Vietnam was interesting. It was probably one of the hardest, easiest, strangest, & one of the most beautiful countries ever.
It was hard because we weren’t allowed to share the gospel. Vietnam is a communist country with strict religious rules, meaning that if we were to openly preach the gospel we would probably be kicked out of the country and be black listed. Also, we were working with an awesome organization, which I will not name for the sake of their status, so we were even more careful.
That doesn’t mean we didn’t do anything Christian related in Vietnam. I mean, that’s why i’m here on the race right? haha
Some of the ministry opportunities that we had was working with orphans! (YAY FINALLY) I’ve been literally dying to be with orphans the whole year, and finally after 8 months of church encouragement and other ministries, I finally had my dream ministry. Every morning after worshiping and praying with our organization, we would scooter over to the orphanage. The first day I was there I instantly fell in love with the kids. The kids run from ages 10 to 18. What I loved about this orphanage is that they don’t over crowd it and accept new children every single day, but has a steady number of 25. They have been together for over 5 years and have so much freedom! They truly seem like a huge family & you can see the quality of care and love they receive from those that work there. SO, my team and I got to spend time with them as well as revamp some of their walls. We scraped, we scraped, & we scraped the paint off the walls for days. Then we molded, played some card games in-between and plastered the wall some more. Finally, after two weeks of working on these walls, we were ready to paint! We were able to bless them with newly painted walls, that may not seem like much, but when you step into any environment with something new brings a strange sense of newness. (Like repainting your room) The last day we spent hours playing with them & threw a mini birthday party for all the children who had birthdays in September. They ended up blessing us by making us stars & a hand drawn card! AH, these souls will forever be remembered. Praying that they will one day meet the Lord!
Other opportunities that we had was visiting the elderly home on Wednesday. It was quite a strange experience. It was also a nunnery, so we mostly helped the nuns with practical things rather then spending time with them. One day we picked weeds all day, and the week after that we literally picked off all the leaves off of nearly 10 trees. Strange, I know. I’m not sure why we did that or what we were suppose to learn from it, but I can probably say that that was the strangest ministry experience yet.
We also got to go to the beach to meet locals and play volleyball. Although some of our days were ruined due to the typhoon that hit, we were able to have fun and practice english with some of the locals.
However, being in a country with such comfort manifested a couple of fears in me about going home. I saw myself fall back with my time with the Lord because I had internet. I would wake up and grab my phone before I did my quiet time. I would tell myself that I would spend time with the Lord after I got x, y, & z done… but end up watching a t.v. show instead because It’s been forever since I’ve been able to laze out. I made excuse after excuse, and my time with Him went from a sweet sweet beginning of the month to a burnt out, emotionally & physically tired end of the month. I would spend time with the Lord but it wasn’t quality time. My mind was easily distracted by all the things that I had to do or want to do. I missed my moments in the village of Cambodia where internet was non existent and people were actually interactive with one another. You would think that after 9 months of the race, I wouldn’t fall into petty little idols or distractions like this, but the struggle was real. I repented and the last week finally had my head straight, but the thought of me going home and having internet 24/7 kind of freaks me out. Not just me, but everyone around me will have internet. I want to go back and have quality time with people rather than my phone. I want to reach for my bible before any electronic in the morning because that’s what my spirit needs. I want to be so focused on the lord each and every day without anything else having to compete with it.
So i’m praying. Praying that God will grow me in self-control as I honor Him with my words & my commitments.
2 more months left of this race. So strange yet so excited to see all that the Lord has for me STILL in these next two months.
I will hopefully update with a video blog later about Vietnam!
Also, it was my last month with my beloved team! Katie & the Team Leaders (whtkrm?) So so sad, but excited for the new season with new teammates.
