Moving Forward

Well the title says it all. Even though there has been Zero posts since late February, my ministry here in Polokwane and Southern Africa has continued. My last post occured right before I was taking a 9 day trip to visit the Ferreira's in Jeffrey's Baii which is about a 14 hour drive, but thanks to the the graciousness of my parents, it was a 90 minute plane flight. I had a wonderful time living with these incredible Missionaries. The Ferreira's have such a passion for God's glory and for providing teaching of the truth. Currently Andre's Church has about 60 members that are continuing to grow and also build up the body within the church. Andre is excited as it looks that he is close to having someone who is eligible to step up and become and elder at their church. We spent 7 days in Hankey (the Ferreira's residence) and then they suprised me and took me to the most beautiful spot that I have ever seen on any continent. This secluded beach/jungle is called Natures Valley...A truly remarkable sight..The only place that you can see a baboon and a Leapord and take a 5 minute walk and be on the beach. I then went to spend a day with one of the members of the church in St. Francis Bay. While I was at his house, we hit the beach (thats what you do on the Eastern Cape) What then happened is something that still takes my breath away. I swam with a great white..not my my choice of course. A great white shark approached from about 40 feet away, circled once and liked what he saw...he came in to about 20 feet and did another circle, and by Mercy alone, the Shark decided I didnt smell that great so he took off. So many exciting times in just a short amount of time. So I stayed in St. Francis Bay, and a huge storm came in and actually stranded me there as Andre's care gave out on the flooded Highway. Another member of the church, volunteered to come and take me from St. Francis Bay to Port Elizabeth which is where the Airport is. I tell you that body is so tight and wants to continue to reach out to the people of South Africa and I thank the Lord I got to experience it all First Hand.

End Jeffrey's Baii

I came back March 6th and immediately continued my ministry to the youth of Christ Baptist Church as well as resumed my greek and hebrew studies at the seminary. And unfortunately, I was reminded that we live in a crime filled Country...Within the first week I was back in Polokwane, our house was broken into 2 times. We were asleep both times. God was so gracious though. Due to a mental lapse, the garage door that allows you to enter the house was left wide open...however the thieves did not come into the house further than the laundry room,where they stole a bike, some shoes and then they stole the radios out of the cars. The criminals were at the foot of the stairs that lead directly up to my room, yet God kept them from entering up the stairs and into my room...We all feel very fortunate that 2 radios and a bike were the only things that were harmed during that weke...on to other subjects..Sadly 9 days in J-Bay took me out of Hebrew..It was impossible to catch up, even living with the lecturer. I'm very greatful for the time I got to spend studying at the seminary. And hey now I know exactly what those "Funny" marks in Psalm 119 mean. The tuesday that I got back I had the privledge of meeting a graduate of the seminary from Malawi namked Kwatcha. I got to talk to him and just see his Passion for the Lord and how his heart just pours out to his country and the people that live there. (More to come on him later)

Fastforward:

April 1st: The youth at Christ Baptist Church got to take off to a campsite about 20 k's away where we had our 4 day retreat. It was a wonderful time that focused on the attributes of God taken straight out of Colosians 1. God was so gracious in the speakers that we had the privledge to listen to and the sermons that they preached. At the end of the camp, 4 kids made outward professions of faith. Praise be to God for it and our prayer is that these kids continue to seek the Lord and to seek to find their joy in Him and delight in His ways. I had the pleasure of leading worship all 4 of the days for a total of 10 worship sessions. Our camp theme song was "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin and it really just sumed up what our camp was about and how amazing our God is. I was able to get to know a couple of the guys a bit better and to pour into their lives which was a complete blessing. So camp ends and the next day is Good Friday. We were so blessed to hear Dave Beakley preach on the "7 words phrases of Christ on the cross" on friday and it was a wonderful perspective to think about. We then had the privledge on easter to head out to a village called Detaboneng which is about 70 k's outside of Polokwane. It was wonderful to be able to worship with another church in the Body of Christ. We then got to come back to CBC and see "Passion" the play that a church in Tennessee does that was quite an event to watch. Lastly, we got to reflect on the 3 days that are the most important in any believers life. and in the end we all get to exclaim with glee, HE IS RISEN! amen?

