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Only by a mere few seconds were the silver team able to be the first to complete the challenge in Oaxaca. At the scorching temperatures of midday in Mexico the silver team ran at least 7-8 blocks to get to the local market. We had the lovely opportunity to taste 3 different kinds of delicious Mexican chocolate as well as having to buy a very interesting local delicacy which was to be eaten at the Passeo Juarez El Llano whilst making a video recording. It was a very close call as both teams were huffing and puffing on each others heals to the end destination. I have 100% confidence that the video evidence was requested for the sole purpose of providing entertainment to our team leaders, rather than pertaining evidence that we had completed the challenge task. I believe that you will agree with my statement as I will now entertain you by elaborating on some of the finer details. The Mexican delicacy was roasted grasshoppers prepared with a selection of spices, of which each team member not only had to devour one grasshopper, but rather 2 whole grasshoppers. I am however very glad to comfort and assure you that we are fortunately all still of good health. I have to congratulate and request a big round of applause to our team leaders for also indulging in this lovely Mexican delicacy. At this point I am not at liberty to provide any further information regarding the taste of the above mentioned Mexican delicacy. Video evidence will however be available soon! ERROR - ERROR Sincere apologies, the video evidence has been lost/stolen and is therefore no longer available.

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What an amazing experience! I have to confess that my day started out on a really low note, definitely a bass 2 ;)  However, as soon as we entered the garden tomb it was as if I did not have a choice but to bubble and burst with jubilation. It’s as if one’s spirit and soul just automatically want to bounce around (much, much more than the energizer bunny!) and almost can’t be contained. Even thinking about it now lifts my spirit with joy!
 Golgotha

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Mount of Olives in Jerusalem
What an amazing, joyous and blessed day!
We attended the Baptist church service in Jerusalem and delighted the congregation by joyfully singing Jabulani. After the song the church had an influx of an American tourist group and we sang once more! The church was so full that some of us even had to sit on the floor. The sermon really spoke to our hearts and set such a wonderful tone for the events to follow.
Procession with Palm branches down Mount of Olives

Marching band to bring Glory to God

As we watched the masses streaming down from the top of the mountain we sang worship songs. I have never experienced such immense joy and jubilation before! It was most wonderful to praise and bring glory to His name. HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST! There was such a magnitude of different cultures and nationalities and all came together for one reason, to glorify Jesus’ Name. One of the little jewels for the day was when 2 Korean ladies came past us and joined us in singing Blessed is the name of the Lord. Luke 19:37 the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices... Luke 19: 40 "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Praise and worship down the mountain


Entering the old city gates of Jerusalem

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Northbound with Bronwyn and Clara excited to have a feast of Doner Kebaps in Adana.
Dear Friends and Family!
I apologize for the extended silence on my behalf, as well as not being able to finish the blog yesterday.
Adana was an extremely blessed time for Northbound! We enjoyed the time spent in serving and having fellowship with the church members tremendously! All glory and honor to God for providing the funding and means for us to visit Adana. Even having grace with the 15kg per bag weight limit for our flight, what a miracle seing that we were almost 20kg overweight in total!
On our first day the pastor welcomed us very friendly with an open heart and we had a very pleasant chat. We also worshiped and prayed together. Throughout the week we were blessed to be able to start our day with 2 hours of joined prayer with different Christian believers from Adana. We gained more insight on the situation in Turkey and were able to intercede with them for Turkey.
Tuesday
We had the opportunity to serve as we cleaned and redecorated the church building. In the afternoon we could explore some places in the city whilst engaging and interacting with people in Adana as the Lord guided us.
Wednesday
A wonderful time of spring cleaning and gardening were had at the place where we were staying and we enjoyed a little bit of free time and relaxation in the afternoon.

Cycling to the lake
I was really privileged to cycle down to the big lake (don't know the name..)  in Adana guided by a lovely brother and light bearer of God, on his scooter. I loved racing down the steep hill! We had a marvelous time in enjoying the fresh air and lovely scenery as the sun was setting. It was so pleasant to communicate through signaling and describing with hands and facial expressions, as the Turkish and English were a bit too big of a language gap. I am sure I should not be sharing my little adventure with you, but here goes! I was offered to hold on to a cable attached to the scooter as an aid to help me ascend the steep hill, it was quite tricky and terrifying at stages as the cable would continually jerk me towards the scooter. By grace I was able to avoid collision, however as we reached the steepest section of the incline I suddenly noticed little clouds of smoke puffing out from the scooter. Luckily I am a keen cyclist and swiftly changed to manual and spinned up the hill, it was sooo good to be back on a bicycle!
Blessed by a Turkish Meal
Our Turkish brother blessed us with his culinary skills. We shared a wonderful meal of couscous, beef and vegetables complemented by delicious spices.

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Northbound arrived safely in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday. We were blessed by the presence of Bronwyn and Clara, who have taken up a position of leadership while David and Dunette are absent. We had no definite plans set out for our time in Turkey, but hoped to be invited to go to one of our brothers in Christ’s home church in Adana or go to Kusadasi. Previous GCX teams have served and visited Kusadasi before and the ruins of Ephesus and the early church is also within the city. Just before Clara and Bronwyn left South Africa we received an invitation from the church in Adana to visit them. Financially we could not manage to go to Adana so we took a bus to Kusadasi, but still kept our hearts open to follow God’s will for our journey.

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The Three Musketeers: Pieter, Shanine & Estelle embarked on our first challenge at 5am this morning. We had to dig for a liter of cola in the sand on the beach and down it as quickly as possible, after which some of us did not feel too well... ;) We packed our luggage tried to strategise about our tasks for the challenge and had a lovely breakfast. We received money to aid us in our challenge, but we also have to raise R100 each. We ventured into the location on a search for our beloved road buddy, but was unable to find her as if yet. We jumped and wiggled ourselves into wetsuits from the Billabong factory store and took an awesome picture posing like surf hero's from the 60'ies. We have received random donations, help, love and advice everywhere along the way. We are having so much fun, it feels like we are at the best amusement park ever! We got a lift with Oom Billy and he also offered to pick us up from "Papies Fontein" where we will have an awesome horse ride on the beach. Oom Billy will take us to a farm where we can milk a cow and also pick up our beloved road buddy, which is a full grown chicken. We made a fire from flint and magnesium and then unraveled the 5 way guarantee from Cape Union Mart and then had to memorize and recite them to Waldo. We prayed for Terry for employment & built a human statue in front of pick & pay. We had the privilege to meet and spend time with Tannie Esther and Oom Kobus whilst helping them to do their grocery shopping. They were a real blessing to us and also donated some money to us. We really enjoyed sharing Gal 5:22 with them as well as with Simpiwe who said that out of all the fruit he likes love the most and that he really loves Jesus. We bought 1 liter of Amasi and really can't wait to down that in 1 minute, especially seeing that one of our infamous musketeers are lactose intolerant. We also look forward to having a ball at the super tube as we slide down fountains of living water. We have a hole itinerary planned for when we adventurously arrive in PE later today. Thumbs up for the rest of our adventure! All for One and One for All!

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