Vietnam was a month that went by quickly. We spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh for leadership training and then my team flew up north to spend about 3 weeks in Hanoi. We partnered with a bakery that employs the deaf and blind. We spent two weeks living and working alongside the bakery employees. Our duties at the bakery changed every day. We were there to be a support and do the odd jobs that they hadn’t gotten to yet. Heidi and I spent most of our time cleaning and organizing the catering closet, including taking pictures of every item and making and printing off labels. We ran a lot of errands for them and even had the opportunity to sell some of the handmade craft items the bakery makes at a school festival. Other members of my team did a lot of odd jobs as well. Some painted the outside of the bakery as well as the stairs, some actually helped in the kitchen-making cupcakes and goodies for Valentine’s Day. Nat was able to put her accounting skills to use and do some bookkeeping for them.
We also happened to be in Vietnam during a special time. We got to experience their Tet holiday (New Year’s) and all of the preparations for it. The bakery closed for our last week in Hanoi because of the holiday, so my team got to spend time serving the community we had met there by painting murals on the walls of an addiction recovery center opening up. That week during Tet was also spent doing a whole lot of community.
The one thing that I saw, experienced, and learned a lot about in Vietnam was what the body of Christ should look like. My team had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know a missionary family in our city, and all I can say is that they loved us so well. From the day we met them, they never stopped serving us. In just the few short weeks we spent with them, they taught me so much about what the body of Christ looks like.
It looks like offering what you have, however small it may seem.
It looks like making sacrifices for others and going out of your way for someone else.
It looks like hospitality and making others feel at home when they are with you.
It looks like family.
It looks like encouraging fellow believers.
It looks like giving someone a place to rest.
It looks like refreshment.
It looks like making someone’s day.
But the biggest thing is that being the body of Christ is a whole lot simpler than we make it out to be. All it takes is choosing to love. Our friends chose to love us. They did our laundry, fed us amazing meals, let us use their hot shower, opened up their home and had an unending supply of coffee brewing while we talked. They did so much to show us that we were appreciated and wanted there. I think that’s what true community and Christ’s body should be about. It should be about opening up your home, resources, and life to someone, regardless if you just met them or have known them for years.
At the end of Acts 2, we learn a lot about the fellowship of believers and what that actually looks like in those 6 verses. One thing that the early believers did well was being intentional with each other. They met together often, ate together, and worshiped together. These believers were in constant, intentional community with one another and lived life together. We, as believers, are called to do this too, and like I said before it’s way easier than we think it is. Although I’ve been living in constant community for the past seven months, I sometimes forget that it’s so easy to meet someone’s need. All it takes is a simple act of love to make someone’s day. The one thing that I see in Acts is that the lives of the believers were a reflection of giving their lives to Jesus. Sometimes He might call you to let a stranger use your hot shower, like our friends did in Hanoi. Or buy a friend a cup of coffee and ask them how they’re doing, or maybe he’ll take you halfway around the world to tell someone how loved they are. You might be thinking that doesn’t sound easy and simple at all, but I can tell you that it only takes a “yes”. God can do big things with a small yes. The family we met in Hanoi said yes to loving us, and I truly hope they know how big of an impact they had on our lives.
This blog took a different turn than expected and my thoughts are all jumbled, but what I really want you all to take from this is that being a part of the body of Christ means that you have the wonderful opportunity to impact lives every day, for believers and non-believers, all you’ve got to do is say yes to being love.