I then had 1 week in Polokwane where nothing much happened other than my preparation to enter into Mozambique on Saturday April 14th. I spent my last night in Polokwane the way I loved to..with my youth. They are a great bunch of kids and were wonderful people to spend my last night in civilization with. So Saturday 4:30 Am...our trek begins...except we dont get far..about 70'ks away in a town called Tzaneen, our Land Rover breaks down...now let me help you all with something. At this point I have absolutely no idea what Mozambique will be like, but I know that it wont be like anything ive experience...well breaking down isnt the biggest confidence booster...Ok anyway, we fix the car and off we go into Kruger National Park which is the only way to get into Phawlabora (border gate on Mozambique we needed to go to). 5 minutes into kruger we got a pleasant suprise by a 3 ton Elephant..now I dont care what you might have seen in the Zoo or on National Geographic, but when you have a 6 thousand pound 15 foot tall elephant 8 feet from your window, while your on his turf...its quite a gut wrenching experience...espeically when this elephant gives us a warning (flapping ears and twisting his neck) to get out of there...we backed up slowly and he crossed in front of us. Now the picture below just doesnt do it justice but let me say this...he was so close that if he would have dropped his trunk from the height he carried it...he would have leveled the land rover...Ok so, amazing start to the trip right? I thought so too, while I sweated bullets in the backseat (of course taking amazing photos of the back of the passanger seat as I frantically squrim in the backseat) We then proceed to see tons more elephant, some giraffe, some buffalo, (yah...ya dont wanna mess with them!) some beautiful birds that you cant even really describe, MEERKATS, and of course pumba(warthog) now to my dismay we also saw hippos...ok hippos....ugly/stinky/territorial/DEADLY! they can cut you in half with one bite and then they just leave you there...they dont want to eat you, they just want to mangle you beyond all recognition...thankfully we saw these hippo from a pretty good distance and didnt get much closer. Ok so enough of the animal junk for now at least..our whole point was to get to mozambiqe!

Kruger is covered with paved roads...well as soon as you hit the Mozambiquean border YOU CAN FORGET PAVEMENT! Say hello to the highway (picture below) that we travled on for aproxamately 1200 k's! a one lane dirt road with more ditches and soft spots (clay pits) than you can imagine! And then of course the endless bushes that could pierce right through the bottom of the car...and well throw in the forks in the road every 5 seconds that could sometimes lead you right into a flowing river, and ya now have a decent idea of what Mozambique is like...now if you have any temptation to think im tough for enduring this, im still int he back seat at this time going " AHHHHHHH" Now I dont need a 5 freeway, oh heck I dont want even a nice mcbean Pkway...but how about a road where theres more than one lane!!!! and its the national highway of Mozambique! Oh and of course my favorite part to disclose to you...Mozambique had a miserable civil war for baout 20 years up until 1994...so guess what that mean? YUP! you guessed it LAND MINES! And these landmines could literally be 8 feet off the "highway" so ya dont really want to go a trail blazin!

Well we were driving for about 14 hours which was onlly baout 250 k's in mozambique..remember the speed limit were talking about is about 25 miles an hour MAX...we finally were so tired we had to just pull off to a spot that had no "landmines here"-The UN signs, and started pulling plants and bushes to make ourselves a suitable camp site..uh i forgot..there are these brutal things called scorpions and they looove to come out at night. were not talking about your cutsie little things u find in the states...these are as big as your hand and a sting is lethal...And not to mention that they are just ugly lookin! So now we start pulling bushes a bit more carefully...until a car comes up to the road (we are 100 yards off the road) the car is actually a government official car and they say "we really think its unwise for you to camp there...it looks strange and the people in the villages might think your not here for the best of reasons so they told us to follow them to Chigubu. (background...Chigubu is where we are trying to get to) now the horrible news...Chigubu is 95 k's away...which was on the very best part of the road thankfully so it only took about 4 hours to travel that far. So we eventually reach our "destination" (notice the quotation marks) and set up our tents and conk out (its midnight at this time). So the leaders of this survey trip went to meet with the cheif...they came back with a humerous look on their face...and they spoke the words "were in the wrong village...Chigubu is 95 k's further" but we decided to stay another day there and scout out a location to help build a well in...So the Lord steered us to this location we would have never gone if not for that car coming up and saying "best be a movin" (in shangan of course). We then carried on to Chigubu and spent a day there. Then we got back on the road and travled to Marxhshela which is a village they had been to be before and built a little shelter for a church service...Let me also just let you know if you havnt figured out...theres no such thing as electricity in mozambique ANYWHERE except for Maputo, on the coast which is like a tourist city. So we did everything with a generator that would have kept the Lions away it was so loud! (come to think of it...it probably did) We ministered to the people in Marxhshela for 2 days and then moved on to Choque (spent very little time there...just to eat lunch) then we moved on to Mapai where we met a pastor that was going to take us to meet with the administrator of Mozambique in a town called chiquala chiquala (yes i meant to type it twice)

...this man then led us to the Chiquala Chiquala where Sean (trip leader) and William (trip leader) met with "the administrator" only to find out it wasnt the administrator they needed to talk to which meant, we were then going to drive 78 ks to Mabuzane where we would stay 2 nights and then sean and william would drive back to Chiquala Chiquala to meet with the administrator that they needed to see. After that time we then moved on to Dumela, which is about 5 k's from the boarder of South Africa. We spent 2 days there, 1 of which was spent cutting down 40 trees to create a huge shady structure called a "lappa". We then packed up shop and prepared to come home the next day...only one more hurdle to climb...we had to cross a flowing river that is about as wide as the colorado river...this is not an exageration. Oh and to throw in a bit of suspense, how about crocodiles everywhere! If thats not enough for you...how about the fact that except for both drivers, we all got out and walked! crocs thankfully didnt pay attention to us, but I tell you I was pretty close to having to change my underwear...these crocs are not gators...they are HUGE! thankfully there were no hippos or I would have just jumped into one of the guys arms. hehe....we eventually got accross and then got on our trek back to polokwane...which brings us to present day!

