Posted in General Articles by The World Race on 6/6/2006
Europe at last!!!
After having to spend an extra day at Dubai airport because of illness, Lana and I were thankful to take off to Cairo. I thank the Lord for His provision in free healthcare when I needed it most. After a few hours of medical attention I was up and running again!!! We had to cross a few more obstacles
before we eventually set foot on European soil (read our team blog for more information), and we felt very blessed when we eventually reached Athens, Greece. On the photo here on the right, I am doing Bible study in a market plain in Ancona, Italy. We were waiting for a bus to take us to the airport and I ceased the moment and spent time in the Word. At this point, we were quite exhausted from all the travelling and were very much looking forward to a time of rest and reflection in London.
Here I am with a man from Iran on his way to the soccer World Cup. He had been travelling with his mountain bike for THIRTY DAYS by the time we met him. He was very excited to hear about what we are busy with and we spent some time sharing our experiences.
 Stefan, Lana and I also enjoyed a quick lunch before leaving for the airport - travelling makes you SOOOOOOOOO hungry!
We are now in London living with wonderful friends who have opened their hearts and homes for us. I have been spending some time in reading and since we are in Europe, there is a lot of attention being drawn to "The Da Vinci Code" from Dan Brown. I have been studying "The Da Vinci Deception", a commentary on Dan Brown's book, which has shed much light on this controvertial book and movie. I thank God for His Word that is powerful and sound - may we never loose the desire to know the Truth!
A BIG THANKS to all our friends who have welcomed us so warmheartedly here in London! We truly need this time to reflect on the past few months and also prepare for the rest of our journey. We have joined in with a home cell meeting each week and are also enjoying wonderful fellowship at the "SA Gemeente" (a South African church here in London). This is a refreshing time for us all and we are thankful to our Father for "spoiling" us in such an awesome way.
Thanks also for everyone who has been praying so faithfully for us, especially during our stay in India. The Lord us truly faithful and I am excited about His plans for the rest of this year. Baie liefde ook vir almal by die huis! Ons is baie lief vir julle en bid Jesus se rykste seen vir elkeen van julle toe!
Skree saam met ons vir die Bokke die naweek!!!
Jacques
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Posted in General Articles by The World Race on 6/4/2006
Good times in India...
Honestly, in my heart of hearts I did not look much forward to our time in India - with the persecution, dust and heat all at the same time, I honestly expected a tough three weeks.
I was proven SO wrong!!! Our time in India prooved to be inspirational and an absolute HIGHLIGHT in the World Race. None of us will ever be the same again! The people we worked with are REAL and SURRENDERED Christians. They truly walk the talk!
Here I am with the pastors who are experiencing much persecution even at this moment. These men daily live
 Paul's words: "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." We were privileged to sit at the feet of a martyred man of God - someone who was not scared to give his life for the sake of the Gospel. This is as real as it gets! Never in my life have I seen such boldness for Christ - men fearlessly following the call of God on their lives. The children at the orphanage have true examples of disciples of Christ to follow. I, as part of of the unpersecuted church of the West, have MUCH to learn from these selfless followers of Jesus. They truly LIVE OUT the book of Acts in the Bible.
I was stunned and challenged in my Christian walk!
Here I am with the three young boys
assigned to me during our stay in the
orphanage: Mangcha, Victor and Sanayaimya. With me and Lana are Victor and Simini, two
They were spoilt with an afternoon at of the workers at the orphanage. They are also
Pizza Hut and we all had an awesome time a young married couple and were a true
together: inspiration to us!
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Posted in General Articles on 4/21/2006
Ministry in Thailand!
Friday, 21 January, 12:40
Dear friends
WHAT A CHANGE IN WEATHER!!! After the FREEZING cold in China, we are now in HOT and HUMID Thailand! Fortunately, there is a BEAUTIFUL ocean and we spend as much time as possible in the water!
We landed in Kuala Lumpur beginning of this month, and spent a few days travelling into Thailand. All of us World Racers spent 5 days on an island close by where we helped clean up garbage and did prayer walking in a Muslim Community.
We have now been in Phuket for almost two weeks and Lana and I spent most of last week doing research and prayer walking in another Muslim community. Stefan was busy working on a media presentation during this time, so it was only the two of us. Although it was a challenging time, we were VERY blessed and are thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness.
