Before I continue to paint a beautiful picture of the ministries we are participating in here in Ho Chi Minh, let me be honest for a minute….
Vietnam is hard. I know I have mentioned that it is dark, and difficult to work in, but maybe you need specifics for prayers, and to understand what we are up against.
We are together as a squad doing ministry for the first time since the race started. This is causing stress in relationships and in the unity of our smaller teams. There is arguing, sickness, disunity, exhaustion, depression and hurt. Worship is frequently stifled by comparisons with other people, interpersonal disagreements and general distraction.
We currently live in a cheap hotel set up for us by our ministry contacts which suits our needs relatively well, except for the small detail that there is a local prostitution ring that uses the bottom floor to “do business“. We walk past the shiny buddhist/ancestral shrine and down the dark, crowded, dirty hallway every time we enter the hotel. It is heartbreaking to walk past the paper numbered doors and know what happens behind them each night. To know the pain those girls feel every day.
We are doing battle here in Vietnam. And God is working. But the battle is hard on us. We are weary and some are hurting. The toll it is taking on us is obvious.
God has already won this battle. He has set his sights on Vietnam and will continue to fight for the hearts of the people. In fact, the January World Race squad is coming to this very hotel to continue the work that has been started. The Lord wants the hearts of the girls in this hotel. He will win, and we are his army.
The spiritual environment here is thick with buddhism, ancestral worship and caodaism. Please continue to pray for us and fight along side us as we wage war against the enemy. Pray for the last week of ministry here in Ho Chi Minh City and the hearts of the squad.
“I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. “Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.” Sing to the LORD a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it You islands, and those who dwell on them. ~ Isaiah 42:6-10