Ok 2 things..1. I apologize if it seems im complaining...I actually have nothing but praise for the trip..however I felt that telling the story of the trip in an animated way would be the best way to go. 2...now comes the time where I get to tell you what is goin in my life righ tnow...

Up until my adventure into the country of the Shangan, I did not feel called to anything in this world. I didnt feel called to stay and serve in South Africa, I dont feel called back home except to just go to college, but I didnt feel any particular calling that the Lord had placed on my heart...that all changed april 15th when I got to see mozambique (on the 14th it was pitch black...i couldnt even see the people..)(thats not meant as a race joke)...however when I met the Shangan people i felt a tug on my heart that this is where I need to be. So after serving in Mozambique for 9 days, the missionary organization that opperates out of CBC offered me to come and serve with them in Mozambique next year. This is a huge opportunirty that I have been blessed with. I have spoken to all the pastors and elders of the church and the are very encouraging and are excited about the way the Lord is moving me, as am I. I have been officially invited by CBC to come back next year in February and stay until October. However, serving with this mission is not something that they are going to pay for. They made it clear that in order to serve with them I needed to raise support back home. At this point all I want to ask you to do is pray with me. Pray that I would just put my life in the Lords hands to shape and to move wherever he would like. I have not accepted the invitation because of many reasons but the one that is most prevalent in my mind, is that I do not want to be forcing Gods hand. I the Lord to lead me there if thats where he wants me, and if he wants me to be at COC I want to be ok with that as well. The main thing is, Brother and Sisters, Please just pray with me and for me and I will be praying as well just that the Lord uses me in whatever capacity he deems.

So Mozambique:

7 men
3 Tents
9 days
15 peanut butter and syrup sandwitches (Darn it Phil Hanson I regretfully admit I tried vegamite UGHH I think smoking a cigaret would have been better)
2 land rovers
over 1500 k's
1 dirt road
...The most eye opening humbling experience I have ever had the blessing of being a part of..

Books read in the car:

Humility- C.J. Mahaney

Boy Meets Girl-Joshua Harris

Tell the truth- Metzger

Let the Nations be glad- Piper

Overall the last 2 1/2 months have been a tremendous opportunity for person spiritual growth and service and I thank you all for your prayers and continued support. May God continue to bless you and may He receieve the Glory for everything that we do!

Benjamin Pierce Coussens


PS:Excuse the Spelling errors...its very very late, and my adrenaline is pumping still, due to the fact that our house alarm has gone off twice tonight!

Me and the Ferreira family at a river in Plenscentia (40 k's from Hankey)

Me and my new friends Ruby Ayliff and Freedom at the 2007 CBC youth retreat in Die Drift, South Africa.

Mr Beakley Preachin at the Detaboneng Village on Easter

Ok this photo was taken completely zoomed out (elephant is about 7 feet away)...I don't care what you've seen at the zoo or on a national geographic magazine, there is nothing more terrifying than seeing a 6000 pound beast that is not very happy at you and in fact could absolutely destroy you and the vehicle your in. You can call him dumbo, and even "my squishy" but the only thing squishy in this situation is the possibility of you being the one being squished!

This is the one lane "highway" that we travled aproximately 1200 k's on throughout the countries of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Also, theres no air conditioner in most cars in Africa....you just roll your window down...but thats not always the best idea...a mozambiquan spitting cobra jumped eye level with the person in the passenger seat...it was quite a site..

Unfortunately (sorry dad) this is one of the stupidest things I've ever done...In Mozambique there are signs in the ground placed by the UN that say "landmines, be aware" and they mark them with sticks....however what you are looking at is me standing just inside the Zimbabwe border...uh...there are no signs where landmines are...and apparently im standing about 9 feet from 2 of them (again...sorry dad) but I mean seriously, who else will you ever meet that will say "yah, I've been to Zimbabwe :)

Say hello to my new friends of Marxshela, Mozambique...They always smile like that!

Wheres Waldo? Can you Spot me? (Mabuzane, Mozambique)

(sorry mom) This is a Mozambiquean Scorpion...and his sting is deadly...He is as big as my wrist and he is absolutely everywhere in Mozambique!

Ok because of my addiction to breath and my fear of things that can eat you...I decided to wait till I got across the river to take a picture of the crocks...hes about 12 feet long.

And last but not least... A Mozambiquan Sunset

May God continue to grow you and bless you and in all things my glory be to our great God!!!