Participant Blogs

That we may know Him...this is our only desire. Africa, my Africa In this place corruption brews in governments, injustice flows through the rifles of child soldiers and poverty strikes the poorest of poor. Yet beauty abounds in its sprawling jungles, mighty desert dunes and raging rivers; is evident in the eyes of the humble farmer, the joyful singing of the women and the innocent actions of the locals. That we may know Him... We have been exposed to different ways of thinking and living, we saw the crippling effects of poverty and disease and searched God’s heart for answers...

India.   Our last country. The final stretch.   India was challenging to our team in many ways. Besides the fact that the people worship cows, meaning cow pies were everywhere, and don't appreciate hygiene at all, there were worse things happening.   You see India is like a battlefield. Like a war zone. You either suit up, or you get hurt. The places we visited during our time there were all places where you couldn't let your relationship with God slip.   We started off in Delhi, wow, what a city. People and cattle walk side by side. Hindu...

India...hahaha that is enough said for this blog. For all who were there you know it's hard. If you can get past the dirty, crowded ally ways with a now and then suprising tuk tuk trying to get past while hooting wildly at you, the only citizen by right to actually be in the ally. Then yeah maby it could be a good time, oh if you can also survive the smell of wet cow and human feses with a colony of flies protecting it and dead bodies burning next to the river, then you are a badass. You see...

I am no spoiled brat and I'm use to things not being 5 star, but I could not help realising in what condition the country was. It was bad and seemed poor, but I was exited because this was Nepal ! We rested for a few days at a hostel where our leaders ,Louw and Mynette, spoke to some pastors because we had no set ministry point. Then things got spicy! One morning at the church we stayed at, we were unexpectedly asked to preach so I volunteered because who would want to preach unexpected? Anyway my translater struggled now...

And so our journey comes to an end as we spent our last 25days in India. This colourful and vibrant country was definitely nothing like I have seen before. We spent our first few days adapting to our surroundings and soaking up everything New Delhi has to offer: historic monuments, spice bazaar, street food, and a multitude of colours and smells. It was a pleasant yet overwhelming experience. Soon we boarded a 12hour train to the famous holy city of Varanasi. It is considered holy by the Hindu religion because of the river (the Ganges - that is said to...

Growing up next to the ocean, I have always been drawn to water sources: oceans, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, etc. I find the rhythmic flow of water calming and soothing. Watching the constant eb and flow of the ocean evokes the feeling of all worries and troubles being carried away. At times of great trouble I have hurled stones into the waves, watching it disappear under the foam, as a prophetic act that I give the situation over to God. I associate water with God's grace and enjoy watching my troubles be engulfed by it. Once released from my captivating trance,...

Delhi. What an amazing city: Vibrant and full of enticing smells and sounds. Tasty street food in all shapes and sizes with chai tea around every corner and a great place for some souvenir shopping. Before arriving I heard about all the marvellous things to experience in Delhi, but there is one thing that people seem to underemphasize: the Delhi tax. You see, Delhi provides all these wonderful sights, sounds and tastes at a cost. It demands payment in one way or another. If you do not spend all your money or time there, then it will take what it...

Was wuerdest du tun, wenn du dein Visa beantragen wuerdest und die Botschaft dir das Visa verweigern wuerde? Wuerdest du es nochmals versuchen? Oder gar ein drittes und viertes mal? So jedenfalls haben wir es gemacht, als wir uns von Gott nach Bolivien gefuehrt gefuehlt haben. Hier eine Zusammenfassung dieser fuer mich so unglaublich lehrreichen Story: Angefangen hat alles in Lima Peru, wo der Botschafter persoenlich uns empfangen hat und gesagt hat das die Papiere in Ordnung seien, er uns das Visa aber nicht geben kann, weil wir zuvor nach Chile reisen wuerden. Als wir dann in Chile in der...

Our time in Nepal was moderately long, but jam packed with things to do. We met amazing people, spent time in amazing places and experienced the culture first hand in many different situations. Where to start? Maybe in the Himalayas where we spent a week moving "mountains" of rocks for our Sherpa friends who will be building a church later.  From being crammed up against each other (and others) in public busses fit to seat 20 people comfortably, but with a max fitting of up to 40 people, to walking from early morning,visiting churches, till the evening, God met us...

Alright so Malaysia was legit, it was nice to come from Phuket Thailand getting to the boarder, waiting In the long lines to get through and then taking a minibus all the way to our destination which was a ywam base in Penang on a street called love lane !. Just being there was a cool thing for me because I was seeing more and more everyday how the lord has not only changed the team but me. It's not only small things it's big things too, there's times when you get into an argument and then the two of...