I’ve been back in Vietnam for just under 48 hours and already it’s captured my heart again. There’s something about these people, this culture, this place that I just absolutely love. It’s crazy to walk down the same streets and see the vast change that can take place in only a year. I mean, even the hostel we stayed at– it’s like day and night how different it is! Regardless of the many changes, there’s still this familiarity about everything.
Yesterday afternoon we had the opportunity to go back to the orphanage we fell in love with last year. As we rode the bus, both Heather and I prepared ourselves for the possibility of not seeing the kids we loved. Upon arrival, the kids flocked to us. Many remembered us from the year before, which is really kind of an exciting thought! Heather was reunited with 2 of her 3 boys and it was absolutely precious to see them interact. I did not have the opportunity to reunite with my sweet little girl, as she is home with her family for the summer. She’ll be back at the orphanage come Fall and believe you me I will be there to see her.
Because my little girl wasn’t there, I almost felt a little lost at the orphanage. I didn’t know how to interact with these kids who I never really got to know last year. As I sat down on the ground, however, it didn’t take long for a little boy to come up to me and put a flower in my hair. He proceeded to go get a comb and hair tie and style my hair in an oh so fashionable way. As I looked at this little boy, I couldn’t help but think he looked a little familiar. All of the children have grown so much so sometimes it’s hard to recognize the ones from last year. Nonetheless, I knew this boy had to have been around. Finally it hit me, swivel hips! Last year, there was a little boy wearing green shorts who we nicknamed swivel hips. We did this because, well, he swiveled his hips when he danced. I know, clever, right? Anyway, I hung out with swivel hips for the day but didn’t really think much of it.
Today, we got an opportunity to take a YWAM team over to the orphanage. I was kind of surprised by how much attention I got from this little boy. He just kind of hung out with me. He didn’t need for me to let him climb on me or run around like crazy, he just sat with me for a bit. One of the things I simply love about the kids at that orphanage is that they are constantly reminding me about the unconditional love of God. Last year with Nha Ca, it wasn’t anything I did that made her love me. I mean, I ignored her when I got there and she chose me regardless. And now, with Si (because yes, swivel hips does have a name), it’s not about entertaining him, it’s simply loving him and letting him love me. Children’s love really is a beautiful thing…
As we started saying our goodbyes, Si ran up to me and gave me a hug. He then gave me a kiss on the cheek and proceeded to try to write something on my hand. After a couple of attempts, he finally got it. There on my left palm it said, “Si.” Part of me thinks he did it so I wouldn’t forget him. Part of me thinks he did it to show me he cared. I guess I’ll never really know…
Tomorrow we’ll leave Ho Chi Minh and head to the village where we’ll be staying for the majority of our time. We have absolutely no idea what to really expect so it’ll be interesting to see what God does there. I’ll try to be fairly consistent with my blogging while over here. I want to be more diligent with sharing what God is doing, both with my readers and with myself. So, until next time… 🙂
