This month has been spent in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It has been one of the best months I have had on the race so far. This is a month where what you say and do is very limited. As Vietnam is a closed country, you cannot say you are a missionary, you can talk about God referring only to yourself, not pertaining to someone else. Also, praying or reading the word in a public place is forbidden. At first we thought, “well how are we going to do ministry” but God provided exceeding abundantly more than we could think or ask.
God has given us so many different ways to serve and love on people it literally has blown my mind. I prayed for ministry and little did I know we would do it each day from 5am-9pm. Before coming to Vietnam God spoke to me that it would be a month of power and being able to see his power in ways I didn’t even think were possible. A lot of times when we spoke about ministry we called it “M”, prayer meetings were just known as “meetings” and if someone was doing missionary work they are just “working”. It is so interesting to change your entire speech because you don’t have the freedom to say what you please.
We had ministry ranging from praying over people at the hospitals, making house visits in the village, visiting the elderly and taking them food, going to the orphanage to love on kids, working at a coffee shop, working at a resale shop, visiting a rehabilitation center for drugs and alcohol and building relationships with university students at the park. It has been such a whirlwind of a month and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This month has literally taught me so much about who God is and how he can’t be determined by circumstances. He is not a God in a box or one that is able to be controlled by the government. He is a God that has ultimate power; he is the great physician, a protector, a provider, a comforter, a freedom giver, a lover, a fighter, worthy of worship and so much more. Each month I feel as though I have learned a new part of whom God is and who he is to me. I can’t wait to see the God I learn about in Africa! Less than two days and we are headed to Capetown, South Africa! I am so excited for this continued journey!
