Participant Blogs

When I look around, al I see is people walking around in chaos...nowhere. There is a strange feeling to a place where disaster have struck, leaving people with little to nothing hope. Kind of makes you think, you know... about what you have, what is truly necessary and what if something like this happens to my family? Will God allow that?  If He does, will He give us new hope?  Will I still praise God in that storm? I've had a few questions and things to think about this last couple of weeks. But what I've realised is that, spending...

In old Jewish culture, people would put precious purfumes and expensive oils in jars made from clay. These liquids where used only on special occasions,  and times of high importance or urgency. But the problem was that these jars were sealed shut after the content was poured in, to keep it safe. So now the only way to get the oil out to use it, was to brake the jar open. There was no screw-on lid for use and re-use. It had to be broken completely to get the good stuff out. Kenya was our first country we visited and...

Twee keer ʼn week sit ek saam met ʼn paar matriek seuns. Ons kuier oor die lewe, geloof, ʼn Bybel versie of twee, en as hulle wil dan bid ons. Van hulle glo in Jesus en van hulle is uitgesproke ateïste. Niemand van hulle is ooit regtig in die bui om te baklei oor geloofsake nie en nie een van hulle probeer ander in die kerk kry nie. Om die waarheid te sê, kerk is effens van ʼn dooie punt by almal van hulle. “Ek sal eerder in ʼn boot sit en dink oor God, as wat ek in die...

Probably the most overused word and definitely the word most misunderstood: Love..Well I've had it wrong all along.We all know love's description in 1 Corinthians 13, but then I looked at this verse in 1 John 4: 7-8 "dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God (for God is love)" I was struggling to accept the idea that my love doesn't look very different from those who do not believe, because, "anyone who loves...

Many people believe that the earth is flat, the rest think it's round. Does it really matter? Because ultimately there will always be the hills on the road, mountains with snow hats, valleys with lush forests, oceans with roaring waves, rivers with tons of water which you will encounter and to conquer, cross, climb or swim, requires more than just a strong mind or body, It requires faith and the ability to have no fear. 

These first few weeks have been a journey of faith. On this journey God will test your faith, leave you with nothing, but give you everything at the same time (Luke 10 journey) He will create character in you and He will restore your identity by challenging your faith in Him. 

He has found me in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness He led me about. He instructed me and kept me as the apple of His eye. He has searched for a remnant that is willing to walk this journey to listen and obey, to lay down your life out of love for Him. His sons and daughters don't believe in Him so that they can go to heaven. We don't read the bible or pray because we know that's the right thing to do. We walk with Him because we love Him. 

His spirit will beautify you and prepare you, cleanse and sanctify you. The  journey lies ahead. 

One journey ended and another started. Guess that's the cycle. The new global challenge students arrived last week, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Thrown into the thick of it they'll be returning from their first camp with a new perception and some humility. Their lives already changed in unforseen and wonderful ways. God in the midst of it all. I also started this year in the thick of it. The 7th of January I started working at Global Leadership Academy, or GLA for short, it's a one of a kind school that started as an off shoot from Global Challenge...

"We feel we would give anything if only we could, in actual experience, live on High places of love and victory here on earth - able to react to evil, tribulation, sorrow, pain and every wrong thing in such a way that they would be overcome and transformed into something to the praise and glory of God forever. As Christians we know, in theory at least, that in the life of a child of God there are no second causes, that even the most unjust and cruel things as well as all seemingly pointless and undeserving sufferings, have been permitted...

Finifugal used to simply be one of those pretty words that sounded cool if one of my english friends used it in a sentence. Little did I know that this word, that sounded like some or other Asian dish in one of Eastbound's stories, would gain meaning and reveal one of my hearts greatest fears. It is used to describe a person who fears endings, who tries to avoid the final moments of a story, relationship or some memorable journey. Someone who runs from goodbyes and prolong the ending of a good book. I used to be a finifugal traveler....

Lord, You are standing in front of me, with Your hand stretched out to me, asking 'Dance with me?' At first I hesitated to put my hand in Yours and say YES. But I did say YES. And I did put my hand into Yours, but it wasn't easy or smooth, it was with a lot of hesitation. As I was putting it into my Fathers hand, I pulled it back much faster. It was more pulling back, than moving my hand forward. A lot of things kept me from putting my hand into my Fathers hand for OUR DANCE....

I decided to do a global journey because Jesus was not a priority in my life anymore. He became a back up plan for when things were not going right in my life and that needed to change. Last year I was working as an accountant. I did not love what I was doing at all and I became so frustrated thinking that this was something I was going to do for the rest of my life. This caused me to neglect my relationship with the Lord completely. I was depressed, frustrated and just miserable. One night I just cried...