Participant Blogs

Penang, Malaysia.   That's what our flight ticket said.   Okay, so we have an island to go to.   But what about a specific person?   Where are you going to stay?   What ministry opportunities are there for us?   I have no idea!   But we have 18 days, so let's go and find out.   Is that not what traveling by faith is all about?          18 unplanned days, in another foreign country.   I think this is starting to become my comfort zone.   Since we had no contacts in Penang, we...

There is a question we all ask and hear, a few times every day.  And our response is always the same, no matter how we really feel.  The past few days, this question has challenged me and made me sigh every time I'm asked or see it in an email or Facebook message.  Not because it's a difficult question, but because the answer is actually much more complex than the usual, "Good, thanks."  So, okay, tell me now really, "How are you?"

Yes, that is what Luke 10:3-4 says.  "Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.  Carry no moneybag, no knapsack (bag), no sandals..."  Okay Lord, so I'll only be taking only a toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues, papers, a pen, my passport and a tennisball.  I trust You to provide EVERYTHING else I need for this 11-day journey.  Man, and what a diverse few days it was...

 

Hong Kong is a city like any other big city.  Many people, pretty lights, expensive shops, tall buildings and signs you can't read...

   

Our last island in the Caribbean leg of our Distant Islands journey, Curacao, 7-15 May 2012.  That's what our itinerary said, but God had other plans...

 

Normal 0 21 false false false DE ZH-TW AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 We can make all the plans in the world, still it's God that will direct our steps.   And, as Ephesians 2:10 says, we're created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.   For us as Distant Islands, this preparation for Jamaica already started in our first country, Cuba, when we met John...   Now John is a Jamaican, studying in Cuba.   He translated for us in church one evening and his dad is a pastor in Kingston.   So...

Repentance is like breaking out kitchen cupboards.  It's fun if you're the one doing the breaking, but it hurts to be the cupboard.  Everything inside of you gets exposed - you have nowhere to hide anything, anymore.  Every single thing that has ever been placed inside you, needs to be removed.  You, the old cupboard, has to be thrown away; it can't be fixed, it has to be replaced with a new one.  The way you are now, is completely useless.  You need the Carpenter to give you a new body.  And He's already done it in you.  Religion says:...

Signs, wonders and miracles.  Miracles.  Yes, we saw many of those!  Being in a country where the cheapest hotel costs R1 500 a night, per room, camping is illegal and prison ministry isn't something we want to attempt - yet. (For any parents reading this, don't worry, your kids are still happy, safe and in very good, responsible hands!)  So yes, our Global budget isn't able to stretch that far, so what do YOU do then??  Well, it's simple.  You pray!  And God works.  Oh man, and He did!  God provided in so much abundance!

 

 Before this year, the only thing I knew about Cuba was that Buena Vista Social Club is from there and something about a revolution, with a guy named Ché, who looks cool on handbags and t-shirts.  After being here for 3 weeks, I can tell you there is so much more to this long, narrow island in the Caribbean.

 

3 weeks ago we found out that the Transkei needs some help, so we answered the call. To fund the various projects, we had 3 blikskud sessions in PE - in less than 5 hours, God blessed us with R35 000! So from the word go, we felt the Lord's hand of provision on us, in finances, material and tools. Our first week, we spent in Coffee Bay, serving at Coffee Bay Comprehensive Christian School. We painted classrooms & bathrooms; put in a new door; pulled straight a wooden classroom dubbed "Plankie" & put up a new sink roof over...