Before you read this blog, I encourage you to read our last blog first so that this blog makes a little more sense. It will give you a little more context on our time in Vietnam, and will give you insight to the heart behind what we did!
You can read it here: Let Them Come.
Vietnam was an amazing month! It was a busy month for us as far as ministry and busy schedules.
Our whole team was kind of split up in Vietnam for ministry. We all did something a little different, therefore our days all looked different from one another, and we didn’t get to see each other often through out the day, besides at meals and during breaks, which was kind of hard.
Justin and I would usually start our morning by getting a morning run in by running to the day care / school where we worked during the day. We would arrive around 7:00am, and would make our morning cup of fresh Vietnamese coffee that a parent of one of the children gave as a “thank you” gift to the staff. They work at a coffee farm, and the coffee was amazing!
Then we would eat breakfast with Mr. Minh, our host. — Again, please go read our last blog to hear more about him, because he is AMAZING!
From there, the guys (Justin, Logan, and Michael) would start the manual labor work they did for the month. They spent the month moving dirt and levelling ground for the beginning stages of adding onto the school to build more classrooms.
The guys also got to play chess with some of the locals during breaks. Which was always a fun time for them. Justin would also sit with them and use google translate to teach them English, and they would teach him Vietnamese phrases. It was always a time full of laughter as we ALWAYS said whatever they were trying to teach us wrong.
Maggie got to work in the kitchen all day and make our meals and the kids meals… So around 6 different meals a day! She got to go into the garden and guava tree farm to pick fresh produce a few times too! I’m sure she had an amazing time hanging out with all of the kitchen staff, and learning how to make so many asian dishes!
Then Chelsea, Rebekah, Holly, and I all worked in the classrooms all day. Holly and I had the smaller children ages 1-3, and Chelsea and Rebekah had the bigger children ages 4-6. The days were long, but somehow they flew by. I quickly became attached to the babies I worked with, and daily dreaded the day we would have to leave them.
Our ministry during the day was from around 7:00am-11:30am, then we would break for lunch, and start back at 2:00pm and work until 4:30pm. We then would have dinner with our host at 5:00pm, and from there, English classes started at 5:30pm, and would go until 8:30pm.
We rotated nights where we helped Mr. Minh teach. It was always a joy to see the students come to class so excited to learn.
Off days were spent either resting or exploring the HUGE city of Ho Chi Minh. From going to museums and learning more about the war, to going rock climbing, to finding amazing places to eat an American meal, Ho Chi Minh had lots to offer to keep us entertained and happy on our off days!
Below are some photos with captions to help give you a visual recap of our time in Vietnam, and then our Recap Video from our time there will be posted TOMORROW! So stay tuned!!
Enjoy!
Views on our route to the school every morning.
Michael working!
The Boys!
Justin hard at work.
One of our sweet cooks <3
We had fish quite regularly. Yum!
Lunch time!
This babe… She almost made me cry and have an anxiety attack on her first day. Lol. She cried for 6 hours straight, seriously. We eventually had to call her mom because she got to the point where her face was so swollen and puffy, and she couldn’t breathe properly due to her crying so much. But, day by day she got better and she even started calling me “mommy”. *Que the tears!* Its safe to say I fell in love with her. <3
I call this gang the trouble makers 😉
Sweet thing!
Ken, he always had his truck in his hand, always!
Mickie, she loves everyone THISSS BIG! Fun fact: On my second day teaching her, she ran up to me, hugged me as hard as she could, told me she loved me, and ran off to continue playing, as I stood in shock with my heart melting in a big puddle.
Moon. Yes, her name is Moon. Maybe because she shines so brightly? She radiates with joy and I believe she will shine bright in the dark places of this world!
Justin with sweet Riu!
A home right next tot the school. Makes your grateful, huh?
Celebrating our last day and saying goodbyes. Bitter sweet!
Logan on his BDAY!
The girls <3
We went to Vietnamese church, and didn’t understand a thing, but it was beautiful because we didn’t have to speak the same language to worship the same God. <3
We even witnessed a salvation in a closed country. It was amazing and beautiful!
Got to explore this GORGEOUS pink church! <3
When you get caught in a legit MONSOON!
5 months in Asia makes you fearless of traffic…
Roaming the streets of Ho Chi Minh.
Justin surprised me with a date day, and took me rock climbing! It was a blast!
We found a pet bird… Lol.
Playing games with the locals.
Because mirror pics are fun..
We ended the month by sending off our amazing Squad Leaders. They spent the first 5 months of our race with us, showing us the ins and outs of navigating the race, from finances, to travel days, to just being there for us in the good and the bad. They are home now, and we are officially “on our own”. Lol. Okay maybe not really! They are only a email away, and we will see them at debriefs still! Yay! <3
These are my people this year, and hopefully for life.
We are family. We are the church, and Kingdom is our culture. <3
P.S.- So that you can stay up to date and get text updates or emails every time we post an update/blog here, hit the subscribe button so that you don’t miss anything! 🙂
Stay tuned for the recap video TOMORROW!
Love, Tess and Juss.
