Vietnam Halfway Update: July 19th 2024

Hi everyone, I miss you all dearly! Sorry for the lack of communication on my end the last few months we have gone from Lesotho a land of no WiFi to Vietnam where we have had to keep quiet for safety reasons for our partners. I am writing this blog at about the half way point of our time in Vietnam but I won’t be able to post it until I have left the country. Vietnam is a beautiful place not only with the nature that it has but also with the culture and the people. The culture here is heavily based on shame vs. honor which results in people being incredibly kind to those around them as they do not want to dishonor their family by acting negatively towards others. People are eager to help us when shopping or traveling and looking for directions. They actively go out of their way to assist when they see us lost or confused. It is also a culture that does not take offense to anything. They are incredibly open about their opinions and don’t take offense to anything really. We have asked several locals what conversations would be taboo or inappropriate and they have most often answered “nothing”. They love to ask your age and relationship status and share their honest opinions about both, they often describe people by their physical appearance. It could be overwhelming for some but I have found it incredibly refreshing. Often times at home I feel as though I have to walk on eggshells or tread lightly when expressing myself so as to not offend anyone but that is not the case here. It is definitely something I hope I can take back to the states and encourage others to not be easily offend but rather encourage open and honest conversation based on truth and spoken in love.


Now although all of this makes it sound like a prime location to go out and preach the gospel we have really faced some challenges so far in sharing Christ with those around us. For the first time on the race we have had to rely heavily on our actions preaching the gospel rather than our words. Vietnam is still a closed country so sharing with native Vietnamese people about ur faith is technically illegal and folks have been arrested and found guilty in the past few years here still. With this being said we have had to be very mindful of our actions and how we conduct ourselves here. We have had to take a new approach to sharing the gospel which requires us to build relationships with the folks whom we want to share with. Another element of difficulty with this has been that one our partners is a school for children with disabilities and most of the staff are non verbal or communicate via sign language. It seems that our team has just become bold and comfortable with preaching the gospel to anyone and everyone and now we are faced with many new challenges. Intercessory prayer has become one of our greatest weapons and inviting the Lord into our lives all day everyday as we go about doing tasks that are not directly preaching the gospel. At this school have been helping to garden and also in the arts and crafts room. Aside from this work we also have been teaching English to a few different groups of students and working to grow our relationships with them through that. Hopefully as we continue to grow these relationships with them they will see Christ in us and through us and be curious about learning more.

One of the lessons that the Lord has revealed to me was through a day at the school where we were playing pass with a ball with some of the children that were non verbal. It is awesome to see how God speaks to us even through means that seem like we could never hear his voice. As we were playing pass one of the boys decided to jokingly get a little overly aggressive when he threw the ball to the next person. I don’t think it was intentional and he didn’t mean to harm his friend in anyway, so we all shrugged and laughed it off thinking nothing of it. Then the next time that he received the ball he became a bit more violent and threw it much harder at the next person. This time it wasn’t as funny but we also did not stop in to intervene and correct his actions. As the game went on he continued to get more and more aggressive with every chance that he got. He went from waiting for the ball to be thrown to him to chasing people down who had the ball to steal it from them. He went from throwing the ball hard to getting very close to the other kids before he chucked it at them until eventually he had to be removed from the game. In all this the Lord showed me that this was perfect analogy for our relationship with sin. When we first commit a sin it often is done in ignorance or seen as something that is “not that big of a deal”. But if we choose not to repent or take an apathetic approach to dealing with it the issue is not resolved. Then when a similar situation arises we continue down the path of sin and even allow it to get worse. We take on the mindset of “well I did this last time and got away with it so it can’t be that bad”. As we receive short term pleasure in the success of our sin it grows more and more and we are naive to the darkness that is looming below the surface. As time goes by we adapt it as a habit and continue to let it grow until it affects those around us and the ones that we love in negative way.

In my life this was the party scene growing up. As a young man I thought that what I was doing “wasn’t that bad”. I looked around and saw people doing worse things and being worse people and figured that what I was doing was in control. I wanted to be liked and I wanted to fit in and by making small concessions to sin I was gaining friends and getting the instant gratification that I was seeking. However I did not realize what was going on under the surface and what was really taking place inside of me. It took years, sin often doesn’t ruin your life immediately. The devil is called the deceiver not the wrecking ball of destruction, he deceives over time he does not often swoop in and crush you immediately. If that were the case we would be aware of the evil and we would take a stand and fight against it. Over time my poor choices became habits and started to an affect other areas of my life like my family, work and personal image. I went from wanting to be liked by others to not even liking myself. BUT it was in the midst of this darkness that the Lord came and sought me out. He showed me that my poor choices did not define me and that He could restore me and that He could conquer these bad habits that I had created. He is the redeemer and the restorer, He is our strength and our good Father. He wants to heal the areas in which we are weak and give you a new identity, the identity that He created you in.

In James 1:14-15, James gives a great explanation of this concept “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” Notice that it starts with our own desires, that doesn’t sound inherently evil does it? I don’t think that our desires are always evil or lead to sin. But if we are not focused on the Lord and are not renewing our minds daily then quickly our desires will be come selfish, greedy, prideful and full of evil. It may seem innocent at first but as James says following our selfish ungodly desires lures us into sin and as we practice this sin it leads to a habit of living a life that does not honor God which leads to death. I would encourage you all to face your sin areas sooner rather than later. Seek righteousness and anything that waivers from God’s path remove it from your life as soon as possible. Don’t give the evil one a foot hold instead invite God into that area to claim victory over it.

I love you all I hope this is encouraging, God loves you and He wants to be invited into every battle we face. He wants to conquer the large issues like addictions and persecution we encounter just as badly as He wants to intervene in your road rage, gossip or slander that we often choose to turn a blind eye to. Ask Him to show you the areas in which you can grow, He loves this prayer and He will show you how you can grow and better love Him and honor Him. We are His sons and daughters He wants to help us grow in our relationship with Him. Revelation 3:19 “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”