Participant Blogs

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...

Everything began at the aiport in Tel aviv on saturady - sabbath - with no public transportations... So we prayed in small groups and got this vers: 'This is my command - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.' Joshua 1:9. Perfect vers to hitchhike to the see of galilee! What a great experience!  Six days full of hiking and God's blessings through free bananas, grapefruits, 25 fishes and bread made this definitely my highlight!  This week showed us that God is really with us and...

  For 12 days we stayed in a church in Gamboa, across the panama canal. One of our verses for the year is Isaiah 55:5 'Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you.' Everyday, huge ships travel through the Panama canal from the other side of the world and we got to watch them sail past. They didn't exactly come running but instead these nations came slowly sailing past us. It was Gods word spoken in the beginning and we got to see it being fulfilled and that's exactly...

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...

There is something liberating about sitting on a rooftop of a hostel in Istanbul, looking over the chaotic puzzle of buildings and busy people with Amanda Cook's 'Wonder' pumping through my earphones. What a time to be alive. Staying only a stones-throw away from the Blue Mosque, waking up with a view of the Ayasofia every morning and walking through Istanbul in my identity in Christ - literally walking around with our identity scribbled on a piece of paper stuffed in our shoes - I was constantly reminded by Him that I was called for such a time as this....

Two different worlds in one month. Russia: cold and quite people Cuba: hot and open people   The first three days in Havana were really hard for me, because the hot weather and the long walks made me so exhausted. So from this point I started to hope that the next three weeks will go quickly. After a twelve hour truck drive and first meeting with the Gladios members I started to enjoy this time. We had the privilege to build new friendships with them and work in the organisation and their church. In our free time we discovered Santiago...

  I don't really know how to start or how to write this blog. How does one explain 6 countries done living by faith for one month just a few sentences... I'll try my best to just give you a glimpse of my experiences of our  time in central America. It's been a complete faith journey the whole time. Have you ever wondered how life would be like if you put your trust 100% in God?    Well... He might just ask you to pioneer Mexico and do your Luke 10 from Cancun, Mexico to Guatemala for 10days. But that...

Lets travel back in time and go to Cuba. My mind was blown when we got off at the airport in Havana after a 13h flight from Russia. The streets were filled with very old cars from way back. With a killing heat, no toilet paper and no english speaking people we started our time in Cuba.    I thought we were going to Cuba to build,  work in gardens and to serve the people there. Few did I know about what was waiting for me. First of all the pizza's is like R5 and the ice creams R0,50... Crazy!...

How can you try to explain Turkey in words? Everything that has happened here was just one amazing journey. I can literally see God's hand in every place that we've been to. From our first day in Istanbul God has started the journey with me to show me what true humility is and make me realize again that this year is not about me.    It was such a nice experience to get to know the turkish people and their culture. The people in Turkey are probably the most giving group of people I've ever met. Every time you would...

This is a done deal!! Jesus is in me and I am in Him. This is who I am!! I am everything God said me to be. I don't need to search for it, I don't need to do something to get it. He already gave it all to me with the cross. All I need to do is release it! Release God in me trough His Holy Spirit.   

Ten days Luke 10 journey - What else as miracles can you expect?   In our first Luke 10 journey in training I was sceptical how God will show up and what he has planned for us. Everything was new for me and I didn't know so much fun will expect me. After this privilege to experience this and hear all the stories from the other groups I was so excited for this faith trip and knew that He will provide and be with us all the time. Praying, listening to God's voice and stepping into his plan were a...