During the month of November, my team and I were in Ho Chi Minh City- home to approximately 9 million people! We lived and worked at VASS, the Vietnamese American School System. I had the opportunity to go back to my roots and be a teacher once again.
We spent 4 days a week teaching English. We were each paired with a teacher (or teachers in some cases). I was with Ms. Nu. Each morning we would go to her classroom and I would teach 6th and 7th grade English. We learned English through reading, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and science lessons. In the afternoon I would have class with a group of kids ranging from 8th to 11th grade. It was a lot of fun for me to be back at the front of a classroom, but teaching a different subject.
On Wednesdays we would meet up with our good friend and translator, Gia. We would go to a woman’s house where we would prepare and package meals for patients at one of the local hospitals. At this hospital, if you wanted food, you had to rely on friends and family to bring it in to you from the outside. Not all patients have this opportunity, so once a week this woman takes them food and uses it as a platform for ministry.
On Saturday mornings we were able to participate in the Youth Group meetings. We were able to share testimonies and worship together. The songs were almost always in Vietnamese, but the cool thing was, they were often songs I knew! so while everyone sang in Vietnamese, I could join in, but by singing in English.
On Sundays we went to church and a Bible study where we were served some very delicious Vietnamese food for lunch.
Vietnam is a closed country, which means we could not openly share the gospel. This month it was our actions that spoke for us. At first it seems like, what’s the point? How do we share the gospel? But Jesus was able to shine through our actions, and this opened the door to conversations with the people around us.
We were able to do some really fun things this month as well. During our first week there we got to join the school in celebrating Teacher’s Day. There was a special dinner one evening, where we also got to watch dance and musical performances from several students. To finish the night off, a few of the teachers put on a fashion show. One of the benefits of being in a large city is that there are movie theaters! So our team was able to see Magical Beasts and Where to Find them on opening night. We were also invited to a Vietnamese wedding reception, it was for the son of one of the ladies at our church. It was very fancy and included a 6 course meal of traditional Vietnamese food. The highlight was the final course, during which an egg with a partially formed chick was cooked right at our table. During our last weekend in Vietnam, the girls on my team and I took a tour of the Mekong River Delta. It was so neat to get out of the city and be on the water for the day. We got to wear traditional Vietnamese hats, try some locally produced honey and tea, see how coconut candy is made, and of course ride in a traditional Vietnamese boat. The next day our team did one last fun activity together, we visited the 3D art museum. We had so much fun posing with each other and the art work.
We did get to celebrate Thanksgiving as well! A church member opened her home to us, so that we could cook a big meal. We also got to invite another team of ours to join in the fun. We had chicken instead of turkey, and lots of fruits instead of vegetables. We did find what we thought were sweet potatoes, in order to make a sweet potato casserole. But when I went to peal the potatoes…. we found that the insides were white instead of orange! Never the less we made the best of it and still made the casserole. It turned out really good! Although they were white, the taste of the potatoes was really sweet. We had a lot of fun celebrating together, and being thankful for all that God has given us this past year. I even got to finish the night out with a late night call to my family back in the states 🙂
Working hard at our English lesson.
My morning English Class.
My afternoon English class.
My teacher Ms. Nu.
A few of the other teachers and office ladies.
Packaging food for the hospital.
Yummy!
Ready to go to the hospital.
The boys being helpful by loading the food onto the truck.
The lady who made my Vietnamese dress!
Our good friend Gia.
Some delicious Vietnamese food and iced coffee.
Pastor Daniel. 
My Vietnamese hat.
The Mekong River Delta.
Taking a boat ride.
The 3D art museum.
Our not so traditional Thanksgiving Dinner 🙂
