This month has FLOWN by, so this blog is very late! But it has been an incredible time. This month we have been in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Here are a few highlights from the month:
–Our ministry with Grace Cafe: This month each evening we have been teaching english and building relationships with young people of Ho Chi Minh at Grace. The cafe was opened by Ron & Amy, an awesome American couple who have such a heart for the people of Vietnam. The cafe has speaking rooms where the Vietnamese can come practice their English as well as english classes taught by various foreigners. But more than that, it is a place where they are loved and can learn about Chirst. Building relationships with the students who come to Grace has been such a blessing. Many of them are newly Christians, so we’ve had a chance to encourage them in their faith, answer questions, and just build sweet friendships with them. Ministry at Grace honestly didn’t feel like ministry after a while, it just felt like hanging with friends! One night, some of the girls from our team got to bake with some of our new Vietnamese friends (we made peanut butter & m&m cookies are they were bomb).
–Camping in Dalat: A couple weeks ago, our host Timmy & his friend Ann set up a trip for us to Dalat, a city a little north of Ho Chi Minh up in the mountains. We took several buses to get there, and finally made it to the base of the mountain that we were to climb up and stay at. We hiked several hours straight up that mountain (with 30 lb packs on- what a workout..) and set up camp. The view from the top was stunning. We ate a lot of pb&j sandwiches, and had some awesome fellowship with our team and Timmy and Ann. That night, we also got to worship on top of the mountain and pray over the city and the people of Vietnam. God even put on a little show for us…there was the coolest huge lightning off in the distance that just kept going the entire time we worshipped. You could just feel his presence there…God is too good. That was one of my favorite moments of the race so far. Here’s the team atop the mountain after the trek up!
–Nha Trang: Want to meet the sweetest Vietnamese grandma ever? Go to Nha Trang. After Dalat, we spent 2 days in Nha Trang (a city right on the beach), and stayed with an amazing host family. They were all so good to us, cooked us yummy food & brought us such joy! And after every meal, the sweet grandmother of the family (who has no teeth, might I add) would pat all of our bellies (HAHAHA). The family blessed us so much even though we only spent a couple days with them. In Nha Trang we also got to just rest and get rejuvenated, which meant the beach! Some of my teammates and I got to climb up some rocks overlooking the ocean (until we got kicked off), and it was just absolutely amazing. Vietnam is so beautiful!
–English ministry with Dung & students: -A huge part of our month was teaching English with one our contacts Dung. She has a company that teaches students english and prepares them for their studies in the United States. Each day, we taught these students and helped them prepare for their interviews to be accepted into their various programs. Classes here were always a hoot, and it was great to spend time with them all and get to know them all on a deeper level.
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Tomorrow, we head to Africa! We will fly from here to Dubai, and will arrive in Uganda after that! It’s crazy to believe that our 3 months in Asia has ended. Africa, HERE WE COME!
Also, a little support update: I am now just $2,802 from being fully funded! So THANK YOU EVERYONE! Your support and prayers mean so much to me!
