I’ve been trying to write a blog for two weeks now. I don’t know why sometimes it is so hard to think of what to say. I wanted to find something great and deep to talk about or something amazing to share. But until I sit down and make myself write something I cannot think of anything great to talk about. So here is me sitting down and forcing myself to post a blog within 30 minutes.
This month my team has an Unsung Heroes month. This means that we do not have a ministry contact that we work with. Our goal is to find new contacts and opportunities for future World Race teams. We are searching for organizations and individuals who are already doing amazing work for the Kingdom in Vietnam whose stories have not yet been heard or recognized by the world. Their stories are unsung. This month we want to not only find these unsung heroes but recognize, encourage, minister, and determine if we can come along side them in the future.
The World Race Definition for Unsung Heroes is below:
“Men and women who are dedicated to serving some of the most impoverished populations in the world, yet rarely receive recognition for their dedication and service. These givers may also live with meager conditions but give consistently from an abundance of God’s love. Their names may not be in history books, their acts unknown to the rest of the world, while unrecognized, they shake a generation and move a culture and ultimately build the Kingdom.”
So what happened when we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam? Well we had to wait and watch God be faithful by providing us contacts and divine appointments to start our search. And guess what. God was faithful. By the first week we had multiple contacts come in from mutual friends, acquaintances, and people we met. Here’s a list of just a few of the ministry connections God has brought to our team in these past two weeks:
- Two pastors who are connected to multiple different churches and a broad span of ministries – youth, women, village, college
- Two Korean pastors who work with church planting and orhpanages
- Talking with the Tourist/English club in the park
- Women’s conference
- Korean teacher who teaches Vietnamese college students Korean, English, Jesus, and the bible.
- A former World Racer who teaches English
- A lady from the states who teaches English, while learning Vietnamese, hosts smaller teams for Summer Camp, and English Club
We have also had multiple divine appointments where God put us in the right place at the right time to meet people who we have been able to pray for, be prayed over, speak life into, and build friendships.
- A man in a bakery
- A woman at a coffee shop
- Former World Racers
- Strangers in the park
Besides new contacts and divine appointments, God is moving. He is working in the hearts of every single one of my teammates. Having a less hectic schedule this month, we have been able to pour into and minister to each other more than we ever have before. God is breaking bondage in our hearts we have held onto our whole lives. We are finding freedom. Freedom from our fears, our past, our imperfections, our desires, our struggles, our pride, and so much more. The first week here I was sick with a head cold and then stomach issues. As I was stay in bed recovering I kept feeling useless. I felt guilty for not working hard or doing something important. But God showed me that I needed to rest. That I needed to rejuvenate myself in Him. I need to spend time with Him and see the areas in my life where I need to work on. Though being sick was no fun, those days were instrumental in some of my personal breakthroughs I have had this week. I feel better already. I feel freer, lighter, happier, and ready. Ready for the rest of this thing. The rest of this ‘race’. Because this is not just one country, but eleven countries we are serving in and I cannot let myself get overloaded or burnt out. And this is actually not just an eleven month race. This is a life style. A life style of giving myself up to something better. Something real. Being a part of something eternal that I want to give my all to regardless of where I am. This race is the beginning of a life style living for the Kingdom of God.
Singing in the park with some students we met.
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PS
Please check out the VIDEO LINK BELOW of my time in Cambodia. One of our teammates put this amazing video clip together! I hope you enjoy the joy on these kids faces as much as we did last month!
