The people in Vietnam were some that I never expected to encounter. Throughout the month we had been in contact with numerous young Christians that were willing to pay any cost to start a revival in Vietnam. Their hearts and minds are so in-tune with the Lord it is crazy.
The first evening in DaLat we attended a youth worship service at the CMA church. It was all in Vietnamese so we couldn’t understand anything. But as they were singing and listening to what was being said everyone became emotional. People were on their knees, people were crying, and people were praying over one another. I thought to myself, “wow! This is no joke here!” without really realizing this wasn’t a joke to them.
Throughout the month we worked with English clubs, university students, kindergartens, and the youth at the church. But the most astonishing aspect of this month was that I felt more poured into by this group of Vietnamese youth than I was pouring into them. It was a weird realization, seeing that on the world race you are typically placed in atmospheres where you are to pour into the people around you. DaLat had poured into us. Our contact told us toward the beginning of the month that our ministry was going to be rest. She told me later on in the month (if you read my previous blog you’ll understand more) while going through a lot of negativity that she read over my head the words “I don’t care”, which is exactly how I felt. She hears from the Lord and obeys. These people are ON FIRE for what God is doing in Vietnam. And they are not willing to settle for the least. They fully believe that the Lord is starting a revival for the country of Vietnam. And they pray for it continually.
This month was about building relationships. I got to become close friends with a young girl named Kim Cuong. Her father is no longer here on earth, but her mother and brother are; they are Buddhist. She fears that her mother will scold her because she is a Christian. Her mother does not know. She has such a desire to spread the love of Jesus and learn English. I felt called to mentor her throughout the month. She trusted me. I adopted her as my sister. We prayed all month that her mother would come to church on Christmas Eve. And she did. I do not know how her mother felt about church, but I am just happy she went. It was hard to leave my sister after spending a month with her. She took me to her salon, we went to the night market, and hung out many times. But I knew that I was there to show her what real love looks like. To be an example.
We did other various things in DaLat like harvest coffee beans in the mountains, cook vietnamese meals, hiking and camping, and ENJOY the cool weather that the city had to offer. It was crazy how cool it was; jeans, long sleeve shirt, scarf, and jacket every day. God gave us a Christmas season! We exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, I stayed in my PJ’s all day, and we went out for a Christmas dinner. I hate to admit I was so homesick all day! I have never been homesick in my life. This was a difficult realization for me; this meant I relied on my family and friends more than I knew and I was really not self sufficient. It was hard to think about family at home doing the same things that they do each year without you.
I’d like to ask one last thing. I would like you to take a second after reading this blog and pray for the country of Vietnam. It is a closed country with a lot of communism and governmental control. Pray that the Lord works through this specific group of youth that I have met to start and continual a revival in this country.
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Your prayers and support mean the world to me! Love you All!
