Participant Blogs

Humbled. Silent. Humbly silent. In the busyness of Peru, we still had the privilege of being given time to climb Machu Picchu. Three years of excitement stored up for this moment, I was ready to go - not even the 2000 death steps we had to climb to get to the top could dull the excitement buzzing in me. When we got to the top, we were greeted by thick mist and could hardly see what was in front of us. Trying to stay positive and accepting the fact that I wouldn't get good photos, I stared at the mist...

"You've changed." One sentence that people either yearn to hear, or dread to accept. As people our tendency is, it seems, to fear change. One will always claim to be 'embracing' change but the reality is actually that their inner being is still trying to defend and hold on to whatever it is has that has supposedly 'changed'. I mean we're perfect right? Why would we need or want to change? Most believers will tell you how God changed their heart. Myself included. I'm talking about a complete transformation, a revolution of the highest caliber. Pride shattering, character building, grace...

The worst part about traveling is knowing you will never be the same after leaving the place you were in. In some cases, you leave a piece of your heart behind, along with the people you've met. This was one of those cases. Mexico, you have completely changed my perspective of what it means to fall in love with a place. When I think back on our time in Mexico, I don't see places, I don't see the beach or the shops or the thousands of tacos that we ate. I see the faces of people that I met and...

"Something will grow from what you are going through. That thing will be you." - Unknown Someone very dear to my heart prayed in training that God would ruin my life on this journey. Only now that God took the challenge do I understand what she meant by that. Our month in Israel has been some of the hardest yet most beautiful days of my life. God broke down walls in my heart that without me even realizing, were keeping Him out more than they were anyone else. He filled these gaps with love and innocence, moulding me and shaping...

There is something liberating about sitting on a rooftop of a hostel in Istanbul, looking over the chaotic puzzle of buildings and busy people with Amanda Cook's 'Wonder' pumping through my earphones. What a time to be alive. Staying only a stones-throw away from the Blue Mosque, waking up with a view of the Ayasofia every morning and walking through Istanbul in my identity in Christ - literally walking around with our identity scribbled on a piece of paper stuffed in our shoes - I was constantly reminded by Him that I was called for such a time as this....

The word radical is defined as the relating to, or affecting of, the fundamental nature of something. Training has been exactly that. Radical. My understanding of God's love has been radically overthrown - actually my understanding of love in general to be honest...my heart has been radically taken over by a love that we as sinners don't deserve, I have been radically affected by grace, I've had radical encounters and I've been radically changed. The past 7 weeks can not be put into words. Mostly because my thoughts and ideas are all over the place, but also because they have...