Participant Blogs

STATUS- Strengthened , Tested, Amusing, Trustworthy, Unique and Social- these are some of the words we feel describes Northbound 2014... Since our last check in, we have throughly enjoyed our time in Pamukkale and have recently, as in yesterday arrived here in Kusadasi, where we will be spending the next six days. Throughout Turkey we have experienced the wifi to be extremely TRUSTWORTHY, they have it everywhere, next to the street, in the buses and camp sites... In Pamukkale specifically we were TESTED till the point of insanity as they pumped the same 10 songs though our ears the whole...

In the 500 year old multicoloured town of Santiago we found ourselves lost in time back in the 1950's with vintage cars, Cuban men smoking cigars and playing dominoes on the street, and Latino salsa music filling the warm night air in the plazas. Cuba has ridiculously cheap and delicious street food. So we took full advantage of the 1 peso (60c) ice creams, espressos and butter cookies every day! In this communist country everyday life for a Cuban is quite hard. Small sizes of food rations are handed out to each household monthly; street sweepers' and doctors' salaries are...

Running in Phuket, Thailand has and still is a big challenge to me. Heat and humidity is not your friend during marathons. It doesn’t matter if it’s 6 in the morning or later during the day; 29 degrees Celsius and humidity over 90% will makes things tough. But still, sport is practiced more and more here in Phuket and it is good to see young children taking part in this. Speaking about young children, I would like to introduce to you this young lady in our club. Under 6 years old, she has won many events in her category and...

So excited on my destination this is my first time that I will be crossing SA borders not to go ons a gap year but to serve God around the world this is one of my best days of my live in a so honored to be part of GCEX time to help make a difference on earth. Get ready world there's a storm coming and it's going to be global

Our New Zealand challenge was somewhat of a disaster...as you could clearly see on the scoreboard!! This will be my (Christine's) account as to why it can be classified as disasterous. At the beginning of the year the orange team started every challenge off with a prayer. We dedicated the whole day to the Lord and ensured that everything we do will bring glory to the Lord. Due to the fact that we finished last in the India challenge, the team was more concerned about the scoreboard and less about pleasing God. So here follows the Orange team's fool proof...

"I like talking with my life, if necessary use words." The words of pastor Marcos at our one ministry point in Rio. Amazing how the meaning of this and the saying- actions speak louder than words- are making sense for the first time. When you experience something literally it's not only head knowledge any more, it changes the way you act and think. It becomes revelational. I've experienced so much of God's blessing, favour and goodness through people's hospitality and love and without being able to say a word. The language barrier at first frustrated me a lot but then...

Our first challenge is upon us: Northbound is going to Cape Town!! After a massively thought-provoking seminar on "the making of a leader" by Floydd McClung over the weekend, we're leaving to the Cape to sort out our Visas for the European leg of our journey. We'll be visiting the Russian and Greek embassies. We trust in the Lord that He will open the right doors for us at the right time! So pray with us for open borders and soft hearts.  “I will go before you  and level the exalted places,  I will break in pieces the doors of...

Slices of life - by Dini Esterhuizen

The Van Gas family living in our valley had six beautiful daughters,  when they probably called a halt to the dream of a son. Van then focused on his film career as producer of his first and only movie. A South African cowboy production. Oom van Niekerk of the farm shop was the villain and he and Tannie Dot, our Sunday school teacher, got shot in the story. Our dad took us to watch the shooting on the set one afternoon, and I remember  Oom van Niekerk and Tannie Dot lying on the floor covered in tomato juice from the shop.

I've been staring at this blank screen for too long, typing, back spacing, trying, thinking.. I wanted to have a cool start for my blog you know. But..let me use what God taught me this whole year. Be Real. Spontaneous. Soooooo this Blog will be about my Thailand and Malaysia experiences. We first experienced the lovely Bangkok and then traveled to Chang Mai , knowing our 'Luke 10' is waiting there for us. We were divided into smaller teams and then sent out to survive and spread the gospel for a week without anything except the clothes we were wearing....

I've been reading a book that challenges me to ruins! It's called Ordinary Radical. Please find it and read it if you can!   I've been thinking a lot about tithing. Why do we put so much emphasis on tithings when Jesus requires our everything? I had to be honest with myself and the reason I tithed many times was out of obligation. Then I have done my part and met His requirements, right? Wrong. God requires our everything. He knows what we give and with what heart. Man, Challenged! The Bible does not speak about tithing a lot. But...