I have felt the excitement of traveling again, I have seen the vastness of the Egyptian desert, walked where Jesus died and was raised, flew across 2 continents, and heard the laughter of Thai children, but nothing compares to knowing Jesus Christ my Lord for whose sake I have given my all. And as I stand with a shovel in the sand at the building site that we are working at in Thailand, I think back on the month that has passed.
The 24th of February the GCEX 2009 team stood surrendered at the airport as we boarded our first flight of our journey around the world. The next morning Egypt greeted us with its Arabic hospitality and its magnificent scenery of desert sand and the seemingly endless Nile. We spent a week at a Coptic Orthodox centre in the middle of the desert where we did Veritas, a course that teaches on interpreting the Old Testament.
We were also privileged to spend some time with the Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church. His teachings were filled with profound wisdom as he spoke with authority about the things of the Lord. Another highlight of my time there was the daily prayer meetings with the local believers as we came together in the evenings to read God's Word and spend time praying.
After having our fill of teaching we went down to the Red Sea for a few days. Our main focus was to prepare the grounds with prayer, seeing as we feel that God has a specific purpose for GCEX to work there in the future on a more permanent basis. Egypt has an Islamic majority, and I had good conversations with some individuals about what Jesus has done in my life. We also met some Christians at the Red Sea, and had a great time drinking Egyptian tea on the roadside, encouraging them to stay faithful. They told us that many foreigners have come, but we are the first to talk about Jesus and the Bible. They also said that they feel we are more than just friends to them, we are somehow all family. The goodbyes were sad, but luckily we know that the presence of God will never leave them.
Then we left the continent of Africa, crossing the border into Israel, the Promised Land. We were camping out on the roof of a hostel in Jerusalem and every day I stood amazed at the peace and beauty of this ancient city. As we visited some places of Biblical interest such as Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives and the empty tomb of Jesus, I studied the gospel of Mark, and the Lord renewed my passion for telling the peoples of the world of the salvation and freedom through what Jesus did on the cross for all. The North Bound Expedition group stayed behind in Israel for a longer period to work at a school, and our South Bound group traveled back to Cairo for our flight to Malaysia.
At six the next morning the team leaders were woken up with the announcement of a challenge... starting NOW. Each team had to complete various tasks and end up at a specific beach in Thailand. Some of the tasks were to go to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, eat bullfrog porridge, go to an amusement park, climb and count the steps at Batu caves, and take a photo with a monk. The limited budget for the challenge forced us to hitch hike or somehow get donations from strangers. The Lord put two amazing people across our team's path to bless us on the journey. Thank you Roland and Andrew!! After two days' travel we, the Orange Team, arrived there first! The heat of the Thai sun and the coolness of its ocean have been awesome.
Currently we are all working with a Thai pastor to build a preschool. He has been working on many building projects since the tsunami, and we are privileged to work alongside this man of God to restore communities and families.