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“If I were to stop and think about everything that is going on around me, I might have a panic attack.”

After living in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam for 10 days, this quote from my friend Christina describes pretty accurately the lifestyle, culture, and pace of this city.  It reminds me of a smaller NYC with way more chaos. I’ve tried five different times to write a paragraph giving you an accurate description of city life. None seem to suffice, but here goes my final attempt:
 

Neon city lights, people passing out flyers, street vendors galore, tourists everywhere, club music blasting until 4 am, and mopeds zipping all around. As you walk down the street, you are asked 6-7 times to buy sunglasses, fruit, bracelets, lights, fans, or any other “dollar tree” item. The park across the street is filled with people of all ages exercising, playing badminton and the famous Vietnamese game of shuttle-cock (it’s awesome, look it up)! If you sit down for more than 5 minutes on a park bench, Vietnamese university students will approach you to practice their English and ask your opinion on American universities. Walking down the street past 7 pm, you’re harassed by club managers advertising “ladies night” and “happy hour”. And after shaking them off, you see and hear young Vietnamese girls and ladyboys cat-calling foreign men, desiring their “business” at the restaurants and bars. Vietnamese food vendors line the streets with fried rice, fruit smoothies, vietnamese pancakes, rice cakes, and dried squid. But living in the touristy area has it's benefits with a Coffee Bean down the street, Burger King and KFC within walking distance, Frozen Yogurt shops, and a mexican restaurant on the corner. Yes, mexican food in Vietnam.

 

And in the midst of all this “entertainment”, brokenness runs deep in the veins of this town. Backpackers wander aimlessly for pleasure and purpose; while they are running FROM something, few seem to know what they are running TO. Many of the Vietnamese women I’ve befriended were divorced by the age of 30 because of adultery. One estimated that 8 out of 10 husbands in Vietnam have a younger mistress during the majority of their marriage. Starting around 6:00pm, women and ladyboys line the sidewalks and bars, awaiting foreign customers. The women use the men for security, money, and happiness, while the men use the women for pleasure, entertainment, and a self-esteem boost.  Homeless children walk the streets with their mothers, begging for money or selling small trinkets to tourists. Many in Vietnam seem to have given up on the idea of God and instead look to individual success and performance for satisfaction and purpose.

 
Everyone is in pursuit of something, yet are finding nothing that satisfies. Every temporary fix comes to an end and everyday the same people find themselves on the streets looking again. Ho Chi Minh is decked out for Christmas and many restaurants even play Christmas music. But no one recognizes the name of Jesus. No one knows of the love that came down to satisfy their spirit of longing and quench their insatiable thirst. No one knows that the longing in their heart was placed there by and created for their Father who longs to be reconciled to his lost sons and daughters.
 
God, I don’t know how to help these people on my own. I don’t know how to love and bring about real change in the lives of my Vietnamese friends. Give me your wisdom, your insight, and your knowledge of their hearts. Give me words to say that transcend language barriers and speak to their need. May they encounter the love of their Father, which has been poured out on me through your Spirit. Use me for your glory, for further revelation, and for kingdom advancement. Dad, I ask for greater sensitivity in my Spirit to what You are saying and to what You are already doing. I want to see heaven fall on Ho Chi Minh City! I trust you Father.

 

This month we have sporadic “ministry” opportunities throughout the week. Here are a few we have participated in thus far…
 
We have the opportunity to visit a drug rehab facility and encourage the men staying there. Many of them were heroin addicts since the age of 12, so their healing and recovery process has been a miracle from God. A local pastor has taken in all 30-40 men to walk through a one-year recovery program. Each man has experienced delivery from drug addiction, so every week we praise and worship God giving Him thanks for deliverance and freedom!
 
We have also had the opportunity to play with underprivileged Vietnamese children. Some of the children are from northern Vietnam where they have limited opportunities, speak a specific tribal language, and have different social practices. This past weekend, we joined the kids for a field trip to the waterpark for hours of fun! Slides, tube rides, ziplines over the water, and lazy rivers, who would have thought this was ministry? 🙂 🙂 🙂 The other children we've worked with are from the slum areas around our district. They have grown up around a lot of violence and are given little attention from parents and the rest of society. Local markets won’t even allow these children on their property, associating them with negative behavior. But we were able to hang out with these children, play games, teach English songs, and share Bible stories. It was an opportunity to love on each of the kids and show them their value to their Father and us.
 
For the most part, we spend our days and nights building relationships with the people we meet. Sometimes it’s our friends at the park, other times it’s the waitresses at restaurants, or the street vendors we see multiple times a day. At night we may strike up a conversation with backpackers or go to the bars and build relationships with the women and men working there. I’ve loved going to the bars and building relationships with several of the women and one of the lady boys. After the first awkward hangout, where they spent most of the time confused as to why my friends and I were there, we have become good friends and they look forward to our visits every night.
 
Hopefully this gives you a picture of life and “ministry” in Ho Chi Minh this month. God has been creating a hunger in my Spirit these past couple of weeks for more of His glory and deeper revelation, so I can’t wait to see how He pours out His love and goodness this month. Awesome stories to come!