Participant Blogs

Maayong Buntag everyone aayong hapon/gabii depending on the time of day you are reading my blog  From me: Greeting in the Name of Jesus!          We are now working with the Church of God Arise children’s camp on Olango Island in the region of the Philippines on one of 7000 + Islands here. The Philippi no, people are really lovely and we have enjoyed getting to know their cultural traits and being a part of their lives the past 8 days.     Working very hard again: digging and smashing through feet of rock and coral, so...

On a steaming hot summer day, *Alida* sits under the Mango tree in Shinganga village. Aged 35, mother of three, grandmother of one - her heart aches, because her husband wants to bring another woman into the house. *Alida* lost her father at 8 and her mother at 13. She had to leave school at Gr. 5, because there was no sponsor for school fees. What was a girl to do? So she married very young and became a mother. Together with her sister she rests her head against the tree. They dream of a better life. They believe there...

Airports, a place where kids run around at arrivals, a place of warm embrace, sad goodbyes and people working to keep it clean and ordered. (Let this represent the earth and our every day lives.)   In between you might find, what we like to call, a Global Challenge team. A group of young people taking over a deserted part of the airport - usually a corner, close to a bathroom and drinking fountain - to call home for a couple of days. (See this as taking that interesting year journey)    Personally, I love it.  Airports have so much...

Peace, Joy, Love, Freedom, Hope. These are the things that many search after, long for, strive for and only sometimes catch a glimpse of. On our backpacking challenge in Colombia it was really easy for me to experience all these things. We were in smaller groups travelling for 7 days from Cartegena to Santa Marta. This time was also for reflection, rejuvenation and rest. We could do whatever we wanted! We had a small but manageble budget and our bags were overflowing with special South African treats from the family visit which had just ended. Colombia and for some ...Venezuela...

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19 When I started my training at Global Challenge I was filled with excitement to travel and change the world for Jesus. Little did I know that I completely missed the point. In the last few weeks of training I was very challenged about the way I spend time with Jesus and whether I am really listening to His voice. After pondering on this thought, I came to the conclusion that I was planning on going to the nations, without Jesus. Like Jesus called the deciples to be fishers...

A beginning and an end. The obvious is that this was our first country and that this was the beginning of our journey. From the onset of our journey God has come and shown me the joy in serving other's, specifically those that serve Him where others dare not stay. The end is less obvious and, more... An end to self deception, an end to self pity and most importantly an end to past fixation. I  had been clutching like a corner stone. Wearing a grudge like a crown, unable to forgive. But not anymore! I can gladly say that...

To my recollection I have never cried tears of joy over receiving a Christmas present. 

After being in Chiclayo, Peru for a week, the Southbound team has moved to the Andes mountains! 

Here follows Paul's words to the Philippian church, it really inspires me.   "The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash - along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant - dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that...

1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I talked like child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." I am already halfway through the journey ... but actually it is only starting now. I began this journey as a child, but finishing it as a woman.  Just before the journey started Uncle Joe had a prophecy for me that this year God is going to take away all the "little girl stuff" and I will be a "Woman of God".     And...