Sometimes God reminds us he’s the one doing the work. We’re just the vessels to carry it out. This past month in Vietnam was extremely different and difficult ministry wise. The entire culture of Vietnam is different from what we had experienced this far in Asia. The culture is extremely secular. People are praised for their achievements in school and work and that’s about it.
The majority of the people we met claimed some sect of Buddhism or Daoism. While they claim these religions, I am not sure how many of them are practicing them. But I do not know for sure , it’s only what I discerned from speaking with them. It seemed to me to be more of a cultural thing to be Buddhist. There seemed to be not a lot of focus on religion at all. In fact many of the people we talked to didn’t even understand what Christianity was or what a missionary is. Which led to some doors opening to share but they were returned with mostly blank stares.
Our ministry this month consisted of teaching English at a cafe and home. It is very popular for Vietnamese to learn English so there are cafes around town that are there strictly to teach and help practice English. We had no topics to discuss the majority of the time so we just got to know each other and learn about the different culture and peoples lives. Honestly, it was a dream come true looking in. A place where people can come and learn from us. We didn’t have to do anything but show up and people automatically want to talk, in our own language. Quickly we realized something though. The majority of the people just didn’t care about religion. They didn’t care about our mission. They didn’t care about what led us to Vietnam. They just wanted to talk about social subjects (movies, music, dating) all the surface level fun things. One morning at the beginning of our ministry Taylor, aka Flick aka T Dawg aka top boi, read to us what God was walking him through in his reading.
It’s from ??1 Corinthians? ?3: 7-9
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
This was good to hear leading up to our ministry. We didn’t know what to expect heading in. We had been received well in most countries and people were interested in learning about what we do and why we do it. So going into these meeting where people really didn’t care too much it was good to have to fall back on. God’s doing the growing we are just sowing seeds. That’s it. Our only mission is to cast out seeds and hope that one day something we say or do will come back up. That maybe ten years from now a phrase or word we said will be repeating in one of these awesome peoples brains and God will start to use it. Maybe helping these people with English is only a door that helps another English speaking person share the gospel. Maybe a phrase we taught them is brought up again. Maybe the name Jesus resonates with them today because of our conversations.
All we do is spread seeds. God does the rest. And that is sometimes a hard thing to chew. We want to share God’s love. The things he’s done in our lives and the way he works. The forgiveness he has to offer. The love that is awaiting these people. But he’s not always calling us to that. So it was difficult.
Another struggle this month was the culture. Almost everywhere we had gone we were met with smiles and love. People love us. We’re big, loud and funny to them. It attracts people who always want to take pictures and talk. But this was different. Vietnam is a totally different culture. It’s very cold. First, there is no such thing as a line which is incredibly frustrating. Waiting in line for a long time, being patient and having more and more people walk up and cut in front of you is very frustrating. We were at a buffet on one of our trips to the Ba Na Hills. You had to fight to get food. There are no lines and that’s just how it works. A lot of the people we met were loud and pushy. Spitting and clearing your throat of everything that’s possibly in there is acceptable. Smoking on the public bus is fine. My least favorite of all is smacking. Chewing with your mouth open is probably my biggest pet peave and everyone in Vietnam does this. A lot. Even in bed at midnight. Please and thank you basically don’t exist. All of these things were extremely difficult for me. I am a very manner oriented person. And while this list is long, I don’t write it to complain but I am just trying to get you in the mindset of seeing how all of these things can affect you. It makes it really easy to be rude when people are cutting in lines. It makes it very easy to look at people as a whole instead of individuals. It makes even people who are extremely patient and calm sometimes lash out. I really, really struggled this month loving the people until I realized it.
Unfortunately that was near the end when I realized how skewed my view had become. I had lost sight of loving everyone no matter what. I think that was my biggest growth point this month. Just choosing to love people even though their culture is the opposite mine. God really spoke to me in the aspect of “these are my children too, don’t you love them? I died for you and for them, love them”. I’m just as guilty of sins. I’m a human. I make mistakes. I’m loud. I can be rude at times. Only a short two and a half years ago I was probably one of the worst people to be around in certain aspects. And the people who have helped shape me and who are continuing to shape me don’t give up on me. They love me, unconditionally.
So if there is anyone out there struggling to love someone right now just know that your God chose to love you and he chose to love those people as well. While we were a mess caught up in our own filth he chose us. And we have to choose them. Also, sometimes your work may seem extremely insignificant but your God is not. The smallest thing we do is often times what he uses to show his power. So cast your seeds and throw some lines around and pray for God to water them. Please pray for the seeds our last team cast out in Vietnam. Pray that God introduces himself to them.
Where am I now?
I am in Indonesia. The bois are back in town. Taylor, Rob and I are on a team for this last month. We are heading to Bali in about two days with not much planned so please pray for provision. And pray for people to be open to what we have to say and to be genuinely interested in our mission and our God. I will be home June 25th and leaving again in August for another five months. I’ll probably post another blog at the end of the month filling you in with our time here. We are expecting big things even in the smallest of ways. Thanks for following, for those who still do lol.
I love you all and appreciate the love and support you have shown me! It’s been an encouraging process to see the people who care and support via money/prayer/comments on the blog and Facebook.
