Vietnam. I had no idea what to expect when we boarded the plane to come here. That being said, when I got here I was completely surprised! Its very busy and modern in the cities and driving through, you can see right away that its different from Thailand. Its got alot of Chinese influence, even in the architecture.
We’re staying in Ho Chi Minh City (previously known as Saigon) and doing a variety of activities. We’ll go to a local coffee shop twice a week for “Tea Talk”, which is where a bunch of students come and sit down at a table with their coffee to practice their English with you. Its a great time to meet friends and learn from each other. I have never met a group of people who wanted to learn more than they do.
The Vietnamese are extremely friendly and hospitable. By the end of a conversation (no matter what the 
length) they will probably ask you for your phone number so that they can take you around on their motorcycle or scooter and show you around the city or take you for special kinds of Vietnamese food. Its alot of fun. Especially because the traffic here is insane! Traffic lights are more like suggestions and there’s a ton of mororcycles and scooters, mixed in with the occasional car or bus. Its really intense.
length) they will probably ask you for your phone number so that they can take you around on their motorcycle or scooter and show you around the city or take you for special kinds of Vietnamese food. Its alot of fun. Especially because the traffic here is insane! Traffic lights are more like suggestions and there’s a ton of mororcycles and scooters, mixed in with the occasional car or bus. Its really intense. We have been working with a fellowship, doing children’s events, lots of games and singing. I’ve visited an HIV orphanage a few times and fallen in love with the kids there. We’ve even run a communications seminar. There have also been some weekend trips. We can’t stay in those areas for too long because it could arouse suspicion and be dangerous for the people there. So in a 72 hour weekend, 40 of those hours were spent in a cramped van… it was…exhausting and a little painful, to say the least. But it was worth it to see the body that is there and encourage them.
Its been an amazing time so far and we’ve mad some really good friends. Its been very eye opening to see what the church is like in a closed country. But the shocking things is that it doesn’t really seem that closed to me. There are lots of churches (some public, some underground) and actually, Vietnam has a huge Catholic history that somehow nobody seems to know about. One of my Vietnamese friends says that she thinks its part of a lie that the enemy is putting out and has fooled the whole world with. Things are alot more open here than we’ve been lead to believe. This country is so ready.
