The afternoons and nights in Vietnam were always up in the air. We usually had a break in our schedule from the end of coffee shop ministry til about 1 or 2, cause that was basically international nap time. You couldn’t even really go to the market because there wouldn’t be anyone there, and the people that were there would probably be asleep.
Afternoon Ministry #1
Typically though, either Sherman had something scheduled for us, or we were just charged with doing our own thing, still trying to make or grow relationships with the Vietnamese. As far as scheduled stuff goes…
- Half of my team spent a lot of time working at this cafe called Happy Heart. That’s a pretty cool place, cause the owners go to Đà Nẵng International Fellowship (DIF/the international church), and almost all of their staff is deaf.
- Two nights a week we went and spent a few hours at this orphanage called Promise House and just hung out and played with the kids. That was honestly one of my favorite things to do… I had some really sweet moments with those kids
- Monday nights we had English club at Sherman’s place
Kids at this other orphanage we went to one night (probably my favorite three hour segment of the race was with these kids)Afternoon Ministry #2
And then we had a lot of random stuff throughout the three weeks…
- I don’t know how we got this gig, but my team and a girls team both got the chance to sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve at a five star hotel/resort. Dawson made a good point, “We are getting a free meal and accommodations from a five star hotel to share the Gospel through music in a Communist country.” That night was a God-send for sure. Bill Swan (the leader of the whole squad) stayed a few hours late talking to these two families from Singapore, one of whom owns a factory that supplies 70% of all Marti Gras beads. He said any Marti Gras business that’s been in NO for over 10 years probably knows his name
- We had a Christmas white elephant with the English Club
- Men’s group with the church
- I got to lead worship for the church two of the weeks, which was amazing
- Hangouts with some people from English club (Sherman really encouraged us to do this as much as we could. The English club wasn’t “Christians only”, in fact, most of them were believers, and so he wanted us to build relationships with them and push them in that direction.)
- Hanging out with the Korean dudes that run the coffee and surf shop next door. (They don’t sell coffee and only one of them surfs half-decently 😂)
- Etc.
A New Approach to Ministry
Something I also tried to do was spend as much time with Sherman and other people from the church as possible. Something that really hit me pretty hard half way through our time was the fact that I’m not really that important. People told me before the race that short term mission trips have a bigger impact on you than you have on the places you’re going. I heard that and was like, “yeah right”, but now almost half way through the race, I see how true that is. I decided on a new approach or new focus for the last week and a half or so, and that was to, as much as I could, pour into and encourage those that were there long term and would end up actually having the impact. Cause Sherman has actually led a few of His English club students from never having heard the name of Jesus to being strong believers, and that’s beautiful. I won’t get that chance in the three weeks I’m there.
There was also one day that we spent painting the entire second floor of the Happy Heart Cafe, which, in and of itself doesn’t seem like the most exciting ministry activity. But then we were told about the witness that that time of service truly was to the community when the owner starting talking about how it was a Christian group that came and did that for her. Even small things, especially in a place like Vietnam, can speak volumes.
Coming Out of the Kitchen
To cook stuff at home in our hotel was quite a challenge. We didn’t have a microwave or stove or anything, all we had was a tea kettle. But who knew all the stuff you could do with that…
- Ramen
- Pasta
- Heated up gravy
- Hard boiled eggs
- Even better… boiled chicken
Now for the stuff I never thought I’d eat that we got elsewhere:
- Fertilized duck egg (You could see that little guy staring right back at you the whole time you were eating it)
- Oyster
- Dog
- Clam
- Snail
- Pig tail
Yup, there you have it.
Good night Vietnam.
In Christ,
Jackson
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