Ben Brewster was sitting in front of a terminal gate in Louisville’s airport when reality sank in. After he walked down the runway and boarded the plane, there would be no turning back.

When he would land 30 hours later, the Louisville senior would spend the summer on an entirely different continent than anyone he knew.

But the memories made and the lessons learned during Brewster’s experience turned out to be greater than he could have anticipated as he sat there, nervously holding his boarding pass, in late May.

Brewster, who is also the student president of Western’s Baptist Campus Ministry, spent seven weeks in Africa as a missionary. He shared his faith with others while he interned at Trans World Radio, a Christian radio network.

While in Johannesburg, South Africa, Brewster spent his days at TWR’s operation center. He listened to and loaded radio programs into the network’s computer system. He helped conduct focus groups and audience relations meetings, took down a 150-foot tall antennae and toured a national office operation in Swaziland.

Brewster’s work added real world experience to his broadcast major. And he was able to serve God at the same time, he said.

“It was really humbling,” he said. “I wasn’t out in the African bush with just my Bible. I couldn’t always see the effects of my work, but I trusted that it was going to help someone, that someone would hear the message.”

Outside of his working hours, Brewster played dominoes and paintball, visited a wild game park and watched the World Cup. He also read and conversed with other missionaries, African citizens and avid TWR listeners. He played soccer with a group of children and shared his Christian message with them afterward, which he said he will never forget.

“I gathered them around after our game and asked them if they knew Jesus Christ, and they said yes,” he said. “I told them to remember to hold onto him, because some of them, I know, will have a tough life.”

Brewster said the experience reassured him that what he was doing was worthwhile. He described it as one that taught him a deeper level of reliance on God and one that helped him gain a wider world experience.

His friends Pete McGarry and Joe Brunk said they agree.

McGarry, a senior from Baltimore, Md., kept in touch with Brewster via e-mail while he was in Africa. McGarry said he could tell that the experience was an eye-opener for Brewster.

“It gave him a new outlook,” he said. “God really touched him. It showed him that there’s a whole world out there that needs to be reached.”

Brunk, a Louisville senior, said the trip helped Brewster grow as a person.

“Ben’s one of those people who make you a better person just by being around them,” Brunk said. “This trip opened his eyes to the needs of the world and how he can help those needs be fulfilled.”

Reach Ashley Maines at features@wkuherald.com.