Vietnam
What Ministry my team was a part of:
We had a lot of “volunteer work” that we did this month. I won’t mention names for safety. We worked with a couple who teach people English. They have ages that range from 5 years old to 25. We taught things from the sounds of the alphabet and two letters put together to practicing conversation by learning about American culture like celebrities and movies. They are Christ filled people teaching out of their household. Some of the sweetest people I have met and take us out to eat every single time we finish helping.
We had a host that we went to the mall to just talk with people that were learning English. In my opinion, they already know English. They are fluent, they just don’t believe it. I have built friendships from this club because of how much we were able to talk about! I learned a lot of Vietnam and its culture from them as well getting to know them personally. I am sad that at the next mall I go to, I won’t run into this group.
I also went to an office at Trust Education to help students practice pronunciation, writing, and interview questions. These students want to come to America or Australia to go to College/University. They have to pass this interview to show that they can speak English well and to get their Visa to study in another country. Some of them are determined to go and most of them want to study Business and be a force to be reckoned with in Vietnam. It blows me away the desire people have to just get to America in other countries. Like everything will be so much better there. Our host is very gracious and likes to take us out for adventures. I have tried many Vietnamese dishes! So delicious. She also took us to this theme park/zoo/”beach”… more like waterpark. Probably the most packed adventure day I have ever had on the race thus far. She definitely had spoiled us in making sure we had a great time.
We worked with this man to have conversation with an English group in his aunt’s house. The group is focused on learning English through conversation but he has a different plan. He has quit his job to minister to the people of Vietnam. He is desperate for people to come to Christ and radically change the way his country operates. He is the definition to dedicating your life to Christ. He is humble, smart, kind, and well but soft spoken. I wish I could have been more a part of his ministry than I actually was.
I never got to be a part of the other ministry we were assigned to because it was the same time as another ministry and our team spilt up but I heard great things about it!
Some Things about Vietnam:
Before you even read this, I want you to know I think very highly of the Vietnamese people and culture. I am stating what I am experiencing and seeing and in no way want to offend anyone. Not everything I say is true for all the people but what I say seems like a general statement or observation.
I LOVE BUBBLE TEA! Flavored tea with either jelly balls or juice filled balls on the bottom. Some have real fruit in it!
First off, this month I live in a hotel above a Mexican restaurant. Hotels here are not like hotels in America. I was spoiled with my own bed, WARM showers and air conditioning though.
People here love cats, coffee and high fashion. They are dressed to kill almost always. They love the Business industry and money it brings in, kind of like America. Also like America, people worship work and will work non-stop, no day off for money. They ride on mopeds (motos) almost everywhere; I am talking HUNDREDS of motos on a side road. They have no stop lights or signs they drive off common sense. To cross the street, you go into oncoming traffic and they serve around you without a concern and everyone else adjusts. I bought a shirt that says “Vietnamese traffic light laws: green=I can go, yellow=I can go, red=I can still go.” Except there are no lights. Hilarious, I know.
They love noodles and meat. Everything, even breakfast, had noodles with broth and meat in it. They also have lots of seafood, fruits and everything to drink but water. They also have a lot of American food restaurants here because of the influx of tourists.
The weather is hot. Hot meaning like anywhere from 85-98 degrees. Sweating is profuse, nothing is like India though! One day it was in the 70’s and the locals were in winter clothes and complained of the weather being too cold. It was comical.
We are in the city so it’s very touristy. There are hundreds of bars, clothing stores and massage parlors/nail salons. The massage parlors are brothels. You can get a prostitute any time of day at any hour. When its night they roam around the streets, probably at least 50 of them in the couple of blocks we live in, looking for customers. They approach every single guy to try and interest them while they are dress very scantily clad. Most of them are gorgeous. If you are approached by one of them as a girl they are trying to lure you into the parlor so you can be taken into their line of work. I wouldn’t go as far as trapped into the sex trafficking ring but I have heard to be very aware. Most of them are trapped in the cycle because it is a great paying job in a country that works very hard for its money but it could be different for foreigners. Any night of the week I can go a bar (that can be found on every other store in a line of shops) and see foreign men with a Vietnamese woman around his arm at a table. Some just hope that they will take them back to whatever country they came from. When I asked a local about this matter he said “Well, it is a job. I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
There are markets with knock off products at cheap products. It is really cool to see to be honest but very hot and sweaty. They also have seafood and meat markets. I have seen nothing like this before in my life. I also went to this HUGE post office. I imagine the post office is like our grand central station. Kind of old fashioned, has its own culture/atmosphere and just a place to see.
They LOVE selfies and pictures. Lots of pictures.
