Kolton Cusey, 13, of Backus poses with Malawian youth during his Teen Missions International Trip.

But for Kolton Cusey, an eighth-grader at Crosslake Community School, his Teen Missions International trip to Chipoka, Malawi in Africa, this summer, signaled fulfillment of a long-held wish.

"He's wanted to go on a missions' trip for three years and we kept telling him that he had to wait until he was 13," his mother, Marney, said of Kolton's plans.

Cusey, of Backus, applied for a missions trip through Teen Missions International and was given his top choice: to spend two months in southeast Africa on a "fishing team."

Cusey raised all the money for his trip and was joined by adult leaders and fellow youth, ages 13-18 on the trip.

He first flew to Florida for so-called "boot camp" orientation prior to the trip. The 90-degree weather in Florida was greater than the temperatures he experienced during the African winter; temperatures were 70 degrees during the day, dropping to 30 degrees at night, Cusey said.

After arrival in Malawi, they spent the first 10 days hosting vacation bible study for the village children.

Most of the Malawian youth spoke English, Cusey said, although they did have a translator for the littlest children. The official language of Malawi is Chichewa.

Aside from volunteering at vacation bible school and witnessing to the Malawian people, they did volunteer work and fished to help feed orphans.

The Teen Mission volunteers also planted a roof-side garden by hauling dirt on top of a mud hut. "It was gruesome," Cusey said of the strenuous work.

Fishing on Malawi's Lake Nyasa was challenging too because of the boat they used. "It was a homemade boat," Cusey said. "Where the boards met together it had holes, so every time we would go to fish in it, it would be completely underwater."

They had to bail out the water in order to use it, and continuously bail water during the trip. "If we had to do anything on the water that was our boat," he said.

Fishermen's nets pulled in Chumba fish. Fishing is a popular occupation in Malawi: Lake Nyasa runs two-third the length of the country on the eastern side. "They make smelt look huge; they're extremely small," Cusey said of the fish.

The youth primarily ate pre-cooked or packaged American food that they brought along on the trip. They did have a six-burner camping stove that they used to make some items from scratch while they were there.

They did try some of the native food, which Cusey describes as "not overly appealing."

While they were in Malawi, the youth went to different churches to perform mimes and gospel skits.

Skits included the biblical stories of Samson and Delilah; David and Goliath; Jonah and the whale; Daniel in the Lion's Den. "I liked it; it was awesome," Cusey said of performing.

They also passed out pamphlets about Jesus and the Ten Commandments written in Chichewa.

While in Africa, Cusey had to rely on writing to communicate with his family. They exchanged letters back and forth - with a lag of about three weeks.

He didn't have phone contact with his family for five weeks.

"They kept you too tired to think about it anyways," Kolton said when asked if he got homesick during his trip.

Now Cusey is back home and able to reflect on his trip.

"Do it; go, it's worth it," is his advice for youth contemplating a mission's trip.

And who knows? Maybe the future holds another missions trip for Kolton.

submitted photos

Kolton Cusey poses for a photo while carrying a bag of food on his back. The subtropical climate features rolling hills, plateaus and some mountains.