Participant Blogs

Malaysia has been very interesting, hot and beautiful.  We started out with a bang when we got our challenge in KL.  Had the privilege to spend 2 days at a beautiful beach, and are currently working at a school for underprivileged children. We met up with a few interesting people along the way.  Some was entertaining and gave us a good laugh and some blessed us with more than we could ask for.  We even met up with people from SA. Our time has almost come and gone for Malaysia and I can’t wait to see what India has in store...

Never say to God: I will go anywhere but there?

  

As you probably could have guessed, the first country God brought me to on GCX?'08(after training in Zambia). CHINA. I have asked Him why?So many times these last few weeks. Now, you can imagine the answers God has been giving me...?

Red Hill, Cape Peninsula

11 February 2008; Today was an important one as the new shacks slowly began to take form in the Red Hill area.
Aided by volunteers the people started putting together the material provided, adding whatever they could find.  One of them was William and his girlfriend Gladys.“I was very angry, sad and disappointed when I saw my burned down house,” says William. He lost literally everything. “I’m a handyman so I had power tools and other appliances in my house. I would value it at R18 000,” he continues.“Now I have to get loans of up to R7000 to rebuild my house.”
For the last three nights William, Gladys and their child would have had no place to sleep if it wasn’t for a certain Mr. JP van Niekerk. A businessman, for whom Gladys has been working the last 17 years, concerned him over them and booked them into a self catering room. Not everybody is that lucky however.

Guatemala had a great impact on the orange team. This month was an emotional roller coaster, with dark and scary downs and highs on which one can catch flight. Individually there is not a single one of us that was left unchanged...whether it had been made new, or just improved on. God came and changed hearts, minds and attitudes. He restored relationships and taught us the value of unity in a team. Our team leader carried us through this time with constant prayers and passed her test on how to handle difficult situations with  love and grace with flying colors!...

Dakhla the last town heading south in the Western Sahara that has something to offer. From there onwards it tough, the buses or any form of formal transport stops there. Then it is another +-350km to the border a few kilometers of no mans land that looks like a scene from a Mad Max Movie, and then the Mauritania's border post. Not quite the Sunday afternoon hang out spot.   From Dakhla the only form of transport is a lift (if you are prepared to wait a few days i guess) or traders vans which have space for 1 or...

(John 8:36)   If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I had the privilege of visiting my Thai ‘parents’ for 10 days during the April holiday where I also met up with the Global Challenge Northbound team.   Although I have been in the country many times, I just again realized the bondage on the people there.   During the month of April, the people in Chiang Mai has a tradition called nam moa .   During this time you have to visit your elder family members, taking them some food and presents.   Then they...

Just to apologize, the title should've been - "O, how the 'mighty' have fallen, falls and still will fall." The mindset I have about myself can many times distort reality. This mighty one, who can do so much and accomplish even more. But these days I am realizing my thought pattern is very frayed.   So I've heard that we can be mighty when Jesus works through us (if we allow Him to work through us). And it makes sense, it really does. Maybe you're even getting an audible deja vu now.   I think my question is: How deep...

 

Guatemala…

“For our battle is not against flesh and blood…”

 

One month in Cuba... The realization that we would be in a communist country for a month dawned on me like a cold shower on a winter's morning. To be perfectly honest, I had a multitude of preconceived ideas before coming to Cuba. Prejudices birthed out of ignorance and lack of knowledge. Biases that could turn one month in a foreign country into a month of turmoil and negativity. 

We spend ten days in Suriname, the second smallest country in South America with a population estimate of 500 000. The best part is they speak Dutch!    We stayed at a missionary school called Hebron Zendelingskool and fell in with their day to day program.    The school teaches self discipline in ways I have never experienced before and during the beginning of our visit I struggled to adapt to this kind of lifestyle, since I have been so used to doing things on my own time and in my own manner.   What really amazed me is the...