When I first applied to the World Race and saw what countries were on the route I was interviewing for, Vietnam immediately stuck out to me. It actually was one of the top 3 countries I was most looking forward to. Why? No clue. Maybe because of all the history this country contains. Maybe because it’s such a closed country and having the opportunity to bring light to such a dark place excited me. Maybe it was DAD placing the desire on my heart because He already knew of all the great things that would take place for us in that specific month. For whatever reasons it really comes down to, I know one thing already after only a week of being here…. MY HEART IS ALREADY SO FULL!
For our protection and our host’s protection, I’m not going to include the name of the ministry we’re working with this month but I’ll tell you about it! The founder of it is a pastor from Texas. He and his wife lived in Africa for many years where all 3 of their sons were born. They felt called to Vietnam so they have been here for about 7 years now and have just poured themselves completely into their ministries! They have such a genuine passion and heart behind this and it is SO evident to see! During the week, the place serves as a life skills center for children. There’s 2 different groups of kids that come in. The first group comes on Friday nights and Saturday mornings. These kids’ parents bring them here for some extra learning outside of their normal schooling and alot of them come from families with money. A lot of these kids’ parents are generals, surgeons, and even government officials. They range from ages 7-10 years old and they speak pretty decent English. (Enough to hold a conversation with us) The classes they rotate in are life skills, communication, and language. The 2nd group of kids that come in, are with one of the schools here that are on the lower school of education. They are brought to the center on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Grade 2 comes in the morning times and Grade 1 comes in the afternoon) and their time at the center is part of their schooling. This group rotates between 2 classes. Grade 2 goes to life skills and communication and Grade 1 goes to an art class and life skills. These kids know very little English and they’re very young so it’s a little more difficult. Alot of these kids are poor and girls are at risk.
Of course, this life skills program is a “mask” for what the root of the ministry is. With it being such a closed country, they’d be shut down and kicked out of the country if they were caught sharing the gospel openly with these kids. There are a few of the kids who are christians and have christian parents (they also attend the church that our ministry host leads), there’s also some kids who have asked questions (here, questions are what has to initiate that type of conversation), and there’s also kids that have been seen reading bibles they’ve found around the center. When asked if they’d like one purchased for them, they immediately have fear wash over them and say that they’d get in BIG trouble by their parents if they were caught reading. Wednesdays and Fridays one of the interns with the ministry goes to the school and teaches Grade 4 and 5. So on those days, we’ll take turns and one of us will go with her and help out! I got to go with her on Friday and help out. It was only her 2nd time going and although the kids there are a lot different than at the center, it went well! It’s hard to keep their attention but once they started practicing they caught on very quickly!
The host’s wife also has her own ministry. Her passion and focus is on the women caught in prostitution and doing street ministry to help get them out of that vicious cycle. (I’m hoping we’ll get to do a little bit with her in that ministry this month).
We also visited a children’s home with over 300 orphans in it. Regardless of the situation they’re in, they had SO much joy pouring out of them and loved us so well. A lot of times, once a woman gives birth to her baby (more so when it’s a girl) they’ll leave the baby at the hospital when they are discharged from the hospital for whatever reason they decide they just don’t want the baby. When this happens, this pretty much ends all hope for that child’s life. They will never receive a birth certificate which therefore denies them the chance to EVER be adopted. They’ll never be able to get a decent job or even attend school after Grade 1. Even through the heartbreak of such a reality, we know that our Father has big plans and a purpose for each one of their lives.
This month is going to be so good. God is already filling me with so much joy and it’s only by him that I’ve been able to love these kids so quickly and so easily. I’m excited to see what the rest of this month looks like!
-Leah
