Participant Blogs

6 Weeks ago I arrived at training as a volunteer. Ready to serve the students with everything I have.   Little did I know I would be climbing on a plane in a few weeks leading the Hidden world 2016 team for 11 months through more than 16 countries in the middle east, central and south america on the transforming adventure of a life time.   So how did this all happen?   In Red moon rising by Pete Greig he writes,  Prayer is not primarily about changing things somewhere out there. It is first and foremost about changing something...

To suffer: to undergo, be subjected to, or endure pain, disability, death etc. patiently and willingly…. If I look back on the past few weeks and conversations I had, many topics come to mind: love for others, serving without reward, true wisdom, grace and mercy, forgiveness etc. But the theme that seemed to make its way into every situation was suffering. What does it mean to truly suffer? This question can be easily answered by my mind but for the first time I was confronted with a response from the heart. As the definition above describes, suffering is normally involuntarily...

The next episode...:) Q; Whats was the most difficult thing for you in this time? A: Learning God's true character, we can never know everything about our Creator but walking with Him, you get to know some of His characteristics. This has been hard because He shook my world, He showed me that in fact I knew absolutely nothing about Him and really showed me who He truly is. Arriving in Dubai I had a few days to get my visa sorted out, to put you up to date, it was almost impossible to get the visa in a period...

It has been the time of my life so far here at Global Challenge Expeditions, being part of something big. Learning and growing so much about God and to see how He is working is just mind blowing. From preaching to seeing the world, from laughter to tears of joy and sometimes tears of knowing and seeing that people don't know the Saviour of the world: Jesus Christ. In the last few weeks God taught me something that in so many ways changed my life and it also crushed my heart. While doing the work of God you think you...

We could feel our hearts beat as we have walked quite a while going door to door during the heat of the day to share the heart of The One that captured our hearts.. Then we met Louise - a 60 year old man who lives in the Amazon in his beautiful wooden house. And so Jansie, Kasia and I along with 4 other local missionaries enter this very humble, hospitable "oupa's" house. Immediately I get 3 words - "Children; Father of many; Man of many questions and pain." All we know is that Louise has not accepted Jesus -...

I would love to report the first taste of travelling was a local cusine made by a friendly stranger in the side of the street who couldn't help but allow a friendly 'mzungu' to taste what she was making BUT unfortunately my first taste of travelling was the previous nights dinner  :( The excitement, the heat, the heat and did I mention the HEAT got the better of me! You would think 2 years of living in Manguzi would have perpared me for the humidity and heat! So there I was in Legho 'hotel' where of the five rooms 1...

On a beautifull day in J-Bay in Ocean Basket making my first ever blog with some brothers an sisters next to an amazing view of the ocean feesting ons some delicious food.

If I speak with fluency in another language but have not love.  I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I wear the national dress and understand the culture and all its customs so that I could pass for a national but have not love, I gain nothing.  Love endures long hours of language study and does not envy those who stayed at home.  Love does not exalt his home culture, is not proud of his national superiority, does not boast about the way we do it back home, does not think evil about his new country.  Love bears all criticism about his place of origin and believes the best about his new place of ministry.  Love endures all demands on personal time. 

I have the privilege of dancing in (on a trampoline!) each new day while the beautiful New Zealand sun are starting to peek over the nearby hills. This morning  I were just pondering Lamentations 3:22,23 about God's mercy and compassion being new every morning.  And I realized how amazing the full meaning of this verse is! Toward the end of today, a new day will break across the globe in Africa. And all the time, every moment of today, it will be morning somewhere on earth. For God, viewing the earth as a whole, there is no such thing as...