Participant Blogs

Not from here   The Northbound journey is purposefully set up in a way to expose us to so many different aspects of the world. In the past 8 months we have visted nations with dominant religions of Islam, Hinduism, Bhuddism, Catholicism, Orthodox Christians and even atheism. We saw the effect of human governments on nations through failed capitalism and communism. We were confronted by the brutal effects of war, both current and historic. The Syrian refugee crisis followed us from Jordan through Turkey and into Europe. A historic natural disaster was fresh on the face of the nation of...

  It is our first morning in Yogyakarta in Indonesia. I wake up at around 4:30am to the now forgotten but still familiar sound of the call to prayer being boomed into the neighbourhood from the rooftop of ten plus mosques. Not long after as the dawn starts breaking another strange sound claws its way through my sub-conscience. It's a clanging empty noise accompanied by the shouts of a man...    Later the day I see that the centre where we are staying at is surrounded by rice paddies. And it is a ritual for the workers that sleep around the...

To you, the school of the nations   This is a thank you. Or an attempt at acknowledgement. To the countless faces and people that I have crossed paths with in the past few years.    I once heard a sermon of the way that we are rocks on a river bed, being tossed and turned and swept downstream. And as we bump shoulders with one another, a forming takes place. God determines the length and the depth but still - we are formed in different ways by the people around us.   Words cannot describe the forming that has...

This being my second year on global challenge hitchhiking has become one of those skills that I might consider putting on a CV, I've been working in the hours and can honestly say that I love the adventure of putting out my thumb and expectantly waiting to see who will pick us up. My heart is filled with fond memories as I think back to drinking late afternoon coffee on a smallholding close to the border of Costa Rica - Panama, and then being stranded in nomansland on the same border a few hours later. Going at hair-raising speeds down...

From the north to the south, the beaches of the Galilee to the stone-cobbled streets in Jerusalem, the country shouts the name of our Emmanuel - God with us. But the echoes in the religion and the hate and the noisy youth murmur the depravity of our human souls. This is my second time in Jerusalem, and again the wailing wall is exactly that, a cause for despair. Against the wall an old woman is rocking back and forth.  Pilgrims come from afar to leave their prayers rolled up in wads of prayer, stuck in between two rocks. On the...

In the late afternoon dusk the city is settling down under a cloud of dust. A few blocks away the image of dreary stone coloured houses is broken by a blue and green kite that sweeps over and through the buildings. Yells of delight are carried on the early evening breeze toward where I am sitting. Sarah sits on the steps outside her house, crying. Her brother has passed away today. The image of a broken girl is a far cry from the one I met this morning before school. Laughing when she introduced herself, screeching as she ran after...

Oh Zanzibar You greet me with a white-toothed smile A glimpse of breakthrough behind veiled face Poa you shout from your squeaky bicycle Skipping through the streets in your fancy dress You laugh at my attempt to speak with you. Always room for one more in your dala dala Your karibu the sound of a warm openness Explaining your history of nations walking through your cobblestoned door. Your search for knowledge keeps you young Asking and seeking, eager to learn. Behind the salaam in your mouth A question in your eyes meets mine Revealing a deeper ancient quest for Peace....

Fadwa*. Our first visit was two weeks ago to a highly pregnant Fadwa. Today we hold a little Maria in our hands. Perfectly formed. The little hands are a picture of perfection. Small knuckles, small nails. She clasps my finger, barely fitting her fingers around it. We are sitting on UN mats - a grim reminder of the brokenness and realness of their situation. But for a moment, the hurt and the ugliness of humanity fades in the glory of new life. In the beauty of creation. And Fadwa is a worthy mother, her circumstances forgotten. She walks with her...

God is no longer part of my story… Oh the gravity of You, draws my soul unto its knees I will never be the same, I'm lost and found in you. (The Rend Collective) During debrief I was listening to Mike from All Nations drawing parallels to the story of Abraham, the father of our faith. He was explaining that Abraham walked straight to the altar to offer Isaac because He believed that God is a God that can resurrect!  That is the father of our faith. Bold and confident. Faith in a God that is bigger than him, bigger...

Anyone that knows me will know that I absolutely love being outside and that being in or around mountains is without a doubt where I am in my happy place. So imagine my excitement and anticipation for our visit to the small town of Incahuasi high in the Andes mountains of Peru with Oom Hendrik. This stop on the journey was one of the main reasons why I decided to do my particular journey to South America in the first place and my expectation was well-met - the first day I wanted to jump out of my skin with excitement....