Participant Blogs

Kosovo has been good! My mother said she was going to step into interceding for me and it is amazing how powerful prayer is! I feel like this is the most God has ever revealed of Himself to me. It started with being met by love when I was vulnerable ( dancing and singing like a mad person). A lot of healing happens when you show yourself and in return get a standing ovation from a Star Breather. So imagine this scene. There are three judges and the contestant reluctantly steps out on the stage. Music starts and this poor...

  As humans we instinctively fear the dark and the unknown that comes with it. We often imagine monsters lurking in the shadows - watching us, waiting to attack. As children we have night-lights and soft toys to comfort and protect us against these monsters, with a graceful parent to check under the bed every now and then. Once we reach adulthood the monsters change into more realistic things to fear such as burglars or LEGO blocks on the floor, anything that could cause physical harm. Either way we still approach the dark with caution and heightened senses, ignoring the...

I'm lying on the floor, staring at the white ceiling of a plastic container, the commotion stopped, the little girl that brought me to her mother left, the laughs of miscommunication turned to silence and all I hear is the footsteps of people on grew mine rocks.  Jesus what am I really doing here? I was there, next to a far pregnant mother of four staring at her as she just fell asleep from exhaustion . Only in this silence I experience a little bit of the reality being a refugee, losing your husband, not always due to the war,...

  Macedonia - what a surreal country. On the one hand beautiful fairy tale landscapes with frozen-in-time villages, and on the other hand poor Roma (gypsy) communities and refugee camps. Our main focus for the country was serving and connecting with the refugees but of course we experienced so much more. With some experience in previous countries with the crises, I went out day one excited to make new friends and practice some of the Arabic I have learned. But this was not like our previous encounters. We drove 40min each day through the beautiful colourful countryside on the way...

  I have never experienced a unity such as this. There is so much love in our team and overflowing joy. The other day we had a full on glee musical moment! Possibly the moment I am alive for hahaha! Kosovo is so good for the team. Every Time we get, what we think is sidetracked, God has an amazing different plan for us. (We didn't get our Chinese visas) We dedicated our year to be servants of God and He is using us. So far every time this happened the people we 'end up with by default' mention that...

We have joy and peace because we know there is a reason and a good ending. The ending is already written down.. That there is no ending. Of this small life, yes, but of my soul no. So the reason people are unhappy is because they feel their stories are boring, they make no difference in the world, their future is unsure, fear of death. All of these things are fears. Perfect love casts out these fears, because perfect love had the grace upon us to open our eyes to see the big picture. It casts out fear because it...

Macedonia was beautiful. We were received with open South African arms and felt so at home, but the atmosphere changed when we entered the colorless Tavanoche camp. By the time we reached Macedonia most of the refugees had traveled on and it was only those without money or with children that were left. It was hard to lift spirits without even being able to communicate. So we fully relied on God. It was inspiring to see how people are obedient to God even if it was to their expense. We expected life for missionaries would be careless and fun. It...

So when the team traveled to Turkey and Macedonia I had to go back home because I lost my passport. Now in normal terms this should have been good? I mean food ,chocolates ,tv ,bed and sleep. Well to be honest I went through Hell, my identity was tested every day for 35 days. I tried to pray for people or do ministry, but I had no passion for it so for 35 days I questioned myself, because works without faith is dead... (James 2:14-20) So many other things piled up against me like this one. And I mean MANY,...

I'm still trying to figure out who this God of mine really is. Last night I found myself scolding God as if He were a little child. I felt like He wanted me to come on this journey. Knowing I don't have the funds. I felt like He must have known what He was doing but now it feels like He just doesn't care. After I spoke my mind for a good 30 min He simply asked me if I was done. A moment after someone walked in. Gave me all the answers I just asked God and walked out....

  It rained today, the type of weather that screams 'stay in bed'. I didn't feel like going to the camp but I promised you I would, so I went.  I had lots of plans for new games we could play and I also promised to still braid your hair.  But you weren't there... I walked through the camp, expecting you to come running, screaming my name as you always did, but you didn't. There were no running footsteps, no waving hair and bright smile. No one eagerly grabbing my hand and saying 'come, come' to play a new game....