Participant Blogs

  Yes, sometimes Global feels like survivor. Every day you get a clue about what will happen next (because God doesn’t give you a road map) and often you are unsure where the next meal will come from. Only difference is that instead of voting off a team member you don’t get along with, you deliberately fight for love and to keep unity…. So still in Izmir we woke up one morning to notice half our team’s shoes had been stolen during the night. It was only then that we thought maybe camping in a dodge public park was a...

Our first few days in Turkey was resting and exploring with our hostel being right behind the Hagia Sophia museum. We had no ministry point here so we were trusting God to open new doors for us. So between just trying to process Israel and trying to soak up Istanbul, we took it pretty slow, praying on where we should go and what we should do. Our only other mission was to apply for our Macedonia visas, which we prayed about a lot. But God is good and the application process went super smooth, something that is impossible according to...

When gardening, one always starts with the end in mind. There is always a sort of rigorous planning and planting, but soon it is all about maintenance and persevering in the commitment to keep the garden contained. This is also true of our spiritual gardens. At first our spirit dwells in a desert, with no living water and no plants. But as soon as Christ comes and changes our truth and understanding of the good news, He starts planting the first tree…The tree of freedom and salvation. As we start walking an intentional road with Him, God starts bringing new...

  At first we were taught that the Old Testament is a good read but slightly out-dated and should not be applied to our daily modern lifestyles. Then wars broke out, people began reading their Bibles again and opinions started changing again. This time however, people emphasized certain parts of the Bible to justify picking sides in a battle that everyone seemed to want to be a part of. It was at this point what I first heard that we as believers should align with Israel and pray for the Jews. It was at this point that I learned to...

On the other side of the wall… As South Africans we are familiar with the concept of having a country within another country, but this did not prepare me for what I experienced crossing the ‘border’ into Palestine. Bethlehem is about 7,1km outside Jerusalem with a large 8m high wall dividing the one city from the other. Imagine a scene out of the Hunger Games with the towering wall, barbed wire everywhere and people with guns patrolling the area. And so we drove through this scene only to be met with gas bombs, tires burning and people with gas masks...

“This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 This was said to Joshua just before he crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, and it was as applicable for us as it was for him. With a truly intense border security (not joking) I found myself praying similar prayers to the first two Israelites who entered the country: Lord, please make me invisible and give me favour with the people. And He, being the same yesterday, today and...

To suffer: to undergo, be subjected to, or endure pain, disability, death etc. patiently and willingly…. If I look back on the past few weeks and conversations I had, many topics come to mind: love for others, serving without reward, true wisdom, grace and mercy, forgiveness etc. But the theme that seemed to make its way into every situation was suffering. What does it mean to truly suffer? This question can be easily answered by my mind but for the first time I was confronted with a response from the heart. As the definition above describes, suffering is normally involuntarily...

  Day 40: The locals seem to have grown accustome to my presence and have accepted me as one of there own.  Thoughts of my previous life have started to fade and words like 'patient', 'dentures' and 'medical aid' are rearly spoken. Instead my days are filled with  spontanuous 'adventures' such as being abandoned in the bush for days and having to compete for food or being told to 'build a road' with no actual knowledge of what a road consists of (a fact that I have yet to admit to my new family). Despite the pressures of my new...