The cool factor of the race is starting to wear thin. I don’t say that for sympathy, I say that for accountability. I do not in any way want to go home, but I am used to being on the missions field as crazy as that sounds. In a week or so we will be traveling from Vietnam to Ethiopia and to me, that sounds more normal than traveling back to America. America actually sounds bizarre- to live in a place with more than 3 outfit choices, a refrigerator, a pet, a car, seems like too much for me right now. We are on month 5, and to think I have been on the World Race for almost 5 months is weird. To think that I have been living in Asia for almost 5 months is weird.
I have come to place where don’t know how to naturally move forward. I have to remember that this is something special the Lord has called me to. This is something special that I wanted in this time of my life, and I will never be here again.. probably.
And, that this is the coolest thing I have probably done with my 29 years on earth… ever.
How often do you get to quit your job and travel the world to teach others about Jesus?
How often do you get this much freedom to just live serving the Lord over serving society?
This month in Vietnam, we have been breaking the law to spread Kingdom. We are in a communist country so we cannot exactly preach as openly as we have been the other 4 months. However, I can see the hunger people are experiencing. Everyone is looking for something of worth.
All month long you can find our team at Tipi Coffee, which is a cafe to come and practice English. We talk to everyone- high school students, college students, staff and even a few from an older crowd. I love this ministry because it’s something that I would probably do anyway (talking to random strangers) and it makes for the perfect platform to share your faith. Some days we talk about Spiderman and Harry Potter, but other days we tell the story of Jesus. We are there to answer any and all biblical questions these people have. We don’t have all the answers, but that’s okay. That is what faith is for.
The first week at Tipi Coffee I met one university student named T who learned all his English from watching Harry Potter movies. He had a little bit of a British accent when he spoke English to me. I call him T, because there’s no way I can pronounce His Vietnamese name. T is for sure one of my favorites that I have talked to this month. He knows enough English to crack a good joke, and not enough to where he can’t get rid of his British accent. T told me he doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but he drinks beer with his friends on Christmas. He doesn’t even like beer, he just feels like he has to in order to appear manly to his friends. Maybe if T felt so secure in who God created him to be, he wouldn’t get caught up doing things he doesn’t enjoy to impress others.
I met another university student just tonight. We will call him P (for the same reasons as T- Vietnamese names). P just got accepted into an exchange program with another University in Toronto. He is going to be studying Political Science and Economics. All he wanted to talk to me about was the Vietnam war and communism vs capitalism and political trends. Goodness! I didn’t know where to start, the world is so messy and I hardly keep up with politics. P was telling me how he wants to live in America where it’s free. I responded with something along the lines of “Yeah America rocks, you should for sure do that if you want to.” He told me it’s more than that, he loves his country, but he wants to get a degree in Economics so he can change society here a little bit- to make it more fair. I don’t know what it’s like to grow up here like P, but maybe if he put his faith and efforts into serving a living God he wouldn’t feel so trapped by current state of his country.
A few days ago at Tipi Coffee I met a girl in her mid twenties. She had short modern haircut and trendy clothes. We talked about everything from marriage to noodles. She gave me recipes and makeup recommendations and I told her about my favorite tv show- Friends. Then she mentioned how she loves to drink regularly. She loves the feeling of listening to music and being drunk. I thought maybe if she knew the love of Jesus, she wouldn’t feel the need to numb herself with alcohol.
The truth is- these are just three stories of young people, and this is happening everywhere, not just Vietnam. I shared my faith with all three. Some thought it was cool, some didn’t care, but seeds were planted. I need to remember who I am praying to. I need to remember that God is bigger than any stagnant feeling I have from being away from home. God is bigger than the complacency of these three locals from Tipi coffee.
The truth is these three people are hungry for the gospel, they just don’t see it yet.
