Participant Blogs

There are not many grand moments in life, even though this moment, this year was one of the grandest, I know that after this year we will hardly live life in those grand moments. We will live in the utterly mundane. This used to scare me but then I looked closer to these mundane spaces that we exist in.: the bathrooms, the bedrooms, living rooms and the hallways of life. This is where the character of our lives is set. This is where we will live a life of faith. And that my friends makes me even more excited, because...

  “Abba, I belong to you!” Five words that will be etched into my life forever. Words that have been spoken by many, but truly felt by little. These last few months have been a rollercoaster. So many unexpected turns, so many ups and downs, so much turbulence but so much freedom.  I was thinking about all the people that came before me. All the people that had to make a conscience decision to follow Jesus blindly into what He was doing for them. I recall the story of Cain and Abel. Abel brought a better sacrifice to God by...

I remember standing at the edge of a cliff. Looking out at the big wide blue ocean. Looking down and seeing a beautiful scary blue unknown. My heart pounding in my chest like the sound of an epic climactic drum solo. Should I jump? Should i let go of every fear, every doubt every what if? Should i abandon all i thought i knew? Should i trust that the fall will bring freedom instead of regret?   I was standing at the edge of my seemingly ordinary, but yet surprisingly weird and random life, Our omnipresent creator whispering: “Do you...

The past month I have been asked the same question over and over again: " What's happening next? " I would shrug my shoulders and say: " I don’t know yet, I’ll probably know when the “next” comes . ”  Well the “next” came. God said “Go!” And so I’ll go. But in the midst of this I pondered on what it means to go. Does it truly always mean a state of moving or going somewhere or does it have some hidden meaning we’re not seeing. The dictionary defines it this way: ‘ Go is to move from one place...

I have learnt a lt this year. I learned that things don't always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think it should. And I've learned that there are things that go wrong that don't always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before. I've learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones. This year wasn't always pretty. It wasn't always comfortable. Some things and situations even break your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you - it should change you. It leaves marks on your...

"Be Still." Two words. Constant and always present. Having morning coffee, I hear it: "Be Still." Swimming in the clear blue ocean. Walking on snow white sand. Watching a Fiery red sunset. "Be Still." Fellowshipping with people who have become family. Listening to music, old and new. Feeling the presence of God. Be Still. Two very simple words, put together to speak chapters. Our time in Tanzania and especially Zanzibar has taught me a very important thing. And that is to practice the pause. When in doubt pause. When angry or irritated, pause. When tired or stressed, Pause. And when...

"What we do, does not define who we are. What defines us is how well we rise after falling." It has been a while since I've seen words come to life in such an inspiring way. Rwanda is a beautiful chapter in this journey. So beautiful that there aren't any words to truly express how much influence it has had in my own thoughts and especially my relationship with our beautiful Saviour. I look forward to more chapters with you in it. You have taught me so much. Not only about your people but also about myself. I loved spending...

    I always thought the words  and then  were a prelude to something wonderful. Like seeing a ship come in or finding a note in your letterbox, when you weren't expecting one. That swift, surprising transition from nothing to everything.  And then .   Two little words that hold a world of promise.  And then  the light pierced through the dark sky, and the rain stopped falling.    And then  I met you.    Uganda, experiencing you was like being ten hears old again, scaling a tree with my eyes bright and skyward, wanting to get higher and higher...

    We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place. We stay there even though we go away, and there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there. Kenya is such a place. It is truly like Narnia.  There is something beautiful  about Kenya that is thousands of years old. Too old to be truly captured by poems and songs. Loved by everyone, loved so very deeply. Kenya is everything real in a world of make believe.    But even though I left some part of me behind, I also found...

When I first laid my eyes on you and the rolling hills you sat upon. I thought what amazing luck I have that God had created such beautiful things and gave me the eyes to see them.    I am forever changed by your existence. You are a place filled with so many stories and I feel so privileged to share some of these stories with you. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again....