Vietnam was….
GOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNING VIETNAM!
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
How about now?
Any closer?
Oh now we’re here!
Just kidding, need to travel in this country for another day!
Get on 4 different planes
Take a taxi
And another
Sleep in the airport tonight
Sleep on a train the next
Motion sickness for days
17 hours on a hard, wooden park- bench
Means bruises on your butts for days and
Share your personal space with everyone
6 girls, 1 host, 2 bedroom apartment
Rooftop balcony!!!
Workout on the roof
Worship on the roof
Eat on the roof
Cry on the roof
Party on the roof
Everything on the roof!
Where’s Ashley?
Probably on the roof
New year, new month
New continent
New country
New culture
New host, new language, new ministry, all new things
Continued celebrating the new year all through January
Wow January was a long year.
Cow
Cow tongue
Cow gizzards
Cow intestines
Cow liver
… no more appetite
Yeah I should really stop asking now
Wait no THAT is frog
Y’all I miss southern comfort food
Messages from home “Ash what did you eat this month?”
Messages from squad “ash what did you eat this month?”
Messages from strangers “ash what did you eat this month?”
Peanut butter and oatmeal
and oh,
Did someone say coffee??!?
Let’s try a new coffee shop everyday!
(Or 4 a day)
Coffee for breakfast
Coffee for lunch
Coffee before ministry
Coffee after ministry
Coffee candy, coffee smoothie, coffee oatmeal, instant coffee,
coffee flavored coke?
Coffee as ministry
Coffee dates with teammates
Coffee culture of Vietnam is my kind of culture
KIDDDSSS
Tall kids
Short kids
Loud kids
Quiet kids
Young kids
Old kids
Teach all the kids!
Teach in the morning
Teach at night
How are kids still in school at 7pm?
13month to 13 years we basically had it all
From babies to teens we teach and we talk
We show the gospel rather than speak it
By loving with every ounce of love we have to give
What color is this? Where are you from? What’s your name?
Head… shoulders… knees and toes…
Knees and toes…
Faster!
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
Knees and toes
Faster!!!!
HEAD SHOULDERS KNEES AND TOES
KNEES AND TOES
FASTER!!!
HEADSHOULDERSKNEESANDTOESKNEES
ANDTOES!!!!
Where baby shark turns into a tickle war
And fruit becomes a bowling ball
Where balloons are a prize
and love wins overall
I wouldn’t trade these kids for the world and it was an honor and privilege to love on them everyday
Run in with the cops here
Run in with the cops there
Even mention the word theology
And then one walks in the coffee shop
and sits right beside us
Show up in the mountain?
Greeted by cops
What’s the worst that could happen?
( just getting deported)
Friends
More like F•R•I•E•N•D•S•
Watch it for team times
Sing about it all times
Party like it for end times
Celebrate it for old times
Where ash is Monica and kar is Rach,
Ross is Hailey who had a real life revelation of herself once pegged as him
Chandler and Joey are equivalent to Nae and Riss
And the precious meag as the infamous phoebe
Who sang this song ukuele and all
“Went to the store,
Sat on Santa’s lap.
Asked him to bring my friends
All kinds of crap.
He said all you need is to write them a song.
They haven’t heard it so don’t try to sing along, so don’t sing along…
Monica, Monica, have a Happy Hanukkah.
Saw Santa Clause, he said ‘hello’ to Ross.
And please tell Joey, Christmas will be snowaaaaaaaayaaaaaaaaay (supposed to be rock-ish).
And Rachel and Chandler,
blakdndjangleeeerrrrr (meaningless thing rhyming Chandler)”
Ride in a boat
Ride in a moto
Ride in a gondola
Adventure day adventure day oh my
So many things to see!
First with Hoi An
An hour away
Bike all around
And all through the town
Up and down the streets
Trying not to miss a beat
Ride down a river with rice hat and all
A boat that’s actually a basket
Just like Moses who was hidden from Pharaoh
Trying not to end up in a casket
From all the crazy traffic!
Saw all the lanterns and lights
And tried to take in all the sites.
Next is da nang
And oh dang
That’s a big hand!
Walked across a bridge held by two hands
Then rode in a gondola all through the sky
I’ve never been so high up and on dry ground
So much beautiful architecture
And so much to explore
Played dance dance revolution
Til our knees hit the floor.
Then up through the mountains
Where we originally were supposed to live
Took a bus at 3 am
Which was quite the rude awakening
Here’s a puke bag for you, and a puke bag for you, and a puke bag for everyone!
Threw up on your pillow, threw up out the window, threw up in the back, threw up on your sleeve
Thank you next.
Rode a moto up the mountain,
and immediately greeted by police
Hoped to capture a picture
Can you please say cheese?
Hiked up a mountain and saw the view
Thank you Jesus for this life
And for not losing my shoes!
But the days not done
Here comes the real fun
We have train tickets for midnight
But we have a real freight
The problem is we’re three hours away
And the bus is on a two hour delay
We finally boarded and went on our way
Just for it to break down only an hour away
We waited and waited
Completely lost in the middle of nowhere
With no translator there
And confusion everywhere
We finally got a taxi to take us away from there
We made it with two hours to spare, with just enough time to pack and eat dinner
S/o to the director who saved the night!
Long days and even longer nights
Sleepless nights
Prayerful nights
Netflix nights
Crying nights
Cries on the roof
Cries in the bathroom
Cries out to God
Many many challenges of this month
But nothing compares to the lessons I’ve learned
I asked God for humility
I asked God for emotions
But be careful what you pray for because you just will get it!
Learning peace
Learning humility
Learning patience
Learning love
Learning only his opinion matters, not even the opinion of your best friend
Because He’s the one who drives our lives
