Where in the World is Ben?
Since my travels take me to a different country virtually each month, you may frequently be asking, “Where in the World is Ben?” In April, I spent some time with our troops in Kuwait and Iraq. Presently, I am finishing a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The purpose of my trips is as varied as the countries I fly to each month. In January, my itinerary included a trip to Punta Gorda, Belize to join up with a team of Hampden-Sydney College students. We poured 100 tons of concrete to create a maternity wing on the second floor of a local hospital.
The trip to Iraq served a couple of purposes. It gave me an opportunity to work alongside a former Rivers of the World (ROW) member, Nick Beazley and to deliver words of encouragement to all the troops from Americans back home. I also had the privilege to photograph our troops in action during their maneuvers and to document my trip for K-LOVE radio.
My latest adventure in the DRC has me checking on the status of ROW’s latest barge. She is 36 meters long, about three meters deep and will carry 300 tons of supplies to missionaries and hospitals up the Congo River from Kinshasa to Kisangani and back again.
I have spent over 30 years of my life traveling from one end of the earth to the other and one thing has been comforting and consistent and that is the fact that wherever I go, God is there. We have this reassurance, found in Psalm 139:9-10:
“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
I could immerse myself deep within the jungles of South America and still not escape the love and protection of my Lord. For those of us who are genuinely serving Christ, there is no greater joy or peace than to know that He is with us always and everywhere.
