March 28, 2015
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
I think when I have thought of Vietnam in the past, I have thought about it in terms of the war or of Lumpia, the fabulous Vietnamese Spring rolls I had on Saipan. I had a dream right before coming here that my team was on the beach and we were assigned one little handicapped child. I had a little boy that I held and loved, all the while telling him how much he was loved. He died in my arms. And while this was extremely sad in my dream, there was also a sense of peace and beauty, because I got to love him out of this world and into the arms of Jesus. It was only later that I found out that we would be working with orphans and handicapped children!
On our nearly 30 hour bus ride here, we woke up driving next to the beach. It took my breath away! Vietnam is gorgeous, vibrant, and full of kind beautiful people! Our team is actually blessed to be staying near the beach in Da Nang, Vietnam.
The first time I went to the beach, I got so excited that I ran up and down kicking the water and chasing the tide, just like when I was a kid. There is something about being near the ocean that makes you at once both a child and an old soul, down to earth and a dreamer. I love it and I am so blessed to have been near it this month.
But the bigger, and far more important blessing that I have experienced, has been working with the organization “Orphan Voice.” I urge every one of you to look at their website below and just read about what they do in Vietnam. It does far more justice than I ever could. It such a Christ filled organization filled with prayer warriors and hearts for Vietnam! It also has many different branches, such as working in orphanages, creating a school for the deaf and a therapy center for the handicapped, supporting elder homes, and helping to prevent sex trafficking and helping those who were once in that life.
One of Tony Brewer’s biggest prayers is for the handicapped and abandoned children of Vietnam. He wants to reunite families and prevent orphans. But with those that cannot be reunited, Mr. Brewer desperately wants them to know that they are not abandoned! They are not alone! They were made for a purpose and are loved.
I was listening to a lot of hymns this past month, one being “All the way my Savior leads me,” all the while being ignorant of who wrote it. I found out later that it was Fanny Crosby. Some of favorite hymns were written by her, and many of them will have a different meaning when you learn that she was blind. At one point in her life she said that a beautiful gift of being born blind is that “the first face she will ever see will be her Savior’s.”
God had given her this beautiful and special promise through her blindness. People like Fanny Crosby, Joni Erikson Tada, and Nick Vujicic are inspirations to me. All of them pray and believe in healing, but also see God’s work in their lives through their suffering. When people ask Nick Vujicic why he has joy and he tells them it’s because of Jesus, they believe him because of what he has gone through. Even if the healing doesn’t come or the miracle you ask for don’t transpire, you can still be a miracle in someone else’s life—by shining Jesus through your trials and suffering and showing that in any circumstance, there can be hope, purpose, and joy in Jesus Christ.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a generation of Vietnamese people—the handicapped, the orphaned, the abused—are the ones that claim their inheritance in Jesus Christ, and are the ones to lead a revival in their country?
If I could sum up this month in Vietnam, it would be with two memories.
One day we were re-directed to go to a government run orphanage. This orphanage was huge and was full of children from days old infants to teenagers about to go to university. Even though there were many babies and children, there were only a few workers around. We were directed to go into a room full of babies, some that were mentally and physically handicapped. As soon as I entered the room, I (and I am sure my team mates) felt such love for these little Kings and Queens of God. We held, snuggled, played with, and sang over these treasured ones. I at once felt the presence of Jesus in this little room, felt His ardent love and affection for these babies. He had a purpose for each little child, just as He has a purpose and plan for every child outside of that little room. Even though they were abandoned by the world, He never, not once, left them by themselves.
I was grinning one moment and crying the next. I felt both the presence of Jesus in the room, but I also felt His broken heart. These children were not being loved as they should. They didn’t have a home, and they were not being cherished. One baby that I held couldn’t control his little head, and his lungs were so full of fluid that they couldn’t lay him on his back for fear that he couldn’t breathe. His diapers were also full of blood. One of the workers implied that he wasn’t long for this world. I looked down at him and thought of my dream. Was he going to be my special one? That my role was to love him for however long he lived and then hand him over to Jesus? Or perhaps, God still has a plan for him on this Earth. For however long that is, I felt blessed to have held him, prayed for him, and tell him that he is loved and special to God.
Another memory is when we got to visit an elder’s home run by Catholic nuns. This place is filled with widows, women who have lived through war and every kind of loss, and are living out the rest of their days in quietness and praying to God. I had the privilege to sing worship songs with them, paint their nails, and massage scar tissues. If we brought any joy, dignity, love, and attention that these women so deserve–being daughters of the most High King—then our visits were well worth it.
God allowed us this month to tangibly live out James 1:27, to “visit orphans and widows in their distress.” Many times living for Jesus doesn’t look like this. It could look like loving your family, or being a model employee and loving your co-workers, or taking the time to talk to someone you wouldn’t normally talk to. And perhaps the rest of the race won’t look like this. It may be teaching, playing games, building or painting, or simply listening and visiting with someone. If Jesus calls us to do any of these things, it is for Heavenly purposes and the kingdom will be changed! But here in Vietnam, Jesus gave my team the gift of truly visiting the “least of these” and seeing Jesus in their midst. It is a gift, along with the memories of smiling into a baby’s tiny eyes and holding a withered hand, that I will treasure and hope never to forget.
If you want to learn more about Orphan Voice or support them in any way, please go to their website.
Thank you all. God bless!
~Tori
