Hello dear readers!
For your next update on Vietnam, let me give you a rundown of the ministries I did this month.
1. Teaching English in a coffee shop. I spent anywhere from 6 to 12 hours a day in this coffee shop, building relationships, helping patrons practice their English, and sharing Jesus with them. Everyone in Ho Chi Minh is eager to learn English from native speakers, so my team attracted many patrons to the coffee shop. Most of the came regularly, so we were able to build relationships with them. We often talked about God and shared our testimonies, and before we left four friends came to faith, and one was baptized. My heart was so encouraged, and I am so happy for my new brothers and sisters, my friends.
2. Mercy ministry. This ministry took us absolutely everywhere. We spent eight hours (in a single day) on the back of a motorbike to reach remote villages. We went to nursing homes, leper hospitals, drug rehab centers, and churches. Everywhere we went we would lead worship, share our testimonies, give a message, pray for people, and love people. Sounds exciting, right? Sometimes it was. But sometimes it was very boring—like when my tailbone ached from sitting on a motorbike for eight hours, or when everyone was speaking in Vietnamese and I didn’t know what was going on. And sometimes it was frustrating. It was frustrating to be constantly asked to perform songs, dramas, and games—we’re not a comedy show for crying out loud! It was frustrating to feel like my only job was to be the token white person who was dragged all over creation to draw a crowd and get the audience’s attention. And it was frustrating to be treated like a celebrity when I am just an ordinary 23-year-old, wondering why on earth these people want to listen to my sermon—they probably have way more faith and way more powerful testimonies to share than I do. It’s just as foolish as John the Baptist baptizing Jesus.
But then I saw the fruit. I saw more people accept Christ than I’ve ever before seen up close. I saw how much it meant to families living in the middle of nowhere Vietnam that I traveled halfway around the globe to come to their house, love on them, and tell them about Jesus. And I learned submission. I learned to trust the instructions of my authorities, even if I disagree. This month, God took the ministries that I thought would be a fruitless waste of time and caused them to bear fruit. He used the randomest of circumstances to advance His kingdom.
Vietnam is a hungry country—hungry to learn English, and hungry for God. I love this country
~ Katie
