After 2 flights, a 10 hour layover in Malaysia, a 12 hour bus ride on a sleeper bus with chairs made for tiny people, and another 2 hour bus ride, we made it to our destination in Vietnam!
We are already beyond blessed by our hosts. We get to partner with them this month in teaching English! I used to always joke that I would never ever be a teacher because so many people in my family are teachers. Granted, I’m not a “real” teacher, I think it’s funny that 2/3 months of the race have now involved teaching. My team and I will be doing English classes for elementary aged kids, teenagers, as well as pastors. We also get to play soccer with kids and visit people’s homes.
Yesterday, sitting crosslegged on the floor listening to one brave woman, I was both deeply humbled and encouraged by her story.
From a young age, her desire was to know the truth. Following the traditions she was raised in left her feeling empty like she was just going through the motions but did not feel fulfilled in her heart. People came into her life that were able to sit with her into the wee hours of the night and teach her and she finally discovered the truth and love that her soul had been longing for. Unfortunately, In Vietnam, persecution is a very pertinent issue.
9 years after the war, it became a reality she would have to face. Needless to say, she knows all too well what it’s like to have a knife to her throat and a gun to her head while being interrogated by police officers and told to renounce her beliefs. She knows what it is to truly rely on the voice of the one she believes in. This voice told her to wear pants instead of a traditional dress which seemed like a strange instruction but proved to be a crucial one when she had to jump off of a moving bus. This act saved her life because the bus later crashed and she was one of the few to survive.
This woman knows what it is like to be in jail for 30 days being forced to do greuling work under the enforcement of firearms and with absolutely no food to strengthen her body. She has discovered the well of strength that never runs dry to pull from when human flesh is not able to go on. She chuckled as she told us that her persecuters are now dead while she is alive. She has walked 3 days straight through the jungle “walking and crying, walking and crying.” This brave soul has put her life on the line to stand up for what she believes in time and time again. While many around her chose to renounce their beliefs and save their lives she chose to stand firm in the hope she has in her heart. I only hope that my trust will endure as strongly as hers and I will also choose courage over fear. What a sobering reminder and beautiful example it is to patiently endure until the end knowing that to hang on to your life is to lose it and to lose it for a greater sake is to save it.
