Participant Blogs

Israel, the promised land, the country where Jesus walked, the place where God revealed so much of His character to us through the Israeli nation. Visiting this special place is an experience that can hardly be captured or described in mere words or pictures. It is seeing a piece of living history, a walk through the gospels. From Bethlehem where Jesus was born to Capernaum next to the sea of Galilea where Jesus ministered to Jerusalem, the city that Jesus loved. How strange and heartbreaking to see the same historic events being viewed so differently through the glasses of different...

From the north to the south, the beaches of the Galilee to the stone-cobbled streets in Jerusalem, the country shouts the name of our Emmanuel - God with us. But the echoes in the religion and the hate and the noisy youth murmur the depravity of our human souls. This is my second time in Jerusalem, and again the wailing wall is exactly that, a cause for despair. Against the wall an old woman is rocking back and forth.  Pilgrims come from afar to leave their prayers rolled up in wads of prayer, stuck in between two rocks. On the...

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...

Israel - the Holy Land. The land overflowing with milk and honey. The very first nation we encountered.  With a lot of faith and no set plan we arrived at Ben Gurion in the early hours of the morning. This was it. Too late to look back, too soon to say what lay ahead. We just knew it was going to be a grande adventure with Jesus. And it was.  Sleeping on the rooftop of a hostel with the most incredible view of Jerusalem, spontaneously dancing at the Western Wall - we did it all. All that the city had...

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...

   Israel oh Israel, you were such a interesting country. We arrived here not knowing where we are going, but God took me on one incredible journey. I was in for a big surprise when I thought that Israel was just a boring country full of people stuck in history.    In our first week I hit rockbottom, we had some really tough times and I started to miss home a lot. But I learned that it's only when you hit rockbottom that you realize that God is the rock. Luckily we all made it through that first week, and...

Going to the Promised Land for the first time of my life was a dream come true. Seeing the places where so many things happened in the Bible, reading the stories and seeing the "exact" place where it happened was amazing. Using your imagination to see where Jesus died, going to all the places where some of it happened, and meeting amazing people at these places that tell us so much of what they know about the old city. The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee were memorable, but the most amazing thing was when we were in the...