This post will share a little bit about what we’re going to do,
why we’re doing it and what this blog will hopefully be. It’s being written by
me (Ben), meaning the English is only to a GCSE grade B standard (thank you
Madame DuPlooy) and it will probably have no structure to it whatsoever, seeing
as all I’ve really written in the last 7 years since leaving school is a
monthly Fantasy Football report at work. Anyway, here goes…
For as long as I can remember I’ve had a passion for Africa.
It probably stems from hearing stories about my Mum’s upbringing in Zimbabwe
(Rhodesia at the time) as well as a love of seeing and hearing about the sheer
beauty of the natural landscape. I first got my chance to go when I visited my
cousins in South Africa in 2010. Three weeks wasn’t enough time to even scratch
the surface of such an amazing place, so it left me with a strong desire to go
back.
As I have ‘matured’ over the last few years (I know some of
you will think “what on earth is he on
about, he behaves like a 10 year old!”) I have started to sense a deeper
wish to not just go back to see family, or have a nice holiday, but actually
that Africa could be much more than just a human desire in me.
I got another chance to go to Africa with Tonbridge Baptist
Church (TBC) joining a team that went to Uganda in February 2014. This confirmed
to me that this was something I wanted to explore further and see what could be
in store. I didn’t want to do this on my own however, and thankfully God has
brought Melissa into my life who shares not only my passion and desire to
explore and adventure in Africa, but also understands that we’re setting off
into the unknown trusting not in each other, but in God’s plan for the both of
us.
Let me interlude there for a short moment as I have
mentioned God. To most of you that will be no surprise, however I’m hoping this
blog reaches out further than just my Christian friends. I’ve never tried to
hide my faith, but at the same time, as many of us find, it’s not always the
immediate topic of conversation. However, with what Melissa and I are embarking
on, we’re not kidding ourselves, we really need God to guide us and strengthen
us as we journey together.
I’m really hoping that this blog can be a way of us sharing
with you how we get on, both the good bits and the bad bits. We’re not naïve to
the fact that setting off on a trip like this will not simply be sunshine, fun
and letting the good times roll in. However we trust that through it all, good
and bad, God is there, and he is faithful to us. We honestly have no set
agenda, no places we are desperate to see or to avoid and are not afraid of
getting our hands dirty. We are simply putting God first and feel we are being
obedient to his calling us to Africa. Once we’re there, who knows where he’ll
take us, but one thing for sure it is going to be an adventure, and one that we
hope you’ll journey on with us, even if it is just from in front of your
computer screen.
Our blog posts will hopefully include a mixture of what
we’ve been up to, who we’ve met and hopefully some photos to make you all
jealous. Along with that, for those of you that pray, we’ll be chucking prayer
requests in there too. We’re so grateful for the amount of friends and family
that we know we have supporting us here in the UK, and your prayers mean so
much so please remember us.
Melissa and I recently went to Soul Survivor with TBC Youth
and then stayed on for Momentum. For any of you who don’t know, they’re 5 day
long festivals held in the West Country, run by a church based out of Watford,
that attract up to 9,000 people. We both had an incredible time, and received strong
affirmation that this trip is the right thing for us.
When people were asking me “what about the trip are you worried about?” my answer wasn’t “we might run out of money” or “what happens if Melissa can’t stand 5
minutes with me” or even “what if
it’s not safe”. My honest answer was “what
if I’ve got this all wrong and this isn’t what I’m meant to be doing?”
For a while I battled and prayed about it and reminded
myself that God’s love is greater than my fears and doubts and that he would
show me his plan for me. Well, here I am, three days away from getting on a
plane with a one way ticket, and I’m not worried one bit. Some of you will
think I’m crazy, but life is too short to wonder ‘what if?’”
I could have stayed put in a comfortable yet unchallenging
line of work, Melissa could have jumped on the graduate job bandwagon, and we
could have started saving for a house, a future, a wedding (dare I even mention
the word haha) but we are going against the flow and stepping out in faith.
Magnetic Migration, as Melissa explained in her first post, sums up what we’re
doing, leaving home and trusting on something unseen that will lead us to where
we need to be.
I love the quote I heard Mike Pilavachi use; he says
“don’t just exist in security, live in
adventure”
This is something I’m all for. Many of us just exist, going
about our daily lives, consumed by the business of the world we live in. I
don’t want to be like that, at least not yet, not whilst I’ve got this passion
and energy within me to do what I’m doing.
Quite a few people have said “do it while you can, while you’re young, before you come back and ‘real
life’ starts”. I’ve politely acknowledged their good wishes, and to an
extent it is true, the later you leave it to set off on your own adventure, the
more things there will be holding you back. However, I don’t believe Melissa
and I have ‘real life’ waiting for us when we get back. I believe quite the
opposite. We’re about to start living the way we were meant to, real life
starts here!
Perhaps I better leave it here for now, I’m conscious that
if we make these posts too long or too boring nobody will want to read them,
but we hope that you are interested and will journey with us. I also still need
to pack and work out how many pairs of boxers I’ll need for a year on the road!
Please don’t let the God stuff put you off; we’re going to
have a laugh and so much fun along the way! Do share this with friends and
family and feel free to contact both of us whilst we’re away. Facebook / WhatsApp
are probably easiest, or email springer380@hotmail.com
or melissa.powley@hotmail.com
One final thing, our sort of ‘planned’ itinerary is below.
You’ll note that we don’t start in Africa; we thought we’d start out with a
little holiday J
and visit my Grandpa and Grandma on Vancouver Island.
- Thursday 10th September – Fly to Iceland from Gatwick
- Tuesday 15th September – Fly to Vancouver from Iceland
- Hire camper van for 12 days to drive to Banff and back to Vancouver. Then travel to Vancouver Island to spend time with Grandparents
- Wednesday 7th October – Fly to Cape Town from Vancouver
- 3 weeks accommodation booked in Cape Town. Then travel up the Garden Route to Durban. Then travel further up to Mtuba-Mtuba for Christmas
- Travel to Harare (Zimbabwe) mid to late January and visit members of group that visited Melissa/St Paul’s Church Rusthall
- 6 February 2016 – Fly from Harare to Entebbe (Uganda). Join TBC mission team for trip to Rwentobo. Then potentially stay on in Uganda for a short while
- Possibly travel to Kenya to link with Harambee, a charity. (Link through a colleague Ben used to work with)
That’s as far as we’ve got, there’s plenty of room for
things to crop up and our paths to change along the way.
Prayer requests:
- As we set off we would know God’s presence with us, beginning this journey together.
- Practicalities of packing over the next couple of days.
- The difficulty of any ‘Goodbyes’.
- Safety, especially as we drive through the Rocky Mountains in a camper van.
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