For the past few days we have been living with a SOUTH AFRICAN FAMILY - and it feels just like home! We are helping to paint some rooms in their house and it has been SUCH a blessing to share in their lives! Kimmy from the Blue Team has joined us for a few days and we are enjoying her sparkling personality TREMENDOUSLY!
We will be leaving for a time of debrief at Yanui Beach on Sunday before we race to Kuala Lumpur. We will then leave for India.
(O, I almost forgot, our team came second in the race to Phuket and we really did a GREAT job, even if I say so myself! Many thanks to Thomas, our South African friend, and KC for helping out with the race while Lana was sick - you guys where the best!)
Baie liefde vir al ons pelle en familie by die huis! Julle is vir ons kosbaar en daar gaan nie 'n dag verby wat ons nie na julle verlang en aan julle dink en vir julle bid nie! Spesiaal aan die personeel en leerlinge by HS Despatch, julle is werklik die beste en julle sal altyd 'n spesiale plek in my hart he! Blaas hoog die vlam!!!
Liefde en groete en seenwense,
Jacques
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Posted in General Articles on 3/30/2006
Journeys in Tibet with a crazy missionary!
On 25 March Lana, Sarah, Tuana and myself went with Eugene to a small Town called
 Shangda. It was during this time that I realised that to be a missionary in China takes a true calling from God. With that calling the missionary also needs to be "Wild at heart ". I am proud to say that I have met such a man. Eugene is as crazy as they come!
Here follows two adventures I shared with him:
 Journey to the orphanage
On Tuesday, the 26th, Lana, Sarah, Tauna, Eugene, Ishmael and I left on three motorcycles to a school about half an hour's drive from our town. I haven't driven a motorcycle in something like 8 years, so this was really a challenge, especially with the Tibetan traffic! The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, though, and we enjoyed the ride there tremendously. This was also Lana's first time on the back of a motorcycle, and I was proud to give her this first-time experience! Unfortunately, when we came to the school, we were sad to only find teachers there. The children had a few days holiday. The teachers, though, envited us on a small tour of the school and then offered us Tibetan tea with some
 traditional eats (which were not all very tasty!). After this our guys had a "rock throwing competition" at the "Mikon"-river, which ran past the school. Just as we were leaving the school ground, Ishmael and Sarah had a small little "accident" with their motorcycle and Sarah hurt her knee when falling to the ground. Fortunately it was not very serious and she was up and running within a day. On our way back to town we also encountered rain and snow and Eugene's bike was stranded without gass only a few miles outside of town. This was an amazing experience and I thought this was the highlight, until the next day!...
Journey in search of the hidden monestary
On our way At the road into the valley
Map reading At the bottom of the valley
The end of Riding bike The end of the hike (The monastary is further up in this valley)
Back to the main road Divine appointment
Because of recent persecution experienced by our missionary friends in China, I will unfortunately not be updating this story in the near future. Please keep our friend in your prayers - they are brave men of God and we are fortunate to have spent time with them in ministry. God bless!
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Posted in General Articles on 3/22/2006
 On our way to Tibet!
Our time of ministry in the country side was really a time of blessing! The Lord lead our team to the town of "Jee Sure Shun" and we were VERY priviliged to meet some AMAZING new friends there! The children are lovely and we enjoyed their playful natures tremendously!
A highlight for me was the two schools we visited. We were invited by a young English teacher at a primary school, as well as two young teenagers to a different school. Since I was a teacher back in South Africa, I really enjoyed the children - you will see them on a photo in our Team Blog.
The Lord lead our team to study the book of Daniel and also pray three times a day for the town, just as Daniel did. We were really inspired by the life of this man of God. We all know the story of "Daniel in the Lion's Den", etc., but I was surprised by the really close relationship that Daniel had with God. The angel Gabriel
 said to him that he was "GREATLY BELOVED". Daniel also said that God "reveals His secrets" to His people. My prayer is that He will reveal the secrets of the Gospel with the people of "Jee Sure Shun". They truly are special! Please keep praying with us for their salvation and that the Lord will send labourers to work for the harvest of their lives! The Gospel has NEVER been shared in this town, and we must pray that God will send His Word here.
We leave for Tibet early tomorrow morning, and we once again ask for your constant prayers to cover us as we move into this very dark area of the world. We might not have internet access during our time there, so you might only hear from us again late in next week.
Greetings in Christ,
Jacques
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Posted in General Articles on 3/15/2006
 Greetings from the other side of the world!!!
