Time is flying. I can’t believe my first month in Asia is already over! Vietnam was amazing and exceeded my wildest expectations. I wish I had a GoPro strapped to my head all month. Sadly, I didn’t, so here are some pictures to make up for it!
During my time in Vietnam I was able to work with Central Deaf Services, which is a Deaf school that services elementary/early middle school aged students. I got to sit in on classes, help with some art projects, and just enjoy being surrounded by signing again! It was amazing. One thing I got to help with during my time there was to plan a big camp reunion for CDS’s summer camp. I got to be there to experience it all! It was amazing and so special to be working with a community that holds such a special place in my heart.
For those of you who don’t know/for those who are wondering, in Vietnam there are actually 4 different sign languages, none of which are ASL. The Vietnamese Sign Language that is used in Da Nang has a French Sign Language base, which is similar to that of ASL, so while I couldn’t understand much, some things were similar enough that, with a little help, I could keep up. Everyone was super gracious and helped me learn some variations that were useful.
This has been one of the biggest highlights for me so far on the race. I was so blessed to be able to do this and to learn about this school and all that they do with and for the Deaf community.
The main thing that my team was focused on this month was helping with a Christmas play that is put on by an international church based in Da Nang. Now, I bet you’re probably wondering, how this all is allowed to happen in a closed country, let me explain. It is not illegal to be a Christian in Vietnam. It IS illegal for foreigners to come to Vietnam and to share the Gospel with the Vietnamese people. There are churches in Vietnam and there are believers there- just not that many.
The special thing about this play is that it was actually approved by the government! The church filled out tons of paperwork and jumped through so many hoops to be able to put it on and its been awesome and they have been seeing the fruit of it! The day after the play we found out that 4 people had accepted Jesus! SO awesome!
Another cool thing is that a lot of people who help put the play together aren’t even Christians! As much as it is a way to share the Gospel with those who come to see the show, the group of people who are really getting exposed to the Gospel are the people IN the play! It was awesome to see unbelievers sing praises to King Jesus in the choir and to see them start asking questions and dig deeper.
We were really blessed to be able to be a part of this and to witness the power of truth. Plus, it was also just a lot of fun.
The people from CDS were also a part of Merry Christmas Da Nang (thats the name of the play). There was an amazing group of people who interpreted the play so that it could be accessible and there was even a Deaf choir for part of the play! It was awesome! Nearly 100 Deaf people in Da Nang were exposed to the Gospel in their native language! I got asked to help the Deaf choir backstage and to help interpret a few songs (after some extensive practice and help from some Deaf teachers)– that’s never something I imagined doing on the race! What a gift! It was so much work but so many cool relationships came out of it.
If you are interested- A sweet friend of mine recorded my interpretation for me! Check it out!
Guys, in case you didn’t know: Da Nang is a costal city. AKA, I got to go to the beach this month! I can’t explain how much peace and joy I get from being at the beach- or even just seeing a beach. (I realized the other day that on the Race I have been living further from the beach that I ever have before in my life- it’s been rough. I never knew how much I appreciated the beach until I couldn’t just drive to it on a whim.) It was a gift to be able to be so close and to be able to pop over to the beach for a second when I got free time. God really showed me how much He loves me and knows me this month through the beach. It was a little slice of home.
A funny little tidbit I learned while in Vietnam: the Vietnamese people don’t go to the beach during the day! They don’t like being out in the sun so they go either at dawn or dusk. During the day the beach was pretty empty- except for a few backpackers and tourists, but some of my teammates went to see the sunrise on the beach and it was packed! (They treat their skin so much better than we do!)
On the topic of home, Da Nang reminded me SO much of Jacksonville, which wasn’t something that I expected. There was a huge river through the middle of the city with some awesome bridges everywhere and it reminded me so much of Jax! (The bridges in Da Nang are cooler though…) I spent a lot of time this month walking next to the river and just enjoying being near the water.
I firmly believe that the best mountains are mountains that are next to the beach. That way, I can look at them from a distance, while still being exactly where I want to be. But really, Vietnam has some beautiful mountains. They blew my mind! The best part: I didn’t have to drive through them!! (the second best mountains are mountains that I don’t have to drive through) Hallelujah!
The food was amazing (yes, I did get food poisoning for the first time ever in my life but that was a fluke). Some of our friends from English club took us out to dinner to try a bunch of different Vietnamese dishes and my team pretty much fell in love. (This was our favorite dish but you best believe I have no idea what it is called or how to spell it.) I got to try so many new things and it was fun to be adventurous with food and to have everything taste amazing at the same time! Fried chicken stands are also super common here and were AMAZING!
(This is a picture of my friend Mia- I didn’t have any pictures of the general public so you get this instead). Before coming here, we were told that the people of Vietnam were the friendliest people that we would ever meet. That has proved to be 100% true. No matter where we went, people smiled and waved and asked our names and practiced their English with us. We could ask questions and if people didn’t know the answer, they would go out of there way to make sure we figured it out. The students that we met from the English clubs that we were working with were so sweet and showed us around the city and made sure we tried all of the great local street food.
The night before we were supposed to leave Da Nang, I got food poisoning. Our host, who also happened to own the hotel we were staying at, didn’t hesitate to let us stay an extra day so that I could have some time to recover before getting on an 18 hour bus ride. He didn’t stop there, but also went out and bought me medicine and some soup too! He also went to the bus station for us to book more tickets so that my teammate and I would be able to catch another bus. I couldn’t ask for a better place to get food poisoning or to be surrounded by a more caring group of people!
The second night that we were in Vietnam, we went to choir practice for Merry Christmas Da Nang and I ended up sitting next to my sweet friend Mia. We hit it off and got to spend the rest of the month hanging out and spending time together. She took me to the dragon bridge, some markets, we went to the movies together, we walked on the beach and on bridges, we ate dinner and just talked about life together. Mia and I also got in a motorbike accident together. We lived a lot of life in one month, and at the end, I wished I could stay for another month or two just to hang out with her! I know Mia will be a friend for a long time and I am so thankful for the time that I got to spend with her. This is a picture from the night that Mia made me dinner at her apartment! She’s too sweet.
God is so so so so good. This month was a blessing and a gift from the Lord is so many ways. Vietnam is my home away from home.
Much Love, Morgan
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