Participant Blogs

In Jamaica I discovered why the word "challenge" is at the centre of ''Global Challenge Expeditions''. How ironic that the pastor's wife gave a sermon on the very first Sunday in which she repeated the phrase: ''Challenges, troubles, trials'' almost 50 times in a time frame of an hour. On the day we arrived in Kingston, half of our team was sick. Most had Chick-V fever, which is caused by some musquito (not very hard to believe since we lived in a musquito nest in Guyana). I on the other hand, had a VERY random pins-and-needles irritation on my arms...

A year ago I made a definite decision about 2015. It's a year later and we are debriefing the past 24 weeks of the journey. I am not sure who I am quoting now, but this is truly a life like no other. And this is what I mean by that:   We have lived in dodgy hotels with almost no facilities and grand hotels with warm showers and coffee machines. We have lived in musquito nests and random islands. We have slept in airports and busstations. We have travelled with ALL kinds of buses and taxis (including a truck...

Pink dolphins in the amazon, wild horses on the Guyana plains, red parrots in the Iwokrama forest in Guyana, coconuts of varies kinds just falling from trees around you, small wild mangoes, cake for breakfast, free condensed milk coffee on the amazon, acai, brigadeiro and more acai... Sao Paulo Brazil. The first thought that popped into my mind about the people here was: ''Wow these people are really entering my personal space with all these hug-and-kiss-on-the-cheek greetings!'' Lets just say physical touch did not score very high on my love languages test. But nonetheless I felt loved. I felt at...

In C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian, Aslan says to Lucy, "Every year that you grow, you will find me bigger." We just completed our third country, and I find Jesus bigger than ever before. It took us about 2 weeks of travelling to get from Brazil to Suriname. During this time I realised that another way travelling adventures can enrich our faith is simply by showing us new facets of God’s exotic world, confronting us with its gloriously peculiar variety and terrifying power.  When we encounter Him on the road, in a foreign land, in cultures and landscapes utterly alien to...

At this stage of the journey I could write a blog about almost anything. Endurance would be a good subject... With only 22 days to go I have to bite my lip more every day. Even long suffering or forbearance would fit. And when I see the word ''fit'' I am reminded about some of my clothes that does not fit as nicely as they did when I started the journey. My physical, mental and emotional fitness at this stage is also not something to write home about.   Despite my frustrations and irritations God opened my eyes to see...

Guyana: land of many waters (especially in rainy season), many many musquitos (also known as the national bird of Guyana), ALOT of jungle and ALOT of sand... Overall Guyana was one of my favorite countries so far. Guyana is like a little India in Africa but situated in South America. The beauty of the jungle is something you only dream about or see in movies. The people: le-gen-da-ry. Just to give some insight into this statement. One day our faithful mode of transportation, an old school bus, failed to start and we needed to be at the pastor's village in...

Our journey started in the airport at Johannesburg as the last of us said their final goodbyes to family and friends. The feelings racing through our hearts were of a variety—anxious for the unknown and excited for what is to come as we follow in obedience of God’s calling for our lives. Our first stop was Tanzania. Our time in Tanzania was supposed to be just a pass through, however our team felt the need to stay a night. A day of sweltering heat, broken toilets and interesting smells, we decided to do some street ministry after getting to a...

You could almost call Panama America with the countless similarities between the two. The closest to western culture we have seen thus far, the culture shock was more apparent then is has been in previous countries. During our time here we came into contact with more Americans then Panamanians, and the pace of our work also changed from day work to minute work.  In previous countries we had become accustomed to a certain style of living- a pace at which it seemed everyone lived by. Our schedule became a day to day thing, where we may have things to do,...