I AM FULLY FUNDED!!!!!!!! Thank you to all of those who supported me financially. Also, a huge thank you to those of you who have been my prayer support on this journey! Keep it up! THANK YOU SO MUCH Y’ALL!!
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As this month is coming to a close, I wanted to write and share some experiences.
This month we have been working with an international church, which means that their evangelism focus is on ministering to foreigners and expats from all over the world who now live and work in Vietnam.
Some of their ministries:
^Before we visited this school this day, the students only had workbooks in Vietnamese. This is our contact Pastor Joel. His church had English books made for every student in this school so that they could learn and study in English. 🙂
^a day at the orphanage is like a day at the gym. These kids are a work out! The organization we are working with supports this orphanage. There are hundreds of kiddos who live here. Some of them have families who just cannot take care of them, feed and clothe them, all of that, so they bring them to the orphanage to live. These little ones are a hoot. 🙂
^Waiting in line for their Lucky Money! Tet (the Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year) is like Christmas here. Except instead of giving gifts, you give and receive Lucky Money!! The church provided envelopes of lucky money for the kids. Each kid got 100,000 dong which is like $5. This would buy them 9 sleeves of Ritz crackers OR 11 bottles of Pepsi OR 6 Snickers bars, just to give you an idea. 🙂
^These were my two favorite girls in all of the orphanage. The girls names are Huyen (pronounced Wen) and Nhi (nee). Together, they basically sound out my name. Wen + nee = Whitney. We were meant to be!! Such cute little girls.
^The church has a Reading Circle for the expat kids. These kids are from Japan, China, the Philippines, Korea, and Canada. Their parents moved to Vietnam for work. The kids know conversational English, but they are learning how to read. This is me reading a book about a pancake running away from seven hungry little boys. Teacher Whitney, I love it!
^This city is so fun!!! On the Race so far, my team has been staying more in the countryside and less in the heart of the city. I have missed all of the hustle and bustle!!! This street is called Bui Vien and it’s where our hostel is. Love it!
^My team took a little day trip during one of our Off Days. We went to visit the Mekong Delta. We rode down the river on these little Vietnamese fishing boats. We tasted some village-made coconut candy. We watched people feed raw meat to alligators (see my Vimeo for this!). We drank tea with local honey. A fun day!
^Look what I found!!!! The EY in Ho Chi Minh City!!! 🙂 A few of us visited the observation deck of this building, the 3rd tallest building in Vietnam. The observation deck is just under the helipad that you can see sticking out. If I still had my EY badge, I would try it at the door to see the offices! 🙂 My team wants me to apply for a job haha. Was fun to see EYGlobal in action!
The Vietnam War
I went to the War Museum here in Saigon. In Vietnam, they don’t call it the “Vietnam War” obviously, instead they call it the “American War.” This museum was filled with reallllly biased propaganda.
War Museum
^one of our planes on display at the museum
^some of our bombs on display at the museum
Cu Chi Tunnels
This past Monday on our Off Day, my teammate and I went to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are an elaborate system of tunnels constructed by the Viet Cong in attempts to hide from the US troops. It worked. They were able to live down there, have secret meetings, medically treat people, stay away from active warfare, and sneakily attack their enemy. It was so surreal to visit!
^We were able to climb down in some of the actual tunnels
^an example of a swinging trap door used to kill US troops
^a hiding space in the ground, just the size of his body. And then see the pic below.
^you can’t even see the hole now, huh!!!! Wild. Scary stuff.
Cambodian genocide
So the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia joined forces with the North Vietnamese (the Viet Cong) to fight anti-communist forces in the South (including the US). Pol Pot and his regime killed one and a half to three million of their own people. This leadership led a revolt of socialism that resulted in forcing populations from the cities, torture, mass executions, forced labor, and malnutrition. This killed 25% of the entire population. Because of this, 70% of Cambodia’s current population is under the age of 30.
Tuolsleng Genocide Museum
^An old high school turned torture site turned museum
^lives lost, so incredibly tragic. There were rooms and rooms filled with these pictures. It was so heavy. I couldn’t look through all the buildings and rooms. Such a heavy heart.
The Killing Fields
^genocidal center and museum
^as the sign says, pieces of bones remaining after excavation of the fields in 1980. They also had clothing fragments and jewelry pieces found.
^The skulls found in excavation are displayed in memory of the lives lost. They are categorized by age and how they died. This my group: 20-30 year old women. Heart wrenching.
Whew. Heavy stuff. As much excitement as it brings to be able to visit countries like this, it’s horrific to be literally in the middle of all of the history. Thanks for walking this journey alongside me. PRAY for the lives affected by these wars and massacres. PRAY for healthy rehabilitation of the countries of Vietnam and Cambodia. PRAY for democracy to be established. PRAY for lies to be uncovered. PRAY for continued peace.
Again, a HUGE thank you for fully funding me!!!! I am forever grateful. I have 5 more months on this adventure. Pray that the Lord unites my team, strengthens us to persevere, and gets us safe and sound to the next country.
Next up: MONTH 7 = MALAYSIA. Our whole squad flies out together on Tuesday February 24 at 2pm from Ho Chi Minh City to Kuala Lumpur. Thanks for your prayers.
Love y’all!!!!!
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Email me: [email protected]
🙂 Miss y’all!!!
See y’all in 5 short months!!!
NEXT BLOG POST >> LOGISTICS!!! I prooooomise!
