This February 14th had a lot of significance for me; it was more than just Valentine’s Day in Vietnam (which was not too bad), it was the HALFWAY point of my race!! I’ve been on the field for 5 and a half months. It seems so hard to believe because it feels like just yesterday I was on a plane from Atlanta to India…yet here I am in Vietnam! Even though it’s so unnatural, this life of a different country every month is starting to become normal! It still has it’s struggles: going deep when you know that a goodbye is just a month away, living in 24 hour community, and being homesick just to name a few, but those struggles don’t hold a candle to the growth that has occurred because of them.
Two boys that I met (and fell in love with) on Valentine’s Day at a special needs orphanage
outside of the city!! Talk about the best Valentines ever!
These past 5 months have been so overwhelming, difficult, precious, stretching, and so much more. When I think about where I was emotionally, spiritually, and mentally back at the beginning of the race, I feel like I barely recognize myself. On the race so much happens, there are so many opportunities for growth it has been like trying to drink from a fire hydrant! The cultures that I’ve experienced, the people that I’ve met and the ministries that I’ve partnered with have all impacted me!
As for where I’m at right now, I can’t think of a better halfway month than the one I’m living! My team and I are in Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon), which is the 7th most densely populated city in the world!! It’s basically a first world city, so that’s been a big change from the past two months, which have been in small villages. Talk about culture shock: things like western toilets, being able to flush the toilet paper, clean clothes because of washing machines, and hot water are such much appreciated this month!!
Motorbikes are the main form of transportation in Ho Chi Minh City, they are everywhere!
Ministry this month has also been so different yet refreshing. We have been working in Master’s Cup Coffee Shop that has speaking rooms to help Vietnamese with their English. The shifts in the English speaking rooms are 5 hours, so at the beginning of the month I was worried about having small talk and conversations with people for 5 whole hours, but it hasn’t been a problem at all! Usually I find that the time flies by because we’ll talk about anything from America to guns to love to relationships to family to traditions to religion. Although we cannot blatantly bring up Christianity because Vietnam is still a closed country, if someone in the room asks about it, we have the freedom to talk about it with words like “in my opinion” or “I believe” or “for me”. And there have been many conversations about both Christianity and Buddhism that have been so interesting and sparked so many questions. There is a desire to learn English and a desire to hear about other religions that I can only describe as promptings from the Holy Spirit!! He is moving here in Vietnam and in Asia and revival is coming!
The coffee shop that we have partnered with this month!
So like I said, this crazy journey is halfway done! We’ve experienced the slums in India, the wilderness in Nepal, the bars in Thailand, the farms in Laos, the villages in Cambodia, and now the city of Vietnam. Every experience has been so unique and so full of God’s presence it’s almost hard to believe it’s real, but the cool thing is that it is real!! And for everyone who has sown into this financially or through prayer or even reading this blog, it’s just as real for you as it is for me! So thank you for meeting me halfway this month!! I couldn’t have done it without you and without the Lord! I’m excited to see what He has in store for us for the next 5 and a half months; it’s probably going to be crazy and it’s definitely going to be full of Him!!!
PS – Chúc múng nam mói!! Which means Happy Lunar New Year in Vietnamese!! February 19th was New Year’s Day and started the holiday known as Tét in Vietnam!!
Fireworks (viewed from the roof of our apartment) that were shot off at midnight to celebrate the LUNAR NEW YEAR!!
