Hey Everybody!
Just wanted to give you a quick update on how that last couple months have been. Last month in Cambodia we were paired up with another team. We all stayed in the bottom floor of a house with 3 bedrooms, one bed, one bathroom (if you can call it that, lol), a fan for each room, and that's about it! I started off the month sick in bed for the first few days. It was hot and mosquito infested. I layed under a net, feeling like a prisoner to it, the heat, and the bugs. There was no where to escape. Needless to say, I was miserable! But, I made it through, Praise God.
Our ministry contact was an American that started off in YWAM and did his outreach to Cambodia. After his stay there, he felt a calling to go back and start his own ministry (The Rock Foundation). His heart is to go out and reach the people that no one else wants to reach and to go to the places that no one else wants to go. So that is exactly what we did. We went to a rock village, dump village, partnered with a church, helped teach English, fed the poor, ministered to widow's, loved on some dirty children, and built relationships with people in the local villages. There were a lot of things I loved about last month, but honestly, it was very hard for me. I don't do well in extreme heat (with no AC) and bucket showers with stagnant, bug infested water, mice, tarantula's, termites, etc (you get the point). I complained a LOT and just wanted to leave. But in the midst of all of this I was determined to let God use every circumstance to teach me and make me a better person. And He did! I was sad to leave the people, but not sad to leave the living conditions. I know that I can do just about anything now, even when it's hard and I don't feel like im going to make it, I can!
Now, our time is almost up in Vietnam. I am sad to leave. This month has probably been my favorite. After last month, this month has been so refreshing to me. Our accommodations have been more than luxurious. Swimming pool, workout room, AC, washer AND dryer, hot showers, delicious food, and the most gracious host's! Of course I LOVE all of this stuff, but its not the reason why this month is my favorite. For our ministry we work in a coffee shop. They have what they call “Speaking Rooms” for the local people to come to practice their English. But it's so much more than that. They are like a family. Some people have been coming for years, and come 5 days a week. They have been so welcoming to us. We have had dinner cooked for us on more than one occasion, been taken out to eat, and rode around on motos all over the city. They are interested in us and our lives.
People have a perception of what Vietnam is like because of the war, but it's not like that everywhere. I have made some of the best friends that love me for me and see something in me that they want! Some have never heard the gospel. They are hungry. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few! This HAS to change.
For the first time I have had the thought that I could come back here. While this is a closed, communist country, there is something so free about this place. There is so much potential. I see hope in a place that most would say is hopeless because of natural circumstances! I want freedom for these people, in their hearts and spirits. I want them to know Jesus more than anything. I want them to know their creators love for them. I believe it is going to happen soon!
This month I have learned how to pursue people, how to love people. To be bold and speak up when I feel the Lord prompt me. To speak life over people. I have learned how to use my discernment and trust the Holy Spirit to use me and speak through me. I have learned to be intentional. I have learned how to be a friend!
Vietnam will forever hold a special place in my heart! Please be in prayer for God to send people here to reach out and disciple the Vietnamese. There are so many who have never heard of Jesus here.
I love you all so much and again am so thankful for your continued support and love. Please know that your support for me is enabling me to touch lives all over the world and my life is being forever changed. I am now over half way thru the race! Five more months to go. Next stop…Malaysia! God bless you all
