Participant Blogs

     In my mind, India has always been one of those legendary places that I have read about in books. As a child, I remember learning about Amy Carmichael who went to India and took in temple girls under her wing and taught them the Truth of the scriptures. Of course, I had read and heard countless stories about Mother Teresa and the work that she was selflessly doing in this land as well. India is all that I had read and heard about and more.

COSTA RICA
 
What an amazing country, the two words that came to mind is fruitful and abundance. The team arrived in Limon on the 2nd of June by bus; interesting ride; I never knew a bus could be that cold; I slept in every piece of clothing I could find
 

So out we go on our Luke 10 with 4 clues in our pocket for the treasure hunt: route62, Kareedouw, school, turqois. Me and Wayne end up hitch-hiking our way to our destination, totally dependant on Jesus en Holy Spirit's guidance . With much favor, we arrive at the little town, chatting to the lady in die quick shop. She directs us to the school in town "which needs Jesus." As we walked out of the door, a grey-haired man walks up to us. "Where are you from? What are you ding here? Do you have a place to sleep?"...

19:30, Delhi India, Internetcafe... Sitting here trying to explain only the first 3 weeks of our Global Challenge Journey... IMPOSSIBLE Our (Northounds) journey to the nations started on 4th of March. we got on the plane with so many mixed emotions about the following 8 months. At that staged I did not realise how much the rest of the world needs God! And how God needs people, willing to sacrifise a year, no, their life, for Him. We started in Kathmandu, Nepal for a week. in that week we spent time with the believers in Kathmandu, visiting housefellowships, church meetings...

Thousands upon thousands of Senegalese slaves were transported to the House of Slaves, from where they were to be sold on the slave market to their future owners. As they were transported to the island where the House of Slaves were situated, they saw the last sight of their beloved continent and country. I can imagine the sorrow, bitterness and hatred the slaves must have felt towards the people that have captured them into the slave industry. In the House of Slaves the sadness and the gloom is still hanging over every room where the slaves were kept. There is a...

1, 2, 3 ... 109 ... 135 - this is me counting the cost of what it physically means to follow the heart of Jesus into the Amazon if I count the mosquito bites on only one half of my leg with repellent on!! We knew we arrived in the Amazon when we could feel mosquitoes bite us through our clothes before reaching the terminal! And because of the extreme heat that covers you like a thick blanket. We met with the missionaries at the YWAM base near Manaus. They live right next to the HUGE Amazon River :) They...

When we first got into mainland, China, I thought “O boy, this is going to be a looong month for me.”  You see just about everything here is some shade of brown or grey (and covered in dust) and that is something that can get you down if you are used to a country abundant in color.

Welcome to the Pearl of Africa… Walking into the nation of Uganda we were greeted by this sign. I don’t know why Uganda was originally labeled this but I do know I have found reasons why it should be. A pearl is formed through an intense process that isn’t easy or simple but once it makes it through the process you have a beautiful pure ball that we now wear and that is expensive to purchase. War, rebels, child soldiers, aids, orphans, poverty… There are still 9 districts in Uganda healing and trying to recover from the trauma from Joseph...

Santiago, a bustling city filled with motorbikes, trucks, horse carriages, musicians, street dancers, stray dogs, food trollies, markets and anything in between. There's no room for a misplaced foot . You can delight in a local delicacy about every 50m and the cheap ice-cream brought out that ice-cream-loving-kid in all of us. Our host church was right in the centre of Santiago. The youth members of the church, who received us, are living examples of God's love in them for other people. Cuba was the first country on our year journey and everyone struggled with missing loved ones back in home....