Participant Blogs

This whole Global Challenge has been tough. I've really been struggling to fit into my team and to find my purpose. I spoke to my leader and she said a few things that was needed, but I want to tell you about two things. Fitst she said that you're value is not in your purpose, it is in who you are. Second thing is that we are not human doings, we are human beings. I am not going to elaborate on that, but think about it. Anyway, continuing. It went really bad with my emotional and spiritual state. I started...

All I remember is the pain that once was.. "world" you didn't want me, you just used me and when I couldn't give anymore of me I was worthless to you... but piece by piece Jesus picked me up and restored me. All of your words fall flat and I will never go back to you. "World" your love isn't free, you have to pay for it.. again piece by piece Jesus filled all the wholes that you burned into me. I never have to wonder my worth because Jesus loves me... piece by piece Jesus collected me off the...

You never know what you can live without until you have to carry everything in one bag on your back -JS This week has been the craziest and probably most frustrating time of my entire life, we didn't get our Macedonia visas and had to come to Israel earlier. I have never felt the need to make notes of what happens to me until I experienced this week and knew I had to tell you guys all about it. I am currently sitting in my tent and decided I HAVE to write. Everything I am using now fits into my...

At the hostel we are staying there is this central ping pong table and most of the team plays fairly well (I don't) but liking the competitiveness of it i'm really trying to give them a run for their money.I asked God to explain grace to me because like most religious concepts the word is relatively butchered. As we were playing tonight I smashed one of the best shots I ever connected in my Ping pong career yet to my utter dissapointment it missed the table by an inch and I lost the point.God told me that grace is missing...

3 Continents in 3 days, Africa, Europe and Asia. This is how our 2016 journey began... and if it starts like this, then what else can you hope for but an adventure of a lifetime!  Turkish Delight, it comes in every flavour and colour. Some are crunchy, others melt in your mouth, Some look better than they taste, others look very plain and boring but when you taste it there is a flavour explosion. Some traditional, others the latest trend that comes and goes. Some only made from "healthy" honey and others pure sugar and gelatin. One thing that is...

People of nowhere   Macedonia. I'd heard about it before but only because it was one of the flags I drew in one of the few educational activities I got pulled into when working with "the kids." Before then, I didn't  know where it is, or that it was even a country. Macedonia has since become more than just a flag I recently drew. Can't help but to see that such a minor activity could add a glimpse into what my future then, did hold.    Refugees  As volunteers it would seem pretty obvious that we follow the needs of...

I am so thankful for:  African time; it is better than Turkish time, free public toilets, the SPCA, understanding Afrikaans, 'n lekker Braai, wearing shoes in the house, western toilets, Yum Yums double crunch peanut butter, google translater, an open window in a truck with a smoker driver for 7 hours, not having my pasta taken and hidden away by my team, not waking up to the sound of ziplock packets opening, not being called the spice girls or Charlie's angels by every merchant in the market but above all, I am so thankful for these things because they have...

What? How does that work? It does, if you're a sinner. I am a very honest person and I want you to fully understand my journey, so yeah, sometimes you're going to think I am an absolute fool. Great! Please think that, because my friend, that's exactly how gross and sinful and foolish I am, without God. Great thing that God doesn't leave us in our sins. Thank God He doesn't. Now of course, you want the juice (news) of what I have done. I thought that I had the right to want. I started to want the things other...

A form is something that seems real looks like it's the real deal but it's not reality. I thought in my head I new God but he was only in my head, but now that I'm here in Turkey Istanbul I'm realising that God is real and alive he is the one that we can trust. I mean we where @ Ephesus where Paul was preaching know that i just realised that This is real God is not a form but he is real.we also visited some people who are Christian's and thy told us about thy testimony how God...

Sahlep n.  a traditional winter warmer, a common beverage in Turkey.  The powder of Sahlep is sold in a ready-to-prepare form, to be mixed with cold milk or water, boiled until it gets thick so that it can really sooth our sore throats and take away that cold during the blistery winter days. The dust of cinnamon makes it even more pleasurable.  It is thick, it is sweet, it is comforting.    I would like to use this delicious drink, made out of orchids, as a metaphor to describe my time in Turkey:   As we arrived with a lot...