Vietnam was very interesting. It was a complete contrast from Australia. We went from crazy busy and spread out in our living conditions to a much more relaxed schedule and actually living in the same building. The five of us girls even slept all in a row on four beds pushed together in our hostel. It definitely started feeling more like community very quickly. To learn to live with each other, prefer each other, show each other high honor, and learn how to both constructively address and build each other up are life skills we are all learning.
The city itself is a crazy and chaotic blur of constant activity. The music from the bars and clubs never stops and only gets louder the later it gets. Smells constantly barrage you, some good and some bad. People are always walking up to you trying to get you to buy something on the street or while you're eating, everything from bracelets to hammocks to books. And in a city of twelve million people and five million moto bikes there should be gold medals awarded for being able to cross the streets and live to tell about it.
While in Vietnam we were able to visit several youth groups, an English club for young adults, Graham and Sharon taught music over several weeks to a group of kids, we visited the slums where a lot of the kids from the youth group live, we went to a drug rehab center twice, and we did a lot of praying over the city as a whole. Many things that we were planning on doing actually got "canceled" due to too much police attention. In those times of unexpected free time we did a lot of ATL (Ask The Lord) about what to do, and that led to bar ministry a few times and some great conversations and tangible ways of helping people.
The concept of being able to stand on a street corner and watch prostitution, child exploitation, violence, theft, drug abuse, gang activity, and manipulation of people and situations take place right in front of you (simultaneously) is something that a lot of people will never have to think too hard about. But for a significant amount of people in the world, that is the reality of daily life. You either work in, with or around it. This was a place for me that took a toll on my heart, sometimes on a daily basis. Between the visible desperation and sadness, the spiritual opposition, and wounds still left from the war I was very challenged to find God and his beauty in the chaos. One of the places that I was able to find rest and peace when things started to get overwhelming was a little coffee shop called sozo's. God met me many times in the hours I spent at sozo's.
Two of our teams were also blessed to be able to take a weekend trip to Da Lat and climb up and camp on a mountain. I saw the moon and stars for the first time in a month and then woke up to a breathtaking view of being almost level with the clouds. God's creation is an amazing thing.
Many of the Christians I met in Vietnam are those that the song "He Reigns" by the Newsboys talks about. Asian believers with God's holy fire. They literally stand up for what they believe and risk persecution and harassment every time that they meet. It was an incredible privilege to meet, worship with, and learn from these incredibly generous people of God.
