Ten – the penultimate month on the World Race; and we got to spend it in the ultimate country, Vietnam. For the month of October, our team had the joy of serving at The River – an international fellowship in Ho Chi Minh City. We spent a good deal of our time being incredibly blessed by the distinguished expatriate community of believers who are letting their lights shine throughout the nations. At the heart of this fellowship, is the statement “From the nations, to the nations.” Within fast-developing cities in Asia, there is a growing number of international businesses, and therefore a burgeoning community of expats who end up being “unreached” as a result of being outsiders to the native language and culture. Many are seeking a close-knit international community that their families can plug into, and The River provides this community – a safe space for people to be counseled, refreshed, and encouraged for good. Our team had the privilege of attending small groups, youth meetings, and even an annual retreat with this incredible body made up of individuals “from the nations” seeking to bring truth and healing “into the nations” their businesses have already been established.
While we were serving at the River, there were quite a few projects our team got involved with. Wednesday afternoons, our team participated in an after school reading program attended by expat children. For the month we were helping out, joyfulness was the topic students focused on. Every week, we would explore a different aspect of what it means to be joyful and relate it to an animal in nature. For example, one definition of joyfulness was, “Being happy even when it is hard.” We used the chickadee, a bird who has adapted to survive in the winter without flying south, as an illustration of this principle. As the chickadee chooses to stay in one place and thrive even when the conditions get tough, so should the students find ways to rejoice when situations are difficult. Even though the lessons were technically for the kids, we definitely reaped the benefits since the Race provides so many opportunities to “Be happy even when it is hard.” From individual to community, bush to beach, team to ministry, and country to country, struggle and conflict slaps you in the face and dares you to turn the other cheek and smile – smile because you know that somehow behind it all and beyond your understanding, a good God is working all things for good.
We also helped with an operation known as the Home of Hope, a refuge and recovery center for sex-trafficked girls. After many years of prayer walking, relationship building, and faithful obedience, our contact had reached the point where her vision for this home was a few months away from becoming a reality. Our team had the amazing opportunity to come alongside her during this time and paint the home from top to bottom! A few members of our team with professional experience also helped shoot pictures of the home, and set up some pages on the website. After a week of work, the walls were fresh, white, and ready for furniture to be moved in for photography. It was so inspiring to be standing in the midst of our contact’s vision becoming realized, and know that by the end of this year, broken girls would be moving in to be counseled, delivered, healed, and loved deeply with the love of the cross for good.
Last but not least, our team also had the opportunity to teach English at an orphanage with a Filipino teacher from the River who has been instructing the kids for several months. Because most of the children are dropped off or abandoned without any official papers, they are all considered “unadoptable”. As a result, they are compelled to grow up with over a hundred other kids in the orphanage until they are of age. We had the pleasure of teaching the kindergarten kids, many of whom were fast learners with big, heart-splitting smiles. It was heartbreaking to know that these five year-old children would never know what it is like to have earthly parents who know and love them. Yet how blessed were we to be able to come in twice a week and shower those who need so much love with the abundant love of Christ! From coloring and braiding hair with the younger kids, to playing hangman and singing pop songs with the teenagers, we were honored to be able do all things unto His glory for good.
We found out near the end of the month that we would be doing Unsung Heroes again in Nepal. Therefore, our ministry and contacts in Vietnam were our last on the Race. I am deeply thankful to have been able to end our year of service to long term missionaries on such an encouraging note with such a Spirit-filled fellowship. As the River flows from the nations, to the nations, we were glad to have been able to get our feet wet and dance in it. For good.
“And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:7-9
