Preparing the way...

Hi, my name Jean and this is my first blog, which I am writing from Ubatuba Brazil! I am 21 years old, from Cape Town South Africa, and I like to surf and be outdoors in the wild-a true John the Baptist at heart! I was a carpenter and truck driver before coming to Global Challenge.

On the 7/7/07 I gave my life to Christ and my whole life changed. I’ve always wanted to travel and prayed that I would have a chance to backpack the world with friends. I prayed for 3 years that God would give me an opportunity to travel for Him to share about Him with others I meet. At the end of 2010 God opened the door for me to do Global Challenge through meeting people who had done an expedition. I checked out the website, filled in the application and here I am today!

Although I had the choice between the Southbound 1 year expedition and Explore Africa, I was reminded of a prophecy spoken over me by a lady from the church- that I should not live in a box but step out and focus on other things by going bigger and deeper with God, which is why I chose Southbound.

Eph 2:5- “…(we are) made alive in Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions-it is by grace that we have been saved.”

Things I have really enjoyed:

• BUSH time- survivor,  challenges, and the school camp
• Transkei fence building project
• Fellowshipping with the team, people and the community

Things I have found challenging:

• Staying awake during training sessions
• Personal areas of my life that I’m working on with God
• Having faith that God will provide for my finances this year

Highlights of my GCEX journey so far:

• Surfing in Jeffrey’s Bay and now here in Ubatuba Brazil
• Doing extreme things like fishing, pier jumping, making fires, chopping down trees, working in the Transkei, building a hut, catching a pig, hitch hiking from Coffee Bay to Jeffrey’s Bay…
• Growing with God through quiet times
• Enjoying the family culture in Brazil and sharing in their family love

Things I have learnt:

• That God has already given us the gifts of the Spirit to use- we just have to step out in faith to see them work in our lives- to preach, pray, heal the sick etc- I am living by faith this year that these things will happen!

Acts 5:12- “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people”

Prayer points:

• Finances (you can support my funds this year by donating through given gain- click on the link above)
• Growth in the Spirit
• Divine appointments with people God wants me to meet
• That my relationships with the team and other people around me will be Godly

By the way, here’s a sample of one of our surfing stories- Gerherd and I went surfing with a local from the church (Bruno) and he took us to ‘Ready beach.’ The waves were huge, the current was strong, and we didn’t even catch any waves, but what an appavoro (cool) time we still had!

More surfing stories to come…stay tuned!

Be blessed,

Jean “The Baptist& rdquo;