Six days ago, I hopped on a plane out of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and 24 hours later arrived in Entebbe, Uganda. Six months in Asia behind and three months in Africa ahead. These past five days, my squad has been debriefing in Jinja, Uganda at an awesome campground located right beside the Nile River! After several months in westernized Asian cities, it’s so refreshing to be in the middle of nowhere where sunrises, a simple breeze, and good conversation provide sweet entertainment.
But before I jump ahead to Africa, I want to close out Asia. My final days in Vietnam were some of my favorite! This past Christmas Eve was a day to remember on the Race for sure. The holiday celebrations amongst the teams that lived together in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) were awesome but what took place in the lives of my Vietnamese friends stole the day for sure. It started at 10:00 am when my teammate, Alison, and I got a phone call from our friend Zeni who works as a bar girl in HCM. Every night Zeni works from 6:30pm – 4:00am entertaining male customers by serving drinks and offering “companionship”. She hadn’t had a night off in months, but after some encouragement from my friends and I she asked off for Christmas night to spend time with us! Well at 10:00am we learn that Zeni and many Vietnamese people celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. Haha, just a minor detail we should have known.
Zeni joined us that evening for our special Christmas dinner that consisted of homemade shrimp scampi, garlic mashed potatoes, salad, non-baked cookies, and oreo truffles ( just so you know, that is a baller meal after 6 months in Asia). It was amazing! She loved all of the foods and got to meet 20 new friends who loved and served her well. It was so interesting to watch her fight the habit of serving others, specifically the men, and instead be served herself. After dinner, we headed to central HCM where the streets were closed to cars, light poles were decorated with garland, and teenagers ran through the streets spraying fake snow out of aerosol cans. There were SO many people! We roamed the streets with Zeni and another Vietnamese friend, taking pictures together and looking at the decorations. Up until this point, Zeni knew that my friends and I were Christians but because of the language barrier we were unable to really explain our love for her or her importance/value to God. So we arranged for our friend who is a Vietnamese believer to meet us at a coffee shop later that night to share more of our hearts with Zeni. Our Vietnamese friend ended up sharing her story with Zeni while Alison and I sat there and silently prayed. Then we were able to share with her why we really came to Vietnam, her value to God, and why our love for her was different from other foreigners. Before we left Vietnam, I wanted Zeni to know that the love, value, and importance she felt from my friends and I was a simple taste of her Father’s heart. Thank you God for the opportunity to share with our friend the source of the love she felt the entire month we were with her!
Christmas Eve afternoon held another story in itself and was one of my favorite times of the month! Throughout the month, I met with a friend Sophie several times a week to help her prepare for her Visa interview with the U.S. Embassy. During these hang outs, we got to know each other pretty well and would often find ourselves on random subjects of true love, the purpose of life, or what characteristics we want in a husband (haha you know, girl stuff). On Christmas Eve, I took her out to celebrate her birthday and say goodbye (talk about bittersweet). I was praying for the opportunity to share the gospel with Sophie but was honestly a little concerned if she would even see her need for Jesus. She’s a good girl, comes from a wealthy family, a very hard worker, and is definitely on the road to success. But the Lord knew she was ready to hear and with a simple question, the love of Jesus overtook the conversation.
“Why do you love those girls that work at the bars?”
As soon as she asked me this, I knew God’s will for the conversation. I was able to tell her about the heart God has given me for women and men who work in the sex industry, how much God loves those people, and how important they are to Him. This was something she had never heard before, that these people had value and that someone, let alone God, loved them unconditionally. Before I shared anymore, I asked about her view on God and what she believed. The hopelessness was small at first but by the end of the conversation, it had taken over her entire mood.
“I don’t know anything about God. But I do not think there is heaven, only hell.”
I began unfolding the gospel story through words and pictures on a napkin and before long tears filled Sophie’s eyes.
“God is so good that He would send you to tell me that Jesus took my punishment.”
Hiding behind success, morals, and wealth, was a long-lost daughter fully aware of her need for Jesus. Thank you Spirit for drawing her heart towards the Father! As we said goodbye, I left Sophie with a Bible, several other resources, and the phone number of my Christian Vietnamese friend.
“I will read this book and I think I will email you with questions. My sister will read it too because I know she wants to know about God.”
Praise Jesus for the work He is doing in Sophie’s heart! Our final days in Vietnam, we travelled to Da Lat to visit another team and had the opportunity to go camping and hiking! It was such a sweet gift from my Father to get out of the city and enjoy the stillness of the mountains as we said goodbye to Asia.
Tomorrow my team and I will travel to Masaka, Uganda where we will spend the rest of our month doing ministry. Our contact’s vision for ministry reads: “love people, tell them about Jesus, and encourage Christian disciples”. I’m pretty pumped about ministry since that is EXACTLY what Jesus told us to do. Please be praying for my heart and mind as I transition to a new continent and a COMPLETELY different culture. I am excited to be here, but it can also be slightly overwhelming transitioning to a really new place. Internet is limited but I will keep you posted as much as I can! Thank you for all of your prayers!
Love and miss you all!
