Sometime you just have to relearn something that you have done since you were 10 years old. Sometimes, it is something as simple as crossing the street. This is exactly what happened in Vietnam.
In Ho Chi Minh City there are close to 7 million people and I’m pretty sure most of them drive motorbikes (scooters). We were told that at any given time the there are approximately 4 million scooters traveling on the streets of the city. The size of a scooter and the agility they have mean that if you are on a scooter you never really have to stop, even if you are at a red light. Needless to say crossing any kind of big street looks a little intimidating. Nonetheless, we were told that to cross the street you just have to step into traffic and trust that all the scooters will just not hit you. In other words, “look both ways before crossing the street” but then just cross anyway.
So trying to fit in with the culture we crossed the street in the middle of traffic. And true enough to their word, we weren’t run over. Actually, I wasn’t even being honked at. The drivers in the city understand that this is what people will do and they just veer around you. We just had to keep moving because that’s what they were used to. If you keep moving at a constant pace they can tell where you are going to be and maneuver accordingly. Mostly, I just had to trust that their system worked and move across accordingly. Sometimes God calls us to do the same thing. He asks us to just keep moving forward and trust that He has a plan for you.
Proverbs 16:3-Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.
In the last few months I’ve been thinking a lot about the future and in many ways it looks like a busy Ho Chi Minh street. It’s a little intimidating. Even with it being so close I don’t really have any kind of set plan other than just going home. All I know is that I want to continue this lifestyle. Not really in the way that sounds though. I love traveling but that is really just a side affect of the lifestyle. The lifestyle that I am talking about is one where everyday is lived for the kingdom of God.
Just so happens the kingdom of God isn’t something you really have to search for geographically. We can be about the kingdom’s business in everyday of our lives no matter where in the world we are located. The kingdom of God is at work in underground churches in Vietnam, in villages in the Himalayas of Nepal, and in my hometown church in Grand Junction, Colorado. The kingdom isn’t something you have to search for but it is something that moves with you when you are open to it. You just have to decide to live in it and take faithful step after faithful step and trust that God is constantly working in your surroundings.
Psalm 37:24- “The LORD makes firm the steps of the one
who delights in him; though he may stumble,
he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.”
Near the end of our month in Ho Chi Minh, we were a little more confident and decided it would be fun to rent motorbikes for a few days. This may possibly be the most foolish of my recent decisions, having only ever driven a motorbike once before. Hitting the busy streets with just a helmet for protection is intimidating and just a little bit crazy. But the same advice that they gave us for crossing the street applied to driving as well. Just keep moving and let your surroundings react to you.
Usually the straight roads weren’t very bad. You could just go with the flow of traffic and most people would watch out for you, with the occasional little bump here and there. But what was truly nerve racking was coming into one of Ho Chi Minh’s roundabouts. Each one is a swirling mess of vehicles fueled by 4 or 5 streets converging together where right-of-way belongs to the vehicle that gets there first. But still, just keep moving, learn to react to what comes in front of you and trust that others are doing the same.
The whole experience ended up being some of the most fun and memorable traveling experiences I’ve had. As we gained confidence in our ability to navigate traffic, we experienced the freedom that came with our own personal mode of transportation. Not having to worry about the cost of taxi’s or the time schedule of the big city busses. We could go anywhere and do anything. That kind of freedom is something I have only experienced twice since leaving home.
At first living in the kingdom can seem intimidating, maybe even impossible to navigate. But luckily for us God already has things in motion for us. He has prepared our steps and has opened doors for us to move thru and paths for us to take. Just keep moving. As we get more confident we will start seeing the way God moves in everyday life. Even when we come into those confusing and in many ways dangerous roundabouts of life we can have confidence because we know that God is orchestrating our steps and has a plan that is bigger then we could ever really imagine. When we live inside the confidence of relying on the provision of God we can experience the freedom that comes from God alone. Just keep moving forward and be open to the ever-expanding Kingdom of God.
Mathew 6:33
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness:
and all these things shall be added to unto you.”
Check out another great video by Mandi Gummels
World Race – Month 10: Vietnam from Mandi Gummels on Vimeo.