There are carts with people who sell things from food to fake Ray Ban sunglasses. They also have speakers on them. Some of the speakers are promoting what they sell and others are strictly for communist propaganda. On this subject, most of the friends I have made don’t support their communist government. You can’t talk about it though. It’s almost like the hunger games, you can’t go against the government and they will imprison you out of disobedience or “fear of rebellion.” I say that jokingly but it’s mostly true.
Religion isn’t really a thing here. They have temples, they have idols and they have a couple of Catholic cathedrals. For the most part they are passed on by like they aren’t there. Cathedrals when services are going are packed full and the temples have a handful of people in them at times. When asked about the Buddha and other idols. I have found that they don’t really know all that much about them. They don’t know why they leave food for them at the altars, they don’t know what is custom in that religion and for the most part the names of the gods they worship are unknown but they know what they can get from the gods like health, wealth, happiness, etc. They are in a transition of leaving behind their historic religious culture and openly welcoming wealth and self-focused adoration. It is illegal to spread the gospel here. If I am friends with someone I can talk to them about Jesus but not about conforming. I can’t openly profess Christian principles and I can’t really talk about Jesus. I can’t tell them I am here for missions. I cannot pray (hands folded, eyes closed) where ever I please. It is kind of hard telling what I can and can’t do but it is a closed country and it is illegal for me to spread the gospel. We have to be careful of what our true purpose here is.
I went to the war museum and fine arts museum (almost all art pieces were surrounded by the war). It was very sad to see what we did as Americans to the people of Vietnam. I honestly don’t know much about the war, even going to the museum and talking to locals about it. The communism is so heavily influenced there. All I know is that war is an ugly thing and I stood in a place where it was hard to be proud to be an American seeing war crimes that were committed here, publicity that was given, photos spread and the aftermath of Agent Orange that STILL affects this generation in Vietnam. While in America the victims were compensated (it doesn’t make up for the horror), these people were left with a government who does not care and they had (have) to deal with it by themselves. It gave me a new perspective on museums as well. The language used in that particular museum was so downtrodden on America. It was very suggestive that America is this horrible place and horrible people. It made me wonder how our own museums are subtly worded to promote patriotism like these promotes communism. And for everything else for that matter, how are things in America subliminally promoted to shape our minds. (I am not saying patriotism Is bad in my opinion but just something to think of.)
This month was difficult for me in the fact it was very similar to home. There was abundance of wifi, nice clothes, holiday decorations, American restaurants and much more. It was difficult to see the commercialism and materialism that we, as Americans, share with the Vietnamese culture but gave me a new perspective. It was difficult to see the sex trafficking industry. It was difficult to see people only care about getting drunk and going to bars, again similar to America.
I will say this I am excited for a Christmas without the “mas.” The presents, the parties, the ridiculous amount of money spent on decorations and things to please other people
Something out of my Journal this month:
This month has been filled of many challenges. I think I will look back on this month as the month I was ready to go home. Being perpetually sick, teaching English (which I enjoyed for the most part) and getting a taste of home reminders as this is a tourist city left me aching for what my own customs and comforts are in America.
Christmas here is quite empty. Nothing says the holidays like taking a selfie in front of Christmas tree at Starbucks. There are little baby Jesus’ like little idol buddhas about. Do they know He is not like the other statue gods? Who is to tell them? I was supposed to tell them but instead I was worried about being home and about the next step after the race (my future: school, job, career, where will I live, what will be the first thing I eat? What is in the closet at home that I want right now..). Everything that is from extremely important life decisions to the overelaborate, materialistic American culture I am still struggling to get rid of. It is funny how your heart longs for the exact things that you have absent. When I am here I want to be home but I know once my privileged life floods back to me, all I will wish for Christmas is to have one more moment back here doing things that most people don’t get the opportunity to do. So why falter? Why are things so difficult for me this month? As the halfway point came and left, did I realize that this not my whole life? I will never have another opportunity to be stripped from everything I know to focus on the only thing I need to know. Taking one day at a time is all I can do. I am flawed. I am human, not everything can be perfect or just as I have envisioned it all the time.
I need the Lord right now just as much when things are going great. I’ve learned that about myself. When things are going well it’s easy to shout His name, shout His praises and proclaim His blessings but when it’s rough that is difficult for me. I sit here and look for branches to pull myself up out of my own drowning when I should be looking for Your hand.
Prayer Requests:
Pray for the Vietnamese to have freedom of speech and religion. Pray for them to not fall victim to self- admiration and for the U.S to fall away from this practice as well. Pray for our next ministry at children’s home. There is a woman who is running the house by herself and she is the same age as me. Pray for Christmas and the true meaning. Pray for my “second wind” to finish the race strong. Pray for my future as I feel I am being called to be a high school counselor to bring Jesus back into public schools.
