As our plane touched down in Tanzania I was immediately humbled by the miracle of God's creation. From here we departed on the first challenge of our Global adventure. By way of ferry we travelled to Zanzibar, an island of the East African coast. Zanzibar's population is 99 persent Muslim and the spoken language is Swahili. In spite of the exhausting humid heat and the barriers of language and tradition, the Lord helped us to communicate and reach out to the locals. Wearing clothes according to Muslim tradition, we enjoyed working alongside people who in spite of their poverty are very...
Participant Blogs
Global Challenge Missions Blog Archive: These are real blogs, from real people, bringing real change...
Uncertain future, certain God.
Our journey back to South Africa was undoubtedly paved by the hand of the Father. The moment we heard the seriousness of Corona, we as teams were called to meet together at a central place in Brazil - a house in the mountains near a very small town. ...
Led to Lead
I'm leading a team this year! In less than four years God has come and radically changed my life for the better. I believe that each and every single one of us are led to lead. In other words Christ leads us to lead others to him. What a privil...
Would you jump with me?
I remember standing at the edge of a cliff. Looking out at the big wide blue ocean. Looking down and seeing a beautiful scary blue unknown. My heart pounding in my chest like the sound of an epic climactic drum solo. Should I jump? Should i let go of...
Into the nations
Hello, my name is Johan Bruwer. I am on the brink of a 10-month journey where I will see and be a part of the establishment of God’s kingdom in the nations. I believe that the great commission is not an option to be considered, but it is a command to...
Discovering God
After finishing a blog on how God changed my mindset, about things I did not like doing and showing me other wise, I was not convinced that that was what I was supposed to share. After some amazing teachings this past few days and spending some...
"The land of smiles"
Thailand!! Wow it's an incredible place! Filled with beauties that only seeing in person can be understood! It definitely lives up to its phrase "the land of smiles" everyone here is just amazing. This country is special for me! We started in Bangkok...
Hidden World in The World
And just like that we were saying our good bye's and getting on a plane, watching South Africa disappear beneath us and bidding it farewell for the next 8 months. Hidden World is officially in the nations. It still seems unreal to us. 8 weeks ago we ...
Thanking food friends
An exciting update from the GLA eco campus construction site! We would like to give a shout out to the small businesses in Jeffrey's Bay- Beesland Slaghuis, Vyeboom Takeaway, RS Fruit and Veg (Croix Street) and Mengelmoes Kardoes We would like to th...
Break an Egg, Build a School!
The Global Challenge Expeditions Team of 2015 has created an initiative to increase financial support, called the Break an Egg, Build a School Challenge . This challenge is to create a video of you breaking an egg in a creative way and donate at www....
If anyone should ask me how GCX08 ended up at FCE’s six week disciple equipping course in the middle of Zambia, my answer would be…
“It is all GOD - our Father who orchestrated this whole thing! The One who called us and who set us apart.
[ As I walk the dusty roads of Red Hill, visiting people in their new shacks, I get convinced that this mission was more than just His. It’s mine as well. This is what it’s all about.
And so I pray everyday, that I serve not just the people but Jesus. Jesus is in Red Hill, it’s His. ]
If there is a theme that I have learnt about a lot this year it is probably...EXPECTATIONS. I am not sure how expectations are formed. I am sure sometimes you form expecations unconciously, bue we do definetely create expectations of events, things, people and...ourselves. These expectations are not always realistic and mostly they are not always Godly. We especially create big expectations in our minds about something as big as a Global Challenge one year journey. Things like it is just going to be fun and nice, no hard times. Spiritually just in overflow all the time, but these are...
Vietnam was a warm hearted country with open, smiling faces. You would guess that after the war people would be hard to anyone that looks american, but that wasnt true at all. Vietnamese youngsters and even older people would walk up to you to learn some english by simply talking to you. Little groups would even approach you to find an opportunity to speak and learn english. This opened a lot of doors to tell people about our beuatifull country, what we are doing, and share our testimonies. We were blessed with a host which we met by...
This one goes out to the world changers, shining their light in the face of danger. A word that God has given our team this year is to focus on the living stones. His bride, his people. People through whom he is making the impossible happen in the nations. Our team had an incredible time and we were sad as the first half of our journey came to an end. We laughed, we cried and we faced many challenges, but most of all we got to be a part of what God is doing in the churches all over the...
So we all thought Hawaii was going to be a
holiday and a rest period, but the Lord had other plans....
Cuba, the hope of nations!Cuba - what an experience! Never could I have imagined something quite like it! Cuba - the interesting and unique Caribbean island!The streets are filled with vintage old cars (those you want to hire to go to the drive in with), horses and carriages, bicycles and motorcycles, and even those with side cars! Tiny old houses fill the city of Santiago de Cuba, where some walls crumble to the ground and old wooden doors and rusty steel frameworks welcome you at every door. Hundreds of street vendors are selling their Cuban delicacies for a few Pesos, shouting...
This is one of the most intense, unpredictable, mind blowing, captivating, speechless processes I have been through in my life. Some days I just sit and stare because I don't even know where to begin processing or debriefing or evaluating the experience. Like a blank space just fills my head. I get up, take a shower, get on a truck with 14 other people, and go help clean a yard. And then it happens. That unpredictable thing. The pastor tells you that it is a gift from God that the team came today because it's almost their two year birthday...
