IMPORTANT MESSAGE: This blog has been edited for safety reasons.
Day one in Vietnam was like any other country, we were excited for the possibilities, amazed by the sights, and this month even impressed with the accommodations. It’s hard to hit the restart button every month; to remind yourself that you’re in a completely new country with different hosts, ministry types, and cultures. That being said, this month from the outside looked like it would be so easy. All we had to do was teach English, and love the students well while trying to share the gospel with them. However, by day 4 or 5 I was feeling a bit down because I felt like there was too much free time and that I wasn’t using the time wisely enough. This being a new problem to have on the race I was conflicted on what I should do about it.
Then on Sunday we listened to a sermon about not being a “sluggard” and using time wisely, boredom is what we make it to be. A slug would sit around and play games, sleep, complain (ME) while a person who is after the things of God would look at boredom as a chance to chase God, to read more, pray more, use the time to seek the things He wants for us (WHO I WANT TO BE). After this spending time with the students outside of class became my goal.
Two students in particular, Phil and Cau. Phil is a very intelligent Vietnamese software engineer, and Cau is an up and coming police officer with a kind heart. Phil and I have been having dinner and lunch together twice a week, and last time I met with him I was able to share the gospel and my personal testimony, while he shared with me his beliefs about Buddha. He was so receptive and respectful of our conversation and by the end I was telling him about how we have a relationship with our God, that we can pray to God and have a conversation with Him. Phil said something that got me excited, he said “I’m going to try this with Buddha”. That may not sound exciting to you, but to me it means he will try to have a relationship with a God that does not exist. I trust that our God will use that to bring Phil closer to him, and I’m excited to tell Phil more about Jesus and His love.
Then there is Cau, nicknamed “smiles”… just kidding but that would be fitting. We have eaten, hiked, bumper carred, and taught each other. Last Sunday I invited him to come to church with us and he said yes. I found out that this was his first time to ever to go church. This became one of my favorite moments on the race. Cau showed Sunday morning with his normal smile and his English notebook where he writes new vocabulary words down. We both sat in the back row of international service and we worshiped together, the whole time I would lean over and explain things to him.
Then tears came to my eyes, tears of pure joy. I glanced over after we worshiped and noticed Cau writing vocabulary in his notebook so he could look them up later. The words were as follows… “Holy, Holy Spirit, Grace, intentional, sacrifice.” I saw holy spirit on his vocabulary list and couldn’t contain my excitement. When service was over I walked out with him and asked if we could get together and discuss some of his vocabulary. He happily said yes, and I told him would bring my bible so we could read other vocabulary to which he asked me what the bible was!
God has blessed me with this opportunity and I’m so happy that this month has turned into a month that has two clear paths… boredom or action.
Look where God will take us when we jump in; getting to explain the holy spirit, the gospel or the bible to someone who has never heard about them. Getting to sit in on his first experience in church and to see him get excited during worship when the song made the transition from English to Vietnamese. I am having dinner with Cau tonight and cannot wait to share more with him.
Love Ryan
