We were greeted at the train station by a grey-haired, kind-eyed Korean man named Daniel. He quietly helped us get our packs loaded up into his van and whisked us off towards our new home here in DaNang, Vietnam. It took all of ten minutes with him to realize that we had hit the host jackpot this month.
After dropping our bags off at our house we got back into Daniel’s mini-van and he took us to a nearby (FANCY) hotel. We went up to the 17th floor and my face immediately felt the salty breeze as my eyes drank in the sight of the ocean expanding indefinitely in front of me. My heart honestly did backflips inside of my chest. The ocean holds such a happy peace for me as it reminds me of all of the weeks spent in Cape Cod, Massachusetts with my grandparents and siblings. It was like having a piece of home in my fingertips for the first time in five months.
It was that moment that I knew Vietnam and I were going to get along just fine.
Daniel runs Vision Cafe here in Danang. The cafe serves as a place for Vietnamese people (mostly college students) to come and practice their English. Every night there is an English club that is run by a rotating cast of volunteers. This month it has been our responsibility! Although the function of the cafe on paper is to teach English, it goes so much further than that.
Daniel is more concerned with evangelizing to these students and has shared that vision with us. English is just a part of the game, but really what we are doing is building relationships with these students in an effort to spend time with them outside of English club. It is there, in moments climbing mountains, sitting in other coffee shops, heading to the beach, or running around amusement parks like small children that we get to share the gospel with these students. This has been one of my favorite ministries so far because so much of it is up to our interpretation, and so much of it is reliant on a true relationship with others!
Something that I have struggled most with on the race is the fact that a lot of the ministry I have done seems to have no tangible impact on me or the people that I have gotten to spend time with. Ultimately there aren’t many people that I have had the opportunity to really build relationship with as my sole ministry. I believe that this is a truer picture of how Jesus would win people over to His cause. By knowing these people, spending time with them, and showing them that we are equals I am showing them a more accurate reflection of who Jesus is and exactly why they need Him.
Pray for my team and the students that we encounter in our last two weeks here as we continue to build relationships and kingdom here in Vietnam! I can’t wait to share more stories with you all of salvation and restoration!
Much love,
Kristen
