Participant Blogs

Three weeks after we have left Cameroon, we as a team were busy with the debrief.  I wrote my team the following letter, I think it shows a bit of every day life as a team of Explore Africa and the challenges we were facing....enjoy! Dear team, While debriefing Cameroon I came to the conclusion that we had quite a bumpy ride behind us.  And by this I don’t only mean the road between Cameroon and Gabon.  All of us had challenges, personal challenges, team challenges, cultural challenges, maybe even God-challenges.  All of us learned lessons.  For most of us...

Our time in Philippines only started after almost 5 days of travelling! 117 hours in total! We arrived tired but our spirits were quickly uplifted as we stared into the faces of the short term group that joined us there! It was so nice to have fresh conversations and to exchange some stories of the past year! They also surprised us with treats from our country: rusks, chocolate, sweets and biltong! Our expectations for the Philippines were big and we were ready to start our ministry! The days were very busy and with the draining heat, our energy levels were...

Arriving in Yogyakarta, also known as Yogya, was very exciting since we were meeting up with South African friends that would join us in ministry there. Our contact in Yogya was a pastor who linked us up with a Christian school. At the school, we shared stories from the Word with the kids and also prayed for the teachers. We helped out at a food ministry going on where they prepare food for 1200 people 3 times a week! Food preparation and packaging on big scale! The school blessed us so much with food, umbrellas, t-shirts and towels! During the...

It was so cool to fly into Vietnam observing its amazing night lights! We stayed in Saigon City where there are 7 million people and where 3.4 million scooters flood the streets. Crossing the streets there is such a cool experience! Cross with confidence or wait instead. In Vietnam our ministry differed a lot from other countries. We worked in 2 coffee shops, performed an acoustic show 2 times in one of the coffee shops and taught English at English classes straight from a passage in the Bible! A great way of spreading the Gospel since there is persecution. During...

Our time in Thailand was great. We arrived in Bangkok and the team split into two groups. One group went to Phuket while the other group went to Takua Pa. I was in the group that went to Phuket and there we painted a kinder garden for two weeks. God provided and blessed us in abundance through many people on countless occasions. During our time there, we did some Bible study on the book of Philippians and it was great to discover Paul’s sacrificial lifestyle and to see how he remained joyful in all circumstances. We also met up with...

Finding 1 Corinthians 13 in Ethiopia I won’t for one second say that I fully comprehend the meaning of love. Even though I have been blessed beyond measure in experiencing love from family and friends, there are still times that I would have to confess that I have no idea when it comes to love.  But in the streets of Addis Abba, among the people of Ethiopia, among the widows and orphans, among my own team members, I got the chance to experience it a new. Ethiopia is full of opportunities to become a real feel-good-doer of the law.  In...

Guatemala…   We entered Guatemala with a bang and so the adventure began… We met up with Pastor Ben that day and so our expectations were blown away. The man Geoff described to us wasn’t the man we met. Grace changed the life of a man completely. The weekend we had of to ourselves to explore a little bit of panajachel and to see how the culture is. Monday the work began… That day not only did we start to work on his new house he is building but also on our new drift trikes… A truly new experience I...

Climbing of the bus in San Jose in Costa Rica and the journey begins. Our group spilt up in 2 groups and went out on our faith journey just trusting on the Lord to take us to the places where we need to go. From the bus stop me and Geoff took the road saying our goodbyes to Mulder and Quinton and told them we will meet you guys in Guatemala on the 1 st of May at Crossroads Café. 10 Days traveling by faith doing a semi Luke10. Getting lost in San Jose in the part of town you...

“Nothing is hidden from Your sight; Wherever I go You are with me; You know every detail of my life; You are God and you don’t miss a thing.” The last week or so I’ve been thinking about the whole idea of my life and in what way God has control over the things that happen in my life. Reading stories of people like Joseph I have again just realized how God in intensely involved with what happens in our lives. When reading the words to the song above it just emphasizes how nothing on this earth is hidden from...

We just arrived in a small village, far from any regular tourist attractions.   While boarding the train we already felt it was different, when the train staff come to see if these foreigners have got onto the right train. We might have appeared a bit lost.   The man behind me (next to Wayne) was very friendly and helpful.    When we stepped onto the platform, I felt like a animal at the circus. Some people stopped and stared, others were cheering, while some others tried in their best english to greet us, "Welcome to Egypt!", "Where you from?"...