of our Global adventure. By way of ferry we travelled to Zanzibar, an island of the East African coast. Zanzibar's population is 99 persent Muslim and the spoken language is Swahili.  In spite of the exhausting humid heat and the barriers of language and tradition, the Lord helped us to communicate and reach out to the locals.  Wearing clothes according to Muslim tradition, we enjoyed working alongside people who in spite of their poverty are very...

  I learnt many new words while in Zanzibar. Amongst others, one that apparently describes me: "Mzungu". That's the Swahili word for Europeans, though quite derogatory. According to my new friend, Ussi, a venerable Zanzibari wiseman, the name comes from the "mzunguka", meaning "one who comes and goes", which was first used to describe the white explorers of earlier centuries, the likes of Vasco da Gama and David Livingstone. Today, the word is thrown around willy-nilly mostly by dala-dala drivers trying to make an extra couple thousand shillings off unsuspecting tourists who never stay long enough to know better.  Zanzibar,...

With Maasai dust forming in the background and cattlebells sounding onwords Kenya takes its place in our past now a memory set in stone as the Fort of our Savior's Name cast in stone of deep Stil waters and an atmosfere of equal lay behind as we spread wings again pointing to the stars they wait burried an age ago with secrets left.    Learnt so much and changed equaly much. *

Jambo Mzungo (hello white man)   What an experience we have had in Kenya and Tanzania! Getting around in these parts of the world has been very exciting! One can go either by foot / boda (motorcycle) / matatu (minivan) / shuttle (bus) and the price is ALWAYS negotiable!!!! Once you are in your preferred budget-allowed mode of transport it gets very entertaining with all the people that you meet as well as the incredibly loud music and neon green blue and purple lights that comes as part of the package!! When going on a long 10hour bus ride you...

We are in Kenya. We are in Kenya. We are in Kenya. A year ago I would have been at work doing some MS Excel programming and moving automotive parts in a warehouse to create space for more parts... I AM IN KENYA. We are walking through the streets of Kenya, we are teaching primary school kids that Jesus is the Winner Man, we are eating mangos, chapattis and beans. Karibu. We are in Kenya. No matter how many times I repeat it, it still feels weird and unreal. When we arrived here alot of us asked the question: What...

Kenya and beyond                  I'm listening to Reggae and classical guitar music simultaneously as they compete for my attention, both expressions of changing and merging cultures found Kenya and beyond I'm listening to Reggae and classical guitar music simultaneously as they compete for my attention, both expressions of changing and merging cultures found in the Distant Relatives Eco back packers our team is staying in. After two weeks in Tanzania and serving in Kenya our team has had a couple of days to debrief, lighten our backpacks and take final sips and deep...

Thought it's about time I let you all know what the team's been up to but most importantly what God's been up to. For the past few weeks I've had a taste of Africa, the real deal. I'm talking about longdrops of various shapes and sizes; having had the priviledge to interact with the Masaai peolpe, eating chapaties and schumawiki- local Kenyan dish, traveling via mtats and learning few swahili words.   Honestly, it's been a tough and testing few weeks in the heart of Africa.The Lord has really been teaching me what it means to be humble and have...

I really enjoyed Kenya, it was so amazing to see what God did in just one week, brining our team closer together, the open,friendly people who would just trust us with their things, The awesone way God revealed Himself in the time spent in the prayer room we helpped to launch and also having so much favor with food and traveling... I deffinitly went through some inner struggles but that is part of growing and God teaching me to live a holy and pure life as it is written in 1 Thessalonians 4:7 "For God did not call us to...

God is doing a new thing in Global Challenge this year by sending teams into the world without Global Challenge staff members as leaders. This sounded very daunting at first, but its actually such an opportunity to build next level faith. Now we can not rely on previous experiences, but have to truly trust Jesus in every choice and situation. It is after all the same Holy Spirit guiding all of us. At the foot of the Ngong hills, just outside Nairobi we had the opportunity to serve at Harvest School, where 21 Kenyan kids go to school knowing Jesus...

With a heart wild with expectancy, and eyes filled with wonder, I arrived at OR Tambo on the 4th of March. What to expect? I didn't know. All I knew is that I am about to embark on the journey of a lifetime, to live a life like no other. And all this, with Jesus as my compass and anchor. We boarded flight 202 headed to Dar es Salaam, and you could smell the excitement in the air. Our flight only jetted off at 23:20, and I soon found out that a dinner tray can also be used as a...