Time has FLOWN by, and beyond all of my expectations, we are in the East! Never in my life would I have even DREAMED to physically be on this side of the world! Many of you will not know this, but when I was younger, I was a FANATIC Karate-guy! My dream was to be in the league
 of Bruce Lee with my karate! I was well on my way, completely caught up by the DRIVE to be the best of the best in this Eastern form of marshal arts. Because of my drive to be the best, I was also caught up in many other dark practices that
 drove me further and further away from God. Thanks to amazing intervention by the Lord, I was freed from this bondage and gave away all my clothes and "weapons" that I used to practice with. Since that time I have experienced tremendous spiritual freedom and Jesus Christ is now the driving force in my life. Coming here, though, where marshall arts has its origen, has been a truly refreshing experience, and the Lord has just confirmed my freedom more and more! Yesterday I bought some "Chaka-stix" and a knife as a memoir to the new life that I found in Christ. I still have many of the skills that I learnt many years ago, but now I can do them only to entertain my friends, without any condemnation - I am FREE! I have a GREAT compassion for the people of this side of the world, and pray that the Lord will use our presence and prayers here to bring to the locals' lives the same freedom that He brought in mine!
 Ons verlang baie na almal by die huis, en julle is welkom ons te e-pos by mxpworldrace@yahoo.com Dankie weereens vir jul gebede en ondersteuning! Bly asseblief bid vir ons, veral waar ons nou in 'n baie verlore deel van die wereld beweeg. Bid dat die krag van die Evangelie REDDING sal bring in die mense hier se lewens!
Ons is lief vir julle en ons mooi land! Groete en seenwense!
Jacques
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Posted in General Articles on 2/26/2006
Experiencing Guatemala!
 As our team drove through the Mexican border into Guatemala on the 1st of February, all I knew about this country, was that the Survivor-series was recently shot here. I was surprised by the beauty of this country with its 38 volcanos. As we came to our destination, San Pedro, we had an awesome sight of the lake at the base of 3 volcanos.
To climb up a vulcano is an unbelievable challenging experience,
 but the view from the top was worth it! As we came to San Pedro, we were struck by the hospitality of the local people. We got a campsite to stay at for free and made a lot of connections with people who where also here to make a difference in this hurricane-struck area. During this leg we built to playgrounds with swings, goal posts, etc. We also played with the children and thoroughly enjoyed their beautiful smiles. The people here are poor, but they are joyful in spirit and very religious. You see the Name of Jesus everywhere in the towns around the lake.
After we finished our ministry near San Pedro, we came to Panajachel to join our forces with the Blue and Yellow Teams. In
 one week we were able to built three houses for people who would not have been able to afford a roof over their heads. During this time my body felt like it was hit by a 10-ton truck because of the physical labour (I´ve been a TEACHER most my life! :-) Working with people in such need made me SO greatful for what we have.
The Lord has also blessed me spiritually during this time and I was able to do quite a bit of reading in the Bible (Phillipians, Collossians and Tessalonians). I was also able to read three books, Bruchko, In the Name Of Jesus, and Needless Casualties of War. This has been a real blessing in my life over the past month.
I will remember the people of Guatemala for their friendliness, spirituality and all their beautiful coulers. Please pray for us as we leave them that the work will continue by other missionaries that the Lord will send here. Also pray for us as we have another 5 days of travel ahead of us to Los Angeles.
God bless!!!
As our team drove through the Mexican border into Guatemala on the 1st of February, all I knew about this country, was that the Survivor-series was recently shot here. I was surprised by the beauty of this country with its 38 volcanos. As we came to our destination, San Pedro, we had an awesome sight of the lake at the base of 3 volcanos.
To climb up a vulcano is an unbelievable challenging experience,
but the view from the top was worth it! As we came to San Pedro, we were struck by the hospitality of the local people. We got a campsite to stay at for free and made a lot of connections with people who where also here to make a difference in this hurricane-struck area. During this leg we built to playgrounds with swings, goal posts, etc. We also played with the children and thoroughly enjoyed their beautiful smiles. The people here are poor, but they are joyful in spirit and very religious. You see the Name of Jesus everywhere in the towns around the lake.
After we finished our ministry near San Pedro, we came to Panajachel to join our forces with the Blue and Yellow Teams. In
one week we were able to built three houses for people who would not have been able to afford a roof over their heads. During this time my body felt like it was hit by a 10-ton truck because of the physical labour (I´ve been a TEACHER most my life! :-) Working with people in such need made me SO greatful for what we have.
The Lord has also blessed me spiritually during this time and I was able to do quite a bit of reading in the Bible (Phillipians, Collossians and Tessalonians). I was also able to read three books, Bruchko, In the Name Of Jesus, and Needless Casualties of War. This has been a real blessing in my life over the past month.
I will remember the people of Guatemala for their friendliness, spirituality and all their beautiful coulers. Please pray for us as we leave them that the work will continue by other missionaries that the Lord will send here. Also pray for us as we have another 5 days of travel ahead of us to Los Angeles.
God bless!!!
As our team drove through the Mexican border into Guatemala on the 1st of February, all I knew about this country, was that the Survivor-series was recently shot here. I was surprised by the beauty of this country with its 38 volcanos. As we came to our destination, San Pedro, we had an awesome sight of the lake at the base of 3 volcanos.
To climb up a vulcano is an unbelievable challenging experience, but the view from the top was worth it! As we came to San Pedro, we were struck by the hospitality of the local people. We got a campsite to stay at for free and made a lot of connections with people who where also here to make a difference in this hurricane-struck area. During this leg we built to playgrounds with swings, goal posts, etc. We also played with the children and thoroughly enjoyed their beautiful smiles. The people here are poor, but they are joyful in spirit and very religious. You see the Name of Jesus everywhere in the towns around the lake.
After we finished our ministry near San Pedro, we came to Panajachel to join our forces with the Blue and Yellow Teams. In one week we were able to built three houses for people who would not have been able to afford a roof over their heads. During this time my body felt like it was hit by a 10-ton truck because of the physical labour (I´ve been a TEACHER most my life! :-) Working with people in such need made me SO greatful for what we have.
The Lord has also blessed me spiritually during this time and I was able to do quite a bit of reading in the Bible (Phillipians, Collossians and Tessalonians). I was also able to read three books, Bruchko, In the Name Of Jesus, and Needless Casualties of War. This has been a real blessing in my life over the past month.
I will remember the people of Guatemala for their friendliness, spirituality and all their beautiful coulers. Please pray for us as we leave them that the work will continue by other missionaries that the Lord will send here. Also pray for us as we have another 5 days of travel ahead of us to Los Angeles.
God bless!!!
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Posted in General Articles on 2/9/2006
 Hello, Everybody!
It has now been 14 days since we left home, and I have to say that it is a privilege to be part of God's adventure.
On the photo here on the left I am playing with one of the youngsters at the daycare centre in San Pablo. The children are really wonderful and they enjoy the love and attention we give them. Tomorrow our team will start building a toilet door at this centre, as well as upgrading the playground, kitchen and one of the classrooms. We are very excited to this and believe that the Lord has lead us in this direction.
 Here I am carrying a "piece" of the toilet door! We had to buy some wood from the local carpenter and all the material is now waiting for us there to be used.
Thanks for all the prayers and suppot we have received from you all. We often miss our friends and family at home! You are welcome to e-mail us at mxpworldrace@yahoo.com.
Greetings in Christ!
Jacques
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Posted in General Articles on 1/24/2006
In August 2005 the Lord turned every dream and ideal my wife, Lana, and I ever had upside down when He called us to be part of the World Race. I have been working as a Bible Teacher (JOT - Jesus Our Teacher) in Despatch High School (close to Port Elizabeth, South Africa) for the past five years, while Lana had the same ministry at another school only five miles away. We also were part of an adventure ministry (Extreme Actventures) and regularly ministered on youth Camps, and where planning to buy two new kayaks at the beginning of 2006.
After fasting and praying, the Holy Spirit convinced Lana and I individually that we should participate. We both resigned from our jobs and fully trusted in God to provide the finances for the two of us. I am thankful to say that He has already provided in 80% of the amount we need (24 January '06). He also taught us about giving what we had and to live by faith from now on.
As I stood with Team MXP at Port Elizabeth Airport, after greeting our parents, I felt a strange feeling of excitement, peace, joy and also inadequacy. Nothing I have ever learnt in my experience working with youth, or out of my Theology books, could have prepared me for this Great Commission. I do believe that only if we stay in Him, He will be successful in reaching the lost through us.
"In Him we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace." (Eph. 1:8)
A very big thank you to all our sponsors.
To all the students at Despatch High School - JOT loves you! Follow Jesus. Remember to pray for us.
Jacques
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