During our month in Vietnam, our main ministry assignment was to work in a coffee shop. Every morning, we would get on the bus to go to the district that our coffee shop was at. Our job was to take people’s order, to help make drinks/food, and to talk with the customers. We were there to help them practice their english, but mostly, we were there to love on them with the love of Christ.
After the first day, I was not super excited. Again, I felt like I should be doing more. But as time went on, I began to see the difference we were making by just being ourselves. We would show up every morning and immediately start playing banana grams. Sometimes there were customers there to talk to and sometimes it was just us, but I had so much fun being there.
In the evenings, we would help out with English club. On some nights, we would have stories form the Bible to share. We would highlight key words and review it’s definition and pronunciation. Then we would have the students read the stories to us and then we would have discussion questions. We had some really awesome discussions. I thought that this was such a great way to be able to share the Gospel in a closed country. The people here are so hungry to practice their english and to learn. They absolutely love to speak with foreigners. (We would walk through the park and students would just flock to us to talk with us) What better way to help them practice their English than by teaching them the Word of God?
One friend we spent a lot of time with. I’ll call him Sam. Sam is a Vietnamese student. He was always at the coffee shop when we are there. Sam spent a lot of time with us, playing games and singing songs. Actually, he really likes to rap. Anyway, at dinner one night, Sam accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. He asked to be baptized a few days later. When he found out that we were leaving that afternoon, he asked his friends to change the time of his baptism so that we could be a part of it. It was such a cool thing to witness. He was baptized in the bath tub above the shop. It was a humble ceremony, and it was amazing. We got to welcome another brother into the family of Christ.
Big things are happening in Vietnam. It doesn’t matter that it’s a closed country, God is moving and it’s amazing. Pray for Vietnam, that the leaders would come to know Jesus. Pray for freedom of religion in the country. Pray for the believers who are there shining the Light of God selflessly every single day. God bless Vietnam